New York Nearsighted Treatment - Who is A LASIK Candidate?
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| *All patients who have read and understand the following criteria are eligible for the 20/20 Or It's Free LASIK offer at Stahl...the Eye Center. The surgeons of Stahl...the Eye Center reserve the right to determine candidacy for this offer based on patient expectations and medical conditions. Click for Details. |
Nearsighted Treatment
More than 70 million people in North America are
nearsighted. Myopia is the medical term for nearsightedness. Myopia
occurs when an eye is too long for the cornea's curvature. Light
rays entering the eye do not come to a sharp focus on the retina
at the back
of the eye. Instead, they focus further forward, producing a blurred
image. This is demonstrated in the diagram below.
The term "nearsighted" means that you
can see "near" objects clearly without your glasses,
but objects further in the distance are blurry. There are varying
degrees of myopia or nearsightedness. The more myopic you are,
the more blurred objects appear in the distance, the higher your
eyeglass prescription and the thicker your glasses. Of all myopic
people, about 90% have corrections less than -6.00 diopters. The
table below shows the categories of severity for myopia:
| Mild Myopia |
< -3.00 diopters |
| Moderate Myopia |
-300 to -6.00 diopters |
| Severe Myopia |
-6.00 to -9.00 diopters |
| Extreme Myopia |
> -9.00 diopters |
Almost everyone feels that their myopia is severe,
because of how dramatically dependent they are on glasses and
contact lenses. However, only one in ten myopic people are actually
in the severe and extreme categories.
BIFOCAL WEARERS (Presbyopia Treatment)
 Presbyopia
is the normal process of aging, where the natural lens of the
eye loses some of the flexibility that characterizes a younger
eye. This usually occurs at age 40-50. Everyone experiences presbyopia,
some sooner, some later. Because of this normal process, nearsighted
people begin to wear bifocals in their forties, and those who
never needed glasses before may require reading glasses. The one
advantage to mild myopia is the ability to remove your glasses
after age 40 and continue to read (your myopia effectively counteracts
your presbyopia). After having the excimer laser lasik procedure,
you will lose this ability. You will typically be normally sighted
after the procedure, and you will need reading glasses for small
print, like every other normally sighted person at age 40-50.
The excimer laser has no effect on your focusing muscles. Patients
who are experiencing the effects of presbyopia cannot be helped
by the excimer laser, however, there are new techniques being
developed for this condition.
FARSIGHTED (Hyperopia)
 Hyperopia
is the medical term for "farsightedness." It occurs
when an eye is too short for the cornea's curvature. Light
rays entering the eye focus behind the retina, and as a
result a blurred image is produced. Farsighted individuals,
however, can use their focusing muscles to "pull"
the image forward onto the retina. In a young person with
severe hyperopia, or once presbyopia sets in around age
45, distant objects are seen more clearly than near objects.
Certain laser technologies, such as holmium lasers and hyperopic
LASIK correct this condition.
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ASTIGMATISM
 Astigmatism
is derived from the Greek word "stigma" which
means point. In astigmatism, light is not brought into a
sharp point of focus. Rather, the light is more diffused
and the image is therefore not clearly seen. By eliminating
or reducing the corneal irregularity, the laser can eliminate
or reduce astigmatism while treating other refractive errors.
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