New advances in LASIK eye surgery are a common question among patients seeking LASIK eye surgery. Many patients want to know if newer advances will increase the safety and effectiveness of LASIK and how soon this new LASIK technology will be available. Is LASIK safe now or will there be better choices for LASIK in the future?
LASIK technology is constantly improving. There will never be a time when LASIK technology is no longer making changes. All medical technology improves with time. Does this mean that you should wait since the technology is guaranteed to improve the longer you wait? Millions of people have LASIK each year. More than 20 million have had laser surgery since its introduction. While LASIK technology will improve, at this point it is considered to be highly accurate and very safe.
What new advances in LASIK can be expected? Currently the majority of LASIK surgeons still use a microkeratome (a specialized surgical blade) to create the flap before performing the laser treatment. With FDA approval for intralase, many surgeons have started using a laser to create the LASIK flap. We can expect this trend to continue as the intralase laser becomes more and more effective. Currently, many surgeons do not believe the intralase is as effective as using a microkeratome in the hands of an experienced surgeon. Dr. Stephen Turner uses both the microkeratome and the intralase laser and find them both to be effective. He still performs the majority of his cases using the microkeratome but there are certainly situations where he prefers to use the intralase all-laser LASIK.
We can also expect to see changes in the patterns used for wavefront LASIK surgery and even multifocal patterns to improve near vision following LASIK surgery. Because of the number of LASIK patients desiring to improve their near vision, Near Vision LASIK is likely to be one of the most discussed issues in LASIK surgery in the coming years.
Turner Eye Institute is committed to offering the newest LASIK technology to all of our patients. We offer iris registration, wavefront, intralase, as well as Dr. Stephen Turner’s own patented Thin Flap LASIK. Turner Eye Institute can offer both the VISX and Alcon excimer laser platforms. If you have any questions regarding laser refractive surgery please contact one of our refractive surgery counselors and they will be happy to speak with you.
We are located in California throughout the San Francisco Bay Area with clinics in San Jose, San Francisco, San Leandro, and Concord. We serve the Alameda, Contra Costa County, San Jose, San Francisco, and East Bay Areas as well as cities within these areas.