The results of this study showed significant axial eye growth inhibition after wearing OK lens.
According to noted Orthokeratologist Dr. Ken Maller, Ortho K can be an excellent option for parents of young kids with deteriorating eyesight, rather than relying on conventional approaches such as multifocal soft lenses or atropine drops.
“First, I’m not as enthusiastic about atropine as I am about Orthokeratology. For the most part, they are both effective at myopia control. I think we can agree on that. However, this goes back to taking care of the individual, and not just the myopia control issue. Ortho K frees the kid and allows them to function and be a kid with great vision all day long with no visual impairment or handicapping whatsoever. Whereas atropine, at best, fails to correct their vision, so they still need to wear glasses, and at worst, actually impairs them even more than just the myopia, because now they’re light sensitive and they’ve lost some accommodative function,” says Dr. Maller.
Dr. Maller also believes that seven or eight years of age is the right time to start this treatment because most of the children are not myopic before this age.
“I’ve started Ortho K with kids as young as five. I think seven or eight year olds, just because they typically are not myopic to any degree before that, but not for any other reason other than that.
The five and six years old are children that I’ve done because they’re already myopic and they’re progressing. And so I’ll get them started. So, you know, I think that’s generally young enough, that you can do very, very well, and get a result you want.
Most of the time, I think seven to eight years old seems to be a pretty typically appropriate age. Yeah. And then I have several in their upper seventies and young eighties that enjoy the benefits of having Orthokeratology free them from the need of any optical appliances for all of their waking hours!” Dr. Maller added.
