The number one reason most people do
not know about AOK is...
Let's start at the beginning. The
first doctor to examine us is our pediatrician. During our early
years we go for Well Visits and some Sick Visits. The pediatrician
helps us by checking our health and treating most problems as they
come up. For the most part, pediatricians do a good job at taking
care of us when we are little. However, since they are the gate
keepers of our well being, they are responsible for referring us to
other doctors for conditions beyond their scope of practice. This is
the point I believe all children should be referred to an
orthokeratologist.
All children should be first examined by an optometrist who
specializes in orthokeratology. The reason is that optometrists are
the best trained eye doctors for visual disorders and treat most eye
diseases. Those optometrist that specialize in orthokeratology have
advanced training in Myopia Control. Myopia (Nearsightedness) has become worse over the span of only one generation .
Let's back track a bit. The
pediatrician should be concerned about the problems associated with
High Myopia (Nearsightedness) because It's prevention and control is
best treated at a young age. Even though the problems of Glaucoma,
Macular Degeneration, and a whole bunch of Retinal problems are
usually seen in adults, they are more common in highly
myopic individuals. Now nearsightedness can not be reversed,
but recent studies show that it can be curtailed to a point that it
may not progress in to a health risk.
The real issue is that currently most pediatric
ophthalmologists do not support the concept of Myopia
Control. They tend go out of their way to discourage parents
and pediatricians from embracing it. I see them refer to old studies
and information, and hear them scare parents out of safe and
effective treatments.
The good news is that more and more pediatricians are beginning to send their kids for orthokeratology consultations! So there you have it. My
take on why most people do not know about AOK or Myopia Control.
