If you’re tired of wearing contacts or glasses, LASiK eye surgery may be your best option. Be confident and enjoy your eyesight again!

But where do you start to look? Finding a doctor you trust is not an easy feat. Especially when it comes to something as precious as your eyes. Once you’ve decided to have the surgery, you will spend hours searching for the right doctor to perform the procedure online, by recommendation of friends/family, etc.

Read the reviews and let them speak for themselves. At La Jolla LASIK in San Diego, we have a 5-star rating from our previous patients.

If you’re in the San Diego area wanting LASIK eye surgery, there’s only one doctor for the job. Dr. Nahl is an impressive, seasoned surgeon who is committed to providing her patients comfort, honesty and precision. She makes herself accessible at night and on the weekends to patients by providing her personal cell phone number. Dr. Nahl encourages questions/concerns to be brought to her attention so her patients feel comfortable and confident about their procedure.

“Dr. Nahl is also one of a few fully board-certified LASIK eye surgeons in San Diego and has an unmatched success rate among other surgeons in the LASIK industry.”

La Jolla LASIK is affordable. How many doctors provide quality surgeries at a cost that people can afford? La Jolla offers the most advanced procedures with pricing that fits a variety of budgets. Find out about the various financing and insurance plans we accept.

Our facilities are top of the line. When choosing a doctor to perform a procedure, affordability and facilities play a key role in the decision making process. La Jolla LASIK is the premiere LASIK facility in the San Diego area. Dr. Nahl has a track record for success and leads the way in LASIK surgery practices.

Book your free consultation today at La Jolla LASIK!

The Answers to 5 Questions Can Help You Decide If LASIK Is For You

Laser eye surgery is a remarkable medical advance that has helped millions of people improve their vision, and free themselves from having to rely on glasses or contact lenses. But for many reasons, LASIK is not for everyone. So in this article we present a number of questions to ask yourself to help you decide whether LASIK is right for you.

1 – What Vision Problems Do You Hope to Correct?

LASIK is remarkably effective in treating the following vision problems – farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatism. It is generally not effective at treating presbyopia (age-related near vision problems).

2 – Are You In Good General Health?

This may sound like an odd question when considering a surgical procedure on your eyes, but it’s one of the most important questions to ask yourself. You need to be in good general health so that your autoimmune system can heal from the surgery quickly, and you need to be free from eye diseases and from autoimmune diseases. You also cannot be pregnant or nursing a baby (for hormonal reasons), or taking certain drugs.

3 – Is Your Current Vision Stable?

To be a candidate for laser eye surgery, your vision should have been stable (meaning not requiring any changes to your eyeglass or contact lens prescription) for at least a year. This is one reason that people under the age of 18 are generally not considered candidates for LASIK, because their vision is still changing.

4 – Are Your Expectations from the Surgery Realistic?

In about 95% of patients, the outcome of their LASIK surgery provides them with the best vision they’ve ever had in their lives. But there are occasional side effects such as “dry eyes,” so you should be aware of what both the potential benefits of the procedure are, and its potential risks.

5 – Do You Do a Lot of Night Driving?

If you do – and especially if your pupils are larger than usual or dilated much of the time – you may be at risk of post-surgery side effects such as halo, glare, or starburst effects. If your work or lifestyle requires you to work in low-light situations much of the time, laser eye surgery may not be the best vision correction option for you.

What Makes One San Diego LASIK Doctor the Best?

Searching for the best medical professional in your area who specializes in a procedure you need is often a daunting task, which is why many people don’t really ever perform such a search. They ignore the vast amount of useful information available to them on the Internet to help them make sound choices, and just end up going to the first doctor or clinic that was recommended to them.

Often this works out OK, but when it comes to your vision, and surgery performed on something as sensitive and as critical to your life as your eyes, it’s arguably better to do a little sleuthing to see if you can really find the best medical professional to help you. In this article we’ll present the three most important criteria that you should look for in a San Diego laser eye surgeon.

Tip #1 – Look into the Surgeon’s Educational Background

These days, there is no need to go to a prospective doctor’s office and look at the diplomas on his or her wall to determine where they went to medical school, where they completed their residency requirements, and where they have practiced since. All of this information is readily available on the Internet, and is useful when determining which doctors you should trust.

For example, if you searching such resources for Dr. Angela Nahl, founder of La Jolla LASIK, you’ll find that she received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her medical degree from the prestigious Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago. She completed her residency at the equally prestigious Doheny Eye Institute at USC, and was subsequently chosen as an instructor at the UCSF Medical School. Put quite simply, no other eye surgeon in the San Diego area has such an outstanding educational background.

Tip #2 – Does the Surgeon Whose Name Is On the Practice Really See Patients and Perform the Actual Surgery?

This may surprise you, but it ISN’T always the case that the well-known doctor whose name is “on the shingle” of the practice really works there. Especially in the field of eye surgery, it’s common to find “name doctors” who lend their names to many different practices, but don’t really practice any medicine there. They leave examinations and sometimes even the surgeries themselves to other doctors, nurses, or technicians.

Again, this is not the case with Dr. Nahl. She feels so strongly about the welfare of her patients that she takes a complete “hands on” approach with each one of them, addressing their LASIK and cataract surgery needs personally. So when you have eye surgery at La Jolla LASIK, you know in advance that it will be performed by the doctor that the San Diego Union Tribune called “the top laser eye surgeon in San Diego.”

Tip #3 – What Is the LASIK Surgeon’s Success Rate?

Like any surgical procedure, LASIK eye surgery has its risks. Most of these risks can be avoided when the surgeon pays careful attention to existing risk factors that could complicate the surgery or provide less than optimal results. Again, in this category, Dr. Angela Nahl feels that it is her duty to look for any of these conditions during your examination, and if she discovers any of them, she will clearly notify you if they increase your risk of less-than-fully-successful LASIK surgery. Her attention to this is the reason she has the most consistently high success rate of any laser eye surgeon in the San Diego area.

We hope these tips are of use for you when searching for the best doctor to perform your LASIK surgery. Please don’t just take our word for it, and feel free to evaluate other eye surgeons in the area using the same three criteria. When you do, we think you’ll feel as we do, that your most sensible choice for LASIK eye surgery in San Diego is Dr. Angela Nahl and La Jolla LASIK.

Understanding How Your Eyes Work

To understand how laser eye surgery can improve your vision, you need to understand a little about how your eyes work when they’re healthy. Normally light enters the eyes through the cornea, the clear lens that covers the front of your eyeball. That light is then refracted (focused) by the cornea onto the retina, a series of light-sensing cells that line the back of the eyeball. The retina then transmits these signals to your brain, where the signals are interpreted as sight.

Many visual abnormalities, including the problems that can be treated successfully by LASIK surgery – nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism – are caused when tiny imperfections exist in the cornea. These imperfections bend or distort the light rays entering the eye, and prevent them from being focused accurately on the retina.

Eyeglasses and contact lenses seek to correct these imperfections by placing an additional lens in front of the cornea. In contrast, laser eye surgery addresses the problem by reshaping the cornea and lens of the eye itself, smoothing out any imperfections, and eliminating the refractive errors that result in poor eyesight.

How Does LASIK Surgery Itself Work?

LASIK uses a laser that corrects visual abnormalities by changing the shape of the cornea. After numbing the eye being worked on, your San Diego laser eye surgeon will turn on the laser in short, pre-programmed-for-your-prescription bursts to remove microscopic portions of the cornea and smooth out any imperfections. The amount and location of the tissue to be removed depends on your prescription. Nearsightedness, for example, is treated by “flattening” the cornea, while farsightedness may be treated by creating a “steeper” cornea. If you have astigmatism, excimer lasers can “smooth” the surface of the cornea to create a more normal shape, and produce more normal vision.

How Long Does All of This Take, and When Will I Notice Benefits?

The surgery itself takes about 10 to 15 minutes per eye. After it is completed, you can return home almost immediately, and don’t have to spend any time being “blind” or wearing bandages that obstruct your vision. Many people notice an immediate improvement, but in other cases it can take a number of weeks until you notice the full benefits of the surgery.

If you have more questions about the eye, about what LASIK surgery entails, or about whether you are a suitable candidate for the procedure, give La Jolla LASIK a call at 858-551-4100. We offer a free initial consultation, during which we will examine your eyes, your general health, and your suitability for this type of treatment. After the examination, we’ll give you our recommendations for how you can best improve your vision.

Taking the Time to Carefully Choose the Right Surgeon Can Improve Your Chances of a Successful Outcome from LASIK Surgery

If you’re considering LASIK eye surgery in San Diego we commend you for taking steps to improve your vision. At the same time, there are a number of considerations you should examine carefully when choosing a surgeon.

Find Out As Much As You Can About Your Potential Surgeon

Make sure that the doctor you choose to perform your surgery is licensed by state licensing boards and is certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties and is a member of the American College of Surgeons. Seek referrals not just from friends who have had successful LASIK surgery but also from as many doctors, optometrists, and ophthalmologists in your area as possible.

Compare Rates and Billing Procedures of Different Providers

Naturally, if your LASIK surgery is going to be partially or completely covered by your health insurance, you should determine which surgeons in your area will accept your brand of insurance. If this is not a factor, definitely “comparison shop” to determine the best price, but don’t let price be your only consideration. Your vision is precious, and you should trust it only to the doctor or clinic that you feel is the best, not the cheapest.

When You Find a Number of Candidates, Ask Them Questions

Once you have settled on the surgeons you feel are the best, schedule a consultation with them and ask them important questions, such as:

• How many LASIK procedures have you performed?
• What is your success rate, and how does this compare to national averages?
• What is your complication rate, and how does this compare to national averages?
• If complications occur, what is your policy regarding follow-up?
• If enhancements or follow-up treatments are necessary after the initial surgery, what do you charge for them?

Naturally, if you have specific questions regarding your own vision or what you hope to achieve from the surgery, you should ask them as well. The most important thing is to be completely confident that you have made the best choice, so the more “hard questions” you ask before making a final decision, the better the likelihood that your eye surgery will turn out the way you hope it will, and that you’ll be able to improve your vision permanently.

The Five Most Common Myths about LASIK in San Diego

Myth #1 – LASIK Can Only Correct Nearsightedness

This is completely false. LASIK can correct all common refractive vision problems – nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. The amount of tissue removed during the procedure depends on your prescription. If you are nearsighted, the laser can “flatten” the cornea and resolve the problem; if you are farsighted, the laser can create a “steeper” cornea to improve your sight. For astigmatism, excimer lasers can “smooth” an irregular cornea and create a more normal shape, thus improving your vision.

Myth #2 – LASIK Is So New That No One Knows If There Are Side Effects

Again, this is completely false. Literally millions of LASIK surgeries have been performed since the 1980s, and to date no long-term ill effects of the procedure have been found. Side effects are typically mild and can be resolved quickly.

Myth #3 – If You Have a Poor Outcome from LASIK, It Can’t Be Fixed

This is untrue on several levels. First, 95% of all LASIK patients are completely satisfied with the outcome of their surgery. Second, most of the results deemed “unsatisfactory” consist of problems like “dry eyes,” which can be easily remedied. Third, if your vision is not sufficiently corrected by the original surgery, there are a number of treatment options to improve your vision even further.

Myth #4 – Successful LASIK Surgery Means You’ll Never Need Glasses

Sadly, this isn’t true because your eyes – like everything else in your body – continue to age. So it is possible that after the age of 40 you may need reading glasses, just like everyone else. You might also need glasses for specific tasks such as night driving.

Myth #5 – Anyone Who Wants LASIK Surgery Is a Candidate For It

Sadly, this is the most untrue myth in this collection of them. We wish that everyone we see at La Jolla LASIK could be a candidate for laser eye surgery and thus benefit from it, but sadly that’s not the case. Diseases such as diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, or collagen vascular disease interfere with the body’s autoimmune system and thus would interfere with its ability to heal after eye surgery. Plus, a candidate for LASIK needs to be free of common eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, keratoconus, corneal disease, herpes, simplex, herpes zoster, and certain retinal or optic nerve diseases. Your doctor will examine you for all of these conditions and inform you whether you are a suitable LASIK candidate or not.

LASIK Surgery Has Many Benefits

If you’ve lived much of your life not even being able to see what time it is when you wake up in the morning without putting on your glasses or putting in your contact lenses, you already know what we mean in the title of this article by “getting your life back.” Just think what it would be like to have good vision all day, every day, and never have to deal with the bother and the expense of glasses and contact lenses ever again.

Other Ways That LASIK Can Improve Your Life

1.    Vastly improved vision. Studies have shown that LASIK is one of the most successful surgical procedures ever, with 95% of all patients reporting huge improvements in their vision. Most report that their post-surgery vision is the best it has ever been in their lives.
2.    Long-lasting results. In most cases, the vision improvements resulting from LASIK surgery can be considered permanent. There is rarely a need for “follow-up” procedures, unless the original surgery over- or under-corrected a vision problem.
3.    Fast procedures, and fast results. The actual LASIK procedure only takes about 30 minutes, or 10-15 minutes for each eye. You won’t be able to drive home the day you have surgery, but most patients report that they are able to return to their normal schedules as soon as the day after surgery.
4.    How much money you’ll save if you wear contacts. Most studies estimate that it costs 375 to 400 dollars per year to wear contact lenses. Yes, your LASIK surgery costs more than that, but it’s a one-time expense that you don’t have to repeat every year, so you will save money in the long run. Plus, you no longer have to deal with taking your contacts out every night, rinsing your eyes with expensive solutions, and then sticking your fingers in your eyes first thing in the morning to put them back in again.
5.    How much money you’ll save if you wear glasses. The yearly cost of glasses and having periodic vision checks to make sure your prescription is correct is another expense you won’t have to worry about after your LASIK surgery. Plus, think how nice it will be not to have to wear glasses when playing sports, or having to buy sunglasses with expensive prescription lenses in them.

These Are Only a Few of the Benefits of San Diego LASIK Surgery

If you want to find out more, just contact Dr. Angela Nahl and her professional associates at La Jolla LASIK. Give us a call at 818-551-4100 and schedule a free initial consultation, during which you can ask us any questions you might have.

The LASIK procedure works by using a laser to reshape the cornea of the eye to correct focusing problems. LASIK is effective when treating the following vision problems:

• Nearsightedness – Also known as myopia, this is a condition in which you can see nearby objects, but objects more far away are seen as blurry.
• Farsightedness – Also known as hyperopia, if you are farsighted you see distant objects clearly, but nearby objects appear to be blurry.
• Astigmatism – This disorder causes overall blurred or distorted vision.
• LASIK is generally not effective in treating presbyopia, which is an age-related focusing disorder that results in difficulties seeing close items.

Medical Conditions That La Jolla LASIK Doctors Consider to Determine Whether You’re a Good Candidate for LASIK Surgery

LASIK eye surgery candidates should be in good general health, and free from health problems that would interfere with the body’s autoimmune system and ability to heal quickly, such as diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, or collagen vascular disease.

Good candidates for LASIK surgery should also be free of eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, keratoconus, corneal disease, herpes, simplex, herpes zoster, and certain retinal or optic nerve diseases. In addition, you should not have any current eye infections or injuries, should not continuously suffer from dry eyes, and should not have eye problems like amblyopia (lazy eye) or strabismus (muscle imbalance) that could cause potential problems with healing. You may also not be a good candidate if your corneas display anatomic irregularities like being too thin or having a surface that is too irregular. Finally, your vision should be relatively stable, and not be fluctuating.

Practical Considerations That May Affect Your LASIK Candidacy

In addition to the medical conditions listed above, there are always certain risks with eye surgery, so if your current vision is acceptable you may want to reconsider having LASIK. Also, if you are pregnant or still nursing, hormonal changes in your system can affect the precision of your prescription, so you would be advised to wait until at least three months after finishing nursing. If you participate in contact sports that could lead to frequent blows to the face and eyes, LASIK surgery may not be advisable. And finally, if you have pupils that tend to open wide in dim light, laser eye surgery can sometimes result in unwanted symptoms such as glare, halos, or star burst patterns.

Naturally, when you meet with Dr. Angela Nahl, she will ask about all of these concerns and more, because her main concern is that any surgery performed at La Jolla LASIK should be 1) safe, and 2) in the patient’s best interest. So if she has any concerns about your candidacy for LASIK surgery, you can rest assured that she will talk to you about them, and make sure that you are fully aware of any potential risks from the surgery.

LASIK is a marvelous procedure that has enabled many millions of people to improve their vision without the need for glasses or contact lenses, but it’s not for everyone. If it turns out that you are one of the people for whom LASIK is not a “good fit,” Dr. Nahl will present other options to you that may help to improve your vision.

What Makes One LASIK Clinic in San Diego Better Than the Others?

 

The old saying about what makes the best real estate is “Location, Location, Location.” If we were to come up with a similar criterion for what constitutes the best laser eye surgery in San Diego, it would be “Experience, Experience, Experience.” La Jolla LASIK has been voted the best LASIK center in San Diego for five years in a row, and the primary reason for this is the experience of the clinic’s founder, Dr. Angela Nahl.

 

Dr. Nahl received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and then earned her medical degree from Chicago’s prestigious Pritzker School of Medicine. She completed her residency at the Doheny Eye Institute at the University of Southern California. As her expertise in the field became recognized, she was asked to train the next generation of laser eye surgeons at the UCSF Medical School. She is currently one of the only board-certified eye surgeons in San Diego, and has an unmatched success rate when compared to other surgeons, all of which inspired the San Diego Union Tribune to call her “the top laser eye surgeon in San Diego.”

 

Every Patient at La Jolla LASIK Receives Personal Attention from Dr. Nahl

 

At some LASIK clinics, there may be a “name doctor” on the shingle, but much of the actual diagnostic work and sometimes even the surgeries are performed by technicians or nurses. This is not the case at La Jolla LASIK, because Dr. Nahl feels so strongly about the welfare of her patients that she feels the need to address each LASIK and cataract surgery patient’s eye care needs personally. She uses her advanced training and the clinic’s state-of-the-art laser surgery equipment to treat a variety of vision problems, including farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatism.

 

As Dr. Nahl is clear about what motivates her to do this: “I’m a LASIK geek who continually asks ‘How can I do this better and safer?’ Through LASIK I am doing what I love, and being the best at it is my passion.” It’s this philosophy that has enabled her to perform literally thousands of successful surgeries, each of which has changed the lives of her patients by eliminating their dependence on traditional glasses or contact lenses.

 

Why is La Jolla LASIK the best laser eye surgery clinic in San Diego? It’s simple, actually. It’s the best because it has the best ophthalmologist and eye surgeon – Dr. Angela Nahl.

Things You Need to Know If You’re Considering LASIK Surgery

 

LASIK eye surgery has enabled millions of people to improve their vision without having to rely on glasses or contact lenses. It’s safe, it’s effective, and at La Jolla LASIK you have the benefit of being treated by one of the nation’s most renowned eye surgeons, Harvard-educated Dr. Angela Nahl, who has an unparalleled track record of success. Still, as with every surgery, there are things you need to know about and risks you should be aware of, so in this article we’ll cover a few of them.

 

How Long Does the Surgery Take and How Long Does It Take to Recover From?

 

The LASIK procedure itself only takes about 10 or 15 minutes per eye. As for “recovery,” you will need a friend to drive you home the day of your surgery, but most patients return to their normal schedules the next day, with nothing to recover from.

 

What Does LASIK Eye Surgery in San Diego Cost?

 

It’s difficult to give an exact cost that applies to everyone, but you should assume that it will cost at least $2,000 per eye. In some cases your health insurance can help to defray these costs, and if that isn’t possible then at La Jolla LASIK we have a number of payment plans to make the surgery more accessible. One of the ways to think about LASIK, however, is that it’s a one-time cost, as opposed to the many more thousands of dollars you’d have to pay for vision checks, new glasses and contact lenses, and other vision expenses over the years if you don’t have the surgery.

 

Are There Risks Associated with LASIK Surgery?

 

ALL surgical procedures involve a certain amount of risk, but studies have shown that 95% of LASIK patients are happy with the results of their surgeries. At La Jolla LASIK, Dr. Nahl goes out of her way not only to identify and eliminate any factors that could increase your risks, but also to make sure you are fully aware of what those risks might be before performing any procedures.

 

How Do I Find Out More?

 

The best way to learn more – about LASIK surgery in general and about whether you are a good candidate for it – is to call our offices at 858-551-4100 and schedule a free consultation. During that initial visit, Dr. Nahl will meet with you, ask you many questions about your general health and eye health, and perform some tests to see whether you are a good candidate for the LASIK procedure or not. If you are, she will explain the costs and everything else you need to know before you start, so you are making the most highly informed decision possible. If you turn out to not be a potential candidate for LASIK surgery, Dr. Nahl will tell you that, too, and will talk to you about other potential therapies or surgeries that might help to improve your vision. Call today. You’ve got nothing to lose, and potentially a life free from glasses and contact lenses to gain.