Ortho K lenses for children

[CHATTY264]

Hi there my 8 year old son wants to try contact lenses the optician has recommended Ortho K lenses (the ones you wear at night only)
he’s told us the first week with them can be pretty rough getting used to them, so I’d just like to hear of your experiences with children having them. How did they cope, are they painful ?
after doing the research I think I quite fancy them myself tbh! Haha.
thanks in advance

My daughter did brilliantly at about the same age and didn’t need her glasses that first day after wearing them. After a few goes she found getting it in and out easy and the hygiene became routine.
BUT she developed a small ulcer on her eye a few years ago (luckily not over the pupil!) and can now never wear contacts again. The emergency eye doctor said it was caused by the lens. Back to glasses.
so, as a treatment it is brilliant but make sure you are fully aware of any potential issues.

I’ve had ulcers on my eyes twice and have never been told I can’t wear lenses again. I wear them almost every day. Ulcers can be caused by handling lenses with dirty hands or touching eyes with dirty hands, but it shouldn’t mean they can’t be used again. They’re not rare/unusual. I think get a second opinion on that one.

This was caused by the lenses and 2 separate eye doctors have said she is not to wear lenses again. She just wears glasses now like many people.

That's very interesting. Are they expensive?

We tried these and my son never got used to them, it was a daily battle and we gave up eventually.

I thought they were very expensive and in hindsight I think it was a hard sell by the optician who I now don't trust.

The selling point is that it is supposed to stop myopia getting worse and of course they don't need glasses during the day. But my son's prescription wasn't worsening anyway and has remained the same since we stopped.

We then tried soft contact lenses but he couldn't get used to them either so he's back to glasses and he doesn't need them for everything anyway.

He's 15 now so we'll see how it goes and maybe try the soft contact lenses in a year or two.

That said I've had 3 friends whose kids have had good experiences with ortho K.

We decided to go for it! Tonight is going to be the first night with them. I’m expecting the worst but hoping for the best. Wish us luck !

Wow that was rough!
it look 50 mins to get them both in, a lot of tears and upset. And him wanting to give up but with a bit of tough love he persevered.
so proud of him!
absolutely dreading him getting them out tomorrow morning !

Microbial ulcers are considered an ocular emergency. They can be visually devastating and depending on the microbe can lead to around 5-10% of those infected needing a corneal transplant and 1-2% having to have their eye removed.
Absolutely not something to be taken lightly and yes, many people who have had a microbial ulcer have permanent changes to their cornea which mean they cannot wear contact lenses again.

You can get other types of non-infective ulcers though in contact lens wearers which are less a concern and generally resolve without intensive treatment.

Generally if you're a contact lens wearer and your eye goes red, you should immediately remove your lenses and if it hasn't gone within a couple of hours or recurs call your optician.

@CHATTY264 glad it's going well.

Hope it is settling down now?

Can't speak for children but I've been using them for two years and it's been life-changing. It did take a good few days to get used to the feel of them though, and I don't know how well an 8 year old would cope with it. It's like having grains of sand in your eyes.