I was asked this question a couple of times this week, so I figured i would just answer it here. As many of you know, I am (by profession) a contact lens specialist and deal with all aspects of contact lenses. Personally, I absolutely love contact lenses because they correct my vision and I don’t have to go through risky surgery in order to see. My issue with glasses is that I lose my peripheral vision, so for biking, they are out. For running I find them incredibly annoying, and for swimming, I would need prescription goggles.
I used to wear daily disposables (proclear 1 day lenses were my lenses of choice) until I designed myself a pair of orthokeratology lenses. Basically, OrthoK lenses are worn to while I sleep. They are specifically designed to re-shape my corneas. The surface of the cornea is very sensitive to change, so basically the lenses act as a retainer to re-shape the front surface of my eye. When I wake up, I take out my lenses and I have perfect 20/20 vision.
I currently wear the OrthoK lenses about 5 nights a week. if I go more than 2 nights in a row without wearing them I do begin to notice my vision retracting back to it’s regular nearsighted correction. Orthokeratology is completely reversible, If I ever want to stop I just discontinue wearing the lenses and go back to my daily disposables.
I love OrthoK lenses for triathlon training because I never have to worry about rubbing out a lens on a long sweaty run, or losing lens while swimming. And frankly, some of the open water swims are not that appealing to me as I wear contacts. (acantheomeba is not pretty and it loves lake water…)
So in answer to the question, I wear OrthoK lense for my vision. They are the completely non-invasive way to alter your cornea and correct vision. And they work like magic.
As I stated earlier, I designed my own using a CAD contact lens design software called Wave. In my opinion it is the best way to go. (ofcourse I am a professional lens fitter, you can not design your own unless you are too. Talk to you eye care provider about OrthoK if you are interested.)