Highbury Optometrists news

SUNDAY 01 MARCH, 2009 |

Say goodbye to glasses!

Late last year we started working with an exciting new procedure that allows us to correct vision without using glasses or day time contact lenses. This means you can have clear vision during the day free from contact lenses or glasses. Please call us to discuss whether Corneal Refractive Therapy will be suitable for you.

Corneal refractive therapy

The procedure, Corneal Refractive Therapy, (also know as Orthokeratology or orthoK) involves wearing a therapeutic contact lens overnight. The lens is removed upon waking in the morning resulting in clear normal vision during the day. The procedure was first used in the 1970s but recent advances in lens technology have made the procedure much simpler and a lot more successful.

Wearing the lens overnight causes the cornea (the outer lens of the eye) to be reshaped in such a way as to give clear vision after removal of the lens. The effect is not permanent and is in fact completely reversible, so that the retainer lens must be worn each night to maintain the new shape.

Our new digital corneal mapping equipment records the curvature of the front of the eye. And allows us to monitor how the shape changes during the procedure.

Slowing the progression of short sightedness:

Some independent studies have suggested that this procedure helps to slow down the progression of short sightedness in children and teenagers.

Limitations:

Corneal Refractive Therapy can work really well for many people. However, it is ideally suited for

• low to moderated myopia (short sightedness < -6.00)
• low astigmatism
• pre-presbyopia (age group < 45)

Digital Corneal Mapping

To assist with Corneal Refractive Therapy we purchased a new device, a digital corneal topographer.

This allows us to produce 3D digital maps of the cornea (the outer most lens of the eye).

This greatly enhances our ability to accurately fit all types of contact lenses as we can better match the shape of the contact lens to the eye.

In Corneal Refractive Therapy it is used to monitor changes to the corneal shape. It has also proved useful for the diagnosis of corneal eye disease such as Keratoconus which is very common in New Zealand.

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