Cataract Surgery: Separating Fact from Fiction
Having cataracts is a common condition that can affect almost anyone. For most cases, a cataract surgery is not required. As long as you don’t leave it untreated, you won’t go blind from this eye condition.
At its early stages, the symptoms of cataract can be reduced by using brighter lighting, anti-glare sunglasses, or magnifying lens. However, when vision loss has reached the point where it interferes with your daily activities, the cataract needs to be surgically removed. This is when you need to undergo cataract surgery. In Orange County and Los Angeles, the number of people with eye problems has significantly increased. However, some people are afraid to undergo surgery because of the myths and misconceptions that surround it.
Cataract Surgery: Top 7 Myths and Misconceptions About the Condition and Its Treatment
Like most medical procedures in Orange County and Los Angeles, cataract surgery is surrounded by a lot of misconceptions. Add the myths that plague the eye condition, and it’s no wonder that a lot of patients are reluctant to undergo the operation. Here are some of the most common misconceptions about cataract and the surgery.
Myth #1: Cataract is reversible.
Fact: Cataract is not reversible.
It’s a condition that naturally develops due to age-associated changes in your eyes. Non-surgical treatments mostly work to slow down the deterioration process.
Myth #2: Eye drops can fix cataracts.
Fact: Eye drops cannot fix cataracts.
There are currently no eye drops that can fix or dissolve cataracts. More importantly, since it’s a naturally occurring condition that comes with age, there’s also no way to prevent them completely. If you want your cataracts gone, you’ll have to undergo cataract surgery.
Myth #3: Doing activities that required looking at objects at a close distance like sewing and reading worsens cataracts.
Fact: Activities that require close scrutiny do not make cataracts worse.
As mentioned in Myth #1, cataract is an age-related condition. You won’t develop the condition—or make it worse if you already have it—if you engage in activities that require close visual examination frequently.
Myth #4: Cataract surgery is dangerous.
Fact: Cataract surgery is a low-risk procedure.
While the procedure is not without risks, cataract surgery is considered as one of the safest surgical procedures in the world.
Myth #5: Cataract surgery has an extended recovery period
Fact: Patients can resume their regular activities the day after their operation.
If you decide to get cataract surgery, in Los Angeles, for instance, know that you don’t have to set aside a lot of time for recovery. You can get back to work the day after your operation. Just don’t press or rub your eyes and engage in any heavy lifting or strenuous activity for the next few weeks.
Myth #6: Most cataracts grow back post-surgery.
Fact: Patients can develop a secondary cataract post-surgery.
Surgically-removed cataracts never grow back. But, there are rare instances when a secondary cataract can develop in or near its place.
Myth #7: Only the elderly can develop cataracts.
Fact: Everyone can develop cataract; the elderly is just the most vulnerable age group.
Cataracts occur in all age groups—even infants or those under 40 sometimes have them. They are just most common on older people since they’re an age-associated condition.
Don’t let these misconceptions hold you back from getting cataract surgery.
Looking for Cataract Surgery in Orange County and Los Angeles?
Excel Laser Vision Institute has you covered! As the leading provider of laser eye surgery in Los Angeles, Orange County, and all of Southern California, we have carried out safe and successful operations for over two decades. Visit one of our clinics to learn more about us and our services.
Never take eye problems lightly. Even if you don’t have any of the tell-tale signs of cataract (clouded or dim vision, sensitivity to light, seeing “halos” around lights, etc.), it is still better to consult an expert to make sure you’re not coming down with anything serious. Remember, when it comes to your eye care needs, prevention is always better than cure!
When Considering Laser Eye Surgery, Think Carefully Before You Act
When thinking about whether to get LASIK in Orange County, there are many factors to consider. There are many possible benefits to LASIK, of course, but there also some risks involved. You’ll need to consult with a trusted surgeon first to get the specifics of what’s going on with your vision. Then, you can go over the options.
What some people are asking, though, is whether LASIK is worth it in the long run, or if glasses or contacts remain the more sensible choice. We’ll examine that chain of thought in this article.
Astigmatism, farsightedness, and nearsightedness are all annoying. Corrective eye surgery can treat all of those. It is estimated that for up to 90% of LASIK recipients, vision is significantly improved. However, there’s a chance that even after that improvement, you’ll still need to use corrective lenses like eyeglasses and contact lenses. A few years down the line, a small percentage of people require eyeglasses or contacts in certain situations. However, that’s not something LASIK can control, as things like old age and other eye diseases like cataracts and glaucoma can affect your vision.
There’s also the risks involved, which, while minor, should not be discounted. Vision loss that cannot be treated by lenses, contacts, or further surgery is rare, but not unheard of. What’s more common is severe dry eye syndrome, blurry vision, and seeing halos around bright lights. None of these are life-threatening but can be a huge pain in the butt since you can’t do anything about it.
What you should take from all of this is that LASIK is not a miracle cure. It can only help some people, and those who receive it may still need glasses, contacts, or a second surgery down the line. With all that being said, though, there are thousands of people who have been helped by LASIK in a significant way, and if you’re experiencing any of a specific range of vision problems, you might be a good candidate. The procedure is very safe, and the side effects we’ve discussed in this article only happen to a select minority.
The best thing to do, again, is to have a frank conversation with your surgeon about whether you’re a suitable candidate. If you want to have better vision, it’s more than likely that LASIK will turn out to be the best choice for you.
Are You a Good Candidate for Eye Surgery?
It’s a rare person that will go through their entire life without some degree of vision loss. If you’ve reached your early-to-mid 40s and you haven’t lost some of your ability to focus on objects which are nearer to you, then you’re in the minority. If it is occurring, you may be unable to read smaller print or do tasks where you must focus on objects in the foreground. The question asked by many at this stage is if they need eye surgery from the best LASIK surgeons in Los Angeles and if you’ve reached this point, that’s precisely what may be on your mind. Is it better at this juncture to just get glasses, or are you a candidate for something like LASIK?
That ability to lose focus on nearby objects is called presbyopia, and if you’ve been nearsighted most of your life, it might compensate for it, strange as that sounds. A nearsighted eye can focus on nearer objects without reading glasses and without corrective surgery. LASIK removes that ability because it corrects nearsightedness, which means that it might do more harm than good.
If you’re an older adult, and you’re not nearsighted, it therefore makes sense for you to consider having your vision corrected for monovision. This will allow you to retain the ability to see objects up close. A monovision adjustment will correct one eye for distant vision, and the other for nearer vision. This is not the best choice for everyone. An ophthalmologist will usually give you contact lenses which simulate this effect first, to see how you feel about it. If you like it, you may wish to move forward with the procedure.
Each person is different, and the way each person experiences vision loss as they age is different too. It will be necessary to consult with your doctor regularly as you age, to see what options make the most sense for you. Hereditary factors often play a big part in vision loss, but there are exceptions. Hopefully, you and your doctor should be able to come up with a solution so that you can get the most use out of your eyes as you age, through surgical means or otherwise.
There’s No Need to Fear LASIK Surgery
There are plenty of people with vision problems who have looked into having LASIK in Los Angeles.
LASIK and similar procedures are considered to be overwhelmingly safe, but there are still possible side effects to be examined, and we will discuss some of them in this article.
Complications that result in vision loss are rare, as LASIK has been done now so many times that doctors have nearly perfected it. Still, there are some issues that are not uncommon in recovery, and dry eyes are the one most commonly reported. It’s to be expected; the surgery causes a decrease in tear production, though this is only temporary. For the first few months following the surgery, your eyes may feel dry, an uncomfortable sensation, though rarely painful. For a while after the surgery, you might also have a hard time seeing at night. You may have double vision, or see halos around bright lights. This can last for a few days, or as long as a few weeks.
Some other problems that may occur are overcorrection or under-correction. In the case of an under-correction, the laser has not removed enough of the non-functioning tissue from your eye, so you won’t have the vision improvement for which you were hoping. If that happens, you may need to have another procedure to remove some more of the cornea within the next year. If this happens, don’t be quick to blame the surgeon. They must be cautious sometimes, and every eye is different.
In the case of an overcorrection, the laser has removed too much of the corneal tissue from the eye. This may be harder to fix than an under-correction, which is why this is a rarer problem. There’s also a chance of astigmatism, which is where the surgeon has removed the tissue unevenly. There are some different options for correction there. Contact lenses, glasses, or additional surgeries might all be beneficial.
Some of this might sound a little scary, but truthfully, LASIK has become routine over the past couple of decades, and more severe side effects are infrequent. These procedures have become overwhelmingly safe, with multitudes having benefited from them, and more are added to that number every year. If you have a trusted surgeon, you should be able to move forward with confidence that you’ll be able to get the notable improvement in vision that you desire. Talk to your doctor about whether LASIK is right for you.
Some Questions to Be Asked Before LASIK Eye Surgery
When considering whether you might be a suitable candidate for laser eye surgery in Los Angeles, many factors will play a part. It is critical that you find an ophthalmologist whom you trust, and when you do, you’re going to get asked a lot of questions about your general health. In this article, though, you should be able to get a jump start on that. Here are some queries your eye doctor is likely to ask.
They’re going to want to know if you have diabetes, or any disease or condition where you need to take immunosuppressive medication. If you have either, the risks associated with LASIK surgery might be higher. Your doctor will also ask if you have lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or if you have HIV or other autoimmune disorders. In all of these cases, corrective eye surgery is very rarely considered to be a wise choice. The outcome of the procedure is going to be less predictable if you’re afflicted with any of the conditions mentioned.
If you have chronic pain conditions, like irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, or migraine, or if you suffer from depression, then you’re going to want to think twice about LASIK as well. There have been reports that those with these conditions who have undergone corrective eye surgery have had more problems with postoperative pain than what is considered usual. Excessively dry eyes following surgery have also been connected with these ailments.
There are some other factors that your doctor is going to weigh as well. One of these is your age. If you have myopia, then your vision is probably going to change throughout your teenage years, and even beyond that, in some cases. For that reason, it’s rare that a doctor will suggest LASIK for a patient until they are at least in their mid-twenties. If you’re using steroid-based drugs for any reason, or if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, your doctor is going to want you to wait. Your vision should be stable when you undergo the procedure.
These are only a few of the questions you’re likely to be asked, and a few of the conditions for which the doctor will be watching. Answer the questions honestly, and thoroughly. A responsible medical professional will want to assess your options based on as much information as they can gather about your overall health, so help them to help you.
Get the Facts About Laser Eye Surgery
There are hundreds of different sorts of eye problems, and any of them might cause vision to deteriorate. If you’re experiencing this, then you’ve probably thought about corrective eye surgery. What eye ailments might a person have that would make them a poor choice for procedures like LASIK, though? We will address that question in this article.
There are a great many possible eye problems that a person might have where LASIK would probably not be beneficial. First on the list would be keratoconus, which is thinning of the cornea which results in progressively worsening vision. It’s hereditary, and if you know you have it in your family, you should be very careful about any elective eye surgery. There’s also herpes simplex which affects the eye area, uveitis, and keratitis. A person suffering from any of these might exacerbate the problem through a laser corrective procedure. Those with perpetually dry eyes are not good candidates, nor are those who have sustained eye injuries. Remember that LASIK is most often beneficial to someone who has farsightedness or nearsightedness. It should not be considered a cure-all for every eye problem.
There are a few other conditions where corrective eye surgery might not be the best solution. If your vision is decent overall, which is to say, if you only need contacts or glasses part of the time, the benefits of the surgery might not be worth the risks involved. Though these procedures are considered safe, it’s still surgery, and it’s not something to be taken lightly. If you have presbyopia, which is less-clear vision caused by eye changes due to age, then LASIK is also probably not the best choice. In such situations, speak to your eye doctor about your options.
As with all surgical procedures that you are considering, your due diligence is important. Consult with multiple ophthalmologists, and see if you can get a consensus about your choices. There are risks associated with all surgeries, but with a medical team that you trust, you should be able to figure out the best path forward toward better vision.
LASIK Surgery and Other Options: Making the Choice That’s Right for You
There are many people these days who are considering the benefits of Orange County LASIK. What some people don’t realize, however, is that there are several different corrective vision procedures, and the term “LASIK” may encompass all of them. If you’re considering getting laser surgery for your eyes, it helps to know which of these procedures is likely to be most beneficial for you.
The first form of surgery is a photorefractive keratectomy, better known as PRK. In this procedure, the surgeon scrapes away the top layer of the cornea. There is a healing time of three or four days, but the discomfort reported is usually minor. The thought surrounding PRK is that it might be more beneficial to people who run a higher risk of being struck in the eye by something: those in law enforcement, in the military, or those who play contact sports professionally.
Next is a laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy, or LASEK. In this version, a flap in the cornea is created using a specialized cutting tool, and the cornea is then put into contact with ethanol. This procedure is thought to be most beneficial to people who have thin corneas, because less material needs to be removed.
Then there is epithelial laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis, also known as epi-LASIK. For this procedure, a mechanized blunt-blade device is used to separate the epithelium from the middle section of the cornea. This is employed for similar reasons as LASEK would be used; it’s another option for people with thin corneas.
The last option at which we’re going to look is implantable lenses. These are corrective lenses that are inserted into the eye through surgical means. This is often done during procedures to remove cataracts. It is most commonly recommended for older adults who are having eye problems, the thought being that it might prevent their needing a more invasive procedure in the future.
With so many options available, those with vision problems should be sure to consult with a trusted eye doctor. If you’re not sure, it’s not a bad idea to get a second opinion. Even though all of these procedures are considered quite safe at this point, it’s still important to choose the one that makes the most sense for you.
Let’s Discuss the Finer Points of LASIK Eye Surgery
These days, most people understand that those who are the best candidates for corrective eye surgery have vision problems that are less than detrimental. That means if you have mild nearsightedness, you could very well benefit from laser eye surgery Orange County. Those with more serious vision defects, like severe nearsightedness or farsightedness, should understand that the results will be less predictable. Those that are choosing to have the surgery, though, are curious. They want to know more about exactly what will be happening to them, and that is what we will endeavor to answer.
The term “LASIK,” at this point in history, actually refers to several different sorts of refractive laser surgery. Problems with vision often come about when the human eye attempts to focus vision on the back of the retina. With common vision problems, they end up being focused elsewhere, which causes blurry vision. Reshaping the cornea is the best form of correction. This will allow the images to be refracted as they would in a normally functioning eye.
Before any LASIK procedure, the surgeon will take a series of measurements, designed to map the eye, and see where the corneal correction should take place. Then, they will use a surgical laser to alter the shape of the cornea. The corneal tissue will be removed, allowing the cornea to be either flatter or steeper, depending on what would be most beneficial. In most cases, the surgeon will create a flap in the cornea and then raise it up, which allows for the reshaping associated with better vision. It may be a very thin flap that is raised, or the surgeon may forego creating the flap entirely. This is all dependent on the nature of an individual’s vision problem.
All of this may be sounding a little scary. After all, this is your eye we’re talking about, and the thought process associated with being shot in the eye with a laser is probably not a comfortable one. However, if you have decided to have this procedure, it is helpful to remember that using lasers for surgery these days is by no means exclusive to the eye. There are many surgeries for different body parts where the precise nature of a laser cut is the best possible way to ensure the patient’s safety. It’s okay to be a little bit nervous, but think about the likely benefits that will follow. Better vision is what you’re looking to achieve, and you’ll be thankful every day that you went through with it.
Laser Eye Surgery Might Be for You
There are plenty of people who are fed up with wearing corrective lenses or eyeglasses. It’s understandable. Having to remember one’s glasses when going out or losing a contact lens can be irritating. With options out there like laser eye surgery Orange County, residents have been asking their ophthalmologists if now might be the right time to try for a more permanent solution to their vision problems. So, how does one know if LASIK is a viable option for them?
Probably the biggest thing to remember is that if you have eye problems, LASIK might be helpful, but it’s not going to be a complete miracle cure. If you decide to have the procedure, then it’s possible you may still need glasses when you get older, at least for activities like driving at night or reading. The best candidates for LASIK are those who have astigmatism, also known as blurry vision, farsightedness (hyperopia), and nearsightedness (myopia). As for whether an individual is a good candidate, you’ll always want to have a trusted ophthalmologist take a look at your eyes, and make an assessment.
If your ophthalmologist feels that you might benefit from LASIK, then you’ll be sent to an eye surgeon. The prospect of having surgery on one’s eyes might seem daunting to some, but the good news is that this procedure has become increasingly common. At this point, tens of thousands of people have had it, and it’s unusual for there to be any significant complications. The surgeon will take measurements of your eye, then they will use a specially developed cutting laser to change your cornea’s curvature. The laser beam pulses gently, removing the smallest amount of corneal tissue. The corneal damage takes three or four days to heal, and there is a little blurred vision or moderate pain sometimes reported.
Most people notice the benefits very quickly. Sharper vision is reported almost immediately after the brief recovery period. A post-operative appointment is scheduled, and your vision is measured again, but most patients report being able to see much better under optimal conditions, and at least somewhat better in less-than-optimal situations, like on foggy days, or when there is low light.
The decision to get this procedure, or not, must be made individually. However, there is no doubt that for many in and around Orange County, laser eye surgery is proving to be a wise choice. If your vision is problematic, consult with your ophthalmologist, and ask if it might be right for you.
LASIK Surgeons on the Most Effective Treatment for Refractive Error
Around 90 percent of the information that the brain receives is delivered by the eyes. This means you owe to your eyes much of your knowledge of the world around you. The eyes are the fastest-moving and somehow the most extensively used organs in the body. So it’s only right that you take good care of your eyes at all times. (more…)