Yeah, apparently the flap that gets cut in Lasik is always there. I know that it is re-used for repeated Lasik. I think Ortho-K is approved for people up to a -6. I've actually done it with great success. The break in period was absolutely terrible. I had abrasions on both my eyes for about a week which were very painful and caused me to not be able to see well at all--like looking through fog. This is partly because my vision is around a -5, so I had a lot of cornea to reshape. I almost gave up but then it just seemed to snap my eyes into shape and I loved it. I couldn't even feel them at night when I slept and I had perfect vision all day long. I might go back to it in the near future. I did it for a year and then developed an allergy to pollen. After being outside during a bad time of the year for allergies my eyes got all swollen (from the allergies). When I put the contacts in at night I woke up with very bad abrasions. So, I had to quit using them for several days. During that several days my eyes slipped back into close to their old shape (after a year without Ortho-K my eyes are still about a +.5 better!). I just didn't want to go through with the break in period again. One of my complaints with Ortho-K was night vision--the field of correction is only about 4 or 5 mm whereas your pupil might dilate to 7-8 mm in low light situations. So this can cause glares, starburts, and hallows around lights. I mainly got used to it, but it did annoy me. Also, if you drink alcohol it will interfere with your nightly vision correction (at least it did with me) and then you're slightly blurry the next day. Also, if you don't sleep 7-8 hours your vision correction might not be 100% for the next day.
I wear extended wear Night and Day contacts. These are the future of contacts. They are a "soft" lense that can be worn continuously (even while sleeping) 30 days without removal. They have a much lower water content than normal contacts and allow as much oxygen to your eye as not wearing any contact at all. so, you cannot feel them at all--they don't dry out and they don't starve your eye for oxygen which causes redness. they are as comfortable on day 30 as day 1. They also seem to suck onto the eye much better, so they don't shift when you blink and I've never had one get knocked out through sparring, wrestling, mountain biking or anything else I do.
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