LASIK eye surgery is used to reshape the cornea in order to correct vision. The LASIK refractive eye surgery procedure can treat myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism, and can reduce your dependency on eye glasses and contact lenses. Patients who suffer from myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism experience blurred vision. LASIK eye surgery offers you an effective treatment to improve your eye’s focusing power and enhance your vision.
What Makes a Good Candidate for LASIK?
A good candidate for LASIK eye surgery should be at least eighteen years old, have no change in refraction for at least one year and have realistic goals and expectations regarding the results of the surgery. Anyone with an eye infection or injury within the previous year should forego LASIK eye surgery. Your eye surgeon or ophthalmologist is the best one to determine if you are a good candidate for this procedure after a thorough examination and consultation.
The Risks and Benefits of LASIK
LASIK eye surgery benefits include improved vision, and freedom from eye glasses and contact lenses. This freedom from eyewear means you can perform every day functions and even participate in sports, swim, spend a comfortable day on a sandy beach or go mountain climbing without the restrictions eye glasses and contact lenses impose on you. LASIK eye surgery is an effective and safe treatment experienced by millions of people. A small number of people, one to five percent, may experience LASIK complications. Risks of LASIK eye surgery may include:
- Sensitivity to light
- Haloed or glared vision
- Irregular astigmatism
- Dry eyes
- Loss of visual clarity
Recent advances in LASIK technology have dramatically reduced the risks of these complications and most problems can easily be rectified with additional treatment. LASIK eye surgery is typically nearly painless with most people complaining of only mild discomfort.
LASIK eye surgery is the most frequently performed vision surgery in the United States. Over one million people have LASIK eye surgery every year with excellent results. LASIK eye surgery is performed in less than fifteen minutes with most experiencing improved vision immediately.
If you are interested in learning more about LASIK eye surgery and how it can improve your quality of life, please visit the website of Dr. Gary Kawesch, LASIK eye surgeon at the Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley today.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-articles/lasik-eye-surgery-and-eye-health-1687862.html
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Night vision problems have been reported as common side effects of traditional LASIK. If you have Custom LASIK, they are far less of a problem. That is because of the way your eyes are diagnosed in those two ways of doing LASIK.
Diagnosis for Traditional LASIK
In Traditional (early) LASIK, a phoropter was used, which is how prescriptions are determined for glasses and contact lenses. A phoropter is a floor-standing device with many lenses. You sit looking through its aperture at the vision chart while someone flips between lenses asking you to read the smallest line of letters you can clearly see.
The information thus gathered is used to correct three vision problems:
- Nearsightedness
- Farsightedness
- Astigmatism.
That meant that Traditional LASIK corrected only these three problems, and only to the same extent that glasses or contacts do it. These three problems are known as the Lower Order Aberrations of your eyes.
Diagnosis for Custom LASIK
In Custom LASIK, Wavefront technology is used for a far more accurate diagnosis. Instead of sitting at a phoropter, you sit at a large system which shines a light into each eye. It then measures and records the nature of the light reflected back from your two eyes.
The computer in this system converts this light data into two colored 3D maps showing the microscopic contours of each eye. These maps contain so much information that a more effective treatment can be based on them, correcting not just the Lower Order Aberrations but also the Higher Order Aberrations.
What Are Higher Order Aberrations?
They are mostly night vision problems:
- Halos around lights
- Starbursts (spiky brightness around light sources)
- Ghosting (faint duplicate images)
- Glare
Traditional LASIK improved visual acuity but left your eyes with their existing Higher Order Aberrations. Therefore they were noticed after treatment as defects in your quality of vision, and referred to as side effects.
Custom LASIK improves visual acuity and reduces or eliminates night vision problems as well.
Pupil Size and Traditional LASIK
Part of screening for good LASIK candidates includes measuring pupil size. If your pupils dilate wider than average they are admitting more light into the eye in dim lighting conditions. If you are asking for Traditional LASIK and already have night vision problems, you would not be a good candidate.
If your pupils are not too extremely large, your eye surgeon might be able to do Traditional LASIK safely. He could use a “blend zone”, using Variable Spot Scanning (VSS) technology to create a larger optical zone, effectively reducing these aberrations and decreasing night glare.
A Custom LASIK procedure would be a better option, as it would treat the existing night vision problems.
At the Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley in California, you can have Custom LASIK using the best of current Wavefront technology. Dr. Gary Kawesch never compromises on quality. Why not contact experienced LASIK surgeon Dr. Kawesch today and schedule your free consultation?
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-articles/lasik-and-night-vision-1402898.html