NBA Star Opts for Lasik Surgery

The popularity of Lasik eye surgery is obvious when high-profile sports figures opt to get it done. LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is but one more sports celebrity that decided Lasik surgery was the way to go. Lasik can eliminate the need for contacts, while giving the customer 20/20 vision.

On the court, or anywhere else in life: it pays beg dividends to be able to see clearly. Your best bet is to check with a qualified Lasik surgeon to discuss all the variables.

Great Lasik News for People with Both Near and Far Sightedness

The FDA has recently cleared the first Lasik device that is able to correct one a patient’s eyes to see far, and the other eye to see objects close up. The CustomVue Monovision Lasik device is able to correct the nearsightedness in the patient’s dominant eye, and fixes only a portion of the nearsightedness in the less dominant eye.

Some surgeons may recommend trying contact lenses first to correct the eyes. There may be some drawbacks associated with the procedure, such as decreased depth perception or blurred vision on the eye that focuses on near vision. Whatever the procedure you are faced with, you should always get the best up-to-date information possible.

Preventative Eye Care

One of the leading causes of blindness in the United States is glaucoma. Among African Americans, it is the leading cause of vision problems. There are more than three million people stricken with the disease, and over half do not recognize it because there are no symptoms.

As many as 16 million people in the United States are diabetic, and a third of them never know it. Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness in the United States, and the numbers indicate a person is 25 more times likely to become blind than a person without diabetes. You can prevent the unthinkable from happening by scheduling annual dilated eye exams.

Among people aged 65 years and older, macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss, and affects more than 10 million people. Macular degeneration can cause a sudden and severe loss of vision in the middle of your visual field. Generally, it will leave the side vision (peripheral) unaffected.

Any sudden vision changes should indicate it is a good time to see your doctor.

Unveiling the Mystery of Wavefront LASIK

Wavefront LASIK is adapted from the same type of technology that allows land-based telescopes to produce images comparable to those of the Hubble Space Telescope. With Wavefront, a wave of light from a laser is sent through the eye and focuses on the retina. The light is then refracted back through the pupil and lens. Irregularities, if any, are measured at the front of the light wave as it emerges from the eye.

The data is translated into a mathematical formula, which is programmed into the laser to make the necessary corrections on the cornea. Higher order aberrations, such as glare, halos, and blurry images, can thus be corrected. Presently, these higher order aberrations can only be detected by Wavefront LASIK, and the visual results are far more predictable. Studies show that 90 to 94 percent of patients receiving Wavefront LASIK achieve visual acuity of 20/20 or better, while only 80 percent of people receiving conventional LASIK achieved 20/20 or better.

Your LASIK doctor has the information you will need, and can administer the best advice.