Ortho-K brings clear vision to children, teens, and adults, but our approach to treating vision differs greatly based on age.
Children/Teens
PRIMARY GOAL: Slow myopia to reduce eye disease risk when they reach adulthood.
SECONDARY GOAL: Allow for clear vision without cumbersome glasses/contacts.
DESIGN DIFFERENCES: Smaller treatment zone to slow myopia, looser fit for developing eyes.
To learn more about protecting your children’s eyes from myopia, refer to our Myopia Management page.
Adults
PRIMARY GOAL: Allow for clear vision without cumbersome glasses/contacts.
SECONDARY GOAL: To eliminate dryness from soft contacts or daytime wear gas permeable lenses.
TERTIARY GOAL: To modify your eyesight to better match your visual needs.
DESIGN DIFFERENCES: Maximal treatment zone width to enhance vision, with maximal alignment of lens periphery to ensure long-lasting clarity.
Sodium fluorescein (NaFl) image
Smaller, concentric treatment ring
Increases overall magnitude of myopic defocus
Subtle, concentric NaFl bleed here
Allows for transitionary myopic defocus within pupil
Design of an Ortho-K lens for a child
Lens designs for children must be different from those of adults because their treatment goals differ.
The goal with children’s lenses are smaller treatment zones which have been demonstrated to slow down myopic progression relative to large treatment zones.
Place your mouse over the white dots to learn what’s specific to children’s designs, then mouse over the respective dots in the adult design (shown below) to learn the difference.
Topography map
Small treatment zone
The red treatment zone is wrapped tightly around the pupil (white circle)
Peak values should be > 3
Red ring values of >3 (like these) are great for slowing progression.
Sodium fluorescein (NaFl) image
Larger, concentric treatment ring
A larger treatment ring also reduces glare
Lack of bleed inside of the concentric ring
Results in less glare at night for adult driving
Design of an Ortho-K lens for an adult
The treatment zones for an adult are wider because we don’t need to worry about myopic progression with adults.
The main concern with adults is glare minimization, so the treatment zone should be larger.
Mouse over the white dots to learn what’s specific to adult designs and then compare with the above childhood designs.
Topography map
Large treatment zone
The treatment zone (red ring) is outside of the pupil (white circle)
No myopic bleed into the pupil
Less bleed = less glare
Allow us to take part in your vision care and you’ll love what you see.