Wednesday, January 9, 2013

I have astigmatism, can I get lasik eye surgery?

Q. How old do you have to be? What other alternatives are there, besides glasses, contacts, and lasik eye surgery? I'd like something permanant. How long does it take for it to heal? Are there serious risks during the procedure? If I can't get lasik eye surgery done, what's the problem? Sorry about all the questions, feel free to give me as much information as you can because I'm pretty sure I'm missing something that I'll want to know later . .

A. Sure.
Lasik works for most healthy people with healthy eyes who need total corrections less than about 3 or 4 diopters. It has to do with the shape of the eye and the thickness of the cornea.

You really should wait to have the proceedure until you have stopped growing and until your corrective prescriptive lenses have been the same for a year. When you are older, you will probably go 3 or 6 years without changing your prescription. You will not want to risk complications by having a lasik revision frequently while you are young.

The cornea is sliced with a micro thin blade (micro karatome) and flipped up. The lazer contours the freshly exposed inside tissue of the cornea and corrects the vision. The flap is then closed.

The corneal flap makes a bandage and the whole thing heals pretty quickly.

There are risks. Infection, halos in the night vision are the ones that come to mind.

You need to see two or three doctors, in my opinion. The consultations take about an hour. The consultations are free or about 50 dollars.

Lasik will not work if the astigmatism is very severe. My correction was more than 4.75 diopters and would have required PRK.

PRK requires the lazering off the front of the cornea and takes 2-3 weeks of rest and no work to heal.

My brother had PRK and needed 16 days. My sister had lasik and was back to work in three day. Both are happy and generally do not need any glasses.

See the doctors. Google LASIK and read about twenty sites.

God Bless you.


What are the long terms side effects of laser eye surgery?
Q. I am interested in having laser eye surgery to correct short sight but I am concerned about the longer term side effects as I get older. I can't find much information about this subject on the web so I would be really interested to find out.

A. The risks outlined below apply to both PRK and LASIK procedures. The chances of having a serious vision-threatening complication are minimal, and there have been no reported cases of blindness following either PRK or LASIK, says James Salz, M.D., clinical professor of ophthalmology. However, FDA is aware of a few instances of severe eye injury requiring corneal transplant.
Infection and delayed healing: There is about a 0.1 percent chance of the cornea becoming infected after PRK, and a somewhat smaller chance after LASIK. Generally, this means added discomfort and a delay in healing, with no long-term effects within a period of four years.

Undercorrection/Overcorrection: It is not possible to predict perfectly how your eye will respond to laser surgery. As a result, you may still need corrective lenses after the procedure to obtain good vision. In some cases, a second procedure can be done to improve the result.

Decrease in Best-Corrected Vision: After refractive surgery, some patients find that their best obtainable vision with corrective lenses is worse than it was before the surgery. This can occur as a result of irregular tissue removal or the development of corneal haze.

Excessive Corneal Haze: Corneal haze occurs as part of the normal healing process after PRK. In most cases, it has little or no effect on the final vision and can only be seen by an eye doctor with a microscope. However, there are some cases of excessive haze that interferes with vision. As with undercorrections, this can often be dealt with by means of an additional laser treatment. The risk of significant haze is much less with LASIK than with PRK.

Regression: In some patients the effect of refractive surgery is gradually lost over several months. This is like an undercorrection, and a re-treatment is often feasible.

Halo Effect: The halo effect is an optical effect that is noticed in dim light. As the pupil enlarges, a second faded image is produced by the untreated peripheral cornea. For some patients who have undergone PRK or LASIK, this effect can interfere with night driving.

Flap Damage or Loss (LASIK only): Instead of creating a hinged flap of tissue on the central cornea, the entire flap could come off. If this were to occur it could be replaced after the laser treatment. However, there is a risk that the flap could be damaged or lost.

Distorted Flap (LASIK only): Irregular healing of the corneal flap could create a distorted corneal shape, resulting in a decrease of best-corrected vision.

Incomplete Procedure: Equipment malfunction may require the procedure to be stopped before completion. This is a more significant factor in LASIK, with its higher degree of complexity, than in PRK.

Problems with a Perfect Procedure: Even when everything goes perfectly, there are effects that might cause some dissatisfaction. Older patients should be aware that they can't have both good distance vision and good near vision in the same eye without corrective lenses. Some myopic patients rely on their myopia (by taking off their glasses, or by wearing a weaker prescription) to allow them to read. Such a patient may need reading glasses after the myopia is surgically corrected. Another consideration is the delay between eye treatments. If one eye is being done at a time, then the eyes may not work well together during the time between treatments. If a contact lens is not tolerated on the unoperated eye, work and driving may be awkward or impossible until the second eye has been treated.


How old should you be before you have eye surgery (to correct your eye sight)?
Q. I am near-sighted and am 13.5 years old. How old should I be before getting corrective eye surgery?

A. Laser vision correction, such as lasik, should not be done until your eyes have stabilized- in other words not until you are no longer changing the power of your glasses or contact lenses. This rarely occurs before age 18 years, and may not be until your 20's. For more information about laser vision correction contact http://tinyurl.com/Dr-Groden


Army ROTC and getting Lasik eye surgery?
Q. I have applied for Army ROTC and feel I have a good chance of getting in. My vision is poor and i have wore contacts most of high school. I want to get lasik eye surgery, but I am not sure if a should get lasik before going into Army ROTC or wait. Or not even get the surgery at all. Any information on this subject would be nice.

A. Lasik is evaluated on a case by case basis. I would not do it until after ROTC and you are in the healthcare system. Heck, they may even pay for it.





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Title Post: I have astigmatism, can I get lasik eye surgery?
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