Eye Healthy Care Information

Most patients who are able to successfully wear glasses and contacts and are able to see with corrective lenses will be a candidate for LASIK. However, there are several conditions that can prohibit you from having LASIK surgery and risks that may cause you to have a poor result.

First, begin with what type of vision can be corrected with LASIK surgery. A person who needs glasses or contacts has a “refractive error”. There are four types of refractive error myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia. A person who has perfect eyesight and lacks a refractive error is called “emmetropic”.

In an eye without a refractive error, light rays enter through the cornea and focus directly on the retina at the back of the eye.

In the myopic eye, the cornea is often steep and light rays focus in front of the retina, causing distant objects to appear blurred.

In the hyperopic eye, the cornea is not steep enough and light rays focus behind the retina.

With astigmatism, the cornea has an irregular shape, which scatters light rays and causes both close-up and distant objects to appear blurred.

Presbyopia is a condition where a person progressively loses their lens elasticity and ability to accommodate (focus up close). This condition affects the ability to read at close ranges. The necessary corrective lenses are called reading glasses. Even people who have had perfect vision all of their lives will develop presbyopia in their mid-forties. The excimer laser has no effect on your focusing muscles. The excimer laser cannot help patients who are experiencing the effects of presbyopia, however, there are new techniques being developed for this condition. Ask your doctor if you are a candidate for these new procedures.

Some of the contraindications, or conditions, for which the surgery should be avoided:

Keratoconus - genetically cone-shaped cornea.

Pregnancy or lactation

Progressive myopia - vision should be stable at least one year prior to having lasik surgery.

Keloid formers or people with autoimmune or immunodeficient diseases.
Presence of cataracts.

You must be 18 years or older to have lasik surgery, under present FDA guidelines.

There are other conditions, which may affect the results of your surgery. Should you suspect you have any of these conditions, consult your doctor.

Corneal scars from previous injuries or surgeries (i.e. radial keratotomy)
Diabetes can cause abnormal healing; however, many diabetics have had laser vision surgery with results comparable to those of non-diabetics.

Use of medications. There are medicines that can cause corneal scarring, infiltrates, and some interfere with healing. Consult your doctor, he/she can tell you if you should discontinue medications prior to your procedure and resume shortly after surgery.

Large pupils 8mm or greater, this can cause significant night glare.
Before undergoing an eye examination for refractive surgery, you must be out of your contact lenses. Contact lenses alter the shape of your cornea and can affect the measurements necessary for having LASIK surgery. Patients wearing soft contact lenses should be out of their lenses for three to seven days. Soft-toric, Gas-permeable, and hard contact lens wearers, in contrast, take at least two to three weeks to stabilize the cornea. Talk to your doctor about your specific lenses and cornea shape.

With LASIK, is it important to have an adequate amount of tissue for removal for full correction. Excessive tissue removal can result in severe corneal instability in patients with thin corneas or those with normal thickness corneas with disproportionately high prescriptions. It may be best to under-treat and be left with some residual myopia rather than be fully treated with a small optical zone. It is important to understand the limitations of these procedures based upon your own prescription and eye characteristics.

Laser correction of certain visual problems is the most technologically advanced method available today for reducing your dependence on glasses and contact lenses. The outpatient procedure can correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism by gently reshaping the cornea of your eye with a cool, ultraviolet beam of laser light.
It is estimated that over one million laser procedures have been performed in 52 countries around the world. In fact, vision correction by laser is expected to become the most common procedure performed worldwide within the next five years.

Vision correction using the excimer laser can also dramatically improve your quality of life. From the simple pleasure of being able to see the alarm clock in the morning, to playing sports, and pursuing career-related opportunities, many patients are able to enjoy life with improved self-confidence and renewed enthusiasm.

A refractive procedure attempts to re-shape the cornea to allow light rays to focus directly on the retina. Myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism all relate to the shape of the surface of the cornea and are therefore correctable with Laser Vision Correction - LASIK.

The reasons a person may not be a candidate to have LASIK vary greatly; however, most doctors offer a complimentary consultation to determine your candidacy for LASIK. Your doctor is the best person to determine if you are a good candidate Laser Vision Correction - LASIK.

by Shawn Powell - Austin, Texas

Shawn Powell is the Director of Marketing and Advertising for the Howerton Eye & Laser Center. Ernest E. Howerton, M.D. has been serving the Austin community for over 20 years. Having the procedure performed on him, Dr. Howerton understands the importance of the surgeon seeing the patient at every visit. He believes this practice is paramount to patient care and recovery. The Howerton Eye & Laser Center performs LASIK on site, with state-of-the-art equipment and an affordable, all-inclusive fee structure.

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So you’re looking for an eye doctor? Which type are you looking for?

Before we go any further, I guess now’s a good time to get some terms sorted out, don’t you think?

Initially, I got kinda mixed up by the op-this and op-that.

So I’ve decided to find out what the specific terms are, and differentiate them once and for all!

Let’s have a look:

The Ophthalmologist
An ophthalmologist is a physician specialist expert in the treatment of diseases of the eyeball and retina. He/she is a doctor of Medicine (M.D.) Find an ophthalmologist here.

The Optometrist
An optometrist is one who is professionally trained and licensed to examine the eyes for visual defects, diagnose problems or impairments, and prescribe corrective lenses or provide other types of treatment. He/she is a doctor of Optometry (O.D.) Find an optometrist here.

The Optician
An optician is one who reads prescriptions for visual correction, orders lenses, and dispenses eyeglasses and contact lenses.

With that in mind, you can be sure of what particular type of eye care professional you are looking for.

From there and onwards, you’d be sure to get the proper eye care you deserve. All the best!!

Lim Zheng Yang has dedicated countless hours researching on eye problems related issues. He also specializes in information about eyewear. For more information, kindly visit Eye Care Inc.

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On the day of your LASIK it is quite normal to be nervous. This is a reason we give people an oral sedative right before the procedure is performed. There is also apprehension because you don’t know what to expect when the procedure is finished. Most people know someone who has undergone the surgery and told them how they were out-to-dinner or at a party the night after the LASIK surgery.

The first thing is not to get caught up in how you see in the first 24 hours after the procedure. Everyone tends to heal slightly differently and some people will heal slower than average and others faster than average. There are no studies that connect the vision right after the surgery to the long-term results or long-term patient happiness.

The perceived quality of vision is ofter related to the amount of eyeglass correction that was performed. People with larger corrections often notice a big improvement in vision when compared to how they see without glasses or contacts before the procedure. The opposite is true for people with smaller corrections. If your compare it to weight loss, and take two people who are now at their normal body weight say 120 pounds. The person who started at 240 pounds is going to perceive a bigger difference than the person who started at 140 pounds. Even though they are both now at the same ideal weight.

The discomfort that a person feels also a variable. Some people feels extremely dry and light sensitive and others feel perfectly fine. Again, this usually has not bearing on the final outcome and is often related to an individuals general tolerance to pain and discomfort. We are all different and respond differently to the same stimulus.

The swelling of the LASIK flap often fluctuates between patients and plays into the level of vision in the immediate post-operative period. As things settle down, the vision starts to improve.

In summary, the pain and quality of vision in the first 24 hours is not related to the final happiness of a LASIK patient. In fact, many patients who felt quite uncomfortable in the first post-operative day don’t even remember that first day; especially when then have a great post-operative result. This is important when your co-worker tells you how wonderful they were right from the start. They may not accurately remember the first 24 hours!

Marc D. Hirsch is a laser eye surgeon. He publishes a blog http://www.visioncorrectionsurgery.blogspot.com which discusses LASIK related issues and complications.

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