Better vision...without glasses
Rather often you can hear or read such phrases. What is true about these promises?
With todays knowlegde and technical possibilities there are indeed almoust magical things feasable. Years ago nobody would have thougt all these new fantastic procedures possible.
But: Even in this comfortable situation of very good methods we have to admit, that there is – for the moment - not any procedure or operation, that offers better vision then ever before - with some exceptions! Also wavefront guided lasik promises more than it can hold. The postulated eagle-eye is only theoretically to achieve, in practical life there are some very high obstacles to overcome.
And even if finally reachable: Do you want to see so well, that you distinguish every pixel on your tv-screen? Or every small fold in your skin?
So, what is real?
- Corrections of low to moderate myopia are very successfully done with LASIK or LASEK-procedure, that means, after treatment with this excimer-laser you are able to live a normal life without glasses.
- Same thing is correct for low hyperopia and astigmatism up to 3, maximum 4 diopters.
- Very stressing situations for the eye (e.g. longtime work on display units, driving by night and rain and other hard conditions for the eye) may always afford an additional help by glasses or contact lenses.
- The therapy with excimer-laser means, that your new correction is mechanically scratched away from your cornea. This procedure is not always done without any bad effect. In the literature you can read of a lot of remaining defects and problems. Although: In comparison with the million of people treated till now, these problems seem to be rather seldom (what is no help for the poor one that suffers).
- Higher disorders cannot be corrected with excimer laser. In this case – and for lower corrections this is possible too of course – an implantation of a ?contact lens? into the eye is recommended. Intraocular lenses give a very good image in the eye and the quality of vision is in most cases better than with laser (for physiologic-optical reasons). Last but not least is the removeabilitiy of the lens an advantage the laser-technique has not.
- Nevertheless is the disadvantage of every surgery the aspect, that the eye has to be opened, wich can cause different problems as for example infection in the eye, what is mostly feared by the surgeons. – Also, especially for lower corrections, the surgery is not any time as exact as the laser-procedure. That means, that for very good vision (driving by night or rain, long work at visual display units) it is possible that you have to wear glasses again.
- For very high refractive errors (high myopia for example) the surgery gives definitely better results. It is possible that you see better than ever bevor. This is due to the positioning of the lens in the focus of the eye and the good image quality of the system. The image on the retina is bigger than with other methods.
- For some sort of presbyopia (worsening of reading in elderly people) there are lenses for implantation on the market, that can even correct this problem. There are several designs: Multifocal, stretching lens and others. Which one fits the best depends on the refractive error and the anatomy and function of the eye. The results are till now not overwhelming.
- The market is very dynamic and a lot of procedures and products are developed, sold and disappearing. Some procedures are very promising but during usage become more and more disappointing. Some, like intrastromal corneal rings, are better for other indications than they were made originally.
- Is there an other important problem in the eye or a severe disease that is indipendent of a refractive error, any procedure like laser or surgery does not help for better vision.
- Vice versa cataract-surgery has turned around to a true refractive procedure. It is possible to achieve a quality of vision after cataract-surgery that the eye never reached before.
All these very modern and high-tech surgical methods made it possible to promise rather often a „better vision without glasses“.
If you are interested in such a procedure, please click here.
