Archive for August, 2007

LASIK eye surgery is SURGERY. There will be after effects for you to deal with, and your doctor will have instructions following surgery. He or she will also want you in the office for follow-up visits. Be gentle with yourself. You deserve the best recovery possible.

Right after the LASIK procedure, your eye may feel like you have something in it. Whatever you do, do not rub your eye. Rubbing your eye could cause you to dislodge the corneal flap that the doctor cut causing you to need further treatments to reverse that damage. You may have to take a mild pain reliever, but do so only with your doctor’s permission. It is important, especially right after lasik eye surgery, not to self-medicate.

Both of your eyes may water, which will make your nose run. Your eyes may look bloodshot, and you may be sensitive to light. You may see even haloes or starbursts around lights. Your vision may not be clear for a couple of days. These symptoms should improve drastically after a few days after your LASIK. Plan on taking off from work until these effects diminish.

Contact your surgeons immediately if you have severe pain, or if your symptoms get worse. Don’t wait for your scheduled visit. If you don’t catch it soon enough, it might cause permanent damage. You should see your LASIK surgeons within two days of the surgery and regularly for the next six months.

The first post-operative visit includes removing of the eye shield, an eye exam and a vision test. The doctor might dispense eye drops to prevent infection and inflammation. You might be instructed to use an over-the-counter eye lubricant. Don’t use anything that your LASIK doctor does not tell you to use.

Don’t resume wearing your contacts, even if you have blurry vision. Don’t resume any non-contact sports for at least three days. Above all, follow your LASIK doctor’s instructions.

Don’t use beauty products or lotions around your eyes for two weeks after your LASIK eye surgery, or longer, if your doctor instructs. You may need to continue scrubbing your eyelashes for a few weeks.

Don’t go swimming or use the hot tub for several months. Don’t participate in contact sports or strenuous physical activity for at least a month after the surgery. Protect your eyes from being bumped. And don’t sleep with your forearm over your eyes.

The quality of your vision may fluctuate for six months. Don’t worry unless your vision continues to worsen. Do tell your Lasik doctor your symptoms in each follow-up visit. You may have poor night vision, haloes, glare, starburst or other visual problems until your eyes stabilize. If your doctor determines you need additional LASIK eye surgery, wait until your vision is consistent for two consecutive visits at an interval of three months.

LASIK eye surgery may be the remedy for your vision problems. Take care to give yourself every chance to heal by follow directions to achieve the best possible results. Don’t take shortcuts with your vision. If the surgery didn’t go well, there may be ways to correct the problem.

Joe wore glasses for years. He got tired of hauling them around and trying to remember where he left them. When he played sports in school, it was awkward wearing equipment to protect his glasses. Trying to find a style of frames that he thought looked good was an experience he dreaded when his glasses broke or he had to change prescriptions. Though he’d heard of lasik eye surgery, he finally decided to switch to contact lenses.

At first, Joe was pleased to leave his glasses behind. No more worrying about poking his sweetheart in the eye with his glasses frame when he snuggled up. But he soon found that contacts also have a down side. He had to be careful he didn’t have a contact lens fall out and get lost. Buying contact lenses was not cheap. But, he thought, it’s cheaper than lasik.

He also had to watch that his eyes didn’t dry out and that he didn’t leave his contacts in too long. When he traveled away from home, he had to be sure he took along the container to put his contacts in at night as well as the solution to soak them in. He also had to be careful that he didn’t get an infection from using a lens too long or from a defective lens.

Remember, Joe chose contact lenses several years before when he first heard of lasik surgery. At first, he was a little bit suspicious. An operation was a much bigger step than glasses or contacts. After a while, some of Joe’s friends reported their or a friend’s success with lasik. Joe decided to check with his optometrist. He found that he was a good candidate for lasik eye surgery.

Some people with glaucoma or diabetes, for example, are not good subjects for lasik. He also found out that there is a degree of risk involved. Some people are very slow to heal. With some patients, their vision doesn’t improve after the lasik surgery. And, for some, the operation wears off, and the lasik has to be redone. But Joe was in good health and no problems were anticipated, so he decided to choose a physician to go ahead with the operation.

Joe’s opthamologist explained the operation thoroughly and answered all of Joe’s questions. The doctor had performed the operation many times before, so he was very experienced. Joe was allowed to watch, with the consent of the patient, as the lasik eye surgery was being performed on another person. Joe felt very comfortable with the operation when the day of the surgery finally arrived.

The surgery went as expected, and Joe’s wife drove him home. The next day, when he took off the protective eye coverings, he was pleased to find that his vision had immediately improved. He had no problems as a result of the lasik eye surgery.

A couple of years have gone by since the operation, and Joe’s eyesight is doing fine. He doesn’t miss the expense of buying glasses, filling lens prescriptions, buying contact lenses, lens solution, or worrying with putting in and taking out contacts. Lasik eye surgery proved his best choice.

LASEK is a variation on the traditional LASIK procedure, and is basically a version of PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy). Also called epithelial LASIK or E-LASIK, it was developed by Italian surgeon, Massimo Camellin, MD, prior to 1999, when it first appeared in the press. The cost of LASEK averages about the same as LASIK and PRK.

LASEK eye surgery may be a safer option than LASIK. Some people, who are not good candidates for the traditional procedure because of thin corneas, may benefit from LASEK. The LASEK procedure preserves more corneal tissue than traditional LASIK eye surgery. It can be used to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. It is recommended for patients with corneas too flat or steep for LASIK, and usually has less post-operative pain and a shorter recovery time than PRK.

LASEK is a relatively new surgery that utilizes a finer blade called a trephine instead of the microkeratome used in LASIK to create a flap in the epithelium, or outer layer of the cornea, instead of a deeper flap in the cornea as with LASIK. Then, the eye is covered with an alcohol solution for about 30 seconds to preserve the epithelial cells and loosen the edge of the flap. The surgeons lift the edge of the flap, fold it out of the way, and continue the treatment, much like traditional PRK. They restore the flap in place and smooth it with a small spatula.

The flap edge heals in a day or so, and patients wear a bandage contact lens for about four days. It takes up to two weeks to recover good vision, which is longer than with LASIK. The corneal nerve regeneration is quicker, because the flap is so much thinner. But the pain is often greater.

Patients usually get results similar to those from LASIK or PRK. After the surgery, drops are often needed for at least a month, whereas they are usually needed only 4-5 days with LASIK. Patients should refrain from contact sports and swimming for eight weeks after surgery.

LASEK is a refractive surgery technique that can reduce chances of the complications that are more common with PRK and LASIK. One major problem with PRK in its early years was corneal haze. LASEK has reduced the risk of that by not removing the epithelial layer of the cornea. Since the flap is very thin, this also helps avoid most LASIK flap complications. It is, however, still possible that LASEK can result in other complications
including dry eyes, haloed or blurred vision and poor night vision.

LASEK is even more experimental than LASIK because the use of the excimer laser for LASEK is not FDA-approved. LASEK is an accepted “off label use” use of the excimer laser, much as LASIK was in its early years.

LASEK is a variation of LASIK eye surgery and PRK that may be the best choice for you, especially if you have thin, flat or steep corneas. When weighing your options, consider LASEK, but remember that healing from this surgery takes longer than with LASIK, while there are fewer complications.