subject: Ortho-k Surgery [print this page] It is one of the most precious gifts for human to be able to appreciate what they see around them. Those who cant see or see clearly because of eye diseases would miss so many beautiful scenes in the world. However if you have an eye problem that stops your to be pleased with the beauty, you may consult orthokeratology, also called ortho-k which is used throughout the country.
Ortho-k works at night when you are sleeping. You just need to wear the special contact lenses which gradually and gently reshape your eye's surface to facilitate clear eyesight after you remove the lenses the next morning. Keep in mind that its effect is temporary - sufficient to accomplish all of your tasks throughout the day that's why you need to wear the special lenses every night.
As a matter of fact, ortho-k is by no means a new idea because to enhance one's vision through cornea reshaping has been practiced by eye doctors for many decades. However, back in the days the results of using orthokeratology vary from one person to another. In addition, it was not approved by the FDA to wear during the night, so the idea didn't attract much attention.
When FDA finally granted approval to overnight lenses wear in June, 2002 for reshaping of the cornea, recognized as the CRT or Corneal Refractive Therapy, more authorizations followed. New manufacturing procedures of these lenses together with their new designs mushroomed to increase the patronage for the special lenses. Furthermore, designs like "return zone" and "reverse geometry" caught the attention of many consumers.
Orthokeratology is actually designed for people with nearsightedness or Myopia. Nearsightedness is caused by light that enters the eye in a way that is doesn't focus appropriately on the eye's retina. It is usually treated by wearing regular contact lenses or eyeglasses to correct the focus of the light rays. The same result can be achieved by reshaping the cornea. The contact lenses of orthokeratology flatten out the cornea without undergoing the LASIK surgery, allowing light to precisely focus on the retina to better vision and eyesight.
However, only two brands of FDA at present have been approved corneal reshaping overnight lenses, which are Corneal Refractive Therapy or CRT from Paragon Vision Sciences and Vision Shaping Treatment or VST from Bausch and Lomb. You can only get any of these special overnight lenses from eye care doctors who have certifications from these manufacturers.
You should meet qualifications before orthokeratology surgery. Generally speaking people with Myopia or nearsightedness at any age can use the special overnight lenses. The examinations to be granted with ortho-k overnight lenses can be performed to almost anyone, provided that their eyes are in good condition. Most of the eye doctors believe that the best candidates are those who have approximately four diopters or less of Myopia. But those people are usually not that nearsighted.
