Orthokeratology: Contact Lenses That Help to Correct Short-Sightedness

Last Updated on 2023-02-15 , 6:13 pm

We all know how braces work: you put that painful, rigid metal thingy in your mouth and after a year or so, ta-da: you have a straight set of teeth, ready for that long-awaited kiss you want with your partner.

The idea is that due to prolonged wearing of the braces, your teeth will straighten.

Now, what if there’re braces for the eyes that do the same thing, but this time, “straighten” your shortsightedness instead?

Fantasy? Fantasy no more.

Known as Orthokeratology, or Ortho-K for short, it is a gas permeable contact lens that aims to reshape the cornea.

Okay, in layman English, it’s like braces, but much more new in general.

Image: keepital.com

But unlike braces, it’s not a “one year and my teeth will be straight forever”.

Instead, you’ll wear it overnight when you sleep. As you’re deep in your dreams, your eyes are reshaped to correct your short-sightedness.

It sounds eerie and weird, but that’s what it really does. After you’ve woken up, ta-da: you can see even without your glasses.

Days of searching for that damn glasses in the morning will be history!

The bad news? About 18 hours later, your shortsightedness will be back. That’s why you’ll have to wear the overnight contact lenses again that night to reshape your eyes for the next day.

Long ago, this unique technology could only be used for people with a myopic degree of less than 500—but now, it has advanced to one that is less than 1,200.

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Pertaining to safety, this technology is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, so it is generally safe.

However, everything comes with a risk, and for this, it’s an eye infection that occurs in 0.0077% of users, which might be lower than that of a normal contact lens user.

So next time, if you see someone who says he’s shortsighted but doesn’t need glasses or contact lenses, you know his or her trick.

Featured Image: rodimov / Shutterstock.com