Eye Health: Pain-free LASIK surgery is often best, most common solution for poor vision

Are you dependent on glasses or contact lenses? For the majority of my patients who are, I have spoken with them about LASIK surgery.

LASIK is an acronym for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis” and is the most common laser eye surgery that treats myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism.

Laser eye surgery is pain-free and is usually completed in about 15 minutes for both eyes. During LASIK surgery, the cornea is reshaped to enable light entering the eye to be properly focused onto the retina for clear vision.

A thin circular flap is made in the cornea, then it is folded back and a highly specialized laser uses an ultraviolet light beam to remove tiny amounts of tissue from the cornea to reshape it. The goal is to flatten the cornea for nearsighted people, or to create a steeper cornea for those who are farsighted.

The flap is laid back in place and the cornea heals naturally. 

Immediately after surgery, people may experience some blurry vision or haziness.

Positive results can typically be experienced in as little as 24 hours, and eyesight will continue to improve within a few days. It’s possible that a patient could go back to work the next day, but many doctors advise taking a couple days off to rest.

Exercise should be avoided for about a week after LASIK. 

It is not guaranteed, but most people attain 20/20 vision with LASIK surgery. LASIK continues to improve and millions of people all over the world are less dependent on glasses or contact lenses.

Original Post: http://www.kyforward.com/our-health/2014/03/18/eye-health-pain-free-lasik-surgery-is-often-best-solution-for-nearsightedness-for-many/

Rohr Eye and Laser Center Now Offering Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty for Glaucoma Treatment

Grand Blanc ophthalmologists,  Jeffrey Rohr D.O. and Anju Aggarwal M.D., are proud to announce that Rohr Eye & Laser Center will now be offering Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT) for glaucoma treatment.  

"SLT is an effective first-line and adjunct therapy option for reducing intraocular pressure (IOP) in glaucoma patients," says Dr. Rohr.  "SLT can eliminate or reduce a patient's dependence on eye drops for glaucoma and the procedure is pain-free."  Due to the laser energy's gentle application, the treatment is not associated with the side effects or compliance issues commonly linked to glaucoma medications.  Dr. Rohr and Dr. Aggarwal can determine whether or not SLT is an appropriate procedure for glaucoma patients after a complete eye exam. 

For more information, or to schedule an appointment, please call Rohr Eye & Laser Center at 810-579-0202 or visit www.michiganlasik.com.

Improvements In Vision Correction

The history of vision correction is vast and complex.  Before the invention on contact lenses people relied on glasses to correct imperfections in their eyesight.  Today, contacts have become the norm and LASIK eye surgery is replacing them.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each method in correcting vision and the choices become even more increasing difficult to decide upon when it comes to our children’s vision. 

Today glasses are seen mostly as a hindrance.  Glasses are a good source of vision correction but viewed by many as an inconvenient method of vision correction.  The advantage of wearing glasses is the ease at which you can transition from wearing them to not wearing them.  They are also readily available and have become reasonable to purchase.  They also can be seen as a fashion statement. Glasses are also easy for children to be in charge of.  The disadvantages of glasses are plentiful as well. Keeping glasses clean and scratch free is often hard for even the most careful wearer let alone a child in glasses.  They are also bulky when playing sports and can act as a blind spot for some.  Losing track of glasses is also common especially when dealing with children. 

Contacts have been a rite of passage for many children as they become teens.  With contacts comes the great responsibility to care for them.  In caring for your contacts you are essentially caring for your eyes.  Bacteria and germs are more susceptible to be passed to the eye with the use of contacts. Contact lenses must be cleaned and maintained daily to prevent infections within the eye.  This is why most of the time children are not trusted with contact lenses.  If a child prefers contacts over glasses often caregivers will choose daily contacts in which the same pair is not worn twice.

Contacts have many advantages over glasses.  It is easy to forget about your contacts and not worry about them for the entire day.  With glasses you have to maintain their cleanliness throughout the day. They allow complete, clear vision in which there is no blind spot.  Contacts are also affordable and can be purchased in a multitude of styles and quantities. The disadvantage of wearing contacts is that they need daily maintenance and need to be removed nightly before bed.  For some this can be seen as a disadvantage but for others it is an advantage over the constant worry and concern over scratching the lens of your glasses. 

Today in vision correction options we have available to us LASIK eye surgery.  This is a more permanent way to handle vision correction.  Whether LASIK can be performed to correct a child vision is very situational.  Eye sight does tend to change more drastically in younger eyes.  When considering LASIK on a child it is best to meet with several eye surgeons to determine if such an approach is beneficial or if time will benefit the child. In most cases, unless incredibly severe vision loss is present it will be recommended to wait on LASIK until a child has reached adulthood. 

LASIK in adults however is seen as a game changer for many struggling with a vision impairment.  LASIK is a lifestyle changer.  No longer is the concern of bringing a ton of eye lens chemicals with you on vacation or that spare pair of glasses just encase, LASIK eye surgery offers complete eye correction and eliminated the reliance on contacts or glasses. With today’s technology LASIK eye correction surgery can be performed with minimal downtime on eyes affected with a range of severity.  For more information and to see if you are a perfect candidate for LASIK contact a local LASIK eye surgeon for a consultation.

Living Without Glasses or Contacts With Laser Vision Correction

Which of the five senses do you consider to me the most important?  

Which do you think you could live without?  Thinking about this brings me to a reality that life would not be the same if I could not see.  I can’t imagine living in a world in which I could visually not be a part of.  I think that out of the five senses sight is the one that is unimaginable to be without.  Taste, touch, sound and smell would all be incredibly hard to live without but not impossible.  For me everything I do is about my eyesight from work to play my eyes and sight is a huge part of me.  This is why when I started to have issues with my vision I knew I must get into an eye doctor immediately. 

The blurry vision that I experienced was inconvenient.  It made my eyes strain at work, watching the kids in their sports and even driving.  It was awful and I had a constant headache. It was confirmed with the eye doctor that my vision issues was easily corrected with one of three vision correction methods: glasses, contacts or LASIK.  All three sounded scary and inconvenient to me at first.  I had never been dependent on any for clear vision so this was a new arena for me.  Plus I was caught off guard as my vision had been perfect for my entire life up to this point.

 I hated the idea of wearing glasses.  Having something on my face all day was not something I was looking forward to.  I truly like to get into everything I do and to have to be concerned with the responsibility that comes along with keeping glasses in tip top shape did not appeal to me. 

Contact lenses also did not appeal to me as I am not a fan of sticking my finger into my eye.  I also didn't like the idea that at the end of every night and the beginning of every morning for the rest of my life I would need to put in and take out lenses.  I also didn't like the idea of being without proper vision at night after the lenses were out.  With those two options less than ideal I started to see that LASIK was going to be the best option for me to be able to keep the lifestyle I was used to while being able to see like I did before. 

Before I was to undergo such a delicate surgery I wanted to make sure that I had an eye surgeon who was the best of the best.  After much research and several consultations with several different eye doctors I knew I had found the eye doctor that would perform my surgery. I knew because not only did he examine my eyes, health history and everything else there was to know about me he cut straight to the chase with the risks during and after surgery. He was the only doctor I had seen that talked as intensely about the surgery itself as he did the post-surgical care that would be needed.  Never once did he sugar coat the disadvantages and did not ever over exaggerate the benefits. 

LASIK changes not only your vision but your life as well.  Vision correctio