Posts Tagged lasik surgery
A Surgeon’s Reasons for Seeking Lasik Eye Surgery
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Lasik | iLasik, Milwaukee Eye Care on December 16th, 2009
What are your reasons for thinking about Lasik surgery now and what are your concerns? Many people that have been nearsighted since childhood dream of the freedom of being without glasses. Although people become accustomed to wearing glasses or contact lenses, at its core, it is never a totally natural thing to do. I started wearing glasses in the 4th grade and contact lenses in junior high. By the time I was an adult, it was just a subconscious part of my daily routine. As I grew up, my vision became worse until I couldn’t even see the alarm clock in the morning when I woke up. It wasn’t until I personally had Lasik myself in my 30’s that I fully realized what a handicap it was. I look back and remember all of the hassles with my inability to fully participate in simple activities that others took for granted. When I went swimming, I would have to go without my contacts and be essentially blind, or wear glasses which hampered swimming. Sports were always difficult because of sweat pouring onto the glasses and visual problems due to movement of the contacts. And I remember so many times losing a contact lens and crawling around on the floor desperately trying to find it.
Custom Lasik does not mean Blade-free Lasik
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Lasik | iLasik, Milwaukee Eye Care on September 23rd, 2009
I hear some Lasik surgeons talking up the fact that they do advanced Custom Lasik but they make no mention of the blades that they use in their Lasik surgery. That’s right, “Custom Lasik” and “Blade-free Lasik” are two completely separate things. Surgeons that continue to use the cheap bladed Lasik try to cover that fact by talking about their Custom Lasik but that is old news at Suson Eye Specialists in Wauwatosa. I don’t think there’s a Lasik center in the USA that doesn’t use a Custom Lasik system and it’s been that way for years. But the real technological difference has been in the advancement of the blade-free Lasik systems to make the Lasik flap. That’s the technological advancement that these cheap chain centers neglect and that they always fail to mention. So they cover it up by talking about Custom Lasik so you won’t know that they still use blades.
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.
Lasik Eye Trackers, Iris Registration, and Decentration.
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Lasik | iLasik, Milwaukee Eye Care on May 31st, 2009
In the early days of laser refractive surgery, the laser systems were relatively simple. The laser energy was produced in a relatively circular simple pattern which expanded outward. The surgeon maintained control of the treatment alignment manually while using an aiming reticle viewed through the surgical microscope. In those days, if a patient had excessive movement or oscillation of their eye, it could be quite challenging to maintain proper centration of the laser treatment. It is always best to maintain perfect centration of treatment in order to obtain the best optical results. Any significant deviation from center can lead to suboptimal results and even induced astigmatism or other optical aberrations. Decentration and related optical aberrations were actually a rare but important complication after Lasik or PRK in its early days. Innovations in technology have reduced their incidence considerably, however.
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