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(EMAILWIRE.COM, January 11, 2011 ) WI - Dr. John Suson, of Suson Eye Specialists, explained how to tell if you are a candidate for Lasik surgery:
"So youÂ’ve begun your research on Lasik eye surgery and youÂ’ve read the terms myopia (nearsighted), hyperopia (farsighted), and astigmatism. These three terms are simply optical terms which describe the imperfect focus of your eye and they let your doctor know how to use glasses, contact lenses, or Lasik surgery to bring your eye into correct focus.
Myopia (nearsighted) means that the eyeball is a bit longer than normal for its focal length and these people see better close up, but not very well far away. In this case, reading may be ok but things like driving or sports would be difficult. Hyperopia (farsighted) means that your eye is somewhat short. These people can often see ok further away but have a lot of trouble reading things close up. Astigmatism is a more complex optical term which means that your eye has more than one focal length because it does not have a nice even or round curvature on its surface.
In general, astigmatism means that the front curvature of your cornea is more oval shaped (like a football) instead of perfectly round (like a basketball). Astigmatism creates multiple images, shadowing, and ghost images which can cause severe blurring if it is significant. There can also be more severe irregular astigmatisms due to odd warpage of your cornea. In this situation, think of a funny warped mirror like you might see in a funhouse mirror. The image you see in it becomes weirdly distorted because of the irregular curves in the mirror.
Am I a Good Candidate for the Lasik Procedure?
Many people with high myopia or astigmatism were told in the past that they were not good Lasik candidates. The older technologies did not accommodate these patients but newer, more advanced systems allow us to accurately correct higher myopia and astigmatism, in addition to other unusual optical aberrations. The new technology utilizes a laser rather than a blade to create the Lasik flap. Because of the laser precision, very thin flaps can be created which leaves a much thicker bed of tissue for the Lasik ablation. This allows us to more safely perform Lasik on patients with higher prescriptions than were previously possible. And because of advanced wavefront technology, these lasers can even treat many forms of irregular astigmatism.
We can try to outline the qualities of an ideal Lasik patient; however, the only way to truly know if you are a good Lasik candidate is to be thoroughly examined by an eye surgeon. A complete eye exam will accomplish the following:
• Determine the visual and optical characteristics of your eyes
• Topographically analyze the shape of your cornea and search for any abnormalities or high risk characteristics
• Determine the structural, anatomic, and medical health status of your eyes
• Look at the thickness of your corneas compared to the amount of treatment required by your glasses prescription.
Surgeons will usually also look for other characteristics of the patient to screen out poor candidates. Some of the attributes of ideal Lasik candidates that are important include:
• At least 21 years old
• Stable glasses prescription for at least one year
• No history of trauma to the eyes
• No history of crossed or lazy eye
• No infections of the eyes
• Has not used the following medications: accutane, imitrex, amiodarone
• No uncontrolled diabetes or significant diabetic eye changes
• Not currently pregnant or breastfeeding
• No history of unstable glasses prescription
• No eye diseases that cause unstable corneas
• No underlying eye diseases (e.g. significant cataracts, glaucoma, or retina problems)
Ultimately, the only way to know if you are a candidate for certain is to talk to an eye surgeon and have a full examination. The good news is that with the latest technology, a much wider range of patients with nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism can safely have Lasik than in past years."
"For more information about blade-free Lasik eye surgery - in addition to scores of other eye related procedures, such as cataract surgery - visit Dr. John Suson's blog, at http://www.supereyes.com/blog/
To book a consultation with Dr. Suson, or to learn more about Suson Eye Specialists, visit http://www.supereyes.com/"
Suson Eye Specialists
Dr. John Suson
414-778-2020
doctorjohnsuson@gmail.com 
Source: EmailWire.com
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