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Gentle Vision Shaping

Proudly serving Socastee and Conway in South Carolina

We Specialize in Vision Shaping Lenses

Dr. Weshefsky is the optometrist to visit for Gentle Vision Shaping. He has credentials and earned his Fellowship from the Orthokeratology Academy of America as one of less than fifty doctors in the world to have earned this distinction!

Discover Orthok in Myrtle Beach, NC, Eye Care in Myrtle Beach, NC
Advantages of Gentle Vision Shaping
  • No surgery
  • No permanent changes to your eye
  • Reshapes your cornea without destroying tissue
  • Can be used on kids
  • Keep your child's eyes from getting worse
  • No commitment
  • Custom fit
Young girl undergoing eye exam, Eye Doctor in Myrtle Beach, SC

What Is The Gentle Vision Shaping System?

Gentle Vision Shaping is a non-surgical procedure used to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. The cornea, the outer window of the eye, is reshaped while sleeping with a molding lens at night. This reshaping of the cornea corrects the vision during the daytime to allow for clear vision without the need for glasses or contact lenses.

This non-surgical procedure is very safe. It has the same risks as if wearing contact lenses but at a lesser degree. The molding lens looks like a regular gas permeable contact lens. This makes it very safe and effective. They are comfortable to sleep with and are easy to handle.

The cornea will maintain the clear vision throughout the day until the molding lenses are worn again for sleeping. These molding lenses are custom fit for each eye. The custom fit is based on taking computerized measurements of the cornea and the exact prescription.

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The Gentle Vision Shaping Procedure

Determine if the patient is a good candidate for the procedure

This is done by performing a thorough eye examination. During the examination, your optometrist will take a series of measurements of the cornea to determine its shape, thickness, and size. We will also check thoroughly for any eye diseases or dystrophies that may disqualify the patient. Most of the time we do dilate the pupils to allow for a more thorough examination of the retina. We will also do a very thorough and precise refraction to determine the amount of prescription we need to correct.

Order the first set of gentle vision shaping appliances

These lenses will be custom ordered for each eye for each patient. The gentle vision shaping appliances typically take about one week to arrive at our Myrtle Beach office. The patient is then scheduled for an appointment to dispense the GVSS’s (Gentle Vision Shaping System appliances). At this dispensing visit, the patient will be instructed on how to insert and remove the GVSS’s. The patient will also be instructed on how to care for and handle the GVSS’s. Our eye doctor will examine the fit of the GVSS’s on the patient’s eyes at this dispensing visit.

Follow up visit.

The patient is scheduled to return to our Myrtle Beach office the very next morning as the first patient of the day. They are to return that next morning with the appliances still on their eyes. They will remove them from the office after the doctor has had a chance to evaluate the fit. The patient will have slept in those GVSS’s for about 6 to 10 hours that night before coming into the office.

Second, follow up visit

After the doctor evaluates the fit during that morning visit, the patient will be rescheduled for another office visit, typically in about one week. If the patient is not fully corrected yet after just this one night of sleeping in the GVSS’s, then they will be given some disposable soft contact lenses to wear during the day until they no longer need them. Most patients no longer need the soft contact lenses during the daytime within one week of sleeping with the GVSS’s.

At the one-week visit, the patient has an examination to determine their refraction and eye health.  By this time in the process, most patients are no longer wearing any correction during the daytime.  They are just using the appliances at night to correct their vision. If the patient is not seeing 20/20 in the daytime, then we will re-evaluate the fit and make the proper adjustments to correct the vision.

One month eye exam

The next office visit is typically in one month. This one-month visit is to evaluate the fit and check the refraction. As the cornea has been reshaped during this month of wear time, sometimes the GVSS’s may become too tight. This usually starts to occur at around one month. That is the main reason for the one-month visit. We want to make sure the eyes are healthy and the vision is sharp and that the patient is starting to get into a routine.

The patient should be much better at handling the appliances, wearing the appliances, and caring for them.  They should be very excited and happy with their vision by now. They continue to sleep with the GVSS’s on every night to increase the effectiveness and to stabilize the corrected vision. If everything is good still at this point, then we will reschedule the patient for their next visit in one month.

Two-month visit.

The patient will continue to wear the GVSS’s every night for at least 3 months. We will examine the patient monthly for the 3 months. At the end of this treatment period, the patient will continue to wear the appliances at night.  hey will now wear them as a retainer to maintain the correction. They will either wear the GVSS’s every night, just one night per week, or some amount between these two.

Six-month appointment

The next visit would be in six (6) months. After the six month visit, then the patient is just seen for their yearly examinations. The GVSS’s will need to be replaced about every 2 to 3 years. When the GVSS’s need to be replaced, your eye doctor will order a new replacement.  The patient does not have to do the whole fitting procedure again. Once the fitting is finished, then it is just a matter of maintaining the vision and eye health.

To schedule a screening click here or call (843) 903-6262.

Learn more at the Ortho-k network and how Orthokeratology re-shapes the world.