Lasik : bye bye glasses

Benefits Of Laser Eye Surgery

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There's so many benefits to being able to see naturally. Many people feel a new freedom to be able to simply wake up and see past the bed sheets. You can swim and play sports much easier. Plus, you won't have to spend all that money for new contacts or glasses!

Some Of The Benefits Of Laser Eye Surgery Include:

1. Unobstructed Vision � not having to peer around the frames of your glasses gives you better peripheral vision.

2. Self Esteem Boost � not wearing glasses makes many people feel more confident and boosts their self esteem and quality of life.

3. Easer To Play Sports no more worrying that your glasses will break or a contact will pop out.

4. Save Money � No more purchasing contacts, solution, eyeglasses or cases. After the initial expense of the surgery you will end up saving money in the long run.

Corrective eye surgery is generally safe but there are certain low risks and people that have certain conditions must not have this type of surgery. Your doctor will explain all the risks and asses if you are a good candidate for the surgery. At the most extreme is loss of vision, but this is very rare and should not happen if your doctor evaluates you properly. Other risks include developing dry eye syndrome, loss of vision clearness or seeing permanent halos or fuzziness.

There are 3 types of surgery you will want to consider:

� LASIK or Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis is the most well known. This surgery cuts a flap in the cornea and reshapes it by removing tissue. It is a fast procedure with healing in a day or 2 and immediate improvement in eyesight.

� PRK or Photo Refractive Keratectomy is the procedure that has been around the longest. Cells are removed from the cornea to reashape it and improve vision. It has a healing time of a month and vision improvement is not immediate but gradual over time.

� CK or Conductive Keratoplasty is a fairly new procedure. Uses radio frequency energy applied with a hair thin device to reshape the cornea. It is an extremely quick procedure with very quick healing.Your good vision is vital so discuss each option thoroughly with your doctor before making a final decision.

Contact Lenses vs Glasses, What is Best for You?

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Many people wear contact lenses for reasons of convenience and beauty, but they also have practical advantages over glasses. Here are some of them:
-Vision becomes more natural and the sizes of objects are represented correctly. Glasses distort the form and the size of an object
-The frame of a pair of glasses limits peripheral vision
-Contact lenses move with your eyes
-Lenses do not mist over in cool or damp weather, they do not freeze in the winter, they do not become wet under a rain and snow does not stick to them.
-If the powers your eyes require are significantly different, contact lenses can be made in such a way that both eyes will operate in coordination
-Lenses are irreplaceable for people who play sports, dance, or have an active lifestyles.
-Lenses help your children avoid the psychological and physical traumas related to wearing glasses.
-Contact lenses can protect the cornea during recuperation. Special soft medical lenses are made for this purpose.

You should be at least 18 yrs.

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Are you a good candidate for LASIK?
, since the vision of people younger than 18 usually continues to change.

You should not be pregnant or nursing as these conditions might change the measured refraction of the eye.

You should not be taking certain prescription drugs, such as Accutane or oral prednisone. Your eyes must be healthy and your prescription stable.

You should be in good general health. Lasik may not be recommended for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, glaucoma, herpes infections of the eye, or cataracts. You should discuss this with your surgeon.

Understand your expectations from the surgery. Are they realistic? Ask your doctor if you're a candidate for monovision — correcting one eye for distance vision and the other eye for near vision. Lasik cannot correct presbyopia so that one eye can see at both distance and near. However, Lasik can be used to correct one eye for distance and the other for near. If you can adjust to this correction, it may eliminate or reduce your need for reading glasses. In some instances, surgery on only one eye is required. If your doctor thinks you're a candidate, ask about the pros and cons.

Befor and After LASIK

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After PRK ?

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During the first day, before the healing has completed itself, it is common to experience irritation, discomfort, stinging, difficulty with opening the eyes, light sensitivity, redness and watery eyes. The degree of these symptoms varies greatly between individuals but is considered normal. Often vision is good on the first day but then blurs later as the cornea heals itself. Vision will be unstable and there is often variability in clarity from one day to the next or even throughout the same day. Once the cornea has healed itself, vision will gradually improve but it may take as long as 2 weeks before regular vision is obtained.

After PRK Surgery similar to LASIK, a patient do not let any water into the eyes and avoid rubbing and squeezing the eyes for 1 week. The surgeon will also prescribe medication during this time. The medication taken might vary between individuals and will depend on the healing rate of the cornea. The doctor will adjust medication based on the patient's needs.
Follow-up appointments are more frequent following PRK than for LASIK. It is important to inspect the contact lens to insure that infection does not occur. Due to the possibility of discomfort and blurry vision, it is important to plan ahead as it might be necessary to take a week off from work.

Follow-up Appointments with the Surgeon Before the cornea has healed over completely, the contact lens will be removed and patients will be allowed to wash their face and hair. The doctor will adjust medication as needed during visits. After the first month, the doctor will consider the frequency of appointments that are required. This will vary between individuals.
Side Effects Complications that occur in LASIK due to creation of a corneal flap will not occur in PRK as this step is not required. Side effects and complications that occur more frequently in PRK than LASIK are corneal haze and scarring, but this is better controlled now with application of a special solution to reduce the haze. Side effects that occur less frequently in PRK than LASIK include dry eyes.

PRK step

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The first step of PRK involves the removal of the epithelial layer of the cornea. A solution is applied to the cornea to allow the epithelium to be removed (this layer will regrow naturally). Next, the excimer laser will alter the corneal shape very similar to LASIK surgery. In PRK, the actual laser time is less than 1 minute per eye. Once the laser treatment is completed, a contact lens will be placed on the cornea in order to reduce the discomfort and improve the healing time of the cornea. The entire surgery takes less than 20 minutes for both eyes. The outer layers of the cornea will heal back to normal within 3-5 days, although this amount of time varies between different patients

PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy)

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In some cases, patients are considered to be candidates for laser refractive surgery but they have certain characteristics that are discovered in their eyes during the examination which indicate that PRK might be an equally good or perhaps even a better choice. PRK was the original laser refractive surgery and at one time was the most common available. It was introduced in the 1980's and even today it continues to demonstrate a high level of safety and effectiveness. PRK became less common by the end of the 1990's with the introduction of LASIK. Despite LASIK's shortened recovery time, PRK remains an option with its own set of advantages and may at times be suggested instead of LASIK. Unlike LASIK, a flap is not created during PRK. Instead, the cornea is treated directly with the excimer laser, altering its shape to provide the needed prescription.

The surgeon will consider PRK in the following cases: Patient has less than 8.00 D of near-sightedness but with a thin cornea A history of recurrent corneal erosion or corneal basement membrane dystrophy A history of dry eye that is difficult to treat Career opportunities, such as becoming a pilot A history of glaucoma, in which case a glaucoma specialist will be consulted

Emergency eye symptom

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1. Sudden loss on dimness of vision in either eye.
2. Severe pain in or around the eye
3. Excessive tearing or discharge from the eye
4. Floating spots with or without flashes of light
5. Seeing distorted images
6. Double vision
7. Swelling of the eyelids or protrusion of the eye
8. Any accident to the eye

Care for your eye

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Preventive health care for your eyes is important since half of all blindness and ninety percent of eye injuries can be prevented. The following tips can help you maintain good eyesight and enjoy the visual world for years to come.

1. Avoid eye injury by wearing protective eye gear while playing sports such as squash or tennis. Always wear protective eye gear when hammering or drilling or doing any other work which has a risk of eye injury.

2. The eyes need rest, just like other parts of your body. Prolonged reading or staring at computer screens can cause eyestrain. Try to blink regularly and rest the eyes by closing them or staring far away for a few minutes for every 30-40 minutes of work.

3. Excessive exposure to wind or air flow from air conditioners can cause irritation (burning sensation) and tearing, similar to the symptoms of dry eyes. Try to avoid air flow which causes eye irritation.

4. Always have your reading material at an appropriate distance (about a foot away) from your eyes and make sure there is adequate lighting.

5. Periodic medical eye examinations are important. People over 45 years old should have a yearly routine eye examination. Diabetic patients need an eye examination each year. People with a family history of glaucoma should have an eye examination each year after the age of 40 years.

6. The following eye symptoms need the attention of an ophthalmologist:

- Blurred or distorted vision
- Sudden loss of vision
- Seeing floating spots or flashing lights
- Double vision - Red eye with or without discharge

Care for children eye

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1. All children should have an eye examination by an ophthalmologist before starting first grade

2. Any abnormal looking eye should be examined by and ophthalmologist as soon as possible (even newborns are not too young to be examined). Abnormalities include:
- Discharge from the eye
- Sensitivity to light accompanied by wanting to close
the eyes most of the time
- A cornea which appears abnormally large
- Cross eyes
- Port wine stain (purple coloured birthmark on the
forehead)
- White reflex in the pupil
- Any behaviour which indicates that the child does not
see well

3. Any new born who receives oxygen for more than 6 hours should be examined by an ophthalmologist in the hospital or within 6 weeks to 2 months of age.

4. Children who are slow learners between the ages of 7-12 years should be brought for a consultation with and ophthalmologist

Health eye tip

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Good sight occurs when the eyes and the brain work in harmony transforming the light rays into sight. Light rays pass through the transparent cornea, the clear front part of the eye. The cornea focuses light rays through the pupil and the lens, which focuses the light further. The lens is made of a clear, flexible gel surrounded by the transparent lens capsule. The light rays focus onto the retina, the thin sheath of nerve cells at the back wall of the eye. Once the retina has received the light images, it transforms into them electrical impulses, The optic nerve carries these impulses to the visual cortex of the brain, where they are interpreted into sight.
When any part of the visual system is not working properly, the sight processes are altered. If the cornea curvature is too much the light ray will focus in front of the retina causing the image to be blurry. This is called myopia or nearsightedness. The opposite is true, if the cornea curvature is less than normal the light rays will focus further back from the retina. It is called hyperopia or farsightedness. The lens helps to focus the light rays onto the retina further when the object is at close range. When a person reaches over 40 years old, the lens loses its flexibility and the person can not see at close range without wearing reading glasses.

The complexity of the developing visual system in infants and children makes their eyes uniquely different from adults’ eyes. Any hindrance to eye stimulation can quickly cause a condition called "lazy eye" or Amblyopia , which can result in permanent deterioration of a child’s vision. To help maintain the health of your child’s eye please consider the following tips:

Post-operative Lasik

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First day post-operative

If there is an excess of tears or discomfort or itching around your eyes, do not take the eye shield off. You should use soft cotton to gently clean around the eye shield
Get rest and try to keep both eyes closed. We advise against watching television or reading, since these activities only irritate your treated eye(s). If you cannot sleep, it is suggested to take low dose sleeping pills, which will be provided.
Allow the surgoen to remove the bandage lens after surgery - this will occur during your first aftercare visit (in the event that the bandage lens comes out before the visit, no attempt must be made to replace it yourself).

First week post-operative
Instill the antibiotic drops and tear substitution as prescribed.
Put on the eye shield at night to avoid accidental contact.
Be careful of getting water or dust in your eyes and do not rub your eyes. Please wear protective goggles during contact sports or if there is any risk of debris entering the eye.
Avoid make-up, especially at the sensitive area around the eyes.
Wear sun glasses outside at all times to alleviate eye irritation and/or a burning sensation in the eyes.
Normally the check-up appointment times would be post operative LASIK 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 month, 6 month and 1 year .

Lasik

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The LASIK innovative technology procedure takes only 15 minute per eye and the process is: The procedure starts with a topical anesthetic eye drop to anesthetize the cornea, 15-20 minutes prior to the operation. During this period our refractive surgery specialist will explain each step.
The patient will then move and lie down horizontally under the laser. The eye area is then cleansed with an antibiotic solution An eye speculum is put into the eye to remove any worry about blinking.
The surgeon applies some suctions to the surface of your eye-you will feel slight sensation of pressure. Then, the superficial cornea is separated into two layers, using a delicate instrument called "microkeratome", leaving small attaching hinges to facilitate the repositioning (like a door of window with hinge).

The flap that is created is then gently lifted. Using the excimer laser to reshape the cornea.

For near-sightedness, the central corneal curvature is decreased.
For farsightedness, the central corneal curvature is increased.
For astigmatism, adjust the corneal curvature to have the light focus on the retina.

For near-sightedness For farsightedness For astigmatism

You will hear the laser making a faint clicking sound.

After laser surgery is complete, the flap will then be put back without suture and the cornea flap will heal naturally.
Following the treatment, antibiotic drops will be placed in your eye and a special protective lens, known as, bandage contact lens, may be inserted.
After final cleaning around your eyes, the eye shield will be covered to prevent the patient from accidental contact. This eye shield has a small hole to look through it.
As the effect of anesthetic drops begins to wear off, it is possible that you will experience some discomfort or pain, but this is unlikely. You will be given a supply of tablets, eyedrops, and instructions and will be free to leave.
A post operation checkup will be scheduled for the day after the surgery took place.

Post operative LASIK
To avoid complications and to ensure the rapid healing process of the eyes, please comply with the following guidelines.