The advantages of custom lasik
Lasik eye surgery was first introduced in 1998. This new surgery revolutionized the vision industry by giving people an option for a safer eye correction procedure. Although lasik was safer than previous eye correction procedures it still couldnt fix everyone. Today there is a new wave in eye surgery, custom lasik. Custom lasik uses a special mapping technique to give the surgeon a 3D map of the eye. This 3D map is the key to helping more difficult vision problems.
The technology used in custom lasik is called wavefront. It can pick up subtle problems in the cornea which, with lasik, were overlooked and never corrected. Wavefront is based on the same technology used to communicate between telescopes on earth and satellites in outer space. The only difference between custom lasik and traditional lasik is during the pre-op exam. This is where the eye is mapped out and the surgeon gets the exact measurements of the eye. It is a simple addition to traditional lasik, but can make a huge difference in the end.
Wavefront lasik can help many people who originally could not be helped by traditional lasik eye surgery. Because wavefront allows surgeons to pick up on small variances in the cornea people with strong prescriptions or a strong astigmatism can be better helped through custom lasik. Custom lasik also can help correct vision after an unsuccessful previous lasik surgery. Sometimes traditional lasik can result in glare or night vision problems which are due to not correcting subtle cornea problems. What sets custom lasik apart from any other eye correction is that it measures not only how good you can see on a 20/20 scale, but also can measure how you see fine details and contrast.
The benefits of custom lasik verses traditional lasik are significant. It will cost more, an average of $400 to $500 more, but the results are worth it for someone that has many or difficult to treat problems. Custom lasik give patients a better chance of ending with 20/20 vision due to the precise measurements from wavefront technology. Results often show patients see contrast and fine details better with custom lasik. One of the best advantages of custom lasik is the reduced risk and treatment ability for glare or halos.
You should discuss with your doctor how custom lasik can benefit you. You may find that through custom lasik you can achieve better results than with traditional lasik. You should consider custom lasik if you have a strong prescription, have had a previous lasik surgery that resulted in glare, or if you have astigmatism. Your doctor should be able to tell you if you will get better results from custom lasik verses traditional lasik.
Custom lasik procedures are quickly gaining ground as the most popular form of lasik. The results are better and the general outcome ranks much higher than that of traditional lasik. Custom lasik may be the answer to the problem of hard to treat vision. With advances everyday, vision correction will soon be as easy as getting eyeglasses.
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