I wear glasses. Most people in my family wear glasses or contacts because they cannot see well at a distance. They have myopia, also known as nearsightedness. This story is similar for my wife, Cristina who is also the office manager at Bright Eyes. She and many members of her family are myopic. So it was not surprising that our older child, Nora, has also become nearsighted. She has now started orthokeratology to help keep her from become even more nearsighted. Read on to find out more about her Ortho-K journey.
Nora's First Exam
Nora is not alone. All over the world, people are becoming more myopic and kids are needing glasses at earlier ages. At Nora’s regular eye exams (see recommendations here), I have been checking her vision carefully. Two years ago it was obvious that she was going to be become nearsighted. We had been implementing several steps to delay her impending myopia.
Finally, the summer before 4th grade during a game of “eye spy” it was evident that she was having trouble seeing clearly far away. An eye exam was scheduled and a prescription for -1.00 D glasses was written. She picked out some lovely and fun glasses before school started. She also had soft daily disposable contacts for occasional use.
Nora Before Orthok
By Spring Break, Nora was squinting again even with her glasses. Indeed, her exam showed that her prescription had increased. We were ready to employ some methods to reduce the rate at which her vision was getting worse. This is called myopia control and the basic options are Ortho-k, soft multifocal contacts, and atropine eyedrops. So Cristina and I decided that it was time for Nora to do Ortho-K. We knew this time would come, it was just a matter of when it was convenient to start. We decided Spring Break was the perfect time.
The first step was to get Nora on board. After all, she liked her glasses and was not excited at first about giving them up. Cristina and I talked with her about freedom from glasses for sports and swimming. We also showed her some of these videos from YouTube. She was ready!
Nora came to Bright Eyes Kids for her Ortho-K exam. This includes more vision testing and special testing of the front part of her eyes called corneal topography. This special test allowed me to design custom NightLens Ortho-K lenses for her. They were produced in a specialized contact lens lab and sent to the office.
Nora was very excited when her Ortho-K lenses came in. At this point she was taught how to put them in and take them out safely as well as everything she needed to know about caring for her lenses. That night, she put the contacts in and went to sleep. It was surprisingly easy. The next day she came to Bright Eyes Kids for her 1-day evaluation and she was seeing 20/20! Her vision has been great ever since. She was able to do everything on her Spring Break trip including kayaking, Everglades Airboat rides, and the Trampoline park all without her glasses.
Nora After Orthok
If you think that your child is a candidate for Ortho-K and want to find out more call us at (813)792-0637 or request an appointment.
By the way, Nora’s brother is two years younger than her and he is not nearsighted yet, but we are trying to prevent it with atropine eye drops. You can learn more about that here.
-Dr. Nate
PS - If you are an eye doctor who has employed any myopia control strategies with your kids, I’d love to talk to you about it. Email me at Doc@BrightEyesTampa.com.
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