Parents who have just bought OK glasses and are new to the industry, please take a look. You may encounter these problems.

After using OK lenses for a while, you are familiar with wearing and removing them, and you are also familiar with lens cleaning and care. Is there no problem? Probably not. Dr. Jingcai summarizes other possible problems for you. Once you encounter them, you will not panic. As usual, this is pure popular science, no deception, no selling, please feel free to read.

Bubble problem under the microscope.

After wearing OK lenses, parents and children need to carefully observe whether there are bubbles under the lenses. OK lenses are precisely fitted according to the corneal morphology of each child, and the presence of bubbles after wearing the lenses will cause indentations on the cornea under the combined action of the OK lenses and bubbles. Occasionally, it will affect the visual quality of the next day; if it happens frequently, it may affect corneal reshaping and myopia control. When wearing glasses, children should try to keep their eyes on the glasses and not move them around; drip eye drops or artificial tears on the concave surface of the lens so that the child can cooperate with lowering his head to wear the glasses, which can also effectively reduce the formation of bubbles; after putting on the lenses, the eyelids should be slowly loosened instead of immediately, which can also reduce the possibility of bubbles.

Follow-up question.

After fitting the OK lenses, the doctor will generally ask the child to return to the hospital for a follow-up visit on the second day, one week, one month, three months, etc. at the beginning, since they are still unfamiliar with OK lenses, most parents are relatively "obedient" and go back for follow-up visits on schedule. However, after wearing the lenses for a long time, some parents become lazy, which is absolutely unacceptable. It is best to have a follow-up visit every three to six months. First, the doctor can help judge the effectiveness of myopia prevention and control, and whether there are other problems worthy of attention; second, remember to bring the lenses to the follow-up visit, and let the doctor help check the status of the lenses and whether it is necessary to replace them. The follow-up visit is directly related to the effectiveness and safety of myopia prevention and control of OK lenses, so everyone must pay attention.

Should children be given antibiotic eye drops while wearing glasses?

Absolutely not. Some parents have heard that orthokeratology lenses may have a certain impact on the corneal epithelium. In order to prevent infection, they arbitrarily use antibiotic eye drops such as levofloxacin on their children. This is completely unnecessary and even harmful. Antibiotic eye drops are only necessary when there is a clear eye infection, and they require a doctor's prescription.

When should you temporarily stop wearing OK lenses?

- If your child has red eyes, increased secretions, or even photophobia and tearing, it indicates that there may be an eye infection. At this time, you should stop wearing OK lenses and seek medical attention immediately;

- When traveling, if you do not wear all the related care items for OK lenses, you can temporarily stop wearing them instead of taking the risk of wearing lenses that have not been properly cleaned and cared for;

- If the lens is in poor condition, with obvious scratches or even damage, you must stop wearing it immediately;

- If your child has a cold or fever, and the symptoms are severe, you may also consider stopping wearing the mask;

Will wearing OK glasses at night affect children’s physical activities during the day?

Orthokeratology lenses do not affect children's participation in most sports activities. The only thing that needs attention is water sports such as swimming:

- If you have not worn OK lenses for a long time (within 1 week or even 2 weeks), it is recommended not to swim for the time being. At this stage, the cornea is still in the process of adapting to the OK lenses. Relatively speaking, the risk of slight damage to the corneal epithelium is higher, and the risk of infection after swimming is also higher;

- The water in the swimming pool contains disinfectants and sterilization ingredients, which can cause some irritation to the ocular surface. When swimming, it is recommended that children wear reliable swimming goggles to ensure that they do not leak. After swimming, they can use artificial tears without preservatives to reduce the irritation of the swimming pool water to the ocular surface;

- It is not necessary to use antibiotic eye drops after swimming;

- If your child develops red eyes, increased secretions, or even photophobia and tearing after swimming, seek medical attention immediately;

When wearing OK glasses, does the child’s vision have to be 1.0 during the day?

No. There are many factors that affect daytime naked eye vision, including the degree of myopia of the child, corneal morphology, the quality of wearing night orthokeratology lenses (whether there is deviation), etc. Therefore, not every child wearing OK lenses can achieve a daytime naked eye vision of 1.0;

What should I do if my OK lenses always go astray after I put them on?

After the OK lenses are put on, there is a certain degree of movement as the child blinks, which is normal.

However, if parents or children find that the lens is "off-position" for a long time, they need to consult a doctor in time. There are usually two main reasons:

- The lens fitting is not appropriate. The quality of OK lens fitting is closely related to the doctor's experience. If necessary, you can find a more experienced doctor;

- Issues with lens storage and wearing standards. OK lenses may deform at high or low temperatures; the child’s sleeping position may affect them (e.g. sleeping on their stomach), etc.

I found that the same type of OK lenses are cheaper in another hospital, but the doctors in my current hospital are pretty good. Can I continue to go for follow-up visits at my current hospital and buy lenses at another hospital?

It is not recommended that you take advantage of such a small advantage: once a problem occurs, it is easy to cause trouble, and the loss will outweigh the gain.

If I stop wearing OK lenses for a long time, will my myopia rebound?

The reason why children use OK lenses is because they are already in the stage of progressive myopia. Even without OK lenses, myopia will still progress due to genetic and environmental factors. Therefore, if children who have been using OK lenses stop using them for a long time, myopia is likely to continue to develop. Therefore, it is not accurate to say "rebound". It is better to say that myopia has returned to its original development track. Therefore, parents should not decide to stop wearing their children on their own, but should make a decision based on the doctor's advice.

The doctor will determine when to stop wearing contact lenses based on the child’s age and myopia control status.

If you find this article helpful, you are welcome to share it with more parents. While helping them, you are also helping us. Thank you.

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About Dr. Jingcai: The creators of Dr. Jingcai's popular science content all have a professional background in ophthalmology, a master's degree or above, and are former ophthalmologists. For some popular science content with a higher degree of professionalism, we will also invite working ophthalmologists and optometry experts to review and check it, striving to be responsible for the accuracy of the content and avoid misleading readers.