By Nigel Little 

Contact lenses for children  worn only while sleeping have allowed 8 year old Erin Craddock to throw away her glasses and enjoy perfect natural vision all day long. Erin suffers from high myopia meaning she is very short-sighted and previously had great difficulty seeing distant objects unless she wore her glasses. Even worse, her current high prescription of -7.0D was likely to continue to worsen throughout her childhood and adolescence meaning that her myopia would probably reach as high as -12.0D by the time she reached adulthood. This was a particular concern to Erin's parents who knew that many research studies have highlighted the potential risks of more serious eye health issues affecting people with high myopia in later life.

Through their efforts to find a treatment for Erin, her parents came across Overnight Vision Correction and learnt how the new ortho-k lenses which are only worn overnight not only correct existing myopia but can also prevent it from getting worse. This seemed almost too good to be true but they decided to book a consultation at one of the leading contact lens specialists in the UK, The Contact Lens Practice  in central Birmingham whose owner, Geoff Wilson, is a highly experienced ortho-k optician. Geoff confirmed that Erin would be suitable for the new ortho-k contact lenses for children  and her custom-designed lenses were duly ordered. The lenses work by gently flattening the surface of the eye during sleep to correct the focusing distance and after removing them in the morning, the effect lasts all day long until the lenses are reinserted at night.

After only one night of wearing the lenses, Erin and her parents were amazed at how well she could see and her treatment was effectively completed in a further few days. Most importantly, they also knew that a growing body of clinical studies including the US SMART Study  had demonstrated that ortho-k  contact lenses for children  did prevent myopia from continuing to worsen once lens wear had commenced. This reflected the fact that the lenses act like a retainer by controlling the shape of the eyeball and preventing it from elongating which is how myopia occurs in the first place and why it continues to worsen during a child's developing years. Erin can now enjoy all classroom and playground activities without needing glasses or daytime contact lenses and she knows that her eyesight will not worsen any further as she grows.

Check if your child is suitable for ortho-k corrective contact lenses for children .