By Steve Roberts 

Contact lenses for sports  worn only while sleeping could be a key means of getting more people involved in physical exercise with consequent significant benefits for health and well-being. This follows the results of a major research study by a leading contact lens manufacturer which has reported findings that reveal sport is the main reason for people who require vision correction to consider contact lenses. This is backed up by statistics from the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport which reveals that whilst almost 74% of people aged between 16 and 24 regularly play a sport, just 13% of those who require vision correction actually wear contact lenses.

Lack of confidence due to poor vision can be a significant barrier to people participating in sport and options like prescription goggles are only suited to specific activities such as water sports and skiing. By contrast, the new overnight ortho-k contact lenses for sport  offer a breakthrough to would-be participants by providing a means of correcting short-sightedness - otherwise known as myopia - where distant objects appear blurred. The great feature of these new sports lenses is that they are only worn while you sleep. After removal each morning, the wearer enjoys perfect natural vision all day long until reinserting the lenses at night.

Based on the long-established optical science of orthokeratology - or ortho-k for short - the new custom-designed contact lenses for sport  gently flatten the surface of the eyes during sleep using the mild pressure of closed eyelids. Once the lenses are removed each morning light entering the eyes focuses directly on the retina rather than in front of it because the eyeball has been slightly compressed. The effect lasts for over 24 hours so the wearer enjoys perfect vision until the lenses are reinserted. So they are perfect for ALL sports as key athletes  such as Richard Beck (Leeds Carnegie RUFC), Jo McGilchrist (Wasps and England) and Adam Burgess (GB Canoeing) can all testify.