Overnight Corneal Reshaping: The Coolest Vision Treatment You’ve Never Heard Of
Oct. 11, 2016 | By Dr. Brill | In: Overnight Corneal Reshaping
If you wear daytime glasses or contacts, you may be thinking of trying a corrective surgery such as LASIK to eliminate the need for either. However, another option exists with which you may not be as familiar. It’s called Overnight Corneal Reshaping, and it is a non-surgical procedure which involves wearing special overnight contact lenses to reshape the cornea. The result is that patients can go through the day without the need for corrective eyewear. What are the benefits of this process, and why haven’t you heard of it before now? Brill Eye Center breaks down Overnight Corneal Reshaping for you!
Why Choose Overnight Corneal Reshaping?
Overnight Corneal Reshaping has several advantages over traditional corrective eye surgery. First, it is non-invasive. The contact lenses which are used to reshape the cornea are worn overnight and removed during the day. No surgery is needed to apply or remove them.
Second, Overnight Corneal Reshaping is reversible. If the desired results are not achieved through the reshaping process, the patient can stop wearing the lenses and return to his or her previous state of vision. This is also important in case new, more advanced corrective vision procedures should become available in the future. Patients who have worn reshaping lenses would still be candidates for these.
In addition, the cost of Overnight Corneal Reshaping is about half of the cost of traditional surgeries such as LASIK depending on the experience of the doctor and the specific needs of the patient.
Finally, the risk of side effects does not exist for this non-invasive procedure as it does for surgery. The benefits make Overnight Corneal Reshaping worth a second look.
Is Overnight Corneal Reshaping a New Procedure?
This corrective procedure has actually been around since the 1960’s, but has been known by several different names, which may account for part of the reason that it is still unknown to many people. In addition, it takes an optometrist with specialized training to perform Overnight Corneal Reshaping. Ideally, your doctor should have achieved a higher level of experience in fitting and management of this refractive care system of care and lenses. Look for your doctor to have achieved the distinction of being a fellow in the American Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control.
Doctors meeting these qualifications will have the F.O.A.A. distinction after their name along with their optometry credentials. Overnight Corneal Reshaping requires not only a significant amount of provider experience but also the proper clinical office equipment, like the Medmont Corneal Topographer, to determine how accurately myopia has been reduced. Because many doctors chose to not offer this detailed standard of refractive care, their patients may not have heard of this noninvasive procedure. The accuracy of treatment just keeps improving as the automated manufacturing processes become more advanced.
Overnight Corneal Reshaping provides the opportunity to be able to see without the inconvenience of daytime glasses or contacts or without the possible side effects and complications of corrective surgery.