Eye Care and Eye Surgery Blog
Laser Vision Correction, LASIK, Opthalmology, Cataracts, Glaucoma
Archive for February, 2012
Am I Too Old for LASIK Eye Surgery?
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
Although people over the age of 40 are more prone to developing eye disorders and diseases, your age alone does not necessarily disqualify you from LASIK eye surgery. Your ophthalmologist will evaluate several different factors about your medical history and the overall health of your eyes in order to determine whether or not you are a good LASIK candidate. Some older patients who aren’t good candidates for LASIK may be excellent candidates for other types of Laser Vision Correction.
If you are an older patient who is considering Laser Vision Correction, it is important to understand that full correction may not be possible. Eventually, most people over 40 years old will run into presbyopia – a problem where the lenses of the eyes harden and cannot focus on near objects anymore. This makes it necessary for you to use of bifocals, trifocals, or reading glasses. Since presbyopia is not a corneal condition, LASIK cannot correct it.
Because of this, older patients usually have two options with LASIK eye surgery:
- Correcting one eye for distance, and one eye for near vision (monovision)
- Correcting both eyes for distance (patient will still need reading glasses for near vision)
If you have further questions about LASIK eye surgery for older patients, contact an experienced ophthalmologist in your area today.
Posted in Diseases and Conditions, Eye Surgery, Laser Vision Correction, LASIK | Comments Off
Crystalens Accommodating IOL Performs Best at Far, Intermediate Distances
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
It appears that the Crystalens® accommodating IOL is effective at providing good vision at far and intermediate distances, and is somewhat less effective for close-up vision.
The conclusion comes from a recent analysis that examined the results of 4,000 Crystalens® cases submitted to a database by 130 eye surgeons, according to Ocular Surgery News.
The Crystalens® is the only FDA-approved intraocular lens that moves backward and forward as your ciliary muscle responds to seeing at different distances. The ciliary muscle around your eye lens accommodates vision at various distances, allowing you to see both close-up and far away. Crystalens® IOLs are supposed to address the shortcomings of monofocal IOLs, namely that these lenses provided sharp vision only at far distances, hence patients still required glasses for reading and other close-up vision needs. Multifocal lenses are designed to let you see at various distances, but do not attempt to retain the natural function of the eye like an accommodating IOL.
Even though near vision is not perfect with Crystalens®, the accommodating IOL still provides excellent vision results for patients following cataract surgery. Out of the 4,000 cases, 87 percent of patients did not need to use eyeglasses for distance vision, while 31 percent of patients did not need glasses for reading.
To learn more about whether an accommodating IOL is right for you, please find an eye doctor in your area.
Posted in Intraocular lenses (IOLs) | Comments Off
