Davidorf Eye Group - Los Angeles Lasik Eye Surgery

Immediately after LASIK (Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis) surgery, your eyes may feel a bit scratchy, and irritated. If you are experiencing discomfort, take a mild pain reliever like aspirin or acetaminophen. Also, be sure to use a lot of the lubricant eye drops. Your eyes may tear up or be sensitive to light. These problems typically disappear shortly after the surgery. If you experience pain or worsened vision, call the office immediately!

You will be asked to return to the office the next day to make sure everything is healing properly. Drops, to use at home to help prevent infection and calm inflammation, will be given to you to use along with the artificial tears to lubricate the eye.

You should wait one to three days after LASIK surgery before resuming non-contact sports. You are also asked to wait up to two weeks to resume using creams, lotions, makeup, and perfumes around or on your eyes. Don't go swimming or use a hot tub for two weeks, and make sure to protect your eyes from getting hit or bumped.

Vision might fluctuate for the first few weeks after surgery. In fact, it may take anywhere from three to six months for your vision to stabilize. You might notice some glare or difficulty with night vision during this time. Contact the office immediately if you notice any new, unusual, or worsening symptoms after LASIK surgery. If you follow all the recommendations, I am confident that you will recover well and enjoy freedom from contacts and glasses.

LASIK surgery takes about 5 to 10 minutes per eye. Expect to be in the laser suite for approximately 20 minutes (set up time, positioning, laser calibration, etc.) After the area around the eye has been cleaned, numbing eyedrops are placed on the eye, and a speculum is placed in the eye to hold the eyelids open. People are always concerned about the speculum. However, the eyes are kept open only about as wide as when you voluntarily open your eyes as wide as you can. If you simply voluntarily keep your eyes open during the process, you hardly notice the lid speculum. Then, a ring is placed on the eye and kept in place with suction. Vision will dim and you may feel the pressure of the suction. The Intralase is then engaged to create the flap. The suction will release when the Intralase flap has been made, and the lights will reappear. Special sterile drapes are then placed on your cheek and brow area, in order to keep the area clean. Things become blurrier as the flap is gently and painlessly lifted. Next, the laser is used to reshape the cornea. This only takes a minute or less. When the flap is then repositioned, you’ll notice the vision getting somewhat clearer. The drapes are removed, and you’ll then be able to sit up and see. The vision remains a bit blurry for the first several hours after the procedure, but improved vision is usually apparent immediately.

After the procedure, you will be given special eye drops and an eye shield to be worn at bedtime for the first week after LASIK surgery. The best medicine immediately following the procedure is rest. Go home, and close your eyes for two to four hours.

The 33rd annual meeting of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) was held at the Westin Hotel in Seattle, Washington, in April 2007. Amblyopia, or lazy eye, was one of the most important topics discussed. Children tend to develop an amblyopic eye if they are not using that eye. If the eyes are crossed or if there is a large prescription difference between the two eyes, the child can subconsciously develop a preference for one eye. The brain essentially begins to ignore the image coming from the other eye, and it can become "lazy". As the visual system develops over the first seven or eight years of life, there is a risk of developing amblyopia. One study at the meeting by Dr. Alejandro Leon, found that the risk of significant amblyopia can be over 50% in children with a high glasses prescription difference between their eyes.

The schools and pediatricians tend to do a very good job at screening children for diminished visual acuity. However, to go one step further, I usually recommend that parents have their child's eyes examined by an ophthalmologist prior to beginning school, sooner, clearly, if a problem is identified.

In another study, Dr. Yoon-Huang presented promising results in a prospective case series on the use of implantable contact lenses (ie: ICL) for the correction of high refractive error beyond the usual limits in children with neurobehavioral disorders. Several years ago, I published guidelines for vision correction surgery in children. While LASIK and other refractive surgical procedures may be considered in select groups of patients under the age of 18, it is important that the conventional modalities (ie: glasses and contact lenses) have been given serious attempts first.

The day before LASIK (Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis) surgery, our patients are told to stop using any creams, lotions, makeup, and perfumes because these might leave tiny fragments on their eyelashes which might get into the eyes and cause irritation. We also ask our patients to scrub their eyelashes thoroughly (but gently) prior to surgery in order to minimize the chance of an infection. If you have a difficult time cleaning your eyelids, don’t worry -- every patient gets in a sterile fashion in our office.

On the day of surgery, you will have to get someone to drive you home. You are going to receive medicine to help you relax for the procedure, and you won’t be able to drive after taking the medicine. Not to mention, you vision will be blurry for the first several hours after LASIK surgery.

A higher dietary intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids may decrease the 5-year risk of nuclear cataract, a population-based study suggests. In addition, higher dietary intake of protein may decrease risk for posterior subcapsular cataract.

These are among the findings in the most recent publication by the Blue Mountains Eye Study group, led by Paul Mitchell at the University of Sydney, Australia. The Blue Mountains Eye Study included 3,654 mostly white, older patients in a community near Sydney, with follow-up examinations performed 5 years later in 2,335 survivors.

The latest publication, by Bradley S. Townend, M.D., and colleagues in the June issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, examined the relationship of dietary nutrient intake and incident cataract. A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess nutrient intake, and lens photography was used to assess the presence of three types of cataract: cortical, nuclear and posterior subcapsular.

Davidorf Eye Group offers cataract patient a wide variety of options, including small incision cataract surgery and a variety of implantable prebyopic lenses. Please schedule a consultation or call the office at 818-883-0112.

It is important for people to realize that the U.S. armed forces are now allowing active duty personnel to undergo LASIK. Because of the positive experience, the Navy is now beginning to utilize LASIK with IntraLase for people who would have formerly been disqualified from flying: namely, people who wear glasses or contact lenses. This is a big milestone for the military, for the LASIK procedure, and for nearsighted people who have dreamed of being a Navy or Air Force pilot but thought their vision would disqualify them as a candidate.

Davidorf Eye Group offers the latest in LASIK with IntraLase. Request an appointment or call the office at (818) 883-0112.

After patients have their initial evaluation with me, in which I'll ask about their eye history and what medications they're taking, we'll discussed the LASIK (Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis) procedure and go over all the risks and benefits and any other questions they might have. I like to make sure I answer any and all questions about the procedure and made sure my patients aren't feeling pressured. You'll have plenty of time to carefully consider the pros and cons before signing the informed consent form.

Prior to your LASIK surgery, you'll be asked to stop wearing contact lenses. Usually 1 week without contacts is suitable for soft contact lens wearers, but rigid gas permeable contacts usually need to be removed for at least 3 weeks. The reason is that we need to accurately measure the curvature and overall health of the cornea prior to LASIK surgery, and the contacts might affect these measurements. By removing the contact lenses, the corneas will return to their natural shape by the time we take the final measurements. It is okay to come in for an initial evaluation wearing contact lenses. We can usually get a good idea if someone is a good candidate for LASIK or another procedure. Some patients like this option, because they find it so inconvenient to go without their contact lenses. Ultimately, however, final measurements will need to be taken following appropriate conatact lens cessation.

For more information on LASIK, please call my office at (818) 883-0112 or Request an Appointment.