Ortho-K involves the use of a rigid contact lens while you sleep and works by reshaping your cornea to reduce your need for glasses in the day. It is more suitable for low to moderate myopia and would not be suitable for degrees that are too high.
The effect of Ortho-K lenses last for 1 to 2 days at most, which means you will have to wear it continuously every night if you do not want to wear glasses in the day.
The down side to Ortho-K is because its a contact lens that is worn at night, there is risk of severe corneal infections that may come about. Even if your personal hygiene is optimal, it may be that the deprivation of oxygen to your cornea due to the contact lens will tip the balance and lead to an unwanted infection (a lack of oxygen makes your cornea more prone to infections). Contact lenses that are worn at night starve our cornea of more oxygen than contact lenses worn in the day, in part because of our closed eyelids at night.
Unfortunately, I have seen many cases of young children who have suffered severe corneal infections requiring corneal transplants due to Ortho-K lenses. As such, I personally wouldn't recommend my own children or patients to use Ortho-K, as the potential risks of infection may outweigh the short-term benefits of not having to use glasses in the daytime. Ortho-K is not a permanent fix for myopia.
In addition, as the Ortho-K lens reshapens the cornea, it may cause corneal thinning in the process, which puts you at a disadvantage should you want to seek a refractive procedure such as LASIK in future. As you know, LASIK is not suitable in people with too thin corneas.
Moreover, Ortho-K lenses can be rather costly. My advice would be to control myopia through other means such as daytime contact lenses, atropine eyedrops and good near work habits, before considering LASIK in future.
Hope that helps!
Dr Claudine Pang
