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LASIK Laser Eye Surgery in India

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Difference between LASIK and Laser Eye Surgery. What is best for me?

Feb 2

Posted by samir in Are you a candidate for LASIK?, LASIK Alternatives | 9 Comments

There are several types of laser eye surgery; The most common are listed below:

a) Laser Photocoagulation for Retinal Treatment

b) Yag Laser Capsulotomy for After Cataract treatment

c) Laser Treatment for Glaucoma

d) Laser Vision Correction

LASIK is a type of Laser Vision Correction Surgery. Obviously a) through c) are not alternatives for LASIK. So I suppose that was not really your question.

There are different types of laser vision correction surgery. One is LASIK, the other is PRK, a third (similar to PRK) is LASEK or Epi-LASIK. While this is confusing, LASIK is the most popular, and over 90% of all laser vision correction surgery is LASIK. PRK and Epi-LASIK have more post-operative pain, and a longer visual recovery. Generally, they should be done when the cornea is thin, or there is some surface corneal disorder. Otherwise, LASIK is perhaps the best alternative.

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Pre-LASIK Examination? What does it Involve?

Jul 3

Posted by samir in Are you a candidate for LASIK?, LASIK Procedure | 1 Comment

Your eye surgeon should do a thorough eye examination before you undergo LASIK.  Besides taking your detailed eye and other disease history,  your eye surgeon should perform at least the following checks. Don’t trivialize the LASIK procedure, and don’t allow your eye surgeon to trivialize it either. Good doctors, who have experience with LASIK and who care about their doctors, will do the following tests.

  • Determination of uncorrected vision and vision as corrected by your own glasses/ contact lenses.
  • Determination of the magnitude of refractive error in each eye
  • Measurement of the surface of the cornea by “mapping” its topography (corneal curvature or shape),  to find irregularities, if any, and to screen for disease states (e.g. corneal thinning disorders like keratoconus) that may produce poor outcomes with LASIK.
  • Measurement of pupil size in dim and room light. Pupil size is an important factor in counseling a candidate about night vision and planning the appropriate laser vision correction strategy.
  • Assessment of whether there is presence of squint
  • Examination of the eyelids to see if they turn inward (possibly scratching the cornea) or outward and redirect tear flow away from the eye, and other conditions.
  • Examination of the conjunctiva, the transparent mem-brane that covers the outer surface of the eye and lines the inner surface of the eyelids, to see whether there are irri-tations, redness, irregular blood vessels or other abnormalities.
  • Examination of the cornea to determine if there are any abnormalities that could affect the outcome of surgery.

Some of the following examinations may require dilatation of the eye  (i.e putting special eye drops to artificially widen the pupil of the eye, so that the surgeon can see inside the eye better).  Dilatation causes poor vision (especially in bright light) and difficulty in reading for a few hours. Don’t get unnecessarily alarmed.

  • Examination of the crystalline lens inside the eye to determine if clouding of the lens (cataract) or other abnormalities are present.
  • Measurement of corneal thickness (pachymetry). The amount of LASIK correction may be determined in part by corneal thickness.
  • Measurement of intraocular pressure to detect glaucoma or pre-glaucomatous conditions. Glaucoma is a visual loss caused by damage to the optic nerve from excessively high pressures in the eye. It is a common cause of preventable vision loss.
  • Assessment of the back (posterior segment) of the eye: This is used to assess the health of the inside back surface of the eye (retina), with the pupil fully open. Examination of the retina, optic nerve, and blood vessels screens for a number of eye and systemic disorders.

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Are you a good candidate for LASIK?

Jul 2

Posted by samir in Are you a candidate for LASIK?, LASIK Expectations, Miscellaneous | No Comments

Are you a good candidate for LASIK or other forms of refractive surgery? Most individuals are good candidates for LASIK, but very importantly there are some who do not qualify as good candidates, either because they do not meet the accepted medical criteria, or do not have the correct expectations or psychological profile. A thorough eye examination is absolutely necessary, to determine whether you are a good candidate for LASIK.

Are you the Ideal LASIK Candidate?

  • You are, if you are over 18 years of age, and have a stable refractive error (i.e. glass or contact lens prescription) since a couple of years (minor changes, like 0.25 or 0.5 D, may not be that important, though).
  • You have sufficient corneal thickness so that LASIK treatment will leave you with enough corneal tissue which is deemed to be within safety guidelines.
  • You have a refractive error upto around -12 D on the myopic side (including the astigmatism or cylindrical component), and upto around +6D on the hyperopic side (including astigmatism). Most lasers are able to treat within this range, and have been approved by the US FDA for such a range of treatments.
  • You do not suffer from any disease, vision-related or otherwise, that may reduce the effectiveness of the surgery or the patient’s ability to heal properly and quickly.
  • You are adequately informed about the benefits and risks of the procedure. You should thoroughly discuss the procedure with your physicians and understand that for most people, the goal of refractive surgery should be the reduction of dependency on glasses and contact lenses, not their complete elimination, even if in most cases it does result in complete elimination of dependency on glasses or contact lenses.

Are you a ‘Less Than Ideal’ candidate for LASIK?

Sometimes, some issues exist which may not qualify you as an ideal candidate for LASIK surgery. Even in such a situation, you can undergo LASIK provided  that you and your eye doctor have adequately discussed the benefits and risks, and set realistic expectations for the results. You could get LASIK done, even with some level of reduced expectations if:

  • You have a history of dry eyes. Bear in mind that a history of long term contact lens use often causes dry eyes.
  • You have a history of auto-immume disease, like certain skin diseases, like psoriasis, and certain systemic diseases, like arthritis, in which you have been given (or are taking) steroids or other immunosupressant drugs for a long time.
  • Your corneal surface is not normal, either due to a past infection, or injury or long term dry eye disease.
  • You have thin corneas, in which case you could explore either thin-flap or blade free LASIK or surface laser procedures, like PRK or LASEK.

You should also think about postponing the surgery if:

  • You are pregnant or nursing.
  • You have a history of ocular herpes in the last one year.

Are you a bad candidate for LASIK?

You should not undergo LASIK if:

  • You have eye diseases such as cataracts, advanced glaucoma, corneal diseases, corneal thinning disorders (e.g., keratoconus), or certain other pre-existing eye diseases that affect or threaten vision.
  • You have unrealistic expectations. It is critical for potential LASIK patients to understand that laser eye surgery, as all surgical procedures, involves some risk. In addition, both the final outcome of surgery and the rate of healing vary from person to person and even from eye to eye in each individual.
  • You have uncontrolled diabetes

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