Archive for May, 2008

Astigmatism lasik surgery is useful for treating astigmatism and is very predictable especially in the case of iris recognition technology that uses Zyoptix Wavefront to map the treatment onto the cornea. For the complete astigmatism lasik surgery, treatment should be delivered at the exact right angle and in case of the eye being rotated a few degrees the magnitude of the correction can be reduced.

Astigmatism lasik surgery is able to accomplish 6.0 D of correction. Astigmatism is basically found in combination with shortsightedness and farsightedness and it may sometimes be present without an overall refractive error that may affect the person’s ability to see clearly.

Corrects Blurry Vision

When a person has astigmatism of up to 5.0 Dioptes it may be treated using astigmatism lasik surgery. Astigmatism lasik surgery is useful for treating the areas of blurry vision because the cornea of the eye is not perfectly circular as it should be and people having astigmatism may find it difficult to see vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines. Depending upon the shape of one’s cornea, one would be able to judge whether one has nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. Astigmatism lasik surgery can help rectify the problem of astigmatism as it will eliminate the need to have glasses or contact lenses and is a painless procedure that only takes ten to twenty minutes to do.

Astigmatism lasik surgery uses the accuracy as well as precision of the excimer laser and Lasik makes alterations to the shape of the cornea thus improving the way that light gets focused or refracted by the eye. The basic astigmatism lasik surgery procedure is to first lift the thin layer of the cornea with an instrument called a microkeratome that glides across the cornea. Then, taking less than one minute, cool and ultraviolet laser pulses emanating from the excimer laser will help to reform the internal cornea with accuracy levels of up to 0.25 microns.

Through the adjustment of the pattern of the laser beam with the help of a computer, it becomes possible to treat high levels of astigmatism and after reshaping of the tissue, the flap gets put back in its original position and due to the cornea’s natural Velcro-like bonding qualities, the process of healing is very quick and also may not require any stitches.

Astigmatism lasik surgery is often performed as an outpatient procedure and takes less than half an hour to perform and is also done with the use of eye drop anesthesia and the patient would not feel any pain though there may be mild discomfort on the first evening after the surgery and this may be alleviated with a pain killer.

The field of medicine has seen a tremendous improvement today. LASIK eye surgery is one of the outcomes of that improvement resulted by the technological advancement in the medical field. LASIK stands for Laser assisted in situ Keratomileusis. One of the most preferred form of LASIK eye surgery is custom LASIK.

Not every one is suitable to undergo the Custom procedure of LASIK eye surgery. Food and Drug Administration has stringent guidelines on who should be considered for this type of treatment. Only those who qualify these stipulations will be given custom LASIK treatment.

Custom LASIK is not suitable to treat all forms of corneal aberrations, it can be used only to treat myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. It is one of the most expensive forms of eye surgery procedures. The type of procedure required to treat your eye will be decided by your ophthalmologist after a close examination of your eye condition.

Custom LASIK is also called wavefront LASIK because of the wavefront tool it uses to diagnose the faults in the cornea. The wavefront tool is used to create a 3D image of the cornea. This 3D map will help the surgeon to decide the approach to LASIK eye surgery. One of the reasons why many people choose Custom LASIK is because it has very few post operative side effects.

LASIK eye surgery is performed through a series of steps including the one week preparatory period. As one of the procedures, the patient who is to undergo this surgery is asked to stop using their contact lenses. As part of the preparation, the surgeon measures the thickness of the cornea and the patient is also given antibiotics to ensure that there is no post operative infection.

The next step in the LASIK eye surgery is the surgery itself. For Custom LASIK procedure, the candidate is not given total anesthetic to ensure that the patient is awake. They are given mild dose of anesthesia and anesthetic eye drops. Once prepared this way, the next step is to create a flap in the cornea. The flap that is created is folded back and held in position so that the surgeon can reshape the cornea beneath the flap created. The remodeling is done through laser beam.

The flap is placed back in original position after the remodeling of the cornea. The flap when placed back in position will heal naturally without any special medication to heal. There are very few side effects of custom LASIK procedure among the other forms of eye surgery procedures.

Once the LASIK eye surgery is completed, extra care should be given to the patient to ensure that there is no attack of infections after the Custom LASIK surgery. At the post operative stage the operated eye should be protected from the exposure to bright light by wearing protective dark glasses. Though Custom LASIK procedure is one of the most popular forms of eye surgery due to its lesser post operative effects, one should not take chances. Basic care and attention that is normally given for the LASIK eye surgeries should not be missed.

It is important to know in the first place that the educational backgrounds of eye care providers vary depending on whether they are ophthalmologists, optometrists, or opticians. All of them may be involved with providing corrective lenses for vision common problems such as myopia or hyperopia, but there are certain differences when it comes to their job.

The ophthalmologists are physicians with medical degrees, designated by an M.D. after their names. They are the specialists working for surgeries and managing serious eye diseases.

The optometrists are individuals who have designation of O.D. after their names. And, depending on state regulations where they are located, optometrists may be able to diagnose and manage eye diseases as well as administer certain prescriptions. They often handle routine eye examinations and prescriptions.

Lastly, the opticians are the ones who prepare and provide corrective lenses according to prescriptions issued by the optometrists and ophthalmologists. They are the ones whom you can look for when you need prescriptions filled for glasses and contact lenses. And, they can help you attain the proper fittings for vision correction lenses.

So, you’ve learned the difference between ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians. All you need to remember now is to look for eye care providers who are certified to perform a LASIK eye correction procedure. Note that in the overall scheme of things, LASIK, PRK or a corneal ring implantation are not as difficult as many other kinds of surgery, but a bad eye procedure outcome can affect your life almost as negatively as an outcome of a bad heart operation. That’s why it is critically important to choose the best eye surgeon available.