Denver Lasik Surgery
Fyodorov introduced Radial Keratotomy (RK) as a procedure for
reducing nearsightedness and Astigmatism. In Radial Keratotomy, the
surgeon used a hand-held diamond knife to make deep radial incisions
in the cornea. (When you cut a pizza you are making radial cuts.
Unlike cutting a pizza, the cuts in Radial Keratotomy did not go all
the way to the center of the cornea.) The surgeon would make four to
sixteen radial cuts, depending on the amount of the patient's
nearsightedness. The goal of Radial Keratotomy was to flatten the
cornea and decrease the patient's nearsightedness. Radial Keratotomy
flattened the cornea by structurally weakening and slightly
collapsing the cornea. This is similar to cutting some of the
support wires in a tent and then having the tent partially collapse.
Radial Keratotomy had two major drawbacks. First, the radial
incisions would often cause visually-significant glare. The second
problem with Radial Keratotomy was that the cornea was structurally
weakened by the radial incisions. Short term, this weakness caused
fluctuating unpredictable vision, often to the extreme that patients
would see well without correction part of day and would require
glasses to see clearly at other times of the day. Long term, the
weakened cornea also continued to flatten, and patients were
actually becoming farsighted. Even with these two major drawbacks,
millions of patients underwent Radial Keratotomy and the vast
majority were satisfied to be significantly less nearsighted. Also,
after twenty years of experience with Radial Keratotomy, no visually
threatening long term complications have been identified. Radial
Keratotomy is rarely being performed today. However, I feel some
reassurance that although Radial Keratotomy was an imprecise
procedure performed by making deep corneal cuts with a hand-held
knife, Radial Keratotomy was well accepted by patients and has been
shown to be reasonably safe long term. If we now have a much more
precise procedure, Laser Vision Correction, with a computer running
a Laser removing sub-microscopic amounts of tissue, we can expect
much greater accuracy and corneal stability than we saw with Radial
Keratotomy.
Both LASIK and PRK give excellent results. Both use an Excimer Laser
to reshape your cornea. With PRK the correction is placed on the
surface of the cornea; in LASIK a thin flap of corneal tissue is
lifted and the correction placed on the underlying corneal bed and
the overlying corneal flap then repositioned. 95% of my patients
choose to have LASIK, but if the thought of the flap in LASIK makes
you extremely uncomfortable, I would strongly encourage you to
consider PRK! PRK is slightly safer and minimally more predictable
than LASIK because no flap is being made. The risk associated with
the flap is small, but in 1-2% of LASIK patients, flap complications
occur and are usually treatable without resultant vision loss. PRK
is more uncomfortable than LASIK for 48-72 hours post-op; the vision
takes longer to clear up after PRK than LASIK. Both LASIK and PRK
give the same results long term; however, PRK has a lower
retreatment rate (1-2% vs 5-10% for LASIK) and may have somewhat
less glare and dryness than LASIK. Once again, both LASIK and PRK
give excellent long term results; PRK is slightly safer than LASIK
but is more uncomfortable and takes longer to heal.
www.levinsoneyeclinic.com
Rose Medical Plaza,
4545 East Ninth Avenue,
#270, Denver, CO 80220
Icon LASIK
Icon has the absolute best technology available including the VISX
S4 Wavefront laser and the equally effective NIDEK EC5000. Unlike
other clinics who often only own one
laser, Icon owns multiple lasers to provide the best treatment
options for your eyes. The result is the optimal corrective
procedure for each patient. Many clinics may try to
convince you that a certain laser is better than the other,
regardless of what laser would actually work the best for you. At
Icon we have all of the best lasers; therefore, you know that we are
going to recommend the right laser for your eyes.
We have a wide range of instruments available to accurately measure
your vision including the latest an optical biometry device from
Zeiss. At ICON we also use a
nomogram to statistically figure out where your results should lie.
Statistically the more samples available the better the results.
Since ICON has completed more
procedures in Colorado, ICON's nomogram is the most accurate because
it takes into account the environmental factors that are unique to
Colorado such as the high
altitude and dry air. This means you have the best chance for
achieving your optimal laser corrected vision at ICON. Simply put,
you are more likely to improve your vision to 20/20 or better.
Interested in getting lasik in Denver, Colorado? Icon has treated
over 60,000 eyes and has over 20 years of eye care experience. Our
Denver, Colorado based laser eye
surgeons, optometrists, nurses, technicians, and support staff are
specially trained in providing the latest in lasik care. We own
multiple laser platforms to offer you the
proper treatment for your eyes.
icondenver.com
3900 East Mexico,
Suite 102,
Denver, CO 80210
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