LASIK and Refractive Non-Surgical Options

BayCare Clinic Eye Specialists offers several non-surgical refractive eye procedures, which allow people to go without glasses or contact lenses

Refractive eye procedures is a generic term for any treatment that bends, or refracts, light to re-focus it to improve vision. 

Most non-surgical refractive eye procedures use nighttime contact lenses to change the shape of the cornea, the transparent layer that covers the outer surface of the eye.

What kinds of non-surgical refractive eye procedures are available?

Our specialists offer the following types of refractive eye procedures that do not involve surgery:

• Orthokeratology
• Monovision correction

What is orthokeratology?

Orthokeratology, or Ortho-K, uses specially designed, FDA-approved contact lenses for temporarily correcting nearsightedness. People of any age, including children, can benefit from Ortho-K.

Ortho-K, which uses specially designed rigid gas-permeable contact lenses to temporarily change the curvature of the cornea. That change improves the eye’s ability to focus on objects, thus reducing nearsightedness. Ortho-K lenses are most commonly worn at night, while sleeping. They’re taken out in the morning and are not worn during the day. 

Most people see clearly after the overnight treatment. Studies indicate that Ortho-K can slow – but does not stop – the progression of nearsightedness.

What are therapeutic contact lenses?

Corneal refractive therapy, or corneal reshaping, corrects nearsightedness with contact lenses that temporarily reshape the cornea. The contact lenses are worn at night, allowing people to go without glasses or contacts during the day.

Corneal refractive therapy is most effective for people of all ages with low to moderate nearsightedness and for those with mild astigmatism. It may be an option for teens who are too young to qualify for laser eye surgery. It does not correct farsightedness or eliminate the need for reading glasses.

People with dry eyes and those who have avoided contact lenses because of discomfort may benefit from corneal refractive surgery.

What is monovision correction?

Monovision correction uses contact lenses to treat presbyopia, which causes difficulty with near vision in older people.

One eye is optimized for distance vision and the other eye optimized for near vision. The non-dominant eye is left slightly nearsighted. The eyes still work together with adequate depth perception.

This option allows people having monovision correction to go without reading glasses.