Colorado Laser Eye Surgery and Laser Eye Surgery Costs

Eyes.com – Custom Lasik

If you are tired of being dependent on corrective lenses and are considering Lasik Surgery to correct your vision you may be frightened by stories of people whose vision became worse after the procedure. Although they were always the rare exception, these stories were more common before the advent of custom LASIK which uses Wavefront technology to precisely map your eyes.

LASIK Surgery

The basics of both Traditional Lasik and custom LASIK are the same. A handheld tool call a microkeratome is used to create a hinged flap in the surface of your cornea, giving your surgeon access to the underlying layer. An excimer laser is then used to reshape your cornea, correcting the way it bends (refracts) light, so your eyes can focus properly.

Wavefront Diagnosis

Wavefront diagnosis minimizes the risk of making vision worse because it detects high order aberrations. Older technology used for traditional LASIK could not do this. Higher order aberrations cause problems with your vision such as:

• Glare
• Halos
• Starbursts
• Difficulty with night driving
• Double vision

You can have these types of problems and still have 20/20 vision, but that does not mean you are seeing well. You can have high order aberrations that you do not notice, and LASIK surgery can make them worse.

Wavefront diagnosis detects these problems and creates a very precise map of your eyes, to avoid exacerbating high order aberrations.

Custom LASIK

After Wavefront diagnosis you may be able to choose traditional LASIK, if you do not have high order aberrations. Traditional LASIK is still a good procedure, but custom LASIK is much more precise and improves your likelihood of achieving 20/20 vision or better. In custom LASIK the surgery is guided by the detailed map created in Wavefront diagnosis.

Alternatives to LASIK

Some people are not good candidates for LASIK surgery, but can have another type of laser vision correction. For instance, people with thin corneas cannot have LASIK because the flap cannot be created safely. However, there are other refractive surgeries, such as PRK, that accomplish the same goal without having to create a flap.

Many of these alternative procedures can be guided by Wavefront as well.

Talking to Your Doctor

Wavefront diagnosis is imperative for a safe surgery, even if you choose traditional LASIK or another procedure that is not guided by Wavefront. Ask your ophthalmologist if he uses Wavefront before scheduling your procedure. If you already have symptoms of higher order aberrations, be sure to tell your eye doctor.

About the Author

To learn more about custom LASIK, Wavefront diagnosis, and alternatives to LASIK, please visit eyes.com today.

ReStor Lens implant and Lasik combination for Cataract Surgery: 1 Year after surgery

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 3:11 am and is filed under Laser Eye Surgery Price. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.