Orthokeratology - (Ortho - K)

Orthokeratology or Ortho-k as it is popularly known is a procedure, which reshapes the cornea of the eye by using special contact lenses to reduce nearsightedness as well as condition of astigmatism. It reduces refractive errors non-surgically and painlessly.

By reshaping and flattening the cornea, the contact lenses in Ortho-K reduce the focusing power of the eye. Technology has ensured that corneal flattening can be controlled with maximum accuracy, thus bringing the eye into correct focus and compensating for the refractive error caused by different conditions.

The contact lenses in Ortho-K are worn for several hours to help reshape the cornea. Upon removing the lenses, the cornea retains this shape for the remainder of the day. A retainer lens is used thereafter to maintain the corneal flattening ensuring that the myopia does not revert to its earlier condition.

The procedure followed by Ortho-K is several decades old, and was used when doctors realized that the person’s eyesight actually improved after wearing lenses. Initially, hard contact lens material or PMMA was used to correct sight. A series of lenses were used wherein each lens flattened the cornea to gradually arrive at the desired results. Earlier the result took months and sometimes years to see fruition.

Today, the advances of science have enabled doctors to use space-age polymers and computer assisted lathes in the procedure of Ortho-K to achieve reduction in myopic conditions in a matter of days.

Ortho-K treatment is being used on adults and children alike, as the principle of flattening is effective in both. It slows down the increase in axial length of the eye that occurs in children as they become more myopic every year. It thus results in lower prescription so that children are not subjected to the thick lenses and higher prescription number that they would have otherwise acquired when older.

Read more on Ortho-k versus LASIK