Dr. Meg Brya, our Corneal Refractive Therapy specialist, will determine a patient's eligibility for the procedure during a consultation. Some levels of nearsightedness and astigmatism are too great to achieve successful results with corneal refractive therapy and there may be other indications or conditions that would prevent a patient from achieving clear vision with these specialized contact lenses.
The following steps/considerations are involved in a Corneal Refractive Therapy consultation:
- The patient's prescription has to fall within a certain range
- Patient must not have any existing eye conditions such as dry eye, astigmatism etc.
- Measurements of the cornea are taken to individually design the lenses for each eye
- The doctor must evaluate the fit of the special lens on the eye before beginning treatment
- If the fit is acceptable, a staff member knowledgeable about contact lenses and their handling teaches, or reviews, insertion, removal, handling and proper hygiene
- The patient is seen the first morning after sleeping in the lenses to determine how much corneal shaping has occurred
- The majority of corneal refractive therapy patients are able to drive comfortably the first day; they may notice a slight difference in vision between morning and afternoon on the first day, but this difference usually lessens as the cornea retains it's shape over time
- Corneal refractive therapy patients are required to be seen the first morning after sleeping in the lens(es), then at one week (from the starting date of the corneal refractive therapy procedure), one month later, three months later and six months later
- Routine check-ups should be performed every six months so that the performance of the lenses can be monitored and the lenses can be professionally cleaned and polished