If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard about some of the side effects associated with getting lasik vision correction surgery. For instance, after getting lasik surgery some people complain about symptoms of glare, halos and decreased night vision.
In fact, I remember attending a business briefing where the speaker started by mentioning he just had lasik surgery the day before. He told the audience, “The good news is I think you’re all going to heaven because everyone has halos around their heads!”
If you’ve considered getting lasik surgery but were concerned about some of the less-than-desirable side effects, you’ll be glad to hear that new technology is reducing those dreaded halos and glare. Known as “custom” or wavefront-guided lasik, this relatively recent improvement in eye surgery technology produces better vision quality when compared to traditional lasik vision surgery.
“Most significant,” says US Navy Captain Steve Schallhorn, MD, the Director of Cornea and Refractive Surgery at the Navy Medical Center, San Diego, “is the improved quality of vision with the wavefront-guided procedure, fewer problems with halos and glare, better night vision, and higher patient satisfaction.”
Traditional lasik reshapes the patient’s cornea with a laser to correct visual problems like nearsightedness or farsightedness. With conventional lasik, the laser is guided based on formulas similar to the ones used to determine your eyeglass prescription. Conventional lasik is effective at treating “lower-order” aberrations like nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism (also called “refractive errors”).
Wavefront-guided lasik, on the other hand, measures how light is distorted as it passes into the eye and then is reflected back. This creates a 3-D optical map of the eye, highlighting the imperfections and disorders that lead to visual errors. Wavefront technology then creates a custom treatment plan for each eye and guides the laser during the surgery.
Wavefront-guided lasik can effectively treat the same lower-order aberrations that conventional lasik can treat as well as treating “higher-order” aberrations such as decreased contrast sensitivity, night vision, glare, shadows and halos. In fact, there are a growing number of patients turning to wavefront-guided lasik to correct side effects from previous laser eye surgeries.
“With this technology breakthrough, we can now measure these disorders, show the patient what’s going on in their eye, link that information to the laser, and actually correct higher-order aberrations,” says Roger Steinert, M.D., associate clinical professor of ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School. “Wavefront technology enables the surgeon to improve overall vision quality better than in the past.”
Of course, this advanced technology comes with a higher price tag than traditional lasik surgery. And just like conventional lasik, wavefront-guided lasik is a surgical procedure and has risks associated with it. Be sure to consult with a qualified lasik surgeon to discuss potential complications and ensure you’re a good candidate for this type of surgery.
But if the choice is between crystal clear vision with no side effects and going through life seeing all the people going to heaven, I think I’ll go with the first option, please!
Help answer the question about lasik news
Will LASIK get Better in the future??? less complications?
i am 15 years old, my eyesight is not that bad, i can play sports without glasses, i only use it for reading,watching TV and if i ever drive. i was planning on getting Lasik in the Future.
i saw stories in the news and on the web of complications, like jermaine dupri getting blind,tiger woods having post lasik problems and a pilot who won a $4 mil. dollar lawsuit because he lost his job due to LASIK complications.
DO YOU GUYS THINK BY THE TIME I AM 25 THERE WILL BE A SAFER CURE TO NEARSIGHTEDNESS? i would never risk my eyesight, i am waiting for something better than LASIK.
thanks.
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Posted on December 29th, 2009 by Admin
Filed under: lasik surgery
Yes, complications do occur, in a percentage of cases, from the minor to the very serious.
About 96% of people, even if they do have some side effects would still recommend the procedure to a friend.
(Most common side effects:
Rx not as near zero as hoped for.
Dry eyes, temporarily or permanently.
Haloes and glare at night, temporarily or permanently.)
The essential thing about contact lens wear is that the Rx can be changed if the eyes do, and that if there are any problems the lenses can be changed or discontinued.
To my mind that flexibility is worth a little inconvenience, but that is a personal decision.
Opting for laser treatment, certain risks have to be taken on board as possible lasting effects. Hence the consent from that is to be talked through and agreed to. (sample below, along with the FDA Lasik site.)
Over and under-correction are recognised possible side effects or undesireable consequences of Lasik.
That should have been explained in talking through the consent form: see sample below.
If it wasn't, he has grounds for complaint.
Planning the amount of corneal removal is based on an *average* corneal reaction to the laser, but healing responses vary so, even with correct technique, an Rx reduced to zero is only aimed for, not assured.
If there is no other reaction or problem, top-up treatment may well be a possibility.(with the same small risks as the original op), but it would be quite usual to wait three months to make sure the prescription has done all the changing that it's going to.
(Re-lifting the flap for the adjustment is quite easy for much longer than that.)
Hi–It doesn't seem right to me that you should need driving glasses and
also different tv glasses.
I would go back for a re-check with the Doc—-
one pair of glasses should work OK for both TV and driving,
i think you need a slight power adjustment.
NO!!
LASIK not is safe!!
LASIK destroyed my life.
I lost my job and studies, and now I can not read without my eyes hurt due to dry eye.
I will regret for life.
Before …take this advice:
TOP TEN REASONS NOT TO HAVE LASIK SURGERY
http://www.lasikcomplications.com/TopTenReasons.htm
Don't Get LASIK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdoazH-ncd0
LIVING WITH LASIK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA62X6-3a6o&feature=related
LASIK causes dry eye.
The dry eye is forever.
PD: LASIK was the worst decision of my life. LASIK promotes permanent conditions with no cure:
-Dry Eye Syndrome
-Double Vision
-Night Halos/Starbursts
-Depression
-Loss of Visual Acuity
-Accelerated Aging of the Eye
-Lack of Natural Tear Production
-Each Year Post LASIK Vision Gets Progressively Worse
-Cell Tissue Mutation
It's nothing new. News is merely rehashing old complications with LASIK. Basically, FDA is reviewing the number of complications that come with LASIK. Can be mild as 30% experience dry eyes. 5% can experience night time halo effect (see double or triple vision of shinny objects like headlights or the moon). 1% can experience loss of vision.
Most important consideration is that eye doctors should evaluate who's a proper candidate or not. Among those who had complications are the ones that doctors ignored disqualifying factors with the patient's eyes and operated anyways. FDA is reviewing those cases as well.