At the Southwest Eye Institute your options for vision correction are not limited to LASIK. Although LASIK is the most common option, your best information is obtained from a FREE screening exam. Just fill in the brief on the contact form down and to the left, send an email with your name and phone number or call 702-368-2010. We will walk you through the options and render our expert opinion on your best option for your personal best vision. We have options for virtually any budget and any prescription. We can correct near, far and intermediate vision! Just call 702-368-2010.
What is LASIK
LASIK (Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) is the most common vision correction procedure whereby a thin flap of the cornea is created allowing an Excimer laser to sculpt the inside layers of the cornea. Over one million nearsighted people including sports stars such as Tiger Woods and Wade Boggs and people worldwide have reduced or eliminated their dependence on glasses and contact lenses. In fact 98{60df113cd5a1cd00914727638812fb5300a840b86aa020a6e915251c64286fee} of patients can drive without glasses after Laser Vision Correction! LASIK is a procedure for the treatment of myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and or astigmatism. LASIK is technology’s most advanced laser procedure. LASIK is the most accurate, rapid, and painless vision correction method available. LASIK patients report minimal discomfort and generally enjoy rapid visual recovery. Following a LASIK procedure, most patients are able to resume most of their normal activities the following day.
What is CustomVue LASIK?
The Fingerprint of Your Vision. Your vision is unique – as personal as your fingerprint or your DNA. WaveScan technology provides us with a map of your eye.
WaveScan Technology-
Initially you will meet with us for a complete medical evaluation and eye history to determine whether you are a good candidate for the CustomVue procedure. We will discuss the benefits and risks of the procedure with you. A WaveScan measurement will be taken to map the unique characteristics of your eye. With this map, your doctor will be able to:
Accurately assess whether you’re a good candidate for laser vision correction. Anyone who is considering laser vision correction should obtain a WaveScan measurement as the first step.
Along with the other diagnostic tests that we perform, an individualized treatment plan can then be developed to address your unique vision needs.
Once it is confirmed that you are a good candidate, your doctor will schedule you for a CustomVue procedure. We will provide details to you on how to prepare for the day of the procedure.
The following are some of the FDA clinical study results. One year after the VISX CustomVue procedure:
- 100{60df113cd5a1cd00914727638812fb5300a840b86aa020a6e915251c64286fee} could pass a driving test without glasses or contact lenses.
- 98{60df113cd5a1cd00914727638812fb5300a840b86aa020a6e915251c64286fee} could see 20/20 or better without glasses or contact lenses.
- 70{60df113cd5a1cd00914727638812fb5300a840b86aa020a6e915251c64286fee} could see better than 20/20 without glasses or contact lenses.
Four times as many participants were very satisfied with their night vision after CustomVue, compared to their night vision with their glasses or contact lenses.
Overall, many participants were more satisfied with their quality of vision after the VISX CustomVue procedure than before the procedure with use of glasses or contacts.
Uncorrected visual acuity is the measurement of how well you see without the aid of glasses or contact lenses. Quality of vision refers to not only what you see, but also how well you see under a variety of conditions such as driving at night.
What are the alternative to LASIK?
Everyone may not be interested in LASIK and LASIK may not be the best procedure for everyone. Common alternatives which most patients are familiar with are glasses and contact lenses.
Other alternatives are CLE, PRK, NearVision CK, ICL and Presbyopia Correcting Implants. We are pleased to offer all of these technologies.
What is CLE?
CLE (Clear Lens Extraction) is best for patients over 40, those developing cataracts, those with extreme astigmatism, myopia or hyperopia or those concerned about presbyopia. The procedure is virtually identical to cataract surgery (the most common surgery in seniors). Now there are implants that can treat nearsightedness, farsightedness, presbyopia, or astigmatism. Furthermore, if necessary, the results of CLE can be fine tuned with LASIK.
What is PRK?
PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy) is a two-step procedure where 1) the epithelium (surface cells) is removed then 2) the Excimer laser is used to sculpt the surface of the cornea.
What is NearVision CK?
After the age of 40, most people start to lose their up close reading vision. Conductive Keratoplasty (CK) is a procedure that uses mild heat from radio waves to shrink the glue-like connective tissue (collagen) in the periphery of the cornea. This steepens the cornea, giving farsighted patients with presbyopia better near and distance vision while improving near vision for patients with presbyopia alone. If you are nearsighted, CK is not for you (at least not at this time) although expanded indications such as for astigmatism correction are being studied. CK is now offered for patients over 40 that have had previous LASIK and would like to improve their near vision.
What is ICL?
Surgically implanted contact lenses, also known as ICLs (Implantable Contact Lenses) are a new option for people seeking more permanent correction of common vision errors such as myopia (nearsightedness). These implants, which resemble contact lenses, are placed between the clear front covering of the eye (cornea) and the iris (colored portion of the eye) or just behind the iris.
Implantable lenses are a surgical alternative to LASIK. Both procedures alter the way light rays enter the eye to achieve sharper focus. LASIK does this by removing tissue from the eye’s cornea to change its shape. Implantable lenses function like glasses or contact lenses, except they do it from within your eye.
Presbyopia Correcting IOLs
Around the age of 40, we all lose our ability to see at all distance ranges. We can’t escape this pesky problem, caused by the eye’s natural lens growing more rigid and less flexible as we age. Because the lens no longer can expand or contract adequately enough to accommodate focus at all distances, blurring can cause problems such as inability to read fine print.
No current vision technology offers a perfect solution for this problem, known as presbyopia. Replacing the eye’s natural lens with an artificial one (intraocular lens or IOL) is the best way to enable sharper focus at distant ranges. Presbyopia correcting IOLs are designed by various methods to give you the best possibility of seeing near, immediate and distance without the aid of glasses.
Crystalens
Crystalens offers significant advantages over other kinds of lens implants and corrective lenses. Standard (single vision) lens implants don?t have the ability to provide a full range of vision. Most people who have single vision lens implants MUST wear glasses for middle and near vision. Crystalens has the unique ability to focus on objects at varying distances using the eye?s natural muscle. This means the Crystalens can provide sharper vision, without corrective lenses, throughout a full range of vision from near to far and everything in between.
Crystalens? FDA one-year clinical study results indicate:
- 92{60df113cd5a1cd00914727638812fb5300a840b86aa020a6e915251c64286fee} of the people enrolled in the study (implanted bilaterally) could see 20/25 or better at distance.
- 96{60df113cd5a1cd00914727638812fb5300a840b86aa020a6e915251c64286fee} could see 20/20 at arm?s length.
- 73{60df113cd5a1cd00914727638812fb5300a840b86aa020a6e915251c64286fee} could see 20/25 at near.
- 98{60df113cd5a1cd00914727638812fb5300a840b86aa020a6e915251c64286fee} of these people could pass their drivers test.
- 100{60df113cd5a1cd00914727638812fb5300a840b86aa020a6e915251c64286fee} could see their computer or put on their makeup.
- 98{60df113cd5a1cd00914727638812fb5300a840b86aa020a6e915251c64286fee} could read a magazine, all without glasses or contact lenses.
Also, your ability to see at approximately arm?s length (middle vision) will be greatly enhanced with the Crystalens. In addition, the quality of vision compared to wearing bifocals and/or trifocals is significantly improved. You?ll have a full range of vision; by simply looking at something, Crystalens, mimicking the natural focusing ability of your eye, will automatically focus your eye at near, arm?s length, or distance.
ReSTOR
What is it? The AcrySof? ReSTOR? Apodized Diffractive Optic Posterior IOL (ReSTOR?) is a permanent artificial lens. ReSTOR? is implanted in the eye to restore vision after the natural lens is removed because of cataracts with or without presbyopia (over 40 vision).
The ReSTOR? lens is convex on both sides and made of a soft plastic. It is folded and inserted into the eye through a tiny incision smaller than the optic diameter of the lens. After insertion, the lens gently unfolds to restore vision. The supporting arms (haptics) of the lens maintain proper positioning within the eye.
How does it work? The AcrySof? ReSTOR? IOL replaces the natural lens. It has a patented optic design using apodization, diffraction and refraction technologies. The apodized diffractive optic design gives it the ability to focus light correctly on the retina for images at various distances without mechanical movement of the lens.
- Apodization is a gradual reduction or blending of the diffractive step heights.
- This unique technology optimally manages light energy delivered to the retina because it distributes the appropriate amount of light to near and distant focal points regardless of the lighting situation.
- Apodized diffractive optics are designed to improve image quality while minimizing visual disturbances. The result is an increased range of quality vision that delivers a high level of spectacle freedom.
When is it used? The AcrySof? ReSTOR? IOL is used in adult patients with and without presbyopia, who desire near, intermediate and distance vision with increased independence from glasses following cataract surgery.
What will it accomplish? The AcrySof? ReSTOR? IOL has been shown in a clinical study to provide good near, intermediate and distance vision with increased independence from glasses in patients who have undergone cataract surgery.
Technis Multifocal
The Technis Multifocal intraocular lens is an advanced refractive multifocal IOL that provides cataract patients with greater independence from glasses than monofocal IOLs. The Technis Multifocal proprietary multifocal design provides a range of vision that monofocals cannot match.
The Technis Multifocal IOL distributes light over optic zones so that each lens has a distance-dominant central zone for distance vision in bright light conditions when the pupil is constricted.
The Technis Multifocal IOL is indicated for the visual correction of aphakia in persons 60 years of age or older in whom a cataractous lens has been removed and who may benefit from useful near vision without reading add and increased spectacle independence across a range of distances. It is intended to be placed in the capsular bag. It is often used off label for vision correction purposes.