Bournemouth Tattooists get ortho-k

Established tattoo artists Amy Billing and Abigail Rawlings were inspired to try ortho-k in order to have a greater eye for detail in their day-to-day work, while having the freedom to go spectacles free.

The Bournemouth-based tattoo artists were treated by optometrist, Richard Taylor at Raxworthy Opticians in Christchurch, Dorset.

Ms Billing, who has a prescription of -4.00 dioptres, initially considered different options to correct her sight but decided on ortho-k.

Talking about the decision, Ms Billing explained: "I looked at laser but with the cost it wasn’t an option for me. I saw ortho-k and thought it looked amazing."

After starting ortho-k seven months ago, Ms Billing is delighted with the immediate results which has enabled her to carry out her detailed work without needing to wear spectacles.

"After the first night of wearing the lenses at night I was -1.00 dioptre in the morning, and after a few nights I had perfect vision when I woke up. I can work all day without wearing glasses, even if I am out until 3am on a Saturday" she continued.

"I hated wearing glasses as they always slipped down when I worked, and my contact lenses used to dry out as I was staring at the same point for a long time when I work. I can spend up to eight hours on a piece of work. It is literally the best thing I have done – to be able to wake up in the morning and see – there were so many things that were awkward or inconvenient with glasses."

Inspired by Ms Billing’s success, her colleague, Ms Rawlings made the decision to have the treatment as well.

Commenting on her experience, she said: "I decided to give it a go, even though my prescription is only -1.25 dioptres. I hated glasses and had problems with wearing contact lenses during the day, but these lenses are fine at night. Once my eye had moulded to them they go in perfectly.

"The results are brilliant for my work,  I recently went travelling in South East Asia and the elephants were splashing water in my face – I couldn’t have enjoyed that with contact lenses or glasses."