It’s been a while since I posted about this. Since I last posted, I received the pair of custom lenses and have been wearing them on a regular basis until now.
People often ask whether I can see with the lenses in. Yes, they correct the vision even during the acclimatization period, so if you absolutely have to be able to see, you can. I drove to LA wearing them before my vision was good enough to drive without them in. This is not a good idea though, because the overnight prescription is designed to be centered on the eye with your eyelids closed, which is not the same position (in my eyes at least) as when they’re opened. This can result in an off-center treatment area, and subsequent (temporary) vision quality problems when the lenses are removed.
It seems that I have unusually dry eyes, and as such, have had problems with the overnight wear. When I wake up, the contacts have been stuck to my eyes, requiring extensive wetting and re-wetting before they can be safely removed. If I don’t spend the requisite time (often as much as 15 minutes) working them to naturally unstick (and sometimes even if I do) taking them out results in the pealing off of a layer of corneal cells. The eye heals quickly, the pain goes away in a few hours, and this damage is usually mostly repaired by the time I put them back in in the evening, but it is far from optimal. Most patients do not experience this, and the lenses are still floating freely on a layer of tears when they wake up. Unfortunately, the dryness is causing enough problems that my doctor feels that I should discontinue wear of the lenses. This is unusual, given that OOK is often suggested as a treatment alternative for people who have dry eyes which make daytime wear of lenses uncomfortable.
I’m sad to be stopping.
Overall, I really like the lenses. It’s fantastic to be out and about without anything in your eyes, to be able to see while showering, swimming, or any other activity. After nearly a month of wear, the end-of-day degradation in vision quality has reached a point where I still find the vision acceptable even late into the night. It’s convenient to wear the lenses at night and have them out during the day – no more worrying about carrying around a case so that I can take them out if it gets too late while I’m still out, and no more painful eyes from wearing lenses too long during the day. The flexibility is nice. Of course, the opposite is also true: if I skip a night, the vision the next day is noticeably bad.
The quality of vision achieved with the lenses has been variable for me. Because of the dryness, particularly in the left eye, the vision is sometimes degraded while the damaged areas of the cornea heal. This manifests itself as general blurriness, and difficulty resolving fine detail which is generally gone a few hours after lens removal. Additionally, because I have unusually large pupils, I can see the edges of the treatment zone at night, resulting in halos. This has gotten better as I’ve worn the lenses long term, but is still present. Furthermore, low-light intensifies the natural daily degradation. I can still function just fine, and driving is no problem, but things aren’t crystal clear.
However, when there are not dryness problems, or I’m outside during the day, I’m able to see better with the treatment than I ever have before. Soft contact lenses do not compare. The world is fantastically crisp, so much sharper, more detailed. I highly recommend them, since for most (almost all) users, the dryness I experienced will be a non-issue.
Moving forward, I plan to wait a month or so for my eyes to fully return to their natural shape, and get a pair of hard contact lenses. Even though the treatment lenses were uncomfortable at first, the vision quality provided by the hard lenses far surpasses that of soft contacts. I think I’m willing to trade the slight comfort margin for the improved vision.
You might also want to look at my other posts on Overnight Orthokeratalogy.
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