I started Ortho-K 3 months ago and I went to my eye doctor today. I am on my 5th pair of lenses. My 5th pair is worse than my 4th pair. 20/25 vision in R eye and he just said L is “bad”.
I saw my doctor today and expected him to order a 6th pair but he said this may be as good as I get. We are going to go back to my 4th pair for a week and then consider trying one last time.
We review my images each time I go in, and on my 5th pair, the L eye impression is barely 30%, whereas the R eye is 70% or so. On the 4th pair, both eyes were closer to 70% L and 60% R of a complete circle impression.
I have never been told I have astigmatism but I did once find records many years ago that stated “very mild” in one eye but I don’t remember which.
My issue is that we have not reached even 3/4 of the way to the ideal perfect impression on my eyes, and my doctor is saying may be the best we can get. I don’t even have 20/20 vision in either eye yet. This has been a much longer process than I ever thought but I am surprised to hear him say this is acceptable.
I have a lot of starbursts at day and night, and can’t drive after dark. Though full disclosure I have not driven after dark in several eyes due to night blindness, but the ortho-K lens have tremendously helped that. Now I can’t see because of the giant starbursts. I also can’t see in low light, especially if I go from outside to inside.
I get that I may not get a perfect full impression, but even the doctor said most people get more than I have. He also says his patients usually go through 3-4 lenses before finding the best fit. He thinks we have over corrected and need to step back. That another pair might always go too far over where we need to be. But I would think since they are custom lenses we can tweak them better than this.
Two friends who have had them since childhood both say they’ve never needed this many corrections and that a mild astigmatism was easily corrected with these. One goes to the same doctor and she had her pair for 10 years and feels that her new ones aren’t as good as her old pair, and she thinks the manufacturer isn’t as good as before. Kinda like light bulbs where they make them not last.
Would love any advice or thoughts. Especially about my doctor kind of giving me the impression that this is “as good as it gets”….
I want these lenses to work so that I can get my freedom back to drive in the evenings and dark, which I haven’t been able to do for 8 long years! (And living alone makes life very difficult, especially in winter, to do basic tasks!).
Also, since many people are interested in prices, I paid $500 for the lenses and paid a set payment of $1300 for all the appointments involving the lenses. It was not billable to my vision insurance. Charleston, SC.