All About Lasik

The most commonly used refractive surgery procedure is the lasik eye surgery procedure and this is a very popular form of surgery that has the advantage of being less painful and resulting in a 20/20 vision in most cases, usually on the very next day.

The basic lasik surgery procedure involves an instrument which is known as a microkeratome which is used in the surgery to create a thin and round flap in the cornea. The surgeon will take the flap and fold it back so that it is not in the way and then takes away some corneal tissue that is underneath with the help of an excimer laser which uses cool ultraviolet light beams to exactly remove very small bits of tissue from the cornea in order to reform it.

Once the cornea is reformed into the correct shape it will work in an improved manner and focuses light into the eye as also onto the retina thereby getting the person to see clearly which will be better than what it was before the lasik eye procedure. Afterwards, the flap is replaced back in place and covers the area where the corneal tissue had been removed.

Corrects Nearsightedness, Farsightedness as well as Astigmatism

Lasik surgery procedure is helpful for nearsighted as well as farsighted people. In the case of nearsightedness the aim is to flatten the extra-steep cornea and with farsightedness, a steeper cornea is required. Excimer lasers are also used to rectify astigmatism through smoothening of the irregular cornea and getting it into a more normal shape and the lasik eye procedure will help to achieve this.

There are certain steps to follow before getting your lasik eye procedure performed and these include choosing a good surgeon, finding out whether you are the right person for this type of surgery as well as finding out whether you have any dry eye diseases which need to be treated and cleared prior to the lasik eye procedure.

There are different types of lasik eye procedures such as blade versus bladeless and also custom lasik or wavefront lasik procedures. The wavefront-guided lasik eye surgery procedure makes use of 3-dimensional measurements that figures out how the eye processes images and this is helpful for guiding the laser in reshaping the front portion of the eye that is called the cornea. The wavefront measurement of the lasik eye surgery procedure is extremely useful in extreme and precise individualized vision correction.

anonymous
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/lasik-eye-surgery-procedure-extremely-precise-vision-correction-120506.html

US Ski Team Member Heather McPhie talks about how LASIK surgery has made skiing better for her. Heather recently had LASIK surgery at Hoopes Vision in Utah. Heather discusses how she had had contact lenses freeze while upside down in a backflip! Now with LASIK surgery, she is able to compete in ski competitions without worrying about her contacts. Heather chose to go to Hoopes Vision because of their commitment to use the newest technology, and because of the vast experience of the LASIK surgeons there. Dr. Hoopes is the most experienced LASIK surgeon in Utah.

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Technorati Tags: Heather McPhie, Hoopes Vision, LASIK, LASik Utah, Phillip Hoopes, Ski, Ski Utah, Skiing, sports and LASIK, Us Ski Team, Utah

I had lasik eye surgery about 3 wks ago, I still am not adjusting to it very well, especially at night while driving. I feel I am a hazard on the road! Can anyone give me some hope that I will eventually get used to it? Let me know of your experiences with this problem.

To adjust to monovision LASIK, some people take 3 weeks up to about 6 weeks. It all varies from person to person. At the LASIK center I work at, we recommend doing a contact lens trial of monovision (for at least 3 weeks) prior to doing the surgery to see if it is something patient’s can adjust to.

As for your driving, DMV requires at least 20/40 vision or better in one eye to drive without any corrective lenses. Some patients who do monovision, may need or want a pair of glasses for driving – to help for full distance – one lens would be plano and the other to compensate the reading eye for full distance.

If you don’t get use to it (experiencing headaches, dizziness) you can always have it adjusted to full distance, but you would need readers for anything within about arm’s length. Dr’s usually prefer to wait 3 months from the original surgery to do anything to the eye again and depending on where you went, there may be a charge to do that.

Laser in-situ keratomileusis, or LASIK, is a successful surgical treatment that corrects vision in people who suffer from vision defects. This surgical procedure reshapes the cornea or the clear front part of the eye, enabling the light that travels through it to correctly focus on to the retina at the back of the eye.

Preparing For Lasik Eye Surgery

Before undergoing LASIK surgery, your medical history is assessed. This is followed by eye tests that may include measuring thickness of cornea, refraction and pupil dilation. You get briefed on what to expect from the surgery after which an appointment is fixed. Certain precautions have to be taken to prepare for surgery. If you wear contact lenses, then you are advised not to wear them from a specific time before the surgery. Certain medication are prescribed that must be taken before surgery.

What Lasik Surgery Involves 

The doctor cuts a thin flap in the cornea with a microkeratome. After peeling back the cornea, the corneal tissue under it is reshaped with an excimer laser. After this, the corneal flap is placed back in position. Local anesthesia is given and the entire procedure takes about ten minutes.

After the surgery, the healing is quick and patients experience better vision almost from the next day. The doctor usually prescribes eye drops to protect the eye from infection and to keep it moist. The doctor also gives you a schedule for follow up.

There are several benefits of LASIK eye surgery. Some of them are:

·        It is successful in a majority of patients, restoring their normal vision quickly, within twenty four hours

·        It is painless

·        Recovery after surgery is fast. No stitches or bandages are needed

·        Eliminates the need for corrective eyewear

·        Even after years of LASIK eye surgery, corrective adjustments can be made

• LASIK also has a few shortcomings:
• Corneal changes cannot be reversed after LASIK
• Any correction must be through LASIK eye surgery only
• The procedure is expensive
• There are chances of permanent vision damage depending on the surgeon performing the operation
• You could lose your best vision after a year of surgery

In spite of the above, the success rate is far greater than the risk factor.  There is the likelihood of side effects like a little discomfort and dry eyes initially after the surgery. Some people tend to see halos around the images and also have problems driving in the dark.

The US FDA, however, approves the procedure and endorses that there are no long-term side effects of LASIK eye surgery. The success rate is quite high even though it depends on a few factors like the type of instruments and lasers used by your surgeon, the experience level of the surgeon treating you, and the type of LASIK surgery. Rather than basing the decision to go in for LASIK surgery on cost factor alone, it is important to compare different eye care clinics. Since LASIK surgery is permanent and can influence your vision for life, it makes sense to look at all the options available.

Beth Howard
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/improve-your-vision-successfully-with-lasik-surgery-698754.html

My left eye is -7.75 -50 x135 and my right eye is -8.00 can somebody tell me if lasik is right for me?

Technically, we can’t determine that on-line; you would need to go to one of the places that does it and have them look at your eyes and make an evaluation if you are a suitable candidate; (most places will do the evaluation for free).

Typically, you need to be about 20ish or older and have had stable vision for at least a year (they want to make sure that once they do the procedure, your vision won’t get worse and mess up the results). Your level of nearsightedness is pretty close to the limit of what they can correct for (the more correction they have to do, the more of your cornea they have to blast away with lasers, and they don’t want it to be too thin to function properly).

You really want to choose the place where you get this procedure done very carefully, to minimize the chance that something will go wrong.

It’s a couple $k’s, I want to know how long will this surgery be good for..or should I just stick to the glasses? Are you still looking good and the same after 5 years?

The results of Lasik are permanent and the chance of you needing an enhancement several years following the procedure would be due to natural regression with age,etc. Most touchups dones within the first year are do to over or under correction of your rx (usually these procedures are covered in any basic package) Ten years down the road you may need a touchup or you may never need an enhancement? It is dependent on a lot of different factors. There are always more risks with additional surgery since you will be lifting additional tissue. Make sure your rx is stable and you go to a reputable surgeon, ask what the doctor’s enhancement rate is. If you have a hefty rx your chances are increased for needing a second procedure in order to reach functional vision without the need for corrective lenses. Good Luck!

If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard about some of the side effects associated with getting lasik vision correction surgery. For instance, after getting lasik surgery some people complain about symptoms of glare, halos and decreased night vision.

In fact, I remember attending a business briefing where the speaker started by mentioning he just had lasik surgery the day before. He told the audience, “The good news is I think you’re all going to heaven because everyone has halos around their heads!”

If you’ve considered getting lasik surgery but were concerned about some of the less-than-desirable side effects, you’ll be glad to hear that new technology is reducing those dreaded halos and glare. Known as “custom” or wavefront-guided lasik, this relatively recent improvement in eye surgery technology produces better vision quality when compared to traditional lasik vision surgery.

“Most significant,” says US Navy Captain Steve Schallhorn, MD, the Director of Cornea and Refractive Surgery at the Navy Medical Center, San Diego, “is the improved quality of vision with the wavefront-guided procedure, fewer problems with halos and glare, better night vision, and higher patient satisfaction.”

Traditional lasik reshapes the patient’s cornea with a laser to correct visual problems like nearsightedness or farsightedness. With conventional lasik, the laser is guided based on formulas similar to the ones used to determine your eyeglass prescription. Conventional lasik is effective at treating “lower-order” aberrations like nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism (also called “refractive errors”).

Wavefront-guided lasik, on the other hand, measures how light is distorted as it passes into the eye and then is reflected back. This creates a 3-D optical map of the eye, highlighting the imperfections and disorders that lead to visual errors. Wavefront technology then creates a custom treatment plan for each eye and guides the laser during the surgery.

Wavefront-guided lasik can effectively treat the same lower-order aberrations that conventional lasik can treat as well as treating “higher-order” aberrations such as decreased contrast sensitivity, night vision, glare, shadows and halos. In fact, there are a growing number of patients turning to wavefront-guided lasik to correct side effects from previous laser eye surgeries.

“With this technology breakthrough, we can now measure these disorders, show the patient what’s going on in their eye, link that information to the laser, and actually correct higher-order aberrations,” says Roger Steinert, M.D., associate clinical professor of ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School. “Wavefront technology enables the surgeon to improve overall vision quality better than in the past.”

Of course, this advanced technology comes with a higher price tag than traditional lasik surgery. And just like conventional lasik, wavefront-guided lasik is a surgical procedure and has risks associated with it. Be sure to consult with a qualified lasik surgeon to discuss potential complications and ensure you’re a good candidate for this type of surgery.

But if the choice is between crystal clear vision with no side effects and going through life seeing all the people going to heaven, I think I’ll go with the first option, please!

Marc Menninger
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/lasik-vision-surgery-new-technology-prevents-side-effects-67909.html

My eyesight is just horrible. I feel like I’m almost blind because I can barely see things that are a few feet away from me.

I want glasses but I heard they can make the part between the eyes sink or something.

Contacts seem like they’d be horrible for eyes. touching my eyes… poking it… =/

Lasik is expensive.

Are there any simple things i can do to improve my vision?

thank you!

If your glasses don’t fit right, they can makes dents in the bridge of your nose. Is this the "sinkage" you are talking about? As for correcting your vision, it depends on what your prescription is. Sometimes, if you are mildly nearsighted, sometimes going without your glasses makes you less dependent on them and your eyes may eventually correct themselves. Contacts are fine for your eyes if you are motivated to learn how to properly insert them and remove them and how to clean them and take care of them. Most LASIK surgeons offer financing, too. I jad it in 2005 and my vision is still perfect! Again, it depends on your prescription.

I have it, but i think is the machines or the methods used.

I had the surgery 6 days ago and my vision is still as if I were looking at things under water.

Having the reflection or glare effect is one of the most common complications. There are patients who have complained of seeing a glare like effect that is similar to how light will glare across a TV screen making it harder to see. Excessive irritation and in a worse case scenario, blindness are other complications.
Your fuzzy vision sounds kind of like the glare effect. Contact your doctor for advice on the situation.

There is a really good San Diego Lasik website that has lots of info and some very informative Lasik articles. See the links below:
http://www.lasik-surgery-san-diego.info/
http://www.lasik-surgery-san-diego.info/lasik-eye-surgery-san-diego.htm
http://www.lasik-surgery-san-diego.info/lasik-san-diego-north-county.htm
http://www.lasik-surgery-san-diego.info/lasik-san-diego-east-county.htm
http://www.lasik-surgery-san-diego.info/lasik-san-diego-south-bay.htm
http://www.lasik-surgery-san-diego.info/laser-eye-surgery.htm
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