Corrective Eye Surgery by Glendora CA Opthamologist
People who consider corrective eye surgery think of LASIK, but LASIK is only one kind of eye surgery. LASIK, however, is becoming more and more popular and refined, and is one of the eye surgeries performed by Dr. Bud Kurwa, a leading Glendora CA opthamologist.
LASIK corrects nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. The eye, after being numbed, has a flap made in the cornea, then very precisely applied pulses of laser light reshape the cornea to make sure that the images fall precisely on the retina, the area at the back of the eyeball. This ensures that the image is clear and sharp.
Corrective eye surgery is also used in the case of cataracts. In a cataract, the lens of the eye becomes cloudy. Cataracts come on slowly, with symptoms like progressive loss of vision, blurring, sensitivity to bright light and halos seen around lights. There are two types of cataract surgery and they’re usually done on an outpatient basis. One is small incision or phacoemulsification surgery. This is where tiny incisions are made at the junction of the cornea, the clear covering of the eye, and the sclera, or the white of the eye. Then, an opening is made in the lens. A probe is inserted and ultrasound is used to break up the cataract. The pieces are then sucked out. The removed lens might be replaced with an implant.
The other type of surgery is extracapsular cataract extraction. As with phacoemulsification surgery, two incisions are made where the cornea and the sclera meet, but the lens is removed without the use of ultrasound. Again, an implant might be placed in the eye.
Another corrective eye surgery is surgery to implant permanent contact lenses. This sort of surgery helps correct very bad cases of myopia, or nearsightedness. There are two kinds of implantable lenses that are used in the United States and you should discuss this option with a Glendora CA opthamologist. One is made out of plastic and is placed in front of the iris, and the other is made out of collamer, a natural substance. This lens is placed behind the iris, but in front of the real lens. Both of them are considered safe. However, the plastic lens runs a risk of injury to the cornea. The collamer lens can be folded and inserted through such a small incision that the procedure doesn’t require suturing. However, there’s a small risk of cataracts with the collamer lens. The overwhelming majority of patients see their vision improve with both types of lenses.
In sum, there are a wide array of treatment options and you should contact a Glendora CA Opthamologist to discuss which option is appropriate for you.