Published: March 22, 2019

The progression of myopia in growing children is closely associated with axial length, which refers to the length of the eye from front to back. Greater axial elongation is generally associated with more severe myopia.

Studies comparing children who wear glasses with those who use orthokeratology lenses have reported less axial elongation in children wearing orthokeratology lenses than in those wearing glasses.

These findings suggest that orthokeratology lenses may help slow the progression of myopia to some extent. Since children are generally not candidates for refractive surgery, they usually need to wear glasses for vision correction.

Orthokeratology lenses, however, are worn only while sleeping and may allow children to see clearly during the day without glasses. For this reason, they are attracting increasing attention as an option for childhood vision correction and myopia management.