If it helps anybody, I visited the institute of Optometry this morning for a consultation for Ortho-K.
I might be stating what has already been said elsewhere, but it seems that it is only suitable for those with asigmatic and myopic errors. Because the cornea is flattened, it is not suitable for those with hyperopia.
I've hyperopia and astigmatism; if I were to pursue a course of Ortho-K, my long-sightedness would become more acute. I pushed the consultant to see if they would treat the astigmatic component, as it's this that is stopping me getting a class 1; a side-effect of this woud be to increase my long-sightedness, meaning I would need to continue to wear spectacles during the day to correct this. However, she advised against this as, although she would anticipate that my long-sightedness would still be within limits, natural variation in the treatment may push it beyond the initial class 1 limits, thus rendering the treatment pointless.
She wasn't aware of whether the CAA issue class 1 medicals to individuals who use Ortho-K. Also given the flattening of the cornea, it would be obvious to any examiner so you would have to disclose the fact that you had attemped to treat your eyesight. The rule about all lenses being removed would not in itself prevent you from correcting to the standards, as if the lenses are used over a period of time, the flattening of the the cornea can be maintained for considerable periods of time.
Strictly speaking, Ortho-K is only designed to treat those with astigmatism upto -1.5D and short-sightedness upto -4.5D. Although errors may be reduced for errors beyond this, total correction is not usually possible. These are within the limits required for a CAA class 1, so anybody who is actually suitable for Ortho-K will probably already be able to a gain a class 1...
waterpau