Contact lenses for dry eyes  worn only while sleeping could become a hugely important way of helping people with severe dry eye problems like Kyle Richards from popular soap show Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Richards revealed in the Daily Mail that her dry eye condition is so bad it has made filming nearly impossible on occasions: "I couldn't see and everything was blurry". She began noticing her eyes were painful around five years ago and needed to use eye drops to help her eyes stay temporarily moist. However, her condition continued to worsen to the point where she had to use eye drops every five minutes.

Eight months ago, Richards went to see an optometrist who diagnosed her with dry eye syndrome, or dry eye disease, a common condition that occurs when the eyes dry out and become inflamed, red and swollen. The condition arises when the eyes don't make enough tears or the tears evaporate too quickly and given that she lives in LA which is hot and windy and also wears daytime contact lenses, her condition was quickly aggravated. This is where ortho-k contact lenses for dry eyes  offer a major advantage since they are only worn while sleeping and correct short-sight overnight before being removed each morning.

Dry eye syndrome can be caused by other eye diseases or underlying conditions, side effects to certain medications and by hormonal changes, such as during the menopause and is therefore often considered to be age-related. However the condition affects people of all ages and has become more of a problem in recent years due to people spending too much time indoors in climate-controlled environments staring at computer and smartphone screens without blinking or taking a break. Whilst this has led to strong growth in sales of artificial tears and other mitigating treatments, the option of switching to ortho-k contact lenses for dry eyes  provides a better and cheaper solution over the longer term.