Archive for December, 2007

Not Common But Surgery Risks Even Include Loss of Vision

Sunday, December 23rd, 2007
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Lasik Eye Surgery Risks Include Loss of Vision

Most often, patients of lasik eye surgery are pleased with the results of the refractive surgery but they should be aware that it does involve certain risks and that is why it becomes necessary for them to understand the various types of lasik eye surgery risks.

This would involve studying and understanding the possible risks which may include losing vision, developing a debilitating visual symptom, under-correction or over-correction or developing severe dry eye symptoms. Some patients have disappointing results and refractive errors that may occur, farsighted patients may see results diminish with age, and also there is not enough long term data available to ensure long-term safety and effectiveness of lasik surgery.

Device Malfunction, Flap Migration, Inflammations and Infections

In addition, there are other lasik eye surgery risks such as malfunction of devices used in the procedure, migration of the flap, and inflammation or infection developing. There are instances when a patient loses lines of vision on the vision chart that may not be able to be treated by glasses, contact lenses or surgery and this is a grave lasik eye surgery risk.

There may also be lasik eye surgery risks such as the patient developing glares, halos and/or double vision that may seriously hinder nighttime vision and the patient may not be able to see well in low contrast situations. The numbers of patients who achieve 20/20 vision as a result of lasik eye surgery are few and so may need additional treatment though such additional treatment may not always be possible. This is another lasik eye surgery risk.

There is also considerable lasik eye surgery risk in that the patient may not be able to produce enough tears so that the eye remains clean as well as moist and comfortable. There is considerable discomfort caused by dry eyes and it may reduce the quality of vision because of intermittent blurring as well as other symptoms of vision. Such a condition may sometimes become permanent and may require intensive drop therapy as well as using plugs or some other procedures for treatment and is certainly another serious lasik eye surgery risk.

The patient would be well advised to discuss with the doctor their expectations and be prepared that sometimes the results would not match high expectations. In case of farsighted people, the amount by which the vision can be improved as a result of having lasik eye surgery would decrease as one grows older and this may be another lasik eye surgery risk. Also, there is not enough long term data to help the medical professionals glean more knowledge about this relatively new technology and so the long-term safety and effectiveness of lasik eye surgery is not really known.

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More information about PRK and Lasik

Thursday, December 6th, 2007

More information about PRK and Lasik

Imagine having worn glasses or contact lenses for 10, 15 or 20 years. Now imagine not having to wear any corrective lenses at all. Imagine the freedom of having near-perfect vision while engaging in sports activities, being able to see while swimming, or playing with your kids and not worrying about breaking your glasses. Such are the many blessings of taking advantage of laser eye treatment.

Laser eye treatment is a surgical procedure that corrects many vision disorders. Some of these common vision maladies are nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. There are two types of laser eye surgical procedures that can be accomplished on individuals. Those procedures are PRK or photorefractive keratectomy and Lasik surgery or keratomileusis.

PRK
The laser eye treatment known as PRK is a surgical procedure that is performed in an outpatient laser eye treatment clinic. To numb the area eye drops are applied that contain a local anesthetic. Once the anesthetic has taken effect the cornea of the eye is reshaped. This reshaping is accomplished by the surgical removing of miniscule amounts of tissue. This removal of tissue is accomplished through the use of an ultraviolet light beam. The success of this laser eye treatment is based upon the preciseness of the process and its ability to remove tissue down to billionths of an inch.

In addition, the reshaping of the cornea is not accomplished arbitrarily. The scientific and precise method of determining how much tissue is removed off of the cornea is determined through various measurements. These measurements are then imputed into the laser’s computer which results in the precise extraction of the cornea’s tissue. Generally, the entire procedure allows for the patients return to their daily activities in one to three days.

Lasik
Probably the most common laser eye treatment procedure is known as the “Lasik procedure”. The surgical process requires the use of a surgical knife and as such defines this practice as a more complicated method of laser eye treatment.

The Lasik laser eye treatment procedure begins with the surgeon using a surgical knife and cutting, in a circular form, the cornea. The flap is then pulled back and the exposed cornea is treated with a low powered laser. The laser then is utilized to remove a portion of the tissue. This process restructures the cornea and allows for the light captured by the eye, to be more succinctly refocused onto the retina. This laser eye treatment allows for the patient’s eyesight to improve significantly. The Lasik laser eye treatment is indicated for those patients whose vision requires the correction of more difficult refractive corrections.

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