When investing time, energy and money into laser eye surgery, it is reasonable that you would have questions about the results and how long they last. Understanding whether the results are permanent or whether additional treatment may be required, is part of being an educated, informed patient. That is why I want to set the record straight about how long LASIK lasts. Continue reading “How Long Do the Results of LASIK Last?”
The first step toward achieving your best vision without glasses or contacts is to consult a qualified LASIK surgeon. I personally meet with each and every patient that contacts my practice for a consultation to learn about their needs and recommend the best treatment approach for their goals.
To help you get the information you need to make educated decisions about laser vision correction, I recommend you ask your LASIK surgeon the following questions during your consultation: Continue reading “Questions to Ask at Your LASIK Consultation”
Nothing influences the outcome of your LASIK surgery more than the surgeon whom you select to perform it. You use your eyes nearly every waking moment of every day — so you shouldn’t let just anyone operate on them.
If you are just starting your search for a LASIK surgeon, the options may seem endless. I would like to encourage you to limit your search to surgeons that meet the following criteria: Continue reading “How to Choose the Best LASIK Surgeon”
What a privilege it is to witness my patients’ lives change after laser vision correction. It is so gratifying to hear about the ways that their personal and professional lives have transformed once they achieve clear, independent vision.
If you dream of a life free from glasses or contact lenses, I can help make that a reality. But if you are on the fence about undergoing surgery, it may help you to consider some of the unexpected or surprising benefits of the procedure. Continue reading “Unexpected Benefits of LASIK”
If you’re like me, your goal is to go home at the end of each workday knowing you performed your job to the absolute best of your ability. The most important part of my job is to keep my patients safe; in fact, when I took the Hippocratic Oath after medical school, I solemnly swore to “keep my patients from harm and injustice.”
I will never perform a procedure if I think that it will do you any harm. And while millions of people have benefited from laser vision correction, it is important to understand that the procedure is not suitable for everyone. I have a responsibility to carefully screen every candidate that walks through my door.
When you and I meet for the first time, I will ask you a lot of questions about your eye health and overall health. These questions are designed to help me assess whether the procedure can safely help you achieve your goals, or whether you may be better off delaying LASIK or avoiding it altogether.
There are certain circumstances in which I may recommend that you postpone LASIK to a later date. Continue reading “Signs You Should Postpone LASIK”
LASIK and PRK are two commonly researched eye procedures. Both are extremely effective and offer long lasting results, but they are different in many ways.
Blur from vision problems like astigmatism, nearsightedness and farsightedness occur because light does not travel through the eyes’ lens the way it should. In all cases light is bent too little or too much, resulting in it not being focused perfectly at the back of the eye. Both LASIK and PRK treat these conditions to eliminate blur. The difference between LASIK and PRK is discussed below.
PRK is the older of the two procedures. While both surgeries work to reshape the cornea using a special kind of laser, in PRK the thin layer of epithelial, or outer, cells is cleared off the eye. The eye quickly heals and replaces this layer over the next few days. During the LASIK procedure, the surgeon creates and pulls back a thin flap (that includes the epithelial cells) on the eye that is put back into place after the laser treatment is applied.
LASIK procedures require much less time to heal and patients are often back to work the next day. PRK patients on the other hand, may require several days off of work and up to three months for the healing process to be complete. LASIK patients often report less discomfort immediately after the procedure. There are times, however, when a LASIK procedure cannot be performed. For example, individuals who have extremely thin corneas or large pupils may have increased risk of complications following LASIK. In such cases PRK is performed instead.
Long-term, both LASIK and PRK procedures are extremely successful. Less than one percent of patients experience serious problems following their procedure. When properly screened, only 3 to 5 percent of patients have reported correctable, minor problems, according to the ESEC (Eye Surgery Education Council). Studies also show that after one year’s time, 98 percent of patients have 20/20 vision.
At La Jolla, our highly trained staff can help you get the vision results you want. Call our office today at 858-551-4100 to find out how.
Technology is an amazing thing, but even with all of the things it offers, it also has its drawbacks. It has made our lives easier in so many ways. In some ways, those benefits have become very costly, especially when we look at health concerns like heart problems, obesity, hearing loss and muscle problems.
Have you ever wondered how technology has affected your eyes and how you see things? Computer Vision Syndrome or CVS is just one way technology has made an impact on our eyes, and not always in a good way. CVS affects people of all ages. Anyone who uses laptops, tablets and smartphones has a much higher risk of developing CVS than ever before.
Technology in the Classroom
In decades past, schools across the country would check each student’s vision to ensure good eye health. The State of California requires all school districts to perform vision and hearing screenings on all students, but not every state has such requirements. A vision screening helps determine whether or not a person is seeing “normally”. Without regular screenings, most children don’t even realize they have a problem. Common signs like squinting or losing their place while reading are easily missed but may indicate vision problems. If a child must hold something close to their face to sufficiently read or describe what they are looking at, it is quite possible they are having a problem with their vision.
CVS occurs when general eyestrain begins to become chronic. It is caused by extensive use of computer screens and other electronic devices, including iPads, desktop computers, laptops, tablets and cell phones. Common symptoms of CVS include blurred vision, neck/shoulder pain and headaches around and behind the eyes.
For all of the benefits digital tools offer students in the classroom, they also dramatically increase the number of vision and eye problems children must deal with. It is extremely important for children to be able to take frequent breaks from digital learning to ensure good vision and eye health.
Prevention Techniques
Volunteer organizations, such as Prevent Blindness America, offer parents and teachers tips on how to ensure their children’s good vision and eye health. The following five tips are ways adults and children can use electronics without creating excessive eyestrain.
Spending 4 or more hours a day at a computer screen or looking at an electronic device can put you at a much greater risk for CVS than ever before. It is important to remember to step or look away as often as you need to in order to relieve some eyestrain. Following the 20-20-20 rule is a good habit to get into: When reading, watching TV or looking at electronic devices, every 20 minutes look at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Blinking frequently can also help to relieve some of the stress placed on the eyes.
Interested in learning about LASIK? Schedule a free consultation today by calling the staff at La Jolla at 858-551-4100.
When people normally think of cataracts, they think of their grandparents or their elderly next door neighbor. Most people associate cataracts with older individuals, as they commonly occur as people age. The thought of children getting cataracts is practically unheard of. The professional staff at La Jolla LASIK has begun to look into the question of whether or not children can too get cataracts.
What Is a Cataract?
The crystalline lens of the eye, which is normally clear, functions to focus images on the inner portion of the eye, the retina. Cataracts occur when the lens becomes cloudy. This cloudy lens begins to obscure the vision, and if left untreated has potential to severely impair vision and function. Cataracts can occur in one or both eyes and do not spread from eye to eye. If the cataract has progressed beyond a refractive correction point (i.e glasses and contact lenses no longer help), the lens must surgically be removed. Treatment consists of removing the cloudy lens and inserting a clear Intraocular Lens (IOL) instead, which results in restoring the vision.
Cataracts and Kids
It is estimated that more than half of Americans who are over the age of 65 have cataracts in one or both eyes. The fact is, that children too can be affected with cataracts. Although the number is minimal, some babies are born with cataracts due to metabolic or systemic abnormalities, thus the name congenital cataract. Cataracts due to penetrating or blunt ocular trauma are called traumatic cataracts and tend to affect older children. Ocular inflammation related to inflammatory conditions like juvenile rheumatoid arthritis can also cause cataracts. Cataracts in children may be one of the earliest signs of many other visually impairing ocular conditions. Prompt surgical treatment is considered in many cases to prevent an interruption in the visual development of the child.
What to Do If You Think Your Child Has Cataracts
The friendly staff at La Jolla LASIK Institute can help make appropriate referrals if you have reason to believe that your child may have cataracts. Some signs include but are not limited to the following:
Our staff will help you uncover the cause. An examination by our highly trained ophthalmologist will help to identify the problem and provide you with the necessary treatment options.
Call La Jolla LASIK at 858.551.4100today and make an appointment to be seen by one of our knowledgeable ophthalmologists.
A recent large (3,800 patient) multicenter survey, the Needs, Symptoms, Incidence, Global Eye Health Trends (NSIGHT) study, found that about 50% of glasses- and contact lens-wearers experience glare and halos more than three times a week.
About 40% of glasses and contact lens-wearers found the glare and halos unsatisfactory and had not been able to find a solution. Add on top of that the dissatisfaction with frames, contact lens solutions, infections, and the dissatisfaction rate becomes, well, way too high.
In contrast, 97% of LASIK and PRK patients are satisfied and would recommend the procedure to a friend. In large studies, 3% of LASIK and PRK patients are unsatisfied for any reason — and the reasons provided are only sometimes things like glare and halos after LASIK; some of the time, the complaints are minor quibbles such as a doctor’s office without wifi reception, bad coffee, or no beverages at all.
Link to Bausch & Lomb press release: https://www.bausch.com/our-company/newsroom/2011-archive/glare-and-halos-are-significant-problems-for-people-wearing-glasses-or-contact-lenses#.VCJLe_ldUpk
Whether you love her or hate her, no one can deny Lady Gaga’s extraordinary impact upon the music and fashion world. Thousands of adoring fans across the globe have followed in her platform-heeled footsteps by donning blonde wigs, leotards and feathered headdresses. However, be warned: one of her latest fashion trends has recently been reported to cause damage to devoted fans’ eyes.
Circle contact lenses (cosmetic contact lenses that enlarge the appearance of the iris by extending the colored part of the eye over the white of the eye) have grown in popularity as fans have clamored to mimic the doe-eyed look Gaga displays in her music video “Bad Romance.” Despite the fact that purchasing contacts without prescriptions is illegal in the US, young women have been purchasing them online from Japan, Korea and Singapore, where they originated in popularity due to their anime-like quality.
While they may look appealing, the FDA cautions consumers from purchasing and using decorative contact lenses that have not been prescribed and fitted by an eye doctor. By doing so, patients put themselves at risk for multiple eye problems: corneal swelling and ulcers due to contacts that are too tight and redness and irritation due to contacts that are too loose. The most serious danger from these contacts is the risk of infection – uncontrolled infection can lead to scarring of the cornea, vision impairment, and in some extreme cases can result in blindness.
Gaga is popular for her wild, risky fashion sense, but circle contacts are a trend that might be a little too harsh on the eyes. Take advice from the CDC, which tells costume-wearers to lower their risk for serious eye injury by not wearing decorative contact lenses. In fact, why not skip out on contact lenses completely with LASIK? Perfect vision and healthy eyesight is more than a trend, it’s timeless and far less outlandish.
Follow us at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Diego-CA/La-Jolla-LASIK-Institute/101095506604518
https://twitter.com/LaJollaLASIK
Sources:
https://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/14/news/la-heb-lady-gaga-contacts-20100714
https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/PublicHealthNotifications/UCM062171
For a telemedicine consultation or for times beyond those shown below, call (858) 551-4100. If the phone counselor cannot give you the date or time you need, or you have a special request, ask to be transferred to the front desk.
9834 Genesee Avenue,
Suite 428
La Jolla, CA 92037
