Common Consultation Questions – Part 3

For the past couple of weeks, we have addressed some of the most common questions asked by different patients about LASIK. Here are a few more.

How old do you have to be to have your vision corrected, either by LASIK or another laser vision correction procedure?

The rule of thumb on this question is 18. Your eyes are like any other organ in your body. They grow and develop as you age. The most important thing is for your eyesight to be stable prior to having LASIK. If a LASIK surgeon corrects your cornea and your vision hasn’t stabilized, they run the risk of under- or over-correction. You wouldn’t be happy with your results and most experienced LASIK surgeons won’t take that chance.

Isn’t it just safer to wear my glasses/contact lenses?

The truth to this question may come as a surprise. While contacts or glasses may be a viable option for many patients, the longer you wear them, the more likely you are to experience complications.

Complications of glasses or contacts include contracting bacterial infections, dry eyes from long exposure, or even trauma caused from an accident. Some patients may wear contacts or glasses for decades and never experience an issue. However, keep your contacts in your eyes for too long (or sleep in them) and you can instantly understand the issues these devices can cause.

This isn’t to say that LASIK isn’t without its risks as well. You can experience dry eye after LASIK. While the majority of patients overcome this side-effect quickly, some patients may need prescription eye drops to solve it.

The true question is not one of safety, but rather what you are willing to do to see clearly. LASIK can provide clear eyesight for many years to come, without the continual expense of lenses, solutions, etc.

We’d love the opportunity to discuss the possibility of life without lenses with you. Please feel free to call our office at 719.444.3000 with anymore questions, check out our website, or schedule a Free LASIK Consultation.

LASIK versus PRK

Refractive errors occur when the cornea of your eye, or the front part of your eye, is misshaped. These refractive errors produce nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. Laser vision correction is the procedure through which a laser is used to reshape the cornea of the eye, in order to achieve better vision.

While the actual correction of the cornea is completed with a laser, the steps leading up to this correction, and subsequently the healing after, will differ depending on the specific procedure the surgeon chooses for the patients’ eyes. The two main procedures most commonly used are LASIK (Laser-Assisted Sin-Situ-Keratomileusis) or PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy).

LASIK and PRK

Most people have heard of LASIK; however, in some cases, LASIK isn’t the best procedure for them. This can be due to a multitude of reasons, but most often if their cornea is too thin, LASIK will not be advised. This is why visiting an ophthalmologist that performs more than just LASIK is so important. Other procedures, such as PRK, can be recommended and performed to achieve the same, and sometimes even better, results.

The main difference between LASIK and PRK comes during the first step of the process – creating the corneal flap. During LASIK, the surgeon creates flap within the first few layers of the outer surface of the cornea, so that the laser can reach the area that needs to be corrected. This can be done with a microkeratome (a mechanical oscillating blade), or during bladeless LASIK, it can be done with a second laser that separates the outer layer of the cornea. After the primary laser is applied to correct the refractive error, this flap is folded back into place where it bonds readily.

PRK, which is usually performed on patients with thin corneas, removes the surface layer of cells on the cornea. This is why it is often referred to as a surface treatment. After treatment, the body will regenerate new cells to replace the cells removed through a relatively quick healing process. The results of PRK are equal to that of LASIK though the healing times are slightly longer.

Visiting a Qualified Ophthalmologist

Performing LASIK on a patient that is better suited for a procedure like PRK will increase the likelihood of potential risks, such as poor night vision or less than optimal results. To decrease these risks, visit a board-certified ophthalmologist who is skilled at multiple vision correction procedures. This will ensure you the best possible chances to achieve the vision results you are seeking.

Fears and Misconceptions of Vision Correction – Losing Your Vision

Glasses and contacts have their benefits – mainly helping people with refractive errors see clearly. Since the late 90’s, lasers have been used to correct these refractive errors in very safe and effective ways. Procedures such as LASIK and PRK have been providing patients with clear vision for over 15 years now. However, many people continue to put up with the inconveniences of glasses and contacts because they have fears or misconceptions about laser vision correction, like LASIK.

One of the most common fears of laser vision correction is losing vision as a result of the procedure. This fear comes from not understanding how your eye works and how specifically laser vision correction works.
 
How LASIK Works

There are three main parts to the human eye: the cornea, the lens, and the retina. In normal vision, the cornea refracts (bends) light so it can be directed correctly through the lens and onto the retina. The retina works as a transmitter to transfer the message to your brain, where it processes the message to tell you what you are looking at. Refractive errors – nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism – are caused by the cornea being slightly misshapen. LASIK utilizes cool lasers to reshape the curve of the cornea so you can have normal, clear, vision.

Prior to surgery, Dr. Buckley maps out your specific eye and plans out exactly how to correct your vision. He then programs this plan into the laser, ensuring that the correct amount of your cornea is altered.

There are risks associated with laser vision correction, mainly dry eye. It is essential to ensure that you are an excellent candidate prior to receiving treatment, to give you the best results possible.

Officially there is no reported case of a patient losing their eyesight from LASIK.

To find out more about LASIK, including risk information, see our website. To schedule a Free LASIK Consultation, give us a call today at 719-444-3000.

Why Your Eye Surgeon Needs to be Local - Part 2

Corporate medicine has its benefits and its downfalls. In regards to the refractive surgery field, there are more downfalls to a corporate practice than there are benefits. Last week we discussed the difference between the doctors at each type of practice. This week, let’s look at the services offered.

The Right Procedure for Your Eyes

Another big difference between local and corporate owned practices are the services they offer. When a corporate practice is set up, it’s one of hundreds, maybe thousands of locations. In order to keep control over the brand name, these practices only offer a very small number of services, sometimes just LASIK and nothing else. By doing this, the headquarters can ensure that each practice is exactly the same, offering the same service, providing the same website, and the same marketing and advertising collateral. They also don’t have to worry too much about training doctors who don’t know anything other than LASIK. This brings the cost of operation down for them and allows the board of directors to earn more money.

All of this is quite the opposite for a local doctor and local practice. The doctor (or a small group of local doctors) decides to open up a practice in order to improve the eye health of the community. The doctor will spend his/her own money because they know they can provide excellent eyesight to their patients. They are vested in their community because they know the people and they care about them.

These doctors will offer different types of services because they know that the best care that can be provided isn’t through one single solution. LASIK isn’t the best procedure for someone with very thin corneas. A patient with this issue may be better suited for PRK. Some patients may not be suited for laser vision correction at all. If this is the case, there are other options but usually only provided by a local ophthalmologist. 

A local ophthalmologist can decide which procedures to offer his/her patients. They will be the one responsible for your treatment and follow-up care and they wouldn’t provide anything less just to earn a dollar. They are held accountable by their patients, not a board of directors looking to make a profit.

This all points to a new consideration on your quest for excellent vision:

Would you rather have vision correction performed on you that may not be right, but it’s all the practice offers? Or would you want to be fully examined by the surgeon performing your procedure who can offer other proven procedures that may actually be better for the health of your eyes? 

Check back in next week when we continue this topic and discuss Technology.