OrthoKeratology
This corrects vision by reshaping the cornea as you sleep... which enables you to be lens free during the day!
Overnight wear of a type of corneal reshaping lense called "Corneal Refractive Therapy" (CRT) is the method used to 'reshape' the cornea.
This idea of correcting vision by reshaping the cornea has been around for some time. Doctors discovered the reshaping phenomena of glass lenses as early as the 1940s. Dr. Richard Wlodyga, is generally credited with developing the first reverse zone lens design in the 1980s.
In 2006 and 2007 papers presented at the British Contact Lens Association and the Global Ortho Keratology Symposium indicated the possibility of orthokeratology slowing or stopping myopic progression.
The lenses used in orthokeratology reshape the cornea by moving the epithelial cells that cover the surface of the cornea. Some studies indicate that the epithelial cells are compressed in some areas as well as relocated.
A common misconception in design is that the lens "presses" on the cornea, thus flattening the eye. In fact, the belief is that the forces generated by the reverse curve, cause the redistribution of the epithelial cells, and not pressure on the eye. Properly designed lenses do not touch the user's cornea.
At Karen Lockyer Optomotrists we are one of a few specialists in this field.