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Cataracts and Cataract Surgery - Frequently Asked Questions

February 23, 2010 @ 05:19 PM — by SEO Admin
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Cataracts occur when the natural lens of the eye develops a cloudy appearance, which results in blurry or obscured vision. Most adults over age 75 will develop cataracts, although they also occur in younger patients. Cataract surgery is a procedure to replace the natural lens of the eye with a synthetic lens.

Am I a Good Candidate for LASIK Eye Surgery?

August 30, 2009 @ 02:30 PM — by admin
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If you are thinking about LASIK eye surgery, there are some of the things you need to consider are your age, your health, and whether your vision is stable. Here is some information to determine if you are a good candidate for LASIK surgery. The minimum age for LASIK eye surgery is 18. Before then, your eyes are still developing. Middle-aged people often experience presbyopia, which occurs as the eye ages and becomes more rigid, making it harder to transition from looking at something that is close to looking at something that is far away. You can still have LASIK eye surgery even if you have presbyopia, but you might want to consider an option called monovision, where one eye is corrected for near vision and one eye is corrected for far vision. You should be healthy. Some illnesses, such as diabetes, might disqualify you, and you might have problems such as having a cornea that is too thin or too steep. If you are pregnant or nursing, you have hormone fluctuations. Wait until after your baby is born and has been weaned. Your lifestyle is important, too. If you like sports such as boxing, LASIK eye surgery might not be appropriate. Also, some employers may restrict you from the surgery. This is increasingly rare, but you need to find out whether there is a problem before you risk your job by getting the surgery. Your LASIK surgeon will be able to further advise you on your candidacy for LASIK.

What Else Should I Consider?

If you are considering LASIK eye surgery, you also need to have a good understanding of the alternatives. Each person is different. If you know what the advantages and disadvantages are for all the available solutions, you are more likely to end up with the best solution for your specific situation, and you are also more likely to have realistic expectations about what the surgery will do for you. Finally, you have to have the ability to take risks. This is elective surgery performed on healthy eyes. It is usually successful. However, you need to understand the risks and be comfortable with them. If everything else seems to be in order, then you also need to find an excellent, experienced doctor who inspires confidence in you. You can find one by doing research and scheduling a consultation. No one can tell you whether you really are a good candidate until someone has actually looked at your eyes and asked you the screening questions. To learn more about LASIK as well as custom LASIK, cataracts and cataract surgery, and corneal transplant surgery, it is important to visit a Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas laser eye surgery center.

An Introduction to LASIK Eye Surgery - Basic Info

August 30, 2009 @ 02:26 PM — by admin
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Surgeons perform LASIK eye surgery on people who have myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism by using a laser that changes the shape of the cornea and corrects refractive errors. As a result, patients can reduce their need for glasses or contacts. Many people are good candidates for LASIK eye surgery. Below is an overview of the procedure.

What is LASIK Eye Surgery?

The word “LASIK” is formed from the phrase “laser in situ keratomileusis.” The LASIK surgeon uses a laser to cut a small flap into the surface of a cornea and correct the shape of the cornea underneath the flap. The surgeon then replaces the flap. As the eye heals, the flap heals as well, but the shape of the cornea is permanently changed.

Why is LASIK eye surgery necessary?

LASIK eye surgery can improve the vision of people who want to reduce the need to wear glasses or contacts. It is an elective, low-risk surgery to correct one or two of three possible problems:
  • You might be nearsighted (called myopia) or farsighted (called hyperopia).
  • In addition to being nearsighted or farsighted, you might also have astigmatism, which means that the eye is more oval (like a football) than round.
A refractive error is the source for all three problems; that is, things look blurred when the cornea and the lens, which are supposed to place images at a specific spot within the eye, are projecting images onto the wrong spot. LASIK eye surgery corrects the refractive error by changing the shape of the cornea.

Who Are the Best Candidates for LASIK Eye Surgery?

To have LASIK Eye Surgery, you should have the following characteristics:
  • An appropriate age. Your eyes should be done developing and your vision should be stable.
  • A good medical profile. Some illnesses, such as diabetes, might disqualify you, and you might have problems such as having a cornea that is too thin or too steep.
  • The right lifestyle. If you like sports such as boxing, LASIK eye surgery might not be appropriate. Also, some employers may restrict you from the surgery.
  • A good understanding of the alternatives. Each person is different. If you know what the advantages and disadvantages are for all the available solutions, you are more likely to end up with the best solution for your specific situation.
  • The ability to take risks. This is elective surgery performed on healthy eyes. It is usually successful. However, you need to understand the risks and be comfortable with them.
An excellent, experienced doctor who inspires confidence in you. You can find one by doing research and scheduling a consultation. To learn more about LASIK as well as custom LASIK, cataracts and cataract surgery as well as corneal transplant surgery, it is important to visit a Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas laser eye surgery center.

What is custom LASIK and is it better than traditional LASIK?

April 03, 2009 @ 04:38 PM — by admin
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Okay, so we all know that eye corrective surgery is called LASIK surgery, which permits people who have eye problems to correct their vision, thereby eliminating the need to wear eyeglasses. But now we also have custom LASIK surgery and it may be hard to determine what the difference between custom and traditional LASIK is. Let’s answer the question many have: What is custom LASIK and why is it better than traditional LASIK? We know that LASIK surgery is now much more popular and this is because it is now much less costly, quicker, and much safer than it ever has been before. Traditional LASIK surgery involves using lasers in the re-shaping and reforming the damaged cornea. This reforming of the cornea repairs the vision and helps patients avoid using eyeglasses for many years, if not for the rest of their life. Another benefit is that depending on the type of LASIK surgery you have done, the recovery time can be minimal, taking even as little as a day for a patient to resume his every day activities. LASIK surgery works for people that have myopia, astigmatism, and hyperopia, which is one of the conditions that affect most people who have eye problems. LASIK surgery has been around for about 10 years and because of that, some surgeons have specialized, and perform the procedure using more advanced specialized equipment. This process is known as custom LASIK, or Wavefront-guided LASIK. In this process three dimensional measurements are used which help the surgeon see the way the patients eyes view images, therefore he can guide the laser in a better way, in the reshaping of the cornea. This process is much more precise than traditional LASIK methods. It is also much more individualized. Some physicians find that the custom LASIK method can even be used on patients that would be ineligible for traditional LASIK methods. Custom LASIK surgery is not only effective, but it improves the depth and quality of the vision and in some cases corrects more than one visual problem. The best person to determine whether a person should undergo traditional LASIK or custom LASIK surgery is a LASIK surgeon. But as a patient, most people want to be sure that the method being suggested is correct, so it is always best to get more than one diagnosis, from reliable and reputable eye surgeons. To learn more about LASIK as well as cataracts and cataract surgery as well as corneal transplant surgery, it is important to speak with a skilled Dallas, Texas LASIK surgeon for more information.

What are Cataracts?

March 17, 2009 @ 03:05 PM — by admin
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Many people have heard the term cataract, and while they may not know exactly what it is, they generally at least know it has something to do with the eye. Cataracts are a very common eye problem that can develop, and fortunately can be rather easily treated.

What is a cataract?

Cataracts occur when the lens of your eye becomes cloudy, which of course can greatly effect your vision. This is caused by the lenses in your eyes changing as you age, becoming thicker and less transparent. This clear lens is made of protein fibers and water, and as you get older, the fibers begin to break down, and can start to clump together. This causes the cloudy cataract. A cataract can form on any part of your eye, and can occur in just one eye or both eyes. Most frequently, those that experience cataracts will have them symmetrically in both of their eyes, but it is not unheard of for them to only affect one eye, particularly if that eye has been injured or suffered from some sort of trauma.

Types of Cataracts

There are different types of cataracts that can be found in the eyes. These are:
  • Cortical cataracts
  • Nuclear cataracts
  • Subcapsular cataracts
Cortical cataracts occur along the outside edge of your eyes lens cortex. As the cataract grows in size, streaks will begin to extend to the center of the eye, and cause problems with your vision. The most common vision problems associated with cortical cataracts is excessive glare. Nuclear cataracts start in the center of the eye lens. It usually begins by affecting your vision, and surprisingly enough, affects your vision in such a way that it can improve the way you see. However, as the cataract grows, vision will once again fade and will become cloudy the larger the cataract grows. Finally, we have subcapsular cataracts. These cataracts start in the capsule of the eye lens, in the path of the retina. These types of cataracts will generally cause poor vision in bright light and can cause halos to appear in your vision. To learn more about cataracts as well as LASIK, custom LASIK, and cornea transplant, we encourage you to visit our Dallas and Fort Worth laser eye surgery center.