Protect Your LASIK Investment!

OK...you've gone and done it! You had LASIK!! You now have fantastic distance vision without wearing glasses or contact lenses. You are free to do all the stuff you love to do without having your contacts fog up or your glasses slip off your nose. Now what?

Dr. Darrell White, one of Cleveland, Ohio's most experienced LASIK surgeons tells every one of our Skyvision Centers LASIK patients that it is vitally important to protect your eyes from Ultraviolet light after Laser Vision Correction, whether you had LASIK or PRK. Not only that, but you can actually enhance your vision and your visual performance by choosing thetype of sunglasses after your LASIK.

The basic advice is the same for everyone. You have to come in at the RayBan level of UV protection. If you have a pair of RayBans, or if you have a fashion frame like Fendi or Marc Jacobs which have RayBan-like lenses, you are OK as far as UV protection goes. As you move UP the sunglass food chain the UV protection is the same but the quality of your vision is enhanced. Nike, Oakley, Kaenon...better vision and some really cool activity-specific options like the unbelievable Nike Golf Tint in their MaxTint series.

The top of the sunglasses food chain is Maui Jim. Dr. White has been known to wear multiple different Maui Jim's because he loves how they improve his vision! They are polarized, have special coatings to shed water --they were developed by surfers, after all--and they come in three distinct shades: Bronze, Gray, and Rose. They're just FANTASTIC!!

So congratulations on your LASIK. Now it's time to protect your investment, and why not see even BETTER while you're at it. Get a high quality pair of sunglasses!

Trends In Treating Astigmatism

The surgical revolution in treating astigmatism began with the onset of Radial Keratotomy (RK) in the late 1970's and continued into the era of Laser Vision Correction. When a cataract was to be replaced, if you had astigmatism you either had to undergo a procedure like RK called a Limbal Relaxing Incision (LRI) during or after the surgery, or a laser procedure like LASIK or PRK. These all work well.

About 5 years ago there was a new development in Intra-Ocular Lenses (IOL) that not only improved vision after cataract surgery, but also treated astigmatism: Toric IOL's. A study of refractive cataract surgeons like our Dr. White recently reported that 75% now prefer to use these new IOL's rather than LRI's in patients with astigmatism.

"We really like the Alcon Toric IOL when we are aiming to make our  Cleveland patients independent from glasses for their distanc vision needs like driving or watching TV," said Dr. White.  "Our golfers are particularly happy!"

Extra pre-operative measurements like corneal topography are necessary to choose both the power and the orientation of the IOL. Once it's in the eye it is amazingly stable!

The technology of cataract surgery now includes multiple ways to address astigmatism. Dr. White and a majority of the top surgeons in the United States are now opting for a Toric IOL in cases where astigmatism is treated during the surgery.

All Laser LASIK

We've been examining our results and outcomes since we made the switch to All Laser LASIK and we have just one thing to say:

WOW!!!

Laser Vision Correction has undergone many changes since Dr. Darrell White did the first VISX laser procedure in Cleveland in the early 1990's. The excimer lasers themselves, the lasers that actually put the prescription on your eye, are now able to correct very complex prescriptions, and they track your eyes during the procedure in every conceivable direction! The accuracy of the treatment is nothing short of amazing.

In the last several years a move has been underway to increast the amount of the procedure that can be performed using lasers, including the creation of the LASIK flap in your cornea (the "window" to the eye). Modern mechanical keratomes are excellent, and we should note that Dr. White's own LASIK was done using a mechanical keratome. We have made the move to using a Femptosecond laser, specifically the IntraLase, to make our flaps after Dr. White conferred with trusted colleagues like Dr. Stephan Coleman in New Mexico, one of the true LASIK pioneers.

And now? WOW!

Are you interested in great vision without glasses or contact lenses? Come visit us here in Cleveland at Skyvision Centers. See What's Next (R) with Dr. White!

LASIK, Another Safety Success Story!

A topic often discussed is safety in eye surgery so I thought we should mention how safe LASIK is! As with all surgeries, post-operative infection is one of the most feared complications possible. Another new study was just published that looked at this exact issue.

From September of 2002 to May of 2008 a study was performed looking at the frequency of infections in patients who have undergone LASIK. A total of 204,586 eyes had LASIK over this time period; only 72 eyes became infected! Yup, you read that right: 72 of 204,586. That's an infection rate of 0.035%! And even with infections more than half of the eyes ended up with vision that was 20/20 or better.

The most important take home messages from this study and all of the studies like it are really two: LASIK is VERY safe, but there is no such thing as a totally risk-free, complication-free surgery of any kind. We are very fortunate at Skyvision Centers in that we have yet to have any serious complications in our LASIK patients, but we tell everyone before surgery that it is possible that something could happen. Thankfully, in LASIK at Skyvision, especially with Dr. White, it's very, VERY rare. Just like in the study!