Are You Likely to Be an Ortho-K Candidate?

Read This First

With that stated plainly, the checklists below are genuinely useful. Most people who come to us already know which side of the line they are likely on, and the ones who are surprised are usually surprised in a good way: patients told they were not LASIK candidates frequently turn out to be strong Ortho-K candidates, because thin corneas are far less limiting when no tissue is being removed.

Signs You May Be a Good Candidate

The more of these that describe you, the more likely an evaluation is worth your time.

• Your prescription is low to moderate myopia, roughly in the range where most Ortho-K designs perform predictably.
• Your astigmatism, if you have any, is regular and not severe.
• Your eyes are otherwise healthy, with no history of corneal disease, injury, or surgery.
• Your eyes are reasonably comfortable through a normal day and you do not have severe or medically treated dry eye.
• You are willing to follow a nightly routine of about ten minutes, indefinitely, without negotiating with yourself about it.
• You sleep roughly six to eight hours most nights, on a reasonably regular schedule.
• You are a child or teenager whose prescription has increased at the last two annual exams.
• You are a parent who will own the routine until your child is capable of it.
• You play contact sports, swim, or work in dusty, windy, or heavily air-conditioned conditions.
• You tried soft contacts and stopped because of dryness, allergies, or end-of-day discomfort.
• You want the outcome of refractive surgery without the permanence, or you have been told you are not a surgical candidate.
• You would rather have something reversible than something final.

Signs You May Not Be a Good Candidate

Any single item here is a reason to have a careful conversation rather than an automatic no. Several of them together usually means Ortho-K is not the right treatment for you, and we would rather say so at the consultation than after you have paid for lenses.

• Your myopia is very high, to the point where overnight reshaping would leave meaningful residual blur.
• You have significant or irregular astigmatism that a topography-guided design is unlikely to resolve.
• You have been diagnosed with keratoconus or another corneal ectasia.
• You have severe dry eye, particularly if it is being medically managed.
• You have active allergic eye disease, chronic blepharitis, or recurrent eye infections.
• You have had corneal surgery, a corneal transplant, or a significant corneal injury or scar.
• You have a corneal dystrophy or another condition affecting corneal health or healing.
• You are unwilling or unable to maintain strict hygiene, including keeping water away from lenses and cases.
• You routinely sleep fewer than about five hours, or your sleep schedule is highly irregular.
• You want correction only occasionally rather than every day.
• You are looking for a treatment that requires nothing of you after it is done. That is a description of surgery, not of Ortho-K.
• You have been promised a specific visual outcome elsewhere and would be unhappy with anything less. No one can guarantee an acuity.

If several of these describe you, Ortho-K vs LASIK and Ortho-K vs Soft Contacts are the honest next reads.

What an Actual Evaluation Answers

A checklist works with categories. An examination works with your specific corneas, which is a completely different level of information.

• Corneal topography for both eyes. A point-by-point curvature map showing whether your corneal shape will reshape predictably, and how each lens should be designed.
• Refraction. Your exact prescription, including the astigmatism component, measured rather than estimated from an old pair of glasses.
• Tear film assessment. Whether your tear quality will support comfortable overnight wear.
• Corneal health evaluation. Surface integrity, any scarring, and signs of conditions that would rule out lens wear.
• Baseline axial length, for children. The measurement that makes it possible to tell later whether myopia control is working.
• A written figure. What your program costs, before you commit to anything.

The visit runs 60 to 90 minutes, starts at $250, and is credited toward your program if you proceed. You leave knowing the answer either way. Details are in Consultation and Candidacy, and you can request a consultation whenever you are ready.