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Home › Articles › Appearance › Seeing Is Believing

Seeing Is Believing

Perfect Vision With Corneal Refractive Therapy

By Jane Giles

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Since she was 11 years old, Leah Schein has worn corrective lenses and she was tired of it. Today, the 18-year-old, Chicago college student says she sees perfectly all day, everyday, without glasses, contacts or surgery, all because she wears special retainer lenses while she sleeps. The process, known as corneal refractive therapy (CRT), is a dream come true for Schein.

Even though her eye-doctor's office stocks a wide selection of trendy and fashionable designer frames and assorted contact lenses, including those that enhance or change a patient's eye color, Schein was fed up with being dependent on glasses or contacts to see. And undergoing surgery or any other invasive procedure was, for her, simply not a viable option. "Not only was laser surgery way too expensive for my budget, but the risk for potentially serious, lifelong side effects was just too scary for me," she says.

Schein felt that her vision problems forced her to alter her appearance. "I didn't want to wear my glasses when I got dressed up, but then I think it's dangerous to wear eye makeup with contacts," she says. "It was like being between a rock and a hard place. And because my vision changed so frequently, so did my prescription, which meant buying new glasses and contacts, along with making time for the necessary appointments and the expense of everything. That was a significant inconvenience and one I'm really happy that I don't have to deal with anymore."

The Process
As soon as she heard about CRT, she called her optometrist. "I begged Dr. Nierman for them," says Schein. Dr. David Nierman, O.D., who along with his brother, Larry, who is also a certified doctor of optometry, are co-partners of Nierman Vision Center, a practice founded more than 50 years ago by their father, Cyril Nierman. Its two locations, one in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood and the second in the northwest suburb of Buffalo Grove, specialize in full-scope optometry, providing routine and emergency eye care services and the latest advancements in FDA-approved treatments for optimum eye health and vision.

At the time of her initial request, the Niermans and their associate, Dr. Todd Cohan, had not yet undergone the training and certification to perform CRT diagnostic evaluations or administer the therapy and fittings. But, Schein's pleas to be David Nierman's first CRT patient did not go unanswered.

"We invested in the necessary training and equipment, including special eye-mapping software and devices and went full-steam ahead," says Dr. Nierman, adding that the entire Nierman Vision Center team was excited about the prospect of offering CRT to its patients. "We liked the concept right from the start, because it's a non-invasive, non-surgical process," he says.

The process, explains Dr. Nierman, involves a routine eye exam to rule out any problems, followed by a special CRT evaluation. Using special scanners and software, Dr. Nierman mapped out the topography of Schein's eyes – information necessary to custom-make the oxygen-permeable therapeutic lenses that his patient would sleep in each night.

The Results
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