Posts Tagged ‘astigmatism’

Refractive Surgery Eliminates Glasses for Many Astigmatic Patients

Thanks to continued advances in laser eye surgery, refractive surgery tools and techniques, glasses and contact lenses are fast becoming obsolete for many patients with astigmatism. Patients with undetected astigmatism often experience headaches, fatigue, eyestrain and blurred vision at all distances. Because astigmatism may not be recognized as the cause of these symptoms, this condition may go undiagnosed and continue to affect sufferers. Astigmatism can also be present in children, affecting their ability to see well in school and while playing sports.

Characterized by an irregular curvature of the cornea, astigmatism can be detected by regular eye examinations and successfully treated using procedures such as laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK), photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), laser epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK), laser thermokeratoplasy (LTK) and astigmatic keratotomy (AK; Table 1). An ophthalmologist can determine which type of procedure will work best for each patient.

Worldwide, >17 million people have undergone laser refractive surgery, and refractive surgery is one of the most commonly performed operations in the United States and by Beverly Hills LASIK surgeons. The newest laser-assisted procedures are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat up to 6 diopters (D) of astigmatism correction, which includes roughly 98% of all astigmatism patients. Advances in laser technology continue to improve treatment outcomes.

Guttman reported on a recent study by Barraquer, a private practitioner in Colombia, of 364 astigmatic myopic patients treated with a new generation “flying spot” excimer laser. Barraquer reported postoperative best-corrected visual acuity of 20/20 or better in 99% of treated eyes at 3 months. Astigmatic correction was achieved to within ±0.50 D in 92% of eyes.

Remember that for patients in or around Beverly Hills LASIK was used after the detection of astigmatism to treat it in its early and advanced stages. Because children may also have astigmatism, it is important that eye examinations be scheduled at regular intervals to detect any astigmatism early on.

Guttman C. Laser yields safe, predictable correction for astigmatism. Ophthalmology Times, Advanstar Communications, January 1, 2008;36.

Andrew I. Caster, M.D. has performed over fourteen thousand procedures to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Dr. Caster is widely considered one of the most knowledgeable Lasik surgeons in the United States. Los Angeles Magazine selected Dr. caster as “The Best Lasik Surgeon in Los Angeles” and W Magazine listed him as one of two top Lasik surgeons in the United States. For more information please visit: http://www.castervision.com/

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-articles/refractive-surgery-eliminates-glasses-for-many-astigmatic-patients-1597619.html

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Astigmatism

If you have blurred vision when looking at objects up close, far away, and in between, it may be astigmatism. Astigmatism causes blurry vision due to an irregularly shaped cornea. Most people have some slight astigmatism but not always enough to cause vision problems.

Your Cornea and Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a type of refractive error. Your cornea bends, or refracts, light as it enters your eye to focus it on the retina. In order to properly focus the light, your eye needs to be spherical in shape. With astigmatism, the cornea is oblong or oval shaped, more like a football. When the irregularly shaped cornea bends the light it creates two or more focal points, rather than one clear focal point, causing the image to be blurry.

Recognizing Astigmatism

Astigmatism can occur alone or in combination with nearsightedness (myopia) or farsightedness (hyperopia). Symptoms include:

  • Distortions in vision making it difficult to make out fine details up close, far away, and in between
  • Blurred vision
  • Eye strain
  • Headaches

Children can be born with astigmatism, or the condition can be caused by trauma to the eye due to an injury or surgery. Keratoconus is a disease of the eye that causes progressive thinning of the cornea and can cause astigmatism.

If you are experiencing the symptoms of astigmatism or any change in your vision, it is important to see your ophthalmologist right away. These can be symptoms of a more serious eye condition or health problem.

Astigmatism in One Eye

When vision is different between your two eyes, your brain chooses the better of the two images, ignoring the bad eye. The eyes do not work together properly and depth perception is affected.

In young children, whose brains are still developing, astigmatism in just one eye can cause lazy eye (amblyopia). Left untreated amblyopia can cause permanent vision loss in the affected eye.

Correcting Astigmatism

Eyeglasses or contact lenses are typically prescribed for people with astigmatism. In the past, soft contact lenses were not an option for astigmatism. Today there are soft contacts available for astigmatism, but they are more difficult to make and cost more than other soft lenses.

Corrective lenses improve your vision while you wear them, but they do not truly correct the astigmatism. Refractive surgery, such as LASIK or PRK, reshapes your cornea correcting the refractive error. If you are also nearsighted or farsighted, the surgery can correct that at the same time, giving you clear vision without the need for glasses or contacts.

If you are struggling with blurry vision, headaches, or eyestrain, please visit Eyes.com to learn more about the causes and solutions.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-articles/astigmatism-1600062.html

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The 3 Eye Surgery Methods

There are three different to use when doing eye surgery; all of them with almost the same name: LASIK, LASEK and LASAK. The three surgery methods can be combined with two extra methods to give an even better result. The names of the two treatments are: Wavefront and Aspheric.

LASIK is the most popular of the methods. It is fast, effective and gentle. And complications using this laser surgery method are very rare. For most people, LASIK surgery will be a good method to improve their sight.

LASIK surgery is almost painless, and the sight has improved only a few hours after the operation. The side effects are few; dry is the most common. LASIK can help most people; long-sightedness until +3 and near-sightedness until -12.

The other surgery method called LASEK (or E-LASIK or ELSA) is great for people, who are only a little near-sightedness or and long-sightedness (from -2 to +2).

Because the operation is made on the surface of the corneas, the LASEK surgery is especially good, if you have thin corneas. It is also better, if you suffer of dry eyes.

The newest type of laser surgery is called LASAK. The flap, which is cut off, is thinner than when doing LASIK surgery. That saves the corneal tissue and is therefore a better method for people with thin corneas.

Other advantages of the LASAK surgery are a shorter time of healing and lesser risk of complications. There is also no pain after the operation, and the eyes will not be so dry. Finally the sight is steadier.

To improve the result even further, the Wavefront treatment can be used in combination with all of the three laser surgery methods. A special instrument is used to measure the irregularities on the corneal, and a kind of topographic map is created. A computer makes a range of calculations, so the laser surgery is carried out for the specific eye.

With Wavefront the treatment will be unique, which gives a better result. The night sight will also be better. Finally astigmatism in the eyes will be corrected better.

Aspheric treatment is the newest step in eye surgery; and is used in combination with LASIK, LASEK and LASAK. The treatment takes into account that the cornea is not ball-shaped; but aspheric.

When using LASIK, LASEK or LASAK without Aspheric treatment, the eye will be more ball-shaped. That gives a reduced contrast ratio and a bad night sight. If the Aspheric treatment is used, the curve in the central part of the eye will be made larger (as it is in an untreated eye). This gives a much better result; sometimes even better than with contact lenses or glasses.

Martin Elmer is writing about eye surgery in Laser øjenoperation. You can read about LASIK, LASEK, LASEK, Wavefront and Aspheric treatment in Lasik.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-articles/the-3-eye-surgery-methods-1575232.html

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How to choose the eyeglasses of hyperopia?

Nowadays the eyeglasses are not only becoming more and more important among young people, but also there are more and more old people becoming hyperopia and must turn to the eyeglasses of hyperopia. Then how should the senior citizens choose the suitable eyeglasses of hyperopia? Then what is the hyperopia to the old people? After reaching 40 years, the crystal and the eyelash become to harden. The strength of the eyes’ adjustment is weakening. Then the old people can not see things clearly. This kind of situation is called the hyperopia. Now let me introduce you how to get the suitable eyeglasses of hyperopia.

 

1. First of all, the old people should know the degree of their hyperopia. Generally speaking, if the old people must keep a distance over 30cms between the eyes and newspaper when reading, they should consider wearing the eyeglasses of hyperopia.

 

2. Actually, many senior citizens will buy a pair of eyeglasses of hyperopia to wear casually in the stall after getting hyperopia. This is very bad to the eyes. They should arrive at the regular eyeglasses shop to have an optometry before purchasing. Many old people have astigmatism and the two eyes’ degrees of hyperopia are different. Therefore, they must match the eyeglasses after examining the eyes instead of buying directly casually.

 

3. If the two eyes’ degrees are the same, the old people can buy the ready-made eyeglasses. But they should also pay attention to the quality and see whether the surface is smooth and the mirror holder is moderate. If the old people like to go out, they can choose the foldaway.

 

4. The middle-aged people should replace their eyeglasses of hyperopia frequently, because the degree is increasing unceasingly. But they don’t need to worry too much since it’s only the physiological change.

 

5. The eyeglasses of hyperopia are used nearly not used to look far. When reading books and newspaper, they must be worn. However, when watching TV of films, people can wear another pair of glasses, so they can consider matching several pairs of eyeglasses to use in the different situations.

 

6. After matching the eyeglasses, please remember to require the certificate and if the degrees are inappropriate, the eyeglasses can be replaced within three days.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-articles/how-to-choose-the-eyeglasses-of-hyperopia-1575519.html

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Eyes Vision Surgery

Our eyes are one of our most precious resources and taking care of them is vitally important as they have to serve us right from birth all through our earthly stay.  Knowledge about eyes vision will help us gain a better understanding of the eye problems that occur and the corrective surgery that is available today, thanks to the enormous strides medical science has made.  Read all about the various problems and solutions in this article.

Astigmatism is an optical defect whereby your vision is blurry because of the inability of the eye to bring an object into sharply focused image on the retina; irregular curvature of the cornea or lens causes this eyes vision problem.  Astigmatic Keratotomy is a procedure that is performed to reduce the extent of astigmatism by reshaping your cornea from its original oval shape into a spherical shape. Anyone with a minimal or moderate degree of astigmatism who has had a stable prescription for a year at least and who does not have any serious vision problems can undergo this procedure to do away with the need for contacts or glasses.

INTACS is a procedure that is performed to reduce myopia and is an alternative to laser surgery. Tiny prescription inserts of plastic polymer are implanted in the outer edge of the cornea through surgery and they work by flattening the cornea to produce better focus and sharper vision.  The advantages to this type of procedure are that the inserts can be removed; flexibility to make prescription changes when needed; no tissue removal and zero maintenance costs.

Lasik eye surgery has become over the years the most popular refractive laser surgery to correct eyes vision.   A laser is used to change the cornea’s shape to correct the refractive error and the advantage to this system of correcting nearsightedness or farsightedness, even astigmatism is a permanent procedure.

Use the information contained in this article to better understand and correct your eyes vision problems successfully.

Jacko has been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in diet, fitness and health, you can also check out his latest website on Acuvue Advance Astigmatism which reviews and lists the best Acuvue Contact Lens and Acuvue Oasys Contact Lenses for your eyes.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-articles/eyes-vision-surgery-1529130.html

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