How to Learn About LASIK Without Being "Sold"

LASIK is a medical procedure aimed to help you see clearly. With so much information on the internet, how do you find out about LASIK? Where do you go to research the procedure and how it works? How do you make yourself comfortable enough to finally contact a LASIK practice to being the process? ARSC, or the American Refractive Surgery Council, has a few pointers that may help you out. EYE ON HEALTH Going Online To Learn About LASIK

(NAPSI)-Social networks and blogs have taken the information-rich resources of the Internet and made them a part of everyday conversation: According to a recent Pew Internet study, 80 percent of Internet users, or 59 percent of U.S. adults, look online for health information. Networks like Facebook, review sites such as HealthGrades and Yelp, and comments and questions posted online are extremely useful tools for researching personal health matters. Popular topics of inquiry include learning about procedures, specific medical conditions, understanding treatment options and finding a doctor. When considering an elective procedure, such as vision correction with LASIK, having access to online resources can make becoming an informed patient much easier. The American Refractive Surgery Council offers these tips on using the Internet and social networking to research whether LASIK is right for you. • Use Facebook and other social networks to ask friends and followers about their LASIK experiences. Were they happy? What surgeon would they recommend? • If you're curious about exactly how the surgery is performed, you can check out surgery videos on YouTube or Vimeo. These videos of actual procedures can be very instructive (though be warned, they are graphic). Also, many surgeons post procedure videos on their sites. • Use forums, message boards and other online discussions to hear from other people firsthand. Literally thousands of communities have formed around common areas of interest where LASIK can make a difference-from parents to outdoor enthusiasts. This is a great avenue for finding people who share your interests and hearing about their experiences with the procedure. • You can find out about prices online; just remember, getting a great deal should not be the deciding factor for any surgical procedure. A consultation with a refractive surgeon should be balanced, detailed and personalized to you and your vision. It should never feel like a sales process. • Use authoritative medical websites such as WebMD or the Mayo Clinic to learn about the procedure. Research the risks as well as the benefits and understand what the procedure can and can't do. For example, LASIK can free you from glasses and contact lenses-or reduce your dependence on them. But it has limitations. In particular, LASIK can't stop the aging process. Your eyes will continue to age and you may need glasses for reading at some point in the future. Finally, some common sense about using the Internet: Because anyone can put anything on the Web, the source matters. Make sure the information you are relying on to make a medical decision comes from a credible source and that you verify the information with your surgeon or personal physician. Learn more at www.americanrefractivesurgerycouncil.org. Information online and in social networks can help you make up your mind about LASIK.

Common Consultation Questions – Part 3

For the past couple of weeks, we have addressed some of the most common questions asked by different patients about LASIK. Here are a few more.

How old do you have to be to have your vision corrected, either by LASIK or another laser vision correction procedure?

The rule of thumb on this question is 18. Your eyes are like any other organ in your body. They grow and develop as you age. The most important thing is for your eyesight to be stable prior to having LASIK. If a LASIK surgeon corrects your cornea and your vision hasn’t stabilized, they run the risk of under- or over-correction. You wouldn’t be happy with your results and most experienced LASIK surgeons won’t take that chance.

Isn’t it just safer to wear my glasses/contact lenses?

The truth to this question may come as a surprise. While contacts or glasses may be a viable option for many patients, the longer you wear them, the more likely you are to experience complications.

Complications of glasses or contacts include contracting bacterial infections, dry eyes from long exposure, or even trauma caused from an accident. Some patients may wear contacts or glasses for decades and never experience an issue. However, keep your contacts in your eyes for too long (or sleep in them) and you can instantly understand the issues these devices can cause.

This isn’t to say that LASIK isn’t without its risks as well. You can experience dry eye after LASIK. While the majority of patients overcome this side-effect quickly, some patients may need prescription eye drops to solve it.

The true question is not one of safety, but rather what you are willing to do to see clearly. LASIK can provide clear eyesight for many years to come, without the continual expense of lenses, solutions, etc.

We’d love the opportunity to discuss the possibility of life without lenses with you. Please feel free to call our office with anymore questions, check out our website, or schedule a Free LASIK Consultation.

Common Consultation Questions – Part 2

Last week we addressed some of the most common questions asked by different patients about LASIK. Here are a few more.

Can I have LASIK while I am pregnant?

The answer to this question is no. When you are pregnant, your body goes through many changes. One of these changes can be your eyesight. These changes can throw off our exam results. We pride ourselves on superior results for our patients; therefore, we will not perform laser vision correction on any woman who is pregnant. After birth, we may ask a patient to wait from six months to a year for their vision to stabilize again before correcting their vision.

There are people, even famous people, speaking out against having LASIK because they had a not-so-great experience. Why?

There is always something important to be learned from others’ mistakes. This is one. LASIK is not for everyone. Even so, some surgeons will perform LASIK on anyone who wishes to have the procedure. This is a BAD IDEA.

If you perform LASIK on patients who are not optimal candidates, their sight may be negatively affected with the outcome. At Davis Eye Center, we won’t take this risk. We will first ensure you are a candidate. If you are not, we will explain why and also let you know if there is anything we can do (i.e. another procedure) to help you see clearly.

This practice of performing LASIK on everyone who walks in the door is more common in a corporate-owned LASIK practice. Corporate practices are more concerned with their income, thus they’ll opt to do as many LASIK procedures as possible.

We will continue this discussion next week. If you are seeking answers immediately, please feel free to call our office, check out our website, or schedule a Free LASIK Consultation.

Common Consultation Questions

The purpose of the free LASIK consultation that we offer is three-fold:

1. To ensure you are even a candidate for the procedure
2. To answer all of your questions and make sure you have all the information you need to make an informed decision
3. If you are not a candidate, we will also take the time to educate you on some of the other options to correct your vision

Often people come into our offices rather reluctantly, afraid of being sold on something they aren’t quite sure they even want. It’s more often that people won’t even come near our offices until they are absolutely SURE they are even considering having LASIK.

We offer a free consultation to anyone willing to consider vision correction because we believe that education is the key to making an informed decision. We don’t wish to “sell” any patient on a procedure that they may not want. We don’t like the stereotypical “car salesman” approach, and we know you don’t either. That’s why we train our staff to be patient, answer any and all questions, and we don’t pay them a commission to book surgeries. 

During the consultation, we often hear some of the same questions asked by different patients about LASIK. We’d like to take a moment to address a few of them.

My [optometrist/doctor/friend/family member] told me that LASIK won’t correct Astigmatism. Is this true?

No, this is not true. LASIK can actually correct astigmatism. While not every patient suffering from astigmatism is a candidate for LASIK, it does not mean that everyone with this refractive error cannot have their vision corrected. The only way to know for sure if LASIK will correct your astigmatism is to have a full evaluation by an ophthalmologist. We perform these exams during our free consultation and we will describe exactly how we can correct your astigmatism to help you see clearly.

Note: LASIK can also correct nearsightedness and farsightedness.

If I have LASIK this young (20s or 30s), will I have to have it again as I get older?

No. LASIK is a one-time correction of the cornea in your eye. This correction helps to fix the way light refracts onto your retina and transmits signals to the brain. Once corrected, your cornea will remain that shape, unless you contract an eye disease that may affect the cornea. LASIK will not give you any such disease.

It may be necessary to do what is called a LASIK enhancement. This is where the ophthalmologist may need to finish the correction of the cornea. However, if you seek out a board-certified, expert ophthalmologist, they will have an enhancement rate of less than 8% of their patients. 

My refractive error (nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism) is very severe. Does this mean I will have to have LASIK a few times to get the accurate correction?

This is usually not the case if you visit an expert ophthalmologist who has performed thousands of operations. During the consultation and pre-op appointments, your ophthalmologist will plan a thorough and complete treatment plan for your eyes. This treatment plan is very precise and should not require additional surgeries. 

Every pair of eyes is unique. There may be the need for enhancements, but again, with a qualified and experienced surgeon, they will have a very low rate of enhancements needed to get a patient seeing clearly.

We will continue this discussion next week. If you are seeking answers immediately, please feel free to call our offices, check out our website, or schedule a Free LASIK Consultation.

Why Your Eye Surgeon Needs to be Local - Part 3

Corporate medicine has its benefits and its downfalls. In regards to the refractive surgery field, there are more downfalls to a corporate practice than there are benefits. Last week we discussed the availability of other vision correction procedures and why this is important. This week we will look at technology.

Technological Differences

LASIK has been around since the late 1990s, and since then, technology has been improved, advanced, and refined, all to increase the customer experience. There are many options today for LASIK technology, some still using a metal blade while others are 100% blade-free. While all of the technology is safe for your eyes, the benefits of the newest technology often reduces the risk of side-effects and may result in faster healing times.

If you want the optimal outcome for your eyes, selecting a doctor that uses the most advanced and latest equipment is the best option. However, not all doctors have access to this equipment. Take doctors that work at a corporate LASIK practice, for example. They don’t even get to choose which equipment they use to perform your procedure. They have to use the equipment provided to them by their board of directors. They may know the convenience and benefits of newer technology, but they have no say when it comes to what they get to use.

In contrast, a doctor who owns his/her own practice gets to choose the technology they use in their practice. They have 100% authority over what tools and technology goes into the practice. This makes them accountable to their patients and the patients’ outcomes. If they provide inadequate technology and the outcomes aren’t the best, they’ll lose out on new patients. 

Not all doctors will provide the best technology. Some doctors don’t want to make the investment so they will continue to use outdated technology on their patients. When you visit a new LASIK practice, make sure to ask about the technology that the doctor will use. Understand your options and why that doctor chose the technology that they use at that practice. The technology and the doctor’s previous patient outcomes may mean the difference between an exceptional LASIK experience, and something else.

LASIK and Your Retina

There is a misconception when it comes to LASIK and your retina. Some patients think that because they are having LASIK, the issues with their retina will also be corrected.

This is not true.

Your retina is found at the back of your eye. It is responsible for sending messages to your brain. These messages tell your brain what you are looking at.

You have LASIK to correct a refractive error. Refractive errors occur when the cornea in your eye is misshapen. The cornea, which is found in the front of your eye, should be round and bowl-shaped. If the cornea is not perfectly shaped, then you will experience a refractive error: nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.

Light is reflected off of objects and is filtered by the cornea of your eye. When the cornea is perfectly shaped, this light will refract directly onto your retina. If the cornea is misshaped, then the light will not shine directly onto your retina, and this causes double vision, blurry vision, or fuzzy objects.

LASIK works to reshape the cornea into a bowl-shape so that the light will reflect directly onto your retina. It does this through the use of a laser, guided by a surgeon. The laser only affects the cornea and not the retina, therefore it does not correct any issues you may be experiencing with your retina.

A board-certified surgeon should carefully analyze your eyes prior to approving you for LASIK surgery. Most of the risks associated with LASIK occur because the person may not be an excellent candidate for LASIK. Some of these risks include double vision, a fixed or rotating glare, rings of light (“halos”) or starbursts of light. There is also a risk of dry eye, however most patients will experience dry eye for a short time after surgery.

To learn more about LASIK and how to find out if you’re a good candidate for laser vision correction, please visit our website.