Ortho-k lenses – My daughter’s myopia journey

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I heard of ortho-k lense 4 years ago. At that time, my daughter’s myopia just started with 50 degree at K1, then jump to 100+ once she entered to p1. I refused to let her wear the normal spectacle as I believe that would make eyesight even worse from my past experience (Did you see anyone with myopia getting better or myopia being controlled by wearing normal minus lenses? The answer is No.) so I did research and tried many methods to improve her eyesight, such as bates method, eye massage, see the wall chart, eye exercise, let her eat the eyefood and worn plus lenses for a years, etc.

Nothing seems to work, not even to maintain her eyesight. By the time at P2, she was -300 myopia. I keep on scolding her for squinting her eyes. That’s affect the relationship between me and my daughter as well. During this June holiday, I bought her to Chinese doctor to see if acupuncture will do magic for her. Unfortunately, the doctor told me that acupuncture will not help children with “real myopia”. That put my hope into the end. It seems that ortho-k is my last solution.

I did a lot of research online and compare with several ortho-k providers in Singapore (will post service and price comparison at my blog, ortho-k part II). I finally chose my current optometrist who is well-established and seems offer me the better deal. As my major concern is that my daughter is very sensitive to pain, after I talk and negotiate with my optometrist boss, he kindly agree to give me a trial period. The orthor-k lenses are tiny hard lense that the children will wear at night and take out in the day (just opposite the soft contact lenses). It mould the elongated cornea into the right shape at night so that children can achieve 20/20 perfect eyesight in the day. If the children stop wearing the lenses, the eye-sight will go back to old degree.

The idea is to control the myopia, but not cure it. In fact, myopia can’t be cured at this moment. To my surprise, my daughter can put on and take off the lenses by herself after the 1st day training. She also managed to clean and soak the lenses. Within a week, her eyesight have bounced back to perfect eye sight. She does not need spectacle or squint her eye anymore. I am so proud of her! Well, it had been two months since she was on orthor-k. so far so good. we still required to do eye checkup every 2 months which offered by my optometrist free in the package. Now, my daughter enjoy her daily sports and study activities without squinting her eyes. I am happy for her too. All the effort and money is worth it, the most importantly – freedom of life.

ortho-k lense

Hi any latest updates on this lens? Any of your kids had tried and you would like to share the experience as most of the posts are few years back. My son now is using myopia controlled lens, something similar to bifocal lens.

Ortho K Follow UP and LASIK following Ortho K?

Hi amylqf 

Is your your daughter still on ortho K.  Its nearly 5 years on.  How has she found it? 

Has anyone done any research to see if the children can eventually do LASIK when they are old enough after long term use of Ortho K?  

Thanks

 

Ortho K follow Up and LASIK following ORtho K

Hi amylqf 

How is your daughter going with the Ortho K.  Its been 5 years, is she still on it? Would you still recommend it? 

Just wanted to hear back from other parents about how the results are following long term use.  Is it still controlling her myopia.  Has she had any complications? red eye, infections etc..? 

Thanks

LPK

Otho-k lenses

Dear Amylqf

I understand that Mr Andrew, boss of Point Optical has passed away.  Can you kindly recommend the optical shop you currently visit for your kids Otho-k lenses?  My email address is [email protected]

Appreciate your soonest reply.

buzzmum

LASIK

LASIK exacerbates dry eyes and is irreversible which means if your eye power is not stable, chances are you will still have blurry vision after LASIK. Even if your eye power is stable, by the time when you reach middle age, presbyopia (LAO HUA) will set in and eventually you will still be glasses dependant.

orthok and implantable contact lens are what I would recommend. They are reversible and relatively lower risk of having an infection compared to LASIK. 

Hi whiteangel0302, are the

Hi whiteangel0302, are the numbers (+4.00 and +3.00) you were talking about pure astigmatism? If that is the case i am afraid orthoK may not be an option for your child. On the other hand I would be more concerned about your child’s binocular vision because if such power is not handled properly, it may progress into amblyopia (lazy eyes).

I would suggest you to bring your child to an optometrist and book an comprehensive eye checkup which should include binocular vision check up. 

Myopia

Hi mommyes. I would recommend a thorough eye degree  check (including an eyedrop test) for your child before making any form of correction because it is quite unlikely for a 10 year old to have such degree, not to mention the amount of astigmatism. Once confirmed, it would be advisable to monitor the progress every half a year no matter which myopia control measure you are opting for.

Question on progress

I noticed this blog was written in 2010, can you please update on progress of your daughter. Did her myopia increase or is it stable with ortho-K? I have a 10 year old, and we went the glasses route her eyesight is -5 & -5.75 with 3.50 stigmatism in both eyes. Desperately looking for ways to slow down on stop her progression. Please respond!

Does this help for astigmatism?

hi , i just discovered my 6 yr old has astigmatism..+400 in her right n +325 in her left… im currently doing eye massage, good eye habits and everything possible to control as i am very worried it will escalate to myopia( as i have very high myopia myself). Will this ortho-k work for her??

Thanks for sharing :)

Thanks for sharing 🙂

ortho k

Wow, within 10 days your daughter can already see 20/20. That’s fantastic. Do tell which optometrist you go to ? My daughter have been seeing Stan Isaacs for almost 8 month but till date still under trial and error. Please e-mail me at [email protected]. Thanks

Lasik laser

Before surgery I couldn’t see anything clearly without glasses. Even worse, all outdoor activities were a strain. Needless to say I couldn’t score many points playing basketball. At work I wasn’t able to use a computer for more than an hour before I started getting head aches. This not only affected my performance but also my attitude. Now that I’ve had the surgery I finally have a full field of vision during every waking hour. Being able to walk outside with no glasses or contacts and seeing everything is amazing. I highly recommend Lasik laser surgery.
 

Very useful information

I was searching through the forum and very happy to find this posting, it’s very useful as my girl is in the same situation.  

I do have a few questions:

1. which branch of The Point Optics Group did you go to?  can you please also share with me the detail of your optometrist.

I check on the web they have a few branches.  I am staying in the west so likely to try the CCK branch.  The other choice is Mee Mee Optics @BT Plaza but they don’t have trial period 🙁 

(anyone try Ortho-K with Mee Mee Optics before? any feedbacks please?)

2. you mentioned about free lens cleaning service, is that a regular service required and for those shop that does not provide free cleaning, do we just pay a fee or we can do it ourself at home?

3. On average, how much extra time is needed to finish this rountine ? 10 mins at night and 10 min in the morning?  My girl is in the morning session so guess that means she got to wake up even earlier for this 🙁

many thanks.

Neuovision

I heard about it and never tried it because it has age and myopia power limitation, and also something to do with child maturity. cost wise, it could be more exp. and require more focused time to visit the eye clinic.

By the time, my girl is mature enough to sit in front of computer for hours, he eyesight has already getting worse exceed the power limitation.

To: Funx3

Thanks for sharing your story.

There is one time, my girl somehow drop 1 lense on the floor.
Luckily i found it when I swept the floor and nothing step on it.
other I just have to spend $$ again.

Note of caution : Hard Lens can break with Careless Handling

Due to her active participation in Sports Gym, my DD has started wearing the Hard Lens with outstanding results this year.

She’s in P5, and has been progressing from wearing spectacles from 200+ degrees in P3, to 300+ in P4, and 400+ in P5.

I always wonder how she manages to flip and sommersault on the Balance beam for her Gym Routine (the beam is ~4" wide, raised 1.2m above ground). She does not wear spectacles when she’s doing her Gym Training, as it obstruct her training.

And one of this Fine day, she scares the skin off my back telling me her Little secret "Agak-Agak Lah, Mummy – Actually I could not see clearly, Go by Judgement and Past experience ….."

So starting from Apr this year, she’s been wearing the hard lens and within 10 days, her eye sight is back to Normal.

She’s been wearing the lens since then, even bringing it for overseas trips, and recently to her P5 school camp!

Unfortunately, this week while she was cleaning the lens, one dropped and She accidentally stepped onto it. The Lens cracked into 3 pieces and we have to get it replaced.

Sigh….. the hard lens is not cheap, even with discount, it cost us $500+ to replace ……

So a word of caution, if you opt for this lens, make sure your kids are ready and are responsible to take care of the daily wearing, taking out, proper cleaning and maintainance of the lens – The lens should be able to last 2 to 3 years, before replacement.

My Optician was telling us her youngest customer is a 8 year old (last year’s age), who happens to be my DD’s Gym Mate. And recommended  eye sight not > 600 degrees, astigmatism not more than 150 degrees to achieve the best result.

 

 

how about NeuroVision?

how about NeuroVision? anyone has any experience with this to correct eyesight?

My daughterhave myopia at

My daughterhave myopia at k1. Started at 100+degree. And progress to 400+ inabout 1.5 years. Then I came across this ok lens. I am glad that now she is able to see without glasses. And hope it can slow down the progression of degree, as what they claimed.

Higher myopia

My son is only 5+ now and he is wearing 400+ degrees glasses! I only realised he was myopic about year ago and he was already 300+ degrees. In less than a year, it went up more than 100 degrees and I can’t keep up with the replacement of glasses! After reading your case about ortho-k, I wanted to let my son try very much, but he is such a sensitive child. He would not even let me put eye drops in his eyes when he had squinting or allergy problems. Should I just go ahead with consultation/trial?

Thanks for sharing your experience

Looking forward to your part 2 as I’m also considering ortho-K but have not actively started yet, as my son also has high estigmatism since 5 yo 🙁

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