Are you a candidate for LASIK? Excellent results start with your first visit to Layton Visual Center through accurate diagnosis and measurements.
You may be a candidate for LASIK eye surgery if you:
- Are 18 years of age or older with a stable prescription for at least one year.
- Have a prescription within -1.00 to -11.00 diopters of myopia or within up to +5.00 diopters of farsightedness. Astigmatism up to 5.00 diopters can also be treated.
- Have healthy eyes without disease or serious ailments.
- Have realistic expectations and are educated and informed about the risks and benefits of surgery and the alternatives.
Types of Treatments
Currently, there are three main ways by which a laser can reshape the cornea. Hoopes Vision (where I had my Lasik) was the first Utah LASIK center to possess the technology to perform all three types of surgery.
Traditional Treatment
Lasers that are used for the traditional treatment reshape the cornea using the same measurements that are used for eyeglass and contact lens prescriptions. The traditional treatment can be used to correct lower order aberrations, including nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. This method generally corrects vision by flattening out the center of the cornea.
Wavefront-Guided Treatment
While a wavefront-guided treatment can treat the same issues that the traditional treatment can, it can also measure and address higher order aberrations. A wavefront-guided treatment takes thousands of measurements at unique points in the patient's vision in order to create a "map," which is then used to measure imperfections that corrective lenses can't correct. In some cases, wavefront-guided treatments can also reduce glare and halos.
Wavefront-Optimized Treatment
The wavefront-optimized treatment is the newest type of laser correction available to the public. Both the traditional and wavefront-guided treatments have been found to create additional distortions known as spherical aberrations, one of the most common reasons patients who have undergone LASIK experience halos and glare at night. With the wavefront-optimized treatment, however, the chances for halos and glare are reduced by creating a treatment pattern that maintains the natural curvature of the eye. By preserving the eye's natural curve, sharper, clearer vision with less chance of halo and glare is possible.
I would like to discuss with you the benefits of Lasik surgery. At your next annual visit or sooner, please ask me if you are a candidate for Lasik.
See you soon,
Denmark Jensen, OD
