Orthokeratology - Vision For Athletes

First, let's discuss eyeglasses and sports. Or even eyeglasses and an active lifestyle. There is no question about it, for the average eye a pair of eyeglasses will provide the crispest and clear vision straight ahead. That straight ahead vision is great, however peripheral vision, or anything that is not straight ahead will be distorted. The higher the correction needed the more peripheral distortion a wearer will notice. And please not that by eyeglasses, I am not referring to UV protection or reading correction such as reading sunglasses. I am only referring to actual prescription eyeglasses that are used by many on a daily basis.

So eyeglasses can work great for certain sports, when peripheral vision is not needed. But if you are playing any ball sports, such as basketball, racquetball, or even hockey, eyeglasses can be a hindrance because of the distorted peripheral vision.

Another drawback of eyeglasses is fogging. By nature, they will tend to fog up as a person sweats. Fogging eyeglasses do not provide good vision for obvious reasons, so the sweaty athlete has to constantly remove them and wipe them off. I won't even discuss water sports or wearing eyeglasses in the rain because they do not work well then either.

The next most popular option is contact lenses. Contact lenses work wonders and provide the wearer with natural vision. By natural vision, I mean there is no peripheral distortion and the wearer can see as if they have perfect eyesight to begin with. For sports they are far superior to eyeglasses.

By the way, if you are a contact lens wearer and are unhappy with your lenses, revisit your lens fitter or find another one. There are literally hundreds of varieties of contact lens and care systems that can usually make most anybody more comfortable in there lenses.

Even with the best fit lenses, when playing sports you may run into issues. Because a majority of the public wears soft contact lenses, I will discuss the potential drawbacks of soft lenses while playing sports.

Soft contact lenses are made of plastic and water (actually saline). The pH balance of the environment that the lens lives in (your eye) dictates if it will remain comfortable. When we play sports, we sweat which gets into our tear film and creates a more alkaline environment. In this environment, lenses tend to tighten up and become less comfortable and foggy.

This will cause foggy or intermittent vision, and if the wearer rubs the lens it can potentially get rubbed out. This would be more common in thin lenses such as one day disposable lenses.

So as you see, contact lenses, while superior to eyeglasses for sports will still pose potential issues.

So what is the best option for athletes? It is one most people reading this have probably never heard of. The process is completely safe, completely reversible and totally effective.

I am talking about Orthokeratology. Commonly referred to OrthoK, this is a process that uses gas permeable contact lenses while a person sleeps. The lenses are designed to re-shape the front surface of the cornea. The cornea is the clear window of the eye in which vision passes through. Be altering the shape of the cornea vision can be corrected. This is the same principle that is used for refractive surgery, however there is no surgery involved and it is completely reversible.

Your eye care provider will fit a lens precisely to your eye and refractive correction. You put the lens on before you go to bed and remove it in the morning when you wake up. Upon removing the lens, you will be able to see! Without contact lenses or eyeglasses.

The lens you wore while sleeping temporarily reshaped the front surface of your eye allowing you to see clearly. Your eye will slowly (over 24-48 hours) return to it's normal shape. In the meantime you can see.

OrthoK is added to your evening and morning regiment, just put them on at night and take them off in the morning and you will be able to see. Whether you are running, sweating, playing basketball, baseball, hockey, badminton, or cycling; you will be able to see. Swimming is a breeze, no more lost lenses in the pool or risk of infection from pool water. And no more prescription goggles!

So if you are an athlete suffering with your vision correction, ask your eye care provider about OrthoK, you will be so happy you did.

OrthoK can not be performed on everybody, so ask your eye doctor if your vision can be improved. You should note that like most vision corrections, OrthoK only corrects distance vision. So if you need
For sports, I have not found a safer and better method for correcting vision.">