This is a great story about the surgeon who first perfected radial keratotomy (RK), the original vision correction surgery that used knives instead of lasers. Here’s an excerpt:

The first medical procedure that had millions of people throwing away their glasses was pioneered in Soviet Russia. Many surgeons had tried before, but Svyatoslav Fyodorov was the first to perfect radial keratotomy, or RK, a surgical procedure that corrects nearsightedness.

Fyodorov’s story is the stuff of medical myth. A little boy gets in a fight and breaks his glasses, cutting his eye. All of a sudden, he could see better. The little boy’s doctor, Fyodorov, asked himself, if accidental cuts can improve vision, what could precision cuts do?

The story may or may not be true. It’s more likely that Fyodorov, as creative a salesman as he was a surgeon, probably read about botched RK attempts in the medical literature and got to work.

It’s interesting that Fyodorov started doing laser eye surgery once people realized that the RK procedure was unstable and some people who were nearsighted became farsighted.

VISX Star S4

So what is the VISX laser, and why is it so great?

VISX is a Santa Clara, CA company that designs, manufactures, and sells laser vision correction systems. Their most advanced lasik vision surgery system is the Star S4 IR Excimer Laser System.

The VISX Star S4 integrates with the WaveScan WaveFront system which generates highly accurate 3-D maps of each eye, detailing the tiniest abberations and disorders. By integrating with the WaveFront maps, the VISX laser can be extremely precise during the lasik surgery procedure.

Also, the VISX Star S4 removes the smallest amount of corneal tissue of any laser available. This gives shorter treatment times and greater flexibility to personalize the laser treatment.

My advice is to ask your lasik clinic which lasers they use, including the name and model. Then do your research on the Internet to make sure they’re using the level of technology that makes you feel most comfortable.

Which Laser is Best for LASIK?

This article does a very good job describing the different lasik lasers and what features each of them have. A handy table compares common lasik lasers such as the Alcon LADARVision 4000, Bausch & Lomb Technolas 217A, Nidek EC-5000, Visx Star S4, Visx Star S4 IR, and the WaveLight Allegretto Wave.

While not coming right out and saying which is the best lasik laser, the article concludes with an important point:

…no matter which laser is used, remember that ultimately your surgeon’s skill and experience likely will be the most important factors affecting your LASIK outcome.

So don’t get hung up on finding the best laser for your lasik surgery–focus on finding a great lasik surgeon, instead.

This site made me laugh. Apparently lasik lasers have gotten so advanced you can buy your own Scal-Pal Scanning Adjusting Laparascopic Personal Laser and give yourself lasik surgery in the comfort of your own home.

The good news is your Lasik@Home kit only costs $99. The bad news is if you end up with worse vision than when you started you only have yourself to blame!

What cracks me up the most about this is the doctor in the photos is wearing glasses!

Somebody order this and tell me how it goes.

According to this Wictionary entry, nystagmus is “rapid involuntary eye movement, usually lateral.” It would seem that jerky eye movement would eliminate someone as a candidate for delicate laser eye surgery. But not always, at least according to this site:

“Refractive surgery is sometimes impossible for individuals with nystagmus, but not always. Newer excimer lasers used for conventional or wavefront custom Lasik, All-Laser Lasik, PRK, LASEK, and Epi-Lasik have the ability to follow these movements.

An evaluation by a competent refractive surgeon can determine if a person with nystagmus is a viable candidate for any type of refractive surgery.”

So lasik vision correction may be a possibility for you, even if you have nystagmus.

This is a great article (updated in June 2007) that discusses the costs for various popular eye surgeries: Cost of LASIK Eye Surgery.

Here’s a quote to give you an idea of how much you’ll probably pay for lasik corrective surgery PER EYE:

LASIK prices, after rising for several years, seemed to stabilize in 2006 and 2007. Industry sources report that the average LASIK price in late 2006 was about $1,950. In 2007, LASIK and laser-based procedures charged at a single price (no extra charges added on for new technologies) cost an average $2,099 (see charts below).

The article attributes the rising costs of lasik eye surgeries to newer, more expensive technologies like wavefront-guided lasik and intralase.

Since most insurance doesn’t cover lasik surgery it’s a good thing that affordable financing is available!

According to this article there’s a newer type of lasik vision correction surgery called Epi-Lasik.

Here’s a quote from the article:

Epi-LASIK is similar to the more common procedure, but it uses a different type of blade to peel back the cornea, and it cuts a thinner layer.

Before the surgery, a wavefront laser, which is different from the laser used to reshape the cornea, can measure each eye so that the LASIK procedure is customized. The technology can help reduce the glare or halos that some patients see at night after LASIK.

Epi-Lasik sounds like it might address one of the big side-effects that I’ve been concerned about with this surgery: night vision problems.

Recent news reports are making a surprising claim: that it’s safer to get lasik vision correction than to just keep wearing your contacts.

Here’s a quote from a report on CBSNews.com:

Based on their review of several large studies, ophthalmologist William Mathers, M.D., and colleagues concluded that daily contact lens wearers have about a one in 100 chance of developing a serious lens-related eye infection over 30 years of use, and a one in 2,000 chance of suffering significant vision loss as a result.

The researchers calculated the risk of significant vision loss due to Lasik surgery to be closer to one in 10,000 cases. They reported their findings in a letter published this month in the journal Archives of Ophthalmology.

“One shouldn’t just assume that contacts are safer,” Mathers tells WebMD. “This may have been true at one time, but for the average person this is certainly not the case anymore.”

The article also says the chances of getting serious infection increase to 1 in 1000 if you sleep in your contacts.

I think I’ll be wearing my glasses from now on!   

It might seem strange to make a blog about a type of eye surgery, but it’s a particular interest of mine because I’m seriously considering doing it. I’m doing extensive research on this topic because it’s definitely not an inexpensive procedure! I’m using this blog to capture my research–which will hopefully be of value to others.

Like you, I’ve heard good things and bad things about getting lasik vision surgery. I’m going to explore both the good and the bad aspects of lasik surgery in this blog.

If you’ve had experiences, either good or bad, with lasik vision correction surgery I’d like to hear them! Please join this blog as a member and partipate in the discussion.

I hope you enjoy the research I’m doing on this popular surgery. Thanks for reading my blog!

-Marc
Lasik Vision Blog