Orthokeratology 101: Learn about Myopia Treatment for Kids

Thanks for looking into this myopia treatment called orthokeratology. I’d like to think it’s pretty cool, so let me break it down for you how it works. The front part of your eye is called the cornea, it’s a clear dome that helps you to see. It sits in front of the coloured portion of your eye, called the iris. (1) Light comes through the cornea in order to enter your eye. (2) Because of this the shape or curvature of the cornea will also impact your prescription/vision.

We perform special scans, called topography, to measure the curvature of the front of the eye. This is just like topographical maps in geography! These maps of your cornea allow us to see which areas are flatter, designated by the blue here, and the areas that are steeper, reflected by the green/yellow here. The steeper areas are where the cornea is more pointy, here at the top, and flatter here at the edge of the eye. When we compare this to a map of the eye after ortho-k, we can see that the shape has now changed. There’s a ring in the topography now, indicating these areas as steeper and the middle as flatter. This elevated area here is what’s changing the patient’s prescription. If we take a look at a side profile of the cornea, this demonstrates how the ortho-k lens flattens the middle in order to give a patient the power or correction they need to be able to see clearly.

I’ll show you what the orthokeratology lenses look like here. It’s very small, made of a rigid gas-permeable material. It’s hard so that the lens will hold the perfect shape to mould your eye. To insert the lens, it’s very simple. You make sure your hands are clean, you make sure the lens is clean. You open your eye lid, and place the lens right on the front of your eye. You should still be able to see well with the lenses on. This is what you’re going to do before you go to bed at night. You’re going to sleep your regular 6-8 hours. It doesn’t affect your REM cycle, you’ll sleep just like normal. In the morning, when you wake up you’ll remove the lens. After removing the lens, you’ll clean the lens with techniques we’ll train you on in your appointment. You won’t throw away the lens, you’re actually going to safely clean and store the lens to reuse it every night.

After removing the lens is when the magic happens. You’ll notice that you’ll be able to see clearly out the window, or across the room. It was really game changing and I was astonished every time in those first few days, I could see great without wearing anything on my eyes. It’s like I had corrective vision surgery, but I didn’t! It’s the shape of your eye giving you that power. Now this process is reversible. It’s not permanent. If you stop wearing the orthokeratology lenses, your eyes will revert back to their original shape. This is why it’s safe for all ages; from kids to adults. But remember, you must wear the lenses every night in order to see clearly the next day.

Let’s go back here and I’ll show you something else that’s really cool about this treatment. Even though ortho-k is safe for all ages, it has the added benefit in children of protecting their eyes from changing. We call having blurry vision far away “myopia”, which is also commonly referred to as nearsightedness; essentially up close is clear, but far distances are not. In an eye with no glasses prescription, light will enter and focus on the centre of the back of the eye (the retina). An eye with myopia is elongated, or shaped longer, so when the light enters it does not reach the retina, meaning that the vision is not clear. Having an eye that is too long can put strain or damage the retina or optic nerve, which are important parts of the eye that allow us to see. For children, we want their eyes to be as healthy as possible. What can we do when someone is a child to prevent their eyes from getting worse as they turn into adults? Ortho-k’s have been shown to help slow down the progression of myopia, preventing that prescription from climbing higher as they grow up. So along with the benefit of being glasses/contact lens free during the day, ortho-k has also been proven to help protect their eyes from changing so much over time. This sets them up to be healthier, if their eye is not growing as long.

I hope that helps to give you some insight on ortho-k. Thank you so much for watching! Me and the other doctors at Kodak Lens Eyecare look forward to meeting you at your consultation. We’ll see you’re a good candidate and talk more to you about this treatment option in person! See you soon.

Ask our eye care professionals about this new advancement in contact lens technology and myopia control treatments.

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