Myopia Control & Ortho-K Center

Finally, a superior solution to stronger eyeglasses for your child. If your child is nearsighted (myopic) there’s finally something you can do besides getting thicker glasses every year.

Slow down or even halt the deterioration of your child’s eyesight. And correct their vision overnight at the same time.

Protect Your Child’s Potential

Discover How and Why with CRT, an Ortho-K Technology (90 second video):

What is Ortho-K? (Corneal Reshaping Therapy, CRT):

Ortho-K can be life changing:

Slow down or even stop your kids’ vision from getting worse and worse
Give your child more confidence at school, when playing sports, and swimming
No more wearing uncomfortable glasses
No more getting dry eyes from daytime contacts
Life Empowerment & Independence

Watch below for a few success stories:

Schedule a Consultation to discuss you and your child’s visual frustrations, goals, and Candidacy for Ortho-K

Not all children are candidates for Ortho-K, and the worse your myopia becomes, the more difficult the Ortho-K treatment becomes. We recommend setting up a Myopia Control Consultation with Dr. Zucker to discuss you or your child’s visual frustrations and goals. And to See if Myopia Control & Ortho-K is right for your family.

What Exactly is Myopia?

This short video explains:

The more time you wait, the more your child’s myopia (nearsightedness) is likely getting worse.
In Asia and other parts of the world, they already know that nearsightedness (myopia) is not just a visual frustration, but a world health epidemic.

Did you know that myopia is the leading cause of blindness in parts of East-Asia, and is the leading cause of blindness in working-age people in Europe?

Myopia puts your child at higher risk of retinal detachments, glaucoma, macular degeneration and earlier-than-normal cataract development, all potentially blinding diseases.

Watch Dr. Christopher Starr, Ophthalmologist at Cornell Medical Center, explain why myopia is on the rise around the world and what you can do right now to lower your child’s chances of becoming nearsighted:

Dr. Zucker has started the Santa Barbara Myopia Control & Ortho-K clinic due to overwhelming evidence that Orthokeratology (Ortho-K) can slow down or even halt the progression of myopia.

(click here for Dr. Zucker’s Bio)

Myopia can be controlled and corrected with Ortho-k, which is a technology that gently reshapes the cornea, while you sleep.

In other words, Ortho-K is not only used to slow down the progression of your child’s myopia and stretching of their eyes, it also gives your child the opportunity to have 20/20 vision during the day without wearing glasses or daytime contact lenses.

Imagine growing up with clear vision all day long without glasses or daytime contacts.

Corneal reshaping lenses are custom fit to the exact contour of the front part of your child’s eye. Slightly smaller than soft contact lenses, Ortho-K lenses are extremely breathable and have been FDA approved since 2002 for any age, to be worn only during sleep.

Ortho-K has been shown in studies to control the worsening of myopia by 32-100% (with the average being around 51% myopia control).

What does this mean? This means that we can keep your child’s myopia (nearsightedness) from getting worse. We can keep your child’s glasses from getting thicker. We can keep your child’s eye from getting more stretched out. And therefore we can likely lower your child’s chances of potentially getting Glaucoma, Retinal Detachment, Premature cataracts, and Myopic Macular Degeneration.

Dr. Zucker has followed in the footsteps of World Renown UC Berkeley School of Optometry, as they have their own Myopia Control Clinic, opened in 2013. See the news article here [link:http://abc7news.com/archive/9315151/] Here’s a link [https://eyecare.berkeley.edu/what-we-do-2/speciality-clinics/myopia/] to UC Berkely’s Myopia Control Clinic.

FAQ

How is nearsightedness associated with increased risk of blindness?

As your child becomes more myopic, their eye stretches out to be longer than a normal eye. It’s this stretching of the eye that is thought to put them at higher risk.

See a side view picture of a normal eye versus an eye with myopia:

What are the chances of a normal eye developing a retinal detachment?

The normal chances of developing a retinal detachment over the course of your life is about 1 in 300 people.

What if you have myopia?

Do you know your child’s eyeglasses prescription? If so, see below their increased chances of Retinal detachment and Glaucoma.

Eyeglasses Prescription	Risk of Retinal Detachment
-1.00 to -2.99	4x the normal risk
-3.00 to -4.99	10x the normal risk
-5.00 to -6.99	40x the normal risk
-7.00 to -8.99	127x the normal risk
More than -9.00	about 349x the normal risk

What about glaucoma?

If you have normal eyes and you live in the USA, your chances of glaucoma after age 40 are about 1 in 50 people.

But what if you have myopia? If you’re nearsighted, you’re at about four times the risk, or about 1 in 13 people.

The good news is you can do something about it!

Dr. David N. Zucker, O.D., (“Dr. Z”) a member of the American Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control, manages kids with myopia in a new and improved way. He focuses on prevention and protection of your child’s eyesight.

Would you like to know what you can do right now to reduce your child’s chances of developing myopia?

Click here for a handout that Dr. Z gives his myopia control patients about improved visual hygiene. You can start using these recommendations with your child today!

How do I know if my child is a good candidate for ortho-k or if they’ll be able to wear the Ortho-K lenses?

When you and your child visit The Santa Barbara Myopia Control & Ortho-K Center, located within Urban Optics, Dr. Zucker will perform a comprehensive evaluation and recommend a personalized treatment plan for your child.

This treatment plan is specifically designed to slow or halt your child’s myopia from getting worse.

We’re located in Downtown Santa Barbara, in the La Arcada Plaza. Make an appointment by clicking here.

If you would like to speak with Dr. Zucker before making an appointment, he will personally call you and answer any questions you may have.

Please click here to contact us and mention you are seriously interested in Ortho-K for you or your child. Dr. Z will personally call and speak with you over the phone.

Dr. Zucker uses a method of Ortho-K that has been successfully used for millions of patients in over 50 countries worldwide.

Schedule your consultation with Dr. Z by clicking here.

More info about Myopia:

Schedule your Myopia Control & Ortho-K consultation with Dr. Z by clicking here.

If you would like to speak with Dr. Zucker before making an appointment, he will personally call you and answer any questions you may have. Click here for a link to our contact form. Please indicate you are interested in Ortho-K, you have some questions and a few dates/times that work well for Dr. Z to contact you.