Posts Tagged laser
Should I consider Lasik Eye surgery?
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on September 17th, 2009
Many people are curious about Lasik eye surgery as an option for vision correction instead of the traditional glasses or contact lenses that they’ve used for ages. Many people were told in the past that they were not good candidates but with current up-to-date technology, many of these people are actually very good candidates. The reasons for having Lasik eye surgery are very personal and each individual has to look at his or her own needs, desires, and lifestyle. Those things will be the major determinants on whether you should have Lasik eye surgery.
Don’t Compromise: Have Blade Free Lasik or No Surgery at all!
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on July 7th, 2009
I recently had a patient tell me the cost of Lasik was his biggest concern. He liked the idea of the top end blade-free technology, but if it wasn’t within his price range, then he couldn’t have it anyway. My answer to this patient: “Your choice is clear. Do NOT have Lasik at all…at least until you can save up some money to have it done right.”
12 Steps to Deal with Dry Eye After Lasik
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on June 25th, 2009
Dry eye is something that can occur after Lasik eye surgery and every patient should be aware of it. Actually, studies indicate that tear production and blink reflexes are reduced in all patients that undergo Lasik, but it does not usually cause any symptoms. The cause of the dry eye is due to the disruption of the corneal nerves by the cutting of the Lasik flap and the excimer laser treatment of the cornea itself. The deeper the treatment goes, the more likely that dry eye symptoms will occur. Actually, recent studies have shown that contact lens wear also causes increase in dry eye over time. This contact lens effect is a slower, more chronic process. Because it happens so gradually, contact lens related dry eye takes longer to be noticed by a patient whereas a Lasik patient may be aware of it within days or weeks.
For those rare patients that experience dry eye symptoms, as the cornea heals over a three to six month period, the nerves regenerate and much of the dry eye problems will resolve. Nonetheless, there are a number of measures that can be taken to speed the process and make it a better overall experience for the patient. The sooner the dry eye resolves, the sooner you will be more comfortable and your vision will return to its crispest potential. I have even seen some second opinion patients that were 6 months to a year after Lasik that never had their dry eye problems aggressively treated and still had persistent discomfort and moderately diminished (although annoying) vision. It seems to me that many chain surgery centers and surgeons under treat dry eye because they perceive it as a minimal problem whereas the some patients may feel it is significant.
I use a number of strategies to minimize and treat dry eye in all of my Lasik patients:
Wavefront Guided Lasik and Night Driving Performance
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on June 4th, 2009
Wavefront Guided Lasik and Night Driving.
Wavefront Guided Lasik treatments use a highly advanced method of scanning the eye for higher order optical aberrations. It has been known for some time that using the excimer laser to eliminate these optical aberrations gives better visual outcomes in situations of low light compared to conventional Lasik treatments. The Wavefront system that I use is called the Visx Star S4 IR Customvue™ system.
Epithelial Ingrowth After Lasik Surgery
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on May 29th, 2009
One well known complication of Lasik Surgery is Epithelial Ingrowth. Epithelium is the very fast growing cell layer that covers the eye. Actually, there is an epithelium that covers every part of the outside of your body. It is rapidly growing and constantly shedding and renewing itself throughout your lifetime. The epithelium should remain on the very outer surface of the body, but at times we can see it grow beneath the surface where it becomes trapped and cannot properly shed and renew itself. On the skin, epithelial ingrowth appears as a cyst or bump and has only a cosmetic consequence.
Treatment of Astigmatism in Cataract and Refractive Surgery
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on May 28th, 2009
Treating Astigmatism in Cataract and Refractive Surgery
Premium IOLS: the Basics
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on May 27th, 2009
Premium Intraocular Lenses: The Basics
What is Wavescan Technology?
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on May 26th, 2009
What Is a Wavescan and How Does It Affect My Lasik?
Trends Show Increasing Use of Blade Free Lasik
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on May 21st, 2009
As time passes, more and more US eye surgeons are changing over to the use of blade-free lasik systems like the iLasik system that I use. Every study has shown that results using the femtosecond lasers to make Lasik flaps result in equal or better outcomes with significant safety advantages. Those resisting change to the more advanced systems continue to site the cheaper cost and the time savings. Typically they mention time savings of around 8 minutes per case. I personally find it astonishing that the surgeon would sacrifice safety and precision for the sake of cramming in a few more cases a day. If the case can be made safer by spending just a few more minutes per case, I don’t see how that is unreasonable. Here is a link to a recent article from Ocular Surgery News detailing the current trends toward the laser only flade-free Lasik systems.
Lasik for Military Pilots and Astronauts
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on May 19th, 2009
In my last blog, I wrote about the reasons that I chose to have Lasik eye surgery to improve my vision and function at work. Of course, as a surgeon, my vision is critical to what I do and there are many other professions where that is the case too. One of the most important professions where vision is vital is the military. Not surprisingly, a lot of the most respected and rigorous research work into Lasik and PRK has been by armed forces ophthalmologists who try to determine the appropriateness of different kinds of refractive surgery for military personnel.