Custom Wavefront Lasik

LASIK eye surgery has been around since 1995. The outpatient surgical procedure uses a preprogrammed excimer laser to reshape the cornea after cutting a hinged flap in the cornea and then put the flap back into its original position. It has brought benefits to people with refractive errors - nearsightedness (myopia) and farsightedness (hyperopia), with or without astigmatism - and majority of them no longer depend on glasses or contact lenses in their daily activities.

As the technology of refractive eye surgery continues to improve, a new method of laser eye surgery has been found. The new procedure is known as Custom LASIK or Wavefront LASIK. Some people may also call it Wavefront Guided LASIK. It is a variation of LASIK eye surgery that uses wavefront technology to precisely measure the irregularities in the way your eye processes images. Unlike the conventional LASIK that only uses the eyeglasses or contact lenses prescription to guide the laser in reshaping the coreal tissue, Custom LASIK or Wavefront LASIK customize all your visual irregularities in a 3-D map (wavefront map) and transfer it electronically to program the laser used in reshaping your cornea. This is because every eye’s focusing ability is unique, just like the fingerprint.

Because Custom LASIK uses a customized map in programming the laser treatment for your eyes, needless to say that Custom LASIK may bring better results compared to conventional LASIK such as sharper and higher quality vision. While traditional LASIK can only correct ordinary vision defects such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism, Custom LASIK is capable of correcting those ordinary refractive errors (myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism) plus other vision distortions due to higher order aberrations, that can not be corrected with glasses or contacts or even conventional LASIK surgery, such as glare, halos, starbursts, ghosting of images and poor night vision, which are the also the risks of post-LASIK complications.

But actually, not all ophthalmologists agree that Custom LASIK can treat above vision distortions. Some refractive surgeons argue that both Custom LASIK and conventional LASIK may cause these aberrations in some cases. However, research has shown that Wavefront LASIK may less likely to cause such aberrations than conventional LASIK.

The advent of Custom LASIK has increased the public interest in undergoing the customized LASIK eye surgery. But just like any other laser surgery, Custom LASIK or Wavefront LASIK may not be suitable for everyone. It is also not a surgical procedure to treat all kind of vision related problems so it is highly recommended to visit your ophthalmologist for a consultation and he or she will determine if you are a good candidate for Custom LASIK or not. Also the cost of Custom LASIK is a worth considerable thing because it is definitely costs more than conventional LASIK because it uses a wavefront scanner, called aberrometer, which is an expensive device.

Tags : LASIK, LASIK Eye Surgery, Custom LASIK, Wavefront LASIK, Wavefront, Eye, Surgery, Vision, Myopia, Hyperopia, Astigmatism, Nearsighted, Farsighted, 3D, 3-D

LASIK Eye Surgery Costs

The cost of LASIK surgery may vary and it depends on many factors, such as levels of pre-operative testing and screening, laser used to reshape cornea and technology used for LASIK surgery - whether you choose standard LASIK or conventional LASIK or Custom LASIK (Wavefront LASIK) or bladeless LASIK (IntraLase).

Different LASIK providers may charge different fees for LASIK eye surgery. For example, the average fees per LASIK procedure as reported by TLC Laser Eye Centers in 2002 was $1,800, $1,957 in fourth quarter of 2004 and $2,000 in 2005; while another LASIK provider, LASIK Plus reported its average price per LASIK procedure was $1,344 in the second quarter of 2005, $1,351 in fourth quarter of 2004 and $1,173 in the first quarter of 2003.

The average LASIK Eye Surgery Cost in the U.S. have been rising over the past several years due to additional technology used in LASIK procedure, such as Custom LASIK and IntraLase. In 2002, the cost was between $1,550 to $1,600 per eye and had risen to about $1,700 by October 2003 and continued to rise to $1,800 at the end of 2004 and $1,950 in 2005. For 2006, the cost of LASIK eye surgery was about $2,000 per eye as reported by LASIK industry sources.

As you can now find many advertisements online and offline offering LASIK eye surgery to reduce or eliminate your dependence on glasses or contacts, be aware of advertisements that offer too low price such as $299 or $500 per eye. There might be any hidden costs behind it - cost of LASIK consultation, pre-operative examination fee, follow-up fee, enhancement fee if something goes wrong, post-operative prescriptions, and more. Although there have been rules and guidelines on LASIK eye surgery advertising in certain states, it is suggested to discuss with your doctor what the LASIK price will include.

Tags : LASIK Eye Surgery Cost, LASIK eye surgery, LASIK, surgery, cost, LASIK procedure, custom lasik surgery, wavefront eye surgery, IntraLase, bladeless LASIK, bladeless, wavefront

LASIK Complications and Risks (4)

Here's the final post of "LASIK Complications and Risks" list. On our next post, we'll be informing you about LASIK Eye Curgery Costs.

11. Central Islands
Central Islands is a result of a small raised area in the treatment zone that receives less laser beams or does not obtain full ablation compared to surrounding tissue. Central islands may decrease and disappear after several months following LASIK surgery, but in some cases, enhancement surgery is needed as a treatment to this problem, by lifting LASIK flap and targeting a small amount of laser beams onto the small raised area. However, as technology has developed rapidly, this kind of complication has been eliminated by proper screening and tracking and also smoother laser application.

12. Irregular Corneal Flap
This is a condition when the corneal flap shifts slightly and folds or wrinkles (striae) and may distort visions. Enhancement surgery is also needed to treat striae by lifting the corneal flap and ironing the flap using a special device.

13. Keratectasia or Ectasia
An excessive removal of corneal tissue during LASIK eye surgery may lead to eye bulging. This condition is called Keratectasia or Ectasia. However, current LASIK practice using more precise LASIK blades (microceratomes) or Custom LASIK have significantly decrease this complication.

14. Infection and Severe Inflammation
Infection and severe inflammation are very rare LASIK complications. To help avoiding these complications, follow the instructions of doctor to not applying creams, eye makeup and not using hot tub, whirlpool or swimming for a certain period of time (several weeks). Antibiotic eye drops prescribed by your doctor as post-operative medication may also help to prevent infection, pain and redness on eye.

15. Unattached corneal flaps or free caps and buttonholes or partial flaps
Both vision-threatening complications are caused by abnormal cutting of corneal flap using microkeratome blade.

Tags : Complication, Risk, LASIK eye surgery, LASIK, surgery, Enhancement, vision, Antibiotic, cornea, blade

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