Orthokeratology is the perfect vision correction option for a wide range of patients and offers practitioners an ideal way to build a strong relationship with their customers.
This was the message at a seminar hosted by No 7 Contact Lens Laboratory at the Institute of Optometry last week.
The Hastings-based hard lens specialist has already started an education programme among practitioners and is looking for more practices to take the technology on.
Sales and marketing manager Ian Goble said with over 18,000 Ortho-K wearers in northern Europe and many more in the US the technology was tried and tested. He said the target patient for Ortho-K was the soft lens wearer or the potential refractive surgery patient.
No matter how good soft contact lenses had become there was always some degree of discomfort for wearers especially those who spend time within air-conditioned or dusty atmospheres.
'Ortho-K achieved complete freedom from lenses all day,' he said. As they are worn during the night the effects of lid interaction and lack of oxygen were at their lowest.
For the potential laser surgery patient Ortho-K had the advantage of being non-invasive and completely reversible. 'We can now offer an alternative,' he said.
Providing a clinical perspective, professional services manager Katie Yeo said computer technology and modern manufacturing methods allowed predictable and safer lenses to be made. These were suitable for all patients up to corrections of -4.5D.
She also said there could be additional benefits for the young. Referring to a study in Hong Kong she said: 'Ortho-K seems to show that it slows down the progression of myopia in children.'
Also present at the IOO seminar were contact lens practitioner Shelly Bansal and his young patient Louisa Savage. Bansal, an Ortho-K user himself for 18 months, said the technique ticked the boxes of safety, health, comfort, convenience, freedom and myopia control.
He also pointed to the potential for slowing myopia onset and introduced his patient, Savage, as an example of a successful young wearer. He rejected the idea that young people were non-compliant per se, and said the night wearing regime gave parents additional control over compliance. Bansal said eye care practitioners had a duty to make all options available to their patients and Ortho-K was one of those options.
Savage said the lenses were comfortable to wear and the improvement to vision immediate. Since taking up wear of the lenses her vision has stabilised and she wouldn't want to have to give the lenses back. She also said friends had started to explore the idea of using Ortho-K having seen her experience.
No 7 has run 15 training sessions around the country and is planning more. It is also offering to support practice open evenings. The IOO offers Ortho-K for an initial fitting fee of £100 plus and fee of £40 a month which includes aftercare and replacement lenses every six months.
www.orthoklenses.com
