Can Wearing Contacts Fix My Vision?
If you’ve dreamed of waking up in the morning able to see clearly, but you don’t want or aren’t a candidate for surgery to correct your nearsightedness, orthokeratology might be for you. Also known as ortho-k, orthokeratology is a process that uses special, semi-rigid gas permeable contact lenses to change the shape of your eye while you sleep so you can see more clearly when you are awake.
Focus on the Eye
When light enters the eye it passes through a clear layer on the front of the eye called the cornea, then travels through the pupil and lens to the retina, which is the lining on the inside of the back of the eye. The cornea and the lens both work to focus the light on the retina. When the light doesn’t focus correctly, our vision is blurry. When we can see near objects, but not far away objects, we are nearsighted or myopic. This is usually corrected using either eyeglasses or contact lenses to help the eye focus clearly.
How Ortho-k Works
LASIK surgery corrects nearsightedness by using a laser to change the shape of the cornea so the eye can focus more clearly. Ortho-k uses the same theory to correct vision by reshaping the cornea. But rather than using a laser for a permanent change, ortho-k uses specially shaped contact lenses to flatten the surface of the cornea without surgery. New developments in night-wear contacts now allow these special lenses to do their work overnight. The affects are not permanent, but in many cases wearing the lens each night while you sleep will change the shape of your eye enough to give you clear vision through the next day.
Ortho-k is not a quick fix. Each pair of contacts can only make a small change to your vision. Depending on how nearsighted you are you may have to go through several pair of contact lenses to step up to the best level of vision possible. Some people may have clear vision in just a few weeks while others require several months before their eyes stabilize after wearing the lenses each night.
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
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