My eyesight is now 20/20...without lasers!

[HUNKERMUNKER]

I've worn my glasses for just over a month to let my eyes go back to 'natural' after wearing gas permeable lenses almost every day for nearly 15 years. My eyes were -5.0 and -4.5, the -5.0 had a 1.73 astigmatism too.

I wore the Ortho-k lenses for the first time on Monday night and when I had my eyes tested on Tuesday morning, they had changed to -1.25 from -4.5 and -2.25 from -5.0 (and the astigmatism was 0.29, so barely noticeable).

Wednesday, even better - could read the 20/20 line with my right eye (the one that had been -5.0) and the left eye is not far behind.

This morning, both eyes are very nearly perfect.

So, if anyone's considering laser surgery, I thought they might like to know that for some people at least, there is an option without the long-term uncertainty of laser surgery - I am SO happy with the results!

[hewlettsdaughter]

What are Ortho-K lenses? I haven't heard of them.

[nutcracker]

Oooh yes more info please, sounds good.

[HUNKERMUNKER]

They're gas permeable lenses that you wear overnight - they move the cells on the surface of the eye so that you can see (there's a more technical explanation, I'm sure!).

They aren't widely available atm - I'm lucky as my optician wears them so he's obviously very interested in the technology! There are a few places throughout the country that offer them though.

[JanH]

I just looked it up here - it sounds incredible - doesn't say how much it costs though, and does say that after correction ongoing costs (because you have to wear the lenses every night like a dental retainer) are similar to that of ordinary contact lenses.

How much, please, hunker?

[HUNKERMUNKER]

Well, I was paying £25 a month for my gas permeable lenses that I wore during the day. That price included two pairs of lenses a year, all my solutions, replacement lenses if I lost/squashed one and my eye tests and contact lens checks.

I'm now paying £40 a month, which includes the same as above, but I can wear my lenses at night and my eyes feel much more comfy as they're 'naked' during the day - and I can see without lenses! I'm sure the price will come down as more people offer them - when I first started wearing gas permeable lenses they were a lot more expensive.

[nutcracker]

Wow that is great, i would really be interested in that and so would my mom, will show her later.

[jamiesam]

They sound great! But did they hurt? Your description makes it sound like the lenses change the shape of your eye.

[yoyo]

Do you just wear them to bed? Do they irritate at all? My prescription is a lot higher than yours so don't know if that affects the success. Sounds fantastic though. Are there any possible long-term effects on the health of the eye?

Quite an exciting advance.

[TheVillageIdiot]

Do you have to wear them every night for your eyes to stay corrected? I'm -2.25 or something

[RudyDudy]

That sounds amazing HM. My DH would be interested in that as he has v. poor vision but is not keen on the thought of laser surgery (I don't blame him, neither would I be). His eyes are worse than yours were - do you know is there a limit to how bad they can be for this to work?

[jamiesam]

JanH's link (thanks, missed that before) says they can deal with -5 (and -1.5 astigmatism) but will be able to deal with -10 soon. Thought I was quite short sighted. -10 must be only being able to see the nose in front of your face! Not sure if that means they'll work for dh or not .

Link also explains that you would have to wear them every night for the rest of your life, or eye shape will revert and short-sightedness return.

Am even more interested now!

[jamiesam]

Sorry, that was a joke about my dh (not being able to see beyond the nose on his face....)

[HUNKERMUNKER]

No, they don't hurt (they're more comfy than my ordinary daywear gas permeables). The change of shape on the front of the eye is at cell level, so it's not like your eyeballs suddenly go pointy

The only long-term effects are the same as wearing contact lenses (irritation, risk of infection, etc) - but if you keep your lenses clean, that shouldn't be a problem. Like I said, I've been wearing this kind of lens (actually a slightly less breathable one) most days for 15 years and not had any problems. My eyes actually feel better than they did when I was wearing lenses all day - you don't get affected by air-conditioning, etc as you aren't wearing lenses except when you're asleep

[GeorginaA]

WOW that looks fantastic... expensive, but fantastic! Are they comfortable to sleep in at night - i.e. do you notice they're there?

[GeorginaA]

(what I mean is, that I've only worn soft lenses - don't know if I could cope with gas permeables!!)

[HUNKERMUNKER]

Very comfy - I want to take them out when I wake up iyswim, so I do!

I felt that an extra £15 a month was not much for the amazingness of having no lenses in during the day. I feel SO liberated!

[HUNKERMUNKER]

Personally, I hate soft lenses - I wore dailies the first day of this and had tried another pair previously (the ones you leave in all month) - I just cannot get used to the 'pinching something off your eye' thing!

I think that these lenses are less likely to irritate as you're asleep when you wear them - that means that the lens isn't moving around as you blink.

[Enid]

they sound like the answer to my prayers, thanks for the recommendation

[HUNKERMUNKER]

S'OK Whereabouts are you, Enid?

I'm just so amazed by them - when my optician took them out the first morning (I'd gone in there to see how much my sight had changed), even he was really surprised by how much I could see - seems wearing gas permeables for as long as I have already may have meant that my eyes were used to being shoved about a bit (gas permeables reshape your eye subtly anyway, another reason I had no qualms about this treatment).

[GeorginaA]

Been reading up on it, does look good (but pricey gulp) - are you being offered the lens resurfacing every 3 months in with that fee?

[GeorginaA]

Heh... not that there's anyone accredited anywhere near me...

[jamiesam]

Presume that for the few days/ week while the eye-shape-changing thing is going on, your sight can't be further corrected. That is, you can't drive etc between the start and the end of the 'treatment'?

Keep thinking - £40 a month, £480 a year. Hmmm. Currently paying £16 a month for my soft contact lens deal. Might have to wait for prices to come down (and degree of shortsightedness they can deal with to go up). Thanks for info.

[HUNKERMUNKER]

I wore daily disposables for the first day, but didn't need them after that. Haven't driven, but don't usually. Wouldn't mind doing it though!

[JanH]

jamiesam, I used to be -10! And yes, your assumption is correct - you really can only see clearly to the end of your nose (useful for identifying negatives for reprinting but not a lot else).

(Later I got up to about -5 astgmatism on top, which made life v difficult; I couldn't drive at all at night and shouldn't have driven in daylight either, and ended up having lens-replacement surgery - like for cataracts - now my distance vision is perfect but I can't see my nose (or pluck my eyebrows) - it's a hard choice! These ortho-k things sound fantastic )

[marthamoo]

I'm paying £10 a month at the moment for soft lenses - so £40 is quite a hike. One for when I'm working again I think...I'm -3.5 and -3.25 and I thought I was very short sighted!