Advantages of LASIK

What are the Advantages of LASIK over other laser techniques.

There are several laser treatment techniques available such as LASIK, PRK and SMILE. Here are a few reasons to choose LASIK over other methods.

LASIK can treat the full range of refractive problems

  1. Myopia, Hyperopia and Astigmatism can be treated with LASIK, but only moderate to high myopic astigmatism can be treated successfully with SMILE, and PRK is useful only for low levels of refractive error due to potential scarring.
  2. LASIK using Contoura topographically guided laser treatment can treat irregular astigmatism as well as the more common regular astigmatism and myopia up to -10 D (where the corneal thickness allows this much treatment).
  3. LASIK for presbyopia can be performed with full or mini-monovision, blended monovision using Q-adjusted (aspheric increased) laser. This is not available with SMILE laser and is limited in PRK.

Painless, quick surgery with the experience of Dr Phil

  1. All laser refractive surgery is painless.  Local anaesthetic eye drops numb the surface of the eye making surgery completely painless. No needles or injections are required.
  2. A mild sedative tablet is given to relax you.
  3. LASIK takes around 15 minutes for both eyes, but less than 10 seconds of actual laser treatment is required in most cases.  You will need to allow around one hour at Perth Laser Vision, then go home to bed.

A great treatment experience at Perth Laser Vision

  1. There’s more to Perth Laser Vision than just the treatment.
  2. A comfortable waiting area with TV, magazines and free “guest” wifi is available.
  3. Coffee or a large meal before your procedure is not advisable, but strict fasting is not required.
  4. Ergonomic equipment that is second to none, the purpose built Wavelight Refractive Suite combines two lasers to utilize the strengths of each and is not limited to one method of treatment, so treatment can be customised for your individual eye problems.

Rapid vision recovery

  1. Vision is immediately changed forever after LASIK.
  2. When the local anaesthetic wears off, some discomfort is felt in ALL procedures. Take Panadol/Nurofen and rest quietly until any discomfort has passed is best. Some watering occurs and your eyes will want to close. It is best to go home to bed.  You will need a driver.
  3. Within 5-6 hours, all discomfort passes, vision is clear. Some minor irritation is normal after LASIK and SMILE laser.  In PRK the discomfort typically lasts a few days.

No flap worries at Perth Laser Vision

  1. Dr Phil McGeorge has performed over 30,000 procedures and has the experience you need for your surgery
  2. The surface flap seals within seconds and adheres progressively over the next few days and weeks.
  3. Simple measures after treatment ensure a sound result.
    • Patients are asked to wear a clear plastic shield for two nights after review and to not rub their eyes for 3-4 weeks, whilst tender.
    • Swimming is best avoided until healed.
    • Eye make-up is only a problem with its removal at the end of the day whilst some tenderness of the eyes remains, so we recommend not using eye makeup or mascara for 3-4 weeks after LASIK, SMILE or PRK.

Side-effects with healing are minimal with LASIK

  1. Short-term effects can occur like dry eyes but typically last less than one to two weeks
    • Most people manage with only 1-2 lubricant eye drops once or twice a day, a few require more.
    • LASIK, SMILE and PRK all produce this as part of the healing response.
  2. Scarring is rare with LASIK but can occur with PRK.

LASIK has higher accuracy and stability than other methods such as SMILE or PRK.

  1. Studies performed over the last 20+ years have shown the long term stability and superiority of LASIK over other treatments.
  2. LASIK has faster visual recovery than either PRK or SMILE, its immediate.
  3. LASIK settles more rapidly and is stable by one month, SMILE and PRK can take up to 6 months to stabilize at the final result with hazy cloudy vision common.

Better night vision than with other techniques

Night vision depends on a number of factors

  1. Pupil size
    • Young people have larger pupils than older people.
    • Larger pupils let in more light but flatten the focal point (a camera with the aperture diameter set large will only be in focus in one position, either the foreground OR the background, whereas a camera with the aperture diameter set small will both have the foreground AND the background in focus.
    • Larger pupils allow the peripheral cornea and lens to interfere with clear focus and gives a halo around lights.
  2. Treatment diameter
    • This should ideally be 0.5mm larger than you dim-light pupil size, but this is not always possible due to high refractive errors, thin corneas and large pupils.
  3. Treatment centration
    • Wavelight lasers have the ability to move the focal point of the centre of treatment and follow even the smallest eye movements with infrared eye tracking and active adjustment of the laser beam to account for that eye movement.
    • Other lasers such as Zeiss Visumax do not have that ability.
  4. Treatment profile
    • Aspheric treatments have better night vision than spherical treatments
    • All Wavelight treatments are aspheric treatments
    • Other lasers such as with Zeiss Visumax SMILE are non-aspheric treatments.

Poor night vision prior to treatment

  1. People with poor night vision prior to treatment may find it is the similar after treatment due to the abnormalities of their particular eyeball. The surface of the eye is only a small part of the refractive error with elongated eyeballs and irregular shapes problematic. However, it is at the surface that laser refractive correction is undertaken.
  2. Sometimes night driving spectacles with a yellow tint can be beneficial.

Higher corneal strength after LASIK than after SMILE.

  1. The strength of the cornea is important for it to maintain the new shape of its surface.
    1. The corneal strength is determined by the thickness of the cornea and its age (older equals tougher, more sinuous).
    2. All laser treatments make the cornea slightly thinner to gain the refractive change sought. It is important to minimize the thinning to maintain corneal strength.
    3. The cornea is composed of layers. The surface rests on the deeper layers. The superficial corneal layers are made of the same material as the deeper layers.
    4. For the same refractive treatment
      • In PRK, the surface epithelium is removed and the underlying surface is lasered directly, leaving a residual thickness behind.
      • In LASIK, the residual corneal thickness is around 40 microns thinner than in PRK.
      • In SMILE, the residual thickness is 80 to 100 microns thinner than PRK and 40 – 60 microns thinner than LASIK
  2. Recent studies have looked at the actual tensile strength of the cornea after treatment with LASIK or SMILE laser.
    1. These found that for low to moderate refractive treatments there was no significant difference found between treatments
    2. However, with high myopic treatments, the SMILE treated cornea was actually weaker than one treated with LASIK.
  3. A recent study of SMILE laser treatments showed a forward bowing of the inner corneal surface in high myopic treatments.
  4. When corneal strength is questionable, additional treatments such as Corneal Cross-Linking can be undertaken.
© 2024 Perth Laser Vision . All Rights Reserved. | Website by: Daisy Digital | Privacy Policy