By Steve Roberts 

Contact lenses for children  which are only worn while sleeping could be the answer to the rapid growth in short-sightedness amongst the under 21s which many experts are now attributing to environmental factors. In particular, the fact that children spend too much time indoors in low level light staring at screens - games consoles, smartphones, computers and TVs - all of which are near vision activities. Professor Ian Morgan from the Australian National University) says that the crucial factor is simply the lack of natural light. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter produced in the retina under the influence of light, could avoid the excessive growth of the eye in childhood which causes short-sightedness, otherwise known as myopia.

According to Professor Morgan, if spending hours reading, playing or working on a screen promotes myopia, this is indirectly because children spend much less time outside. This theory corroborates a recent study of adolescents in Singapore, who were much less myopic when they spent more time on outdoor activities. However, the problem is that myopia is not reversible - once a child is diagnosed as being short-sighted, the key objective is to prevent the myopia from getting worse and if actions are not taken it is possible for the myopia to worsen by around half a dioptre every year. This is where ortho-k overnight corrective contact lenses for children  can provide a solution.

Under the mild pressure of closed eyelids during sleep, these unique lenses gently reshape the surface of the eye. This ensures that when the lenses are removed each morning, light entering the eye focuses directly on the retina rather than in front of it - which is why distant objects appear blurred to short-sighted sufferers. The effect lasts for 24 hours and the child thus enjoys perfect natural vision all day until reinserting the lenses at night. Studies have now shown that ortho-k lenses help stop child myopia from worsening by acting as a ‘retainer' on the eye. In poor weather conditions, children are naturally attracted to a warm, dry indoor environment in front of their favourite electronic gadgets. So overnight ortho-k contact lenses for children  are a parent's solution to ensure their short-sight does not get any worse.

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