What Can LASIK Correct?
LASIK solves poor vision at the source, correcting these common vision problems:
Myopia (Nearsightedness)
Nearsighted individuals have problems seeing well at a distance and are forced to wear glasses or contact lenses. The nearsighted eye is usually longer than a normal eye, and its cornea steeper, so when light passes through the cornea it is focused in front of the retina, not on the retina. This makes distant images appear blurred.
LASIK solves myopia by correcting the corneal irregularities that cause it.
View Video: MyopiaHyperopia (Farsightedness)
Farsighted individuals have trouble reading up close or seeing objects near at hand. The farsighted eye is slightly shorter than a normal eye and has a flatter cornea, so distant objects focus behind the retina.
LASIK, eliminates the causes of farsightedness.
Astigmatism
Uneven steepening of the cornea causes images to be focused irregularly on the retina, causing blurred vision. Astigmatism is very common and can accompany any other form of refractive error, such as myopia or hyperopia.
LASIK effectively solves Astigmatism.
Presbyopia
Presbyopia is a condition that becomes noticeable for most people after the age of 45. In children and young adults, the lens inside the eye can easily focus on distant and near objects. With age, the lens stiffens and loses its ability to focus properly, especially up close, occasioning the need for reading glasses and bifocals.
A LASIK technique called LASIK Monovision can resolve presbyopia by correcting one eye for near vision and the other eye for far vision. Remarkably, the brain can usually adapt. Monovision is tested first using contacts. Your doctor will explain LASIK Monovision more fully at your Free Consultation.
Understanding Your Prescription
The four main vision focusing disorders of the eye are:
- myopia (nearsightedness)
- astigmatism (ovalness of the eye)
- hyperopia (farsightedness) and
- presbyopia (inability to change the focus from far to near)
The units used to represent the amount of correction needed in order to normalize vision for distance are called ‘diopters’. The more nearsighted or farsighted you are, the higher your prescription is in diopters.
Your prescription is usually written in three numbers:
For example:
OD -4.25 -1.75 X 180 OS -5.50 -1.25 X 175 +2.25 Add OU
represents a typical prescription.
Here is the way to decipher your prescription:
- OD stands for right eye, and is the abbreviation for the Latin Ocular Dexter. OS is for the left eye. It is derived from the Latin Ocular Sinister. The 1st number (-4.25 and -5.50 in this example) is the degree of spherical nearsightedness or farsightedness. The sign identifies whether you are nearsighted (- sign) or farsighted (+ sign).
- The second number (-1.75 and -1.25) is the degree of astigmatism. The number can be written either with a + sign or a – sign.
- The last and 3rd number (180 and 175) is the axis, or the direction of your astigmatism. An axis of 180 degrees, for example, means the astigmatism is horizontal.
- Therefore, this prescription means that the patient is moderately nearsighted, with a moderate degree of astigmatism in a horizontal direction.
- The “add” at the bottom of the prescription is for the reading part of a bifocal glass. It might be unusual for anyone under the age of 40 to need this.
Some people only have one number written for each eye. This is when there is no astigmatism.
