By: Scott Fromherz

Dry eye or dry eye syndrome is found to be very a common occurrence especially in the older generation that may affect millions of people though it seems that more women than men are afflicted by it. Dry eye is a condition in which the person does not have enough tears in the eyes that would cause the eye to stay moist and comfortable as well as clean. This is a defect in the eye that may be caused by laser surgery as the tear film which is composed of three layers with each component layer being dependent on the other for proper performance may get damaged.

Symptoms of dry eye condition are persistently gritty eyes, itchy eyes, burning sensation in the eyes and pain. The symptoms generally tend to get worse with each passing day and there may also be stringy mucus that may be seen in or around the eyes. The first line of treatment for dry eyes is to use lubricating eye drops or gels which can be bought over the counter. However, corrective laser eye surgery may be required to treat the aggravated dry eye and once the patient has been treated for the specific cause, corrective eye surgery may be necessary to correct faulty vision.

Advantages Include Affordability

The advantage of having corrective laser eye surgery is that it is quite affordable for everyone and its popularity among people is growing as it allows the patient to anticipate having good vision without recourse to using glasses or contact lenses as the incidence of people using laser eye surgery continues to grow. With positive feedback that emanates from those who have found corrective laser eye surgery to provide best results, more and more people are getting convinced that there are genuine benefits to this form of surgery. Some of the benefits of corrective eye surgery are that the procedure is affordable.

Corrective eye surgery owes its popularity, amongst other things, to its value for money and has been found to correct many of the problems that affect a person’s vision. It has also been used to treat cataracts, glaucoma, as well as macular degeneration and these are problems that often hinder vision in the elderly. Macular degeneration is one of the foremost reasons behind blindness in old people and corrective laser eye surgery would be able to treat macular degeneration though not cure it and symptoms may be controlled though the process, even though they may not be completely eliminated.

Source: http://www.my-article-dashboard.com/Article/Corrective-Laser-Eye-Surgery-is-Affordable-and-Reasonable/4353

By: Ray La Foy

LASIK or Laser-In-Situ-Keratomileusis is a type of laser eye surgery which has met with success in relieving people of their trials and tribulations with glasses, lenses and the like. This surgery has proved be a good and viable alternative for people who would like to do away with their glasses and lenses or at the very least reduce the number from thick soda bottle type glasses to their sleeker thinner counterparts. It is well advertised in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet. There is enough information available and people should make themselves aware of the pros and cons of this form of laser eye surgery.

The procedure involves altering the shape of the cornea which will reduce the refractive error and this is carried out for the treatment of different degrees of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Doctors like Dr O’Brien who is the director of refractive surgery at the Wilmer Eye Institute at the John Hopkins University at Baltimore cautions prospective patients of being taken in by the grandiose promises that the ads make to influence people to go in for this surgery. Delicate eye surgery should not be ruled by price alone and one should have a capable and experienced surgeon to perform this type of surgery.

Despite assurances by doctors that this is a surgery with little or no post-operative pain, very little pain otherwise and rapid recovery, there are some risks involved as is the case with any invasive type of surgery. Some of the risks include over or under treatment, permanent loss of vision, the fact that you may not be able to wear contact lenses which means that should you need some prescription glasses you will have to use only spectacles. There could also be a reduction in the quality of vision and trouble with driving at night and you may not be able to see properly in dimly lit conditions. Above all, this surgery is not reversible.

One would do well to consult an eye doctor as there are alternatives available like photorefractive keratectomy or PRK, used by normally less than 5% of the glasses wearing community. There have been some cases of eye surgery where PRK is seen to be more appropriate than LASIK. Here the shape of the cornea is altered by using microscopic bits of tissues from the outer surface itself by using a computer controlled cool ultra-violet beam of light and the best part about this surgery is that it takes only a few minutes and the recovery period is a week, at the very maximum.

Laser Thermal Keratoplasty or LTK is yet another lesser known option that is found useful in temporarily reducing hyperopia in people above the age of 40. Here 16 parts of the outer part of the cornea are zapped and shrunk. The chances of infection and loss of vision here are almost non-existent but this is a temporary procedure. Take it from the experts, laser eye surgery works best on those who are diagnosed with mild to moderate levels of refractive surgery and one should be aware of the risks before making a decision.

Source: http://www.my-article-dashboard.com/Article/Can-You-Read-This-Article–If-Not–You-Might-Need-Laser-Eye-Surgery/6409

By: Remy Jirek

Does laser eye surgery work for every person, all of the time? Anyone who is thinking about getting laser eye surgery is worried that his or her surgery will be the one that the surgeon messes up on. No one wants to go in for laser vision correction surgery and come out unable to see. It is important to understand the risks involved with this type of surgery.

Laser surgery is not guaranteed to work every time and on every person. The surgeon’s job is to inform you of the possible risks and different outcomes that can occur with the type of surgery you will be having done. At the consultation, if you come prepared to ask questions, your doctor will be happy to answer them to the best of their ability. Your doctor wants you to feel comfortable with having the surgery, but they also want to know that you are fully informed about all the possible risks.

Although laser eye surgery is a fairly new surgical technique, thousands of doctors are doing this type of surgery on millions of patients every year. This is a rapidly growing field with a new clinic in almost every major city across the country.

The Consultation

Before your surgery and even before your consultation you should do some research of your own. Take some time to research the procedure you are thinking of having done as well as the ophthalmology surgeon.

Your surgeon is required to have attended specialized training on corrective eye surgery. You can ask the clinic to forward you the training information on your physician and also ask them for the contact information necessary to verify his licensure.

Trust

Many people do not want to be seen as not trusting their doctor so they do not look into their surgeon’s education or references. But it is important for you to do this. Although most laser eye surgeons are very reputable and extremely well trained, there are plenty of surgeons that are operating without the proper training.

Your surgeon does not mind you checking into their education and training. That is to say, a good surgeon will not mind. A good surgeon may even offer you this information up front without you ever asking. Just make sure and verify all the licensing and training information on your surgeon before the day of your operation.

Lawsuits

You can also ask your surgeon or just call the clinic and ask if they have any pending lawsuits against them. Because of the risks associated with this surgery it is extremely important for you to know how often your surgeon is being sued for something going wrong during the surgery process.

Even though laser eye surgery is extremely common practice you should still take the time to investigate if the surgery is right for you. You should be informed about the risks of the surgery as well as the possible benefits. You should also be informed as to your physicians history, education, and licensure before you decide to have laser vision correction surgery.

Source: http://www.my-article-dashboard.com/Article/Does-Laser-Eye-Surgery-Work-All-of-The-Time-/10055

By: Scott Fromherz

There are many Lasik centers now available in the world. You will want to find a laser eye center that offers surgical procedures for more than just a few years and has been a leader in refractive surgery. It is helpful to have a team of very well qualified Ophthalmologists who have performed more thousands of refractive surgeries.

A good laser surgery center should believe in experience married to high quality in correcting the patient’s vision which is essential for successful laser eye surgery. A good laser surgery center has the best in advanced FDA approved technology and going further than 20/20 vision should be their mission.

Lasik and LADAR Vision

A good Laser Eye Center uses lasik which is a popular way of correcting vision and this has become the choice for a majority of its patients who like to recover fast and also do not want to contend with too many side effects and complications which is the case with most other types of vision correction procedures. It is also noticed by most patients that their vision does in fact improve because of lasik and this laser eye surgery center is adept at lasik surgeries.

This laser eye surgery center also uses laser and radar technology that was developed by NASA for using LADAR Vision which is an approved system and has active eye tracking that compensates for involuntary eye movements. LADAR Vision is a system unlike other eye-tracking systems that uses laser radar tracking technology to measure eye movement 4,000 times per second and is capable of following eye movements without being bothered by the rapidity or erraticness of such eye movements.

In addition, a good Laser Eye Center is a laser eye surgery center where its surgeons are pioneers in LADAR Wavey CUSTOMCORNEA wavefront technology which is used to gauge as well as address both lower and higher order aberrations. There are various locations where a good laser eye surgery center can be located. There are a large number located in Southern California, and more specifically Los Angeles County, Orange County and Inland Empire County.

The California-based Laser Eye Center is considered as being one of the leading laser eye surgery centers in the United States and the surgeons here have helped thousands of patients to enjoy better vision and their commitment to excellence is without limits since they are the people who provide the answers to patients in need of best eye care treatment. Surgeons here are very experienced and perhaps the best available in the United States.

Do your own research and decide for yourself. The internet is a great resource for researching center locations and the services that they offer.

Source: http://www.my-article-dashboard.com/Article/What-A-Laser-Eye-Surgery-Center-Can-Offer/25924

UT Southwestern Medical Center plastic surgeons are among a handful in the nation deploying a new type of laser that goes deeper into the skin to help reduce wrinkles, tighten surface structures and treat pigmentation differences.

UT Southwestern was one of only two U.S. centers to receive the Food and Drug Administration-approved laser for initial testing before making it available for patients. Plastic surgeons at UT Southwestern have completed testing and are now starting to use the new carbon dioxide-based fractional laser, which combines minute focused columns of laser-induced injury with heat deposition for less skin damage and quicker recovery time.

“Fractional lasers are like aerating your lawn, where you have a bunch of holes in your lawn, but you have normal lawn in between. This allows for more rapid healing because intact, normal skin bridges the gap between the laser-induced injured skin,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kenkel, vice chairman of plastic surgery whose research involves the effects of lasers on tissue. “We can vary the distance between the holes, which has an effect on how much tissue we choose to treat. The treatment parameters are determined by what we are trying to accomplish for each of our patients.”

Dr. Kenkel, director of the Clinical Center for Cosmetic Laser Treatment and chief of plastic surgery at the Veterans Administration Medical Center at Dallas, said the technology potentially could be one of the last decade’s biggest advancements in the laser world.

“What’s appealing about carbon dioxide lasers is that not only can you get surface and deeper skin changes, but you get heat that’s deposited into the skin resulting in improvement in wrinkles and skin tightening,” said Dr. Kenkel.

“There are lots of new lasers that come out on the market. We take a scientific approach when investigating new laser devices. We evaluate the laser on tissue that has either been removed from patients or that we plan on removing so we can determine what effect it’s going to have before we start treating patients clinically.”

With more than 200 lasers on hand for various procedures, UT Southwestern is one of the world’s leaders in providing patients with laser treatment options. This latest model, made by Lumenis Device Technologies, has a large arm and two heads and can be used on a variety of conditions, including wrinkle removal, acne scarring, alleviating dark pigmentation, and other conditions that the plastic surgery group is investigating.

Early carbon dioxide-based lasers were popular in the early 1990s, but faded from favor due to long recovery periods sometimes spanning several months and pigmentation inequities that resulted in loss of pigmentation in the patient’s skin after treatment.

The new laser treatments are office-based procedures done on an out-patient basis, but may require some local or regional anesthetic, with recovery time related to the type of procedure. In most instances recovery is between three and five days. Depending on what’s required, procedure costs can range from $500 to $3,000 and are usually considered cosmetic.

The popularity of out-patient, office-based laser procedures has been rising as lasers have improved.

“There are a lot of patients who would rather not have surgery and who are looking for things to improve their appearance without surgical down time,” Dr. Kenkel said. “In addition, there’s a whole group of younger patients who are looking for improvement who are not necessarily in need of surgery but perhaps would benefit from some of the lesser invasive procedures that we have to offer.”

Americans spent more than $12 billion last year on cosmetic procedures, involving 11.5 million surgical and nonsurgical procedures, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Nonsurgical procedures, which include laser treatments, accounted for about 83 percent of those procedures.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/97228.php

Traditional assumptions have held that contact lenses are safer than laser surgery to correct vision problems. Now, an Oregon Health & Science University Casey Eye Institute physician, comparing data from several recent studies, has found that belief may not be true.

William Mathers, M.D., professor of ophthalmology in the OHSU School of Medicine, reviewed several large, peer-reviewed studies and found a greater chance of suffering vision loss from contact lenses than from laser vision correction surgery, also known as “refractive” surgery. His findings are published in a letter in Archives of Ophthalmology.

“Several times a year, I have patients who lose eyes from complications because they’ve been wearing contacts and they’ve gotten an infection. By this I mean their eyes have to be physically removed from their bodies,” said Mathers, an eye surgeon with a strong background in contact lens issues and former president of the Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists. “It’s not that contacts aren’t good. They’re better than they’ve ever been. But one cannot assume contacts are safer.”

The risks associated with laser surgery versus contact lenses can not be compared directly, partly because complications from contact lenses accumulate over years of use, and complications from surgery occur soon after the surgery.

Data extrapolated from a study in Lancet shows the lifetime risk of bacterial keratitis to be 1 in 100 for contact lenses worn daily. Bacterial keratitis is an infection that causes an inflammation of the cornea and can lead to vision loss. Wearing contact lenses overnight or improper care or cleaning further increases the risk of infection from contacts. The risk of bacterial keratitis has changed little over the years for contact lens wearers and is the same worldwide.

Vision loss from laser surgery is easier to calculate. Mathers looked at a large study of military personnel who had laser surgery and found results similar to those of the OHSU Casey Vision Correction Center.

A study of more than 32,000 U.S. Armed Forces members receiving laser surgery published in the journal Ophthalmology found a loss of vision of one line on an eye chart was 1 in 1,250. A loss of two or more lines of vision, which would be more significant, but less frequent, was not reported. Data from the OHSU Casey Vision Correction Center showed no cases of vision loss greater than two lines in 18,000 procedures performed over 10 years.

“Even with perfect care of your contacts, the risks for infection and vision loss are still there,” said Mathers. “Our long-term results at OHSU confirm the experience of the U.S. military: Laser surgery is as safe, and probably safer, than long-term use of contact lenses.”

The calculated risks of vision loss from contact lenses and laser surgery are approximate and subject to change. Highly oxygen-permeable contact lenses and advances in laser surgery should make both even safer. There are approximately 20 million to 25 million contact lens wearers in the United States, and approximately 1 million people in the United States have laser surgery every year.

“Data from these studies strongly suggest our intuition regarding these risks needs to be reassessed,” Mathers said. “I, for one, look forward to further investigations of these risks.”

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/53726.php

A new University of Illinois at Chicago study appearing in the online edition of the journal Ophthalmology reports on the safety, efficacy and predictability of laser eye surgery (laser in situ keratomileusis or LASIK) in patients 40-69 years old.

“We are seeing an increasing demand for LASIK surgery for older adults, who present special challenges,” said study co-author Dr. Dimitri Azar, Field chair of ophthalmologic research at UIC.

In LASIK surgery, adjustments in correction are routinely made to compensate for the cornea’s strong healing responses in younger patients, Azar said. Increased age has been previously associated with poorer final clarity of vision, as measured on an eye chart (visual acuity).

“We were able to show that fine adjustments in the correction to the cornea in our older patients that compensate for differences in age-related healing resulted in reliable predictability of correction,” said Azar, who is also professor and head of the UIC department of ophthalmology and visual sciences.

The researchers examined the case histories of 710 consecutive laser eye surgeries on 424 patients between 40-69 years old. The LASIK surgeries were performed to correct myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism. All surgeries were performed by Azar between January 1999 and September 2005.

The cases were divided into three groups based on age: group one, 40-49 years old (359 eyes); group two, 50-59 years old (293 eyes); and group three, 60-63 years old (58 eyes).

Outcomes of the laser surgery corrections were analyzed for near-sightedness with or without astigmatism (511 eyes) and far-sightedness with or without astigmatism (199 eyes). Patients’ outcomes included a follow-up of at least six months and, where possible, 12 months. The study found no difference in safety between the groups.

At the final follow-up of the nearsighted-corrected patients, 86 percent of eyes in group one, 85 percent of group two, and 100 percent of group three had 20/30 or better visual acuity without glasses. In all groups, there was 20/40 or better visual acuity for 91 to 100 percent of patients.

For farsighted patients, 80 to 84 percent of all groups had 20/30 or better visual acuity at final follow-up, with 91 to 97 percent of all groups achieving 20/40 or better uncorrected vision. There was no statistical significant difference in final visual acuity between the different age groups.

Another challenge for older patients is difficulty with near vision after LASIK due to the loss of the ability to accommodate (presbyopia), Azar said. “As we age, we lose some elasticity of the lens of the eyes, making it impossible to maintain a clear image as objects are moved closer,” he said.

Many patients in the study opted for monovision, a strategy that compensates for presbyopia by correcting one eye for distance and the other eye for near vision.

“Patients who understand that monovision is a compromise that does not restore accommodation, but rather compensates for its loss, are most likely to adapt well to monovision,” Azar said.

“Although LASIK presents different challenges in the presbyopic age group, our study showed that for this age group, 40-69 years old, LASIK correction for near-sightedness and far-sightedness has reasonable safety, efficacy and predictability,” he concluded.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/68302.php

Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute have found that people with a certain low level of tear production are more likely to develop chronic dry eye syndrome after LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis), laser refractive surgery to correct near- and far-sightedness than those with more plentiful tears. Their research, published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Vision Science, may offer reliable prescreening criteria for ophthalmologists and patients.

“These findings should help ophthalmologists determine if pretreatment is necessary before surgery or if surgery is appropriate at all for an individual,” says Dr. Darlene Dartt, director of the Military Vision Research Program at Schepens Eye Research Institute and the principal investigator of the study.

Dry eye syndrome is one of the most common problems treated by eye physicians. Affecting more than 10 million Americans, it is caused by problems with the tear film responsible for lubricating the eye. While it does not cause vision loss, dry eye syndrome can be painful and severely decrease quality of life for its victims who constantly search for relief with artificial tears and other medications.

LASIK surgery uses small laser cuts to reshape the surface of the cornea, eliminating far-sightedness or near-sightedness, and the need for glasses or contacts. Many people choose LASIK for cosmetic reasons. In recent years, thousands of military personnel have opted for LASIK surgery because it can help them see better and identify objects and people in the field more quickly. It also relieves them of the worry about lost or damaged glasses.

Usually, LASIK causes some dry eye syndrome directly after surgery, but the condition resolves within a few months. In a small number of cases, however, the dry eye condition following LASIK can become chronic and impact functioning of both civilian and military individuals for as long as nine months following surgery.

Dartt and her team were determined to find a way to prescreen for the chronic condition so that surgeons could prepare patients in advance with preventative artificial tears or opt against surgery for some patients.

Dartt and her team evaluated the eyes of 24 patients about to undergo LASIK at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The patients were given a series of evaluations, including the Schirmer test with and without anesthesia, before and after surgery. Using a piece of paper on the corneal surface, the Schirmer test measures the amount of tears an eye is producing. Study subjects also filled out a dry eye questionnaire indicating their experience with dry eyes pre- and post-operatively.

The team discovered that if a patient had a presurgical tear production value greater than 20 mm of wetting of the Schrimer strip in 5 minutes, they were not likely to develop chronic dry eye syndrome. Patients who produced less tears were more likely to develop long-term dry eye syndrome.

According to Dartt, the next steps for her team include expanding this study to a larger number of individuals and examining patients who have the PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) type of refractive surgery. The PRK has the same goal as LASIK, but the procedures differ. In LASIK a flap of corneal epithelium is cut and lifted to allow the underlying stroma to be shaped by the laser. Then the flap is placed down on the eye. In PRK the corneal epithelium is mechanically removed to allow laser shaping of the stroma. The epithelium then grows back over several days. LASIK and PRK have different side effects.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/99388.php

A study comparing the safety, effectiveness and reliability of LASIK and LASEK has found no clinically significant differences between the two types of laser eye surgery.

The study, led by a University of Illinois at Chicago researcher, is published in the December 2006 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

“Although there have been many studies of the safety and efficacy of both types of laser surgery, there has not been a large study directly comparing the outcomes of the two procedures,” said Dr. Dimitri Azar, field chair of ophthalmologic research and professor and head of ophthalmology and visual sciences at UIC.

In the retrospective, case-matched study, eyes that had undergone laser eye surgery were matched for a number of measures, including visual acuity and astigmatism; 122 LASIK-treated eyes were matched for all measures with 122 LASEK-treated eyes from a review of the charts of 2,257 eye surgeries performed by Azar. All patients’ outcomes included a follow-up of at least six months.

“We found that although there were some differences in the visual and refractive results that favor the LASEK procedure, the differences were not clinically significant,” said Azar. “These results are in line with previous smaller studies that we reviewed comparing the procedures.”

LASIK, which stands for laser in situ keratomileusis, was introduced in the mid-nineties and has largely replaced the older photorefractive keratectomy procedure, better known as PRK. Unlike PRK, where the surface layer of the cornea is scraped away to allow the reshaping of the underlying cornea, with LASIK a flap is made in the top cornea layer to permit access to the underlying cornea. LASIK avoids most of the problems of corneal haze, postoperative pain and slow rehabilitation seen in PRK, but complications are sometimes associated with the flap.

In LASEK (laser epithelial keratomileusis), the surface cornea layer is treated with alcohol and then peeled back to permit reshaping of the underlying layer. It avoids all flap-related complications associated with LASIK, and has less postoperative pain and faster recovery than PRK.

“Both procedures seem safe, effective and predictable for the treatment of low to moderate myopia (near-sightedness),” Azar said.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/59689.php

A ten year follow up study carried out by researchers in Spain and Turkey on patients who had laser surgery to treat high myopia (short or near sightedness) found the treatment was safe and effective in the long term, with a retreatment rate of under 30 per cent.

The study is published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology and is the work of researchers from Miguel Hernandez University, Medical School, Alicante, Spain, and from Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.

Laser surgery for eye problems has been around since the early 1990s. There are two main types for correcting myopia: PRK, Photorefractive Keratotomy, for low to moderate myopia; and LASIK, laser in situ keratomileusis, for high myopia.

In that time there have been over 18 million LASIK operations worldwide, with controversial evidence about the maximum correction possible and the long term effects of the technique.

This new study found that in the long term, LASIK was a safe and effective procedure for patients with preoperative myopia of over -10 D.

The researchers evaluated 196 eyes of 118 patients that needed at least 10 diopter (10 D) corrections to achieve 20/20 vision before receiving laser surgery. The extent of the preoperative myopia was a mean of -13.95 plus or minus 2.79 D.

The patients all received LASIK surgery at the Instituto Oftalmologico de Alicante, in Spain, between April 1992 and December 1995. They came back for check ups after 3 months, 1, 2, 5 and 10 years.

The results showed that:

• After 10 years, 42 per cent of eyes were within plus or minus 1.00 D.
• 61 per cent of eyes were within plus or minus 2.00 D.
• 27.5 per cent of eyes were retreated because of under correction or regression, or both.
• Myopic regression in eyes that were not retreated occurred at a mean rate of -0.25 plus or minus 0.18 D per year.
• 5 per cent of eyes lost more than 2 lines of best spectacle corrected visual acuity (BSCVA).
• 40 per cent of eyes showed a postoperatively uncorrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better.
• 1 per cent of eyes with more than 15 D myopic correction developed corneal ectasia (bulging).
• The retreatment rate was 27 per cent.

The researchers concluded that:

“LASIK for myopia over -10 D is a safe procedure with myopic regression that slows down with time and a high rate of BSCVA increase in the long term.”

Lead investigator, Jorge L. Alio, said that:

“These results are extremely encouraging considering that this refractive correction implies the maximum limit of application of this technique.”

“This study has allowed us to demonstrate that, in spite of the prejudices about the limits of LASIK technique, the results regarding predictability, efficacy and safety for high myopic patients are very good in the long term,” he added.

He stressed that the optimum limit of predicatability for this type of surgery appears to be around 10 D of myopia.

In an editorial in the same issue of the journal, Dr George O Waring, of Emory University and Inview in Atlanta, generally supported the findings, and said that LASIK and other vision correction procedures have improved significantly in the last ten years, with some recent studies on LASIK reporting correction to plus or minus 0.5 D in more than 90 per cent of eyes.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/92809.php