A new solution is available to nearsighted people who cannot go through surgery to get rid of their glasses: orthokeratology.
Under this barbaric name hides a rather surprising technique: by wearing corrective lenses for 8 hours a night, the person can see clearly the following day.
These night lenses are also intended for children, helping to curb myopia in these young people whose eyes are growing.
While many French people have turned to surgery this year to permanently resolve their sight problems - and thus avoid fogging their glasses - a recent technique could be of interest to those who cannot pass on the billiard table.
Because their correction is too important, their cornea too thin, or the dryness of their eyes excessive ...
This option, recent and rather original, is to wear lenses at night to do without them during the day.
No, this is not science fiction.
This is called orthokeratology, which is aimed at adults, but also children.
How it works ?
With this system, it is possible for nearsighted people to only wear lenses at night and to see clearly as soon as the alarm clock rings.
“Thanks to a rigid lens, made to measure, that we will put on the eye just before going to sleep,” explains Romain Nicolau, ophthalmic surgeon in Paris.
When we do a surgical operation, we remove thickness from the cornea with a laser.
There, it is the lens that will flatten the cornea, but not in thirty seconds!
»Condition sine qua non: the lens must be kept for 8 hours per night.
The solution will therefore not be suitable for insomniacs, parents woken up four times a night, little sleepers or night workers.
Who is it for ?
This option is intended for people with myopia, but also for those who combine myopia and astigmatism.
With a limit: it works "for myopia up to - 7 diopters and astigmatisms up to - 4 diopters maximum", details Pauline Beaujeux, ophthalmic surgeon at the Rothschild Foundation hospital.
Second condition, for the children this time: you must have a minimum of autonomy.
“Wearing contact lenses for children is not trivial,” admits the expert.
When hygiene instructions are not followed, there may be a risk of infection of the cornea.
We can summarize by saying that a child ready to wear contact lenses washes his hands after going to the bathroom without being asked!
Despite everything, the use, made in the evening, is done most of the time under the supervision of the parents.
The first experiments with this solution were carried out more than ten years ago in France.
“It is a technique that requires training, there are few specialized ophthalmos,” explains Romain Nicolau.
It is gradually increasing.
Notably by word of mouth: we see a whole kindergarten class coming to the same specialist!
"
Is the correction final?
No, the effect on "corrected" eyesight lasts for one day.
Twelve hours, according to Pauline Beaujeux.
This is why it is important to wear these lenses every night and long enough.
“The lens will play two main roles,” she explains. The first is to be able to refrain from wearing any optical correction during the day, because the lens generates a remodeling of the central cornea, which perfectly corrects myopia. But there is also a therapeutic goal: to control the progression of myopia in children, a disorder which mainly develops at two ages, 6-7 years and 11-12 years ”. In the case of myopia, the eye becomes too long, too "big". And "the lens, with this remodeling, helps to slow down this growth of the eye. "
For Pauline Beaujeux, the interest in making this little-known track known is obvious. "It is a public health issue," continues the surgeon. The number of myopic children continues to increase. And they are becoming so earlier and earlier and with very progressive myopia. “Blame it on the family history, but also on the ubiquitous screens. “In France, a study published in 2015 estimated the prevalence of myopia at 20% before age 10 and 45% before age 25,” she explains. We expect, if nothing is done, to count one in two myopic people in 2050. However, myopia, especially when it is strong, exposes to develop ocular pathologies: maculopathy, glaucoma, retinal detachment and tearing ... "
These lenses do not make it possible to completely stop the myopic development, but to slow it down.
No chance therefore, that your child will end up with a visual acuity of 10/10, even after years.
"Meta-analyzes prove that the progression of myopia is reduced by at least 50%", insists the surgeon.
In other words, a child who would lose 1 diopter per year would drop to - 0.5.
"Myopia cannot regress, hence the importance of starting treatment early," she concludes.
The children who tested it tell me that it is magic to see clearly at the beach, for example.
"
Is it painful?
Problem: do you sleep really well with an external object pressing down on your eye all night long?
“The lens is rigid, so when you put it on, you have an uncomfortable feeling, like dust in your eye.
But this discomfort disappears when you close your eyes, reassures Pauline Beaujeux.
Children get used to it in a few weeks.
"
“Inside the lens, we put a liquid that interfaces between the cornea and the lens.
You will therefore not feel the support during the night, ”adds Romain Nicolau.
How much does it cost ?
The wearing of night lenses is not covered by Social Security, and in a variable way by mutuals, in the same way as soft lenses.
"It is a long and rigorous protocol, with several consultations to be planned", warns the surgeon.
Overall, it takes 450 to 500 euros per year all inclusive, to which are added the six or seven consultations the first year.
Knowing that these custom-made lenses are renewed every year.
Health
Dramatic Advances In Eye Surgery To End Cataracts
Health
Children who watch screens in the morning are three times more likely to develop language disorders
Glasses
Health
Eyes
Eye