Ortho K Contact Lenses
Just looking to see if anyone has experience using Ortho K Lenses and if anyone has any knowledge if the CAA are going to change their stance on these Lenses.
I am a contact Lens wearer with -1.00 and -1.75 short sightedness with mild astigmatism and find having to wear contacts every day quite a hassle.
I have been doing some research online and have read good reviews of these lenses now that they have been around for quite a few years.
On the CAA website it currently states: "Orthokeratology (or Ortho K) lenses – these are ‘reverse geometry’ lenses designed to remould the front corneal surface. They are often worn at night and removed during the day. Any change to the corneal shape (and hence improvement to unaided vision) tends to be lost during the day and wearers of these lenses are unable to have optimum vision throughout the day. For this reason, this type of lens is not acceptable."
This does make perfect sense, however there are numerous other reviews online which state that wearers are now commonly able to go for a number of days between each night wearing the lenses showing that the corrected vision should be retained perfectly long enough for a flight even if it is a very long one. I also have a close friend (non pilot) who wears theses and has no problems losing vision up to two days if he forgets to put them in one night.
I would like these lenses to be an option as not only could you trial them (unlike laser) but they would remove the hassle of dry eyes during a long flight. To give you some perspective, I am just beginning my aviation journey and shall be commencing my IR next month!