| Dr. Allison Zaum is an Optometrist and has answered some common questions that Bizymoms visitors have about Corneal Refractive Therapy (CRT).
Q. What is Paragon CRT?
A. "CRT" stands for Corneal Refractive Therapy, a technique to correct nearsightedness and astigmatism that also is known as Orthokeratology. Paragon is one of the companies that makes FDA-approved lenses for this treatment. The technique involves being fitted with rigid gas permeable contact lenses with progressively flatter curves. The patient sleeps in the lenses overnight, and removes them during the day. The lenses compress or flatten the corneas during sleep, effectively changing the patient’s prescription. After a certain period of time that varies with the person’s prescription and corneas, the patient may only need to sleep in the lenses a couple of times per week. The procedure can correct nearsighted prescriptions up to -6.00 and astigmatism up to -1.75 Diopters.
Q. Is Corneal Refractive Therapy Permanent?
A. The procedure is totally reversible. If you stop wearing the lenses altogether your corneas will go back to the prescription they started at.
Q. Can anyone undergo Paragon CRT?
A. The treatment is approved for children and adults with the above stated nearsighted or astigmatism corrections. Certain patients may not be good candidates for the treatment, depending on their corneal health and/or prescription. The procedure at this time does not correct farsightedness or presbyopia (the normal age-related loss of reading or near vision).
Q. How long does it take to reach good vision?
A. This will vary with each patient, but generally within a few days to a couple of weeks.
Q. Are there any risks involved with undergoing Paragon CRT?
A. The lenses may be uncomfortable at first. If a patient can’t tolerate them they may choose to terminate the procedure. There are always risks of eye infection with any contact lens wear, so proper cleaning and handling procedures need to be followed. Patients may have blurry vision for the first few days of treatment, so that soft contact lenses may be needed to allow patients to drive and function during their day. Since the procedure is reversible, there are no long term risks. There are some studies that indicate that CRT may actually help prevent children from becoming more nearsighted.
Q. How old should a child be to wear contact lenses?
A. This will really depend on the child; I always ask the parents if they feel their son or daughter is mature and responsible enough to be able to take care of the lenses and feel comfortable touching their eyes. A child that forgets to wash his or her hands, or frequently loses glasses, may not be a good candidate. Motivation is also important, and again, it depends on the child; I have had 8 year olds do great with contacts and 15 year olds not be able to manage inserting and removing them.
Q. Can anything be done to prevent kids from becoming nearsighted?
A. As mentioned above, there is some indication that CRT may prevent increases in nearsightedness or myopia. Other studies have shown that putting children in bifocal contact lenses also can prevent nearsighted prescriptions from increasing. As far as preventing nearsightedness in a child that doesn’t yet require glasses, much of myopia is genetic or inherited from the parents; if both parents are nearsighted, there is a very good chance that the child will be as well, at some point in his or her life. However nearsightedness can occur in a child whose parents don’t need glasses at all. One very interesting recent study showed that myopia progression could be prevented in children (and in adults) who spend at least 12-13 hours per week outdoors in sunlight. We don’t yet know why this is the case, but I recommend you have your kids play outside as much as possible!
Q. How can we contact Dr. Zaum if we have further questions?
A. You can email us at pacificeyecare@comcast.net. Please put "question for Dr. Zaum" in the subject line. You can also come by our office in the Rengstorff Center (just off 101 at Rengstorff Avenue, in the same shopping center where Office Max and Costco are located). And our telephone number is (650) 968-3937. Our website is www.pacificeyecareoptometry.com. |
