Seeing well without visual aids: how good are ortho-k lenses that are only worn at night?

Created: 08/05/2022, 12:38 p.m

By: Juliane Gutmann

Do you have poor vision but don't want to wear glasses or lenses during the day?

Then orthokeratology lenses could be right for you.

The glasses slip, the lenses feel like a foreign body in the eye: people with poor eyesight often know these problems only too well.

But there is a solution: so-called orthokeratology lenses, or ortho-K lenses for short.

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How it works?

The dimensionally stable, highly oxygen-permeable Ortho-K lenses model the cornea in a targeted manner overnight, which corrects ametropia during sleep.

As the association Kuratorium Gutes Sehen eV (KGS) further informs, Ortho-K lenses can be worn by short-sighted people, people with presbyopia and people with a slight astigmatism.

“With the so-called Ortho K lenses, ametropia from +2.00 dioptres to -8.50 dioptres and astigmatism (corneal curvature) up to 2.5 dioptres can regain their vision overnight.

This means that you no longer have to wear visual aids such as glasses or "normal" contact lenses during the day," says the website of a Munich optician.

Eye health survey

Night lenses correct poor eyesight at night.

© Frank Hoermann/SVEN SIMON via www.imago-images.de

Ortho-K lenses are not suitable for farsighted people

Ametropia cannot be permanently corrected with night lenses.

If left off for a long period of time, the poor eyesight will return.

The Ortho-K lenses

for farsighted people : "However, the effect of night lenses is limited when it comes to correcting farsightedness," according to the Zurich Ophthalmology Center.

exercises for the eyes

In the book “Kleine Augenschule.

Compact guide: Exercises and tips for healthy and lively vision" (promotional link), author Wolfgang Hätscher-Rosenbauer shows how you can prevent visual problems with simple means and do your eyes good.

Ortho-K lenses are more complex to adjust than conventional lenses, as KGS informs.

Specially trained opticians and optometrists or ophthalmologists are the right contacts here.

The question of cost also arises with Ortho-K lenses.

According to Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, these cost

on average .

In addition, around 150 euros are due annually for special care products.

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Also important to know:

and the ametropia returns.

Users of Ortho-K lenses should always take this into account when they have to drive in the evening, for example.

Wearing glasses or lenses may become necessary - especially in the initial phase of night lens use.

After a month, however, the eye has adjusted to the visual aid, according to the Board of Trustees Good Vision.

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