Presbyops Find Eye Correction with Hyperopic OK

By middle age, most people have age-related declines in near vision (presbyopia) requiring bifocals or reading glasses. An emerging technique called hyperopic orthokeratology (OK) may provide a new alternative for restoring near vision without the need for glasses, according to "Refractive Changes from Hyperopic Orthokeratology Monovision in Presbyopes", appearing in the April issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The study included 16 middle-aged patients (43 to 59 years) with presbyopia. In all patients, the monocular OK technique reportedly restored near vision in the treated eye. The magazine’s spokesperson said that the improvement was apparent on the first day after overnight OK lens wear, and increased further during the treatment week. Eye examination confirmed that the OK lenses altered the shape of the cornea, as they were designed to do. Read more.

National Champ Swims Thanks to Ortho K

"A Cilcain teenager has become one of the top swimmers in the country thanks to specialised contact lenses," according to the Flintshire Chronicle. "Sam Wild, 14, swims at Welsh national level and is one of the top five 14-year-olds in Wales in the butterfly and freestyle. The short-sighted athlete, a pupil of King’s School, Chester, credits much of his success to a treatment called Orthokeratology (Ortho K), provided by independent optician Jane Smellie, who has practices in Chester, Wrexham and Whitchurch." Read more.

OrthoK Reduces Myopia in Kids

"A study of 16 myopic children found that overnight wear with an orthokeratology lens in one eye for a duration of 3 months dramatically reduced myopia in the central 20-degree visual field, leaving the peripheral visual field with relative myopic defocus," according to the website PConSuperSite. "The researchers noted that such changes in children are comparable to those reported among myopic adults wearing ortho-K lenses." Read more.