Posts Tagged lasik technology
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.
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:
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.
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.
Why Bladeless Lasik Technology is Better: Part II
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Milwaukee Eye Care on April 25th, 2009
Why bladeless Lasik technology is better. Part II
Why Bladeless Lasik Technology is Better: Part I
Posted by Dr. John Suson in Lasik | iLasik, Milwaukee Eye Care on April 23rd, 2009
Why bladeless Lasik technology is better. Part I
I’ve had a lot of experience over the last decade performing Lasik eye surgery with a number of different technologies. I’ve used different lasers and experienced different microkeratomes (the “flap cutters” that are so critical in Lasik eye surgery). In addition, over a decade ago, I had Lasik surgery myself, so I have a unique perspective on how these technologies affect the patient as well as the surgeon.