What Are Night Contact Lenses?

Night contact lenses, also known as Ortho-K lenses, are a great option for people who are nearsighted and want to avoid wearing glasses or contacts. Ortho-K is an overnight vision correction treatment that uses custom-made gas-permeable contact lenses to reduce the need to wear glasses or contact lenses during the day. 

Read on as a Camarillo, CA optometrist discusses how night contact lenses work, the types of eye conditions that can be treated with Ortho-K lenses, and who’s a good candidate to wear them.

Orthokeratology – The Science Behind Night Contact Lenses

Orthokeratology, or Ortho-K, is a non-surgical procedure that helps people with nearsightedness. It involves wearing special contact lenses at night to gradually reshape your cornea and reduce your need for glasses or contacts.

If you’re nearsighted, your cornea—the clear covering at the front of your eye—is too steeply curved. This makes it hard for light to focus clearly onto your retina, which results in blurry vision when you look at objects up close (such as reading).

The goal of Ortho-K is to temporarily flatten out your cornea so that the light focuses properly on the retina when you look at near objects. Since these contacts are worn overnight, they can work their magic while you sleep!

Other Uses for Night Contact Lenses

Along with nearsightedness, there are many different types of eye conditions that Ortho-K can treat. Some of these include:

• Myopia (nearsightedness)
• Hyperopia (farsightedness)
• Astigmatism
• Presbyopia

Benefits of Wearing Ortho-K Lenses

While wearing glasses or contact lenses during the day gets the job done, being able to see clearly during the day without corrective eyewear is so much more comfortable and natural-feeling. 

Orthokeratology has many other benefits, as well, including:

• Improved quality of vision
• Improved comfort during sports activities and other activities where there is significant eye movement
• Reduced dependence on glasses or contact lenses
• It can help children whose eyes are still growing to see better without wearing glasses or contact lenses at all times

Who’s a Good Candidate for Night Contact Lenses?

If you’re looking for a solution to your vision problems, then orthokeratology might be the right option for you.

You are a good candidate for Ortho-K if you:

• Have been wearing glasses or contacts for more than two years
• Are nearsighted, farsighted, or have astigmatism
• Have had trouble keeping your glasses on your face or getting used to contact lenses.
• Want to be able to do sports without having to wear corrective eyewear
• Lastly, orthokeratology also works especially well at slowing the rate at which nearsightedness progresses in children

If you’re interested in learning more about night contact lenses and how they could help you improve your vision, feel free to call our Camarillo, CA optometry office anytime.