Lasik surgery has hugely improved the vision of millions of individuals worldwide. It has turned the visually impaired into sighted individuals who are capable of seeing their children again and contributing to the family’s income by working. Two items that millions considered they would never be able to do again.

However, Lasik eye surgery has not been sitting on its laurels. Far from it, Lasik surgery techniques are being enhanced all the time. One such enhancement is Wavefront Technology. Wavefront Technology with relation to Lasik eye surgery is used to more precisely map the patient’s eyeball, which makes more exact surgery feasible.

This is of immense importance because eyeballs are not all the same shape. They are like hands, superficially they all look the same, but once you get down to particulars, they are not. There are all shapes sizes and proportions. The same is true for eyes.

The better the map of the eye, the more opportunity that the surgeon has of giving you the best eyesight they can, in relation to the specific imperfections that you have in your particular case. Wavefront Technology helps the surgeon achieve this.

Wavefront Technology is actually a technology that has been adapted from astronomy. in astronomical telescopes it is crucial that the lenses are as perfect as they can be, because at high magnification, even the very slightest impairment would lead to huge distortions, which in turn would make the telescope just about useless.

Astronomers were using this technology in the 1970’s, so it was already quite advanced when some bright spark saw that it could be adapted for use in eye surgery too. Wavefront Technology was born and taken on board by Lasik and other eye surgeons with great expectations.

In fact, the bright spark who recognized the potential value of this piece of astronomical technology was a German physician named Josef Bille who began using it in his practice.

He gradually enhanced and adapted the sensors and announced it to the Lasik manufacturers in 1997. This in turn allowed the manufacturers of Lasik equipment to adapt Wavefront Technology to their own apparatus.

Wavefront Technology is extremely complicated in design and technology but also highly simple to understand. The Wavefront machine sends a flat sheet of light (called a wavefront) through the eye to the retina, which reflects it back to the Wavefront machine.

The Wavefront machine compares the two, measures the imperfections, chooses what has to be done to correct them and guides the laser to the right spot in order to achieve the corrections. As easy as that!

However, the geniuses who created and modified Wavefront Technology did not give up there. They have their machine send in several wavefronts from multiple angles so that the computer can construct up a three dimensional picture for even more precision.

There are now well over 60 patterns that can be automatically corrected by a Lasik laser guided by Wavefront Technology. So, if you have any concerns with long or short sightedness, make an appointment to see your Lasik surgeon as soon as they can.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with macular degeneration glasses. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Macular Degenerative Disease

We are under immense pressure not to look old, not to look our age. One of the best compliments people of more than 21 years think that they can receive is: ‘Really? You do not look it!’ To some extent this obsession with a youthful look has always been with us, but the pressure has ratcheted up due to films and television.

Film stars and pharmaceutical firms ruthlessly team up to persuade us that we need this surgery as well in order to be well-liked. What they do not tell you is that the pharmaceutical firms have paid the film stars to have free treatment and then paid (or sponsored) the chat shows that so blatantly promote them.

And ageism is rife too, both among the young, whose worst insults normally have the word ‘old’ included and among employers who can not wait to be rid of employees at 65 after a lifetime of service. Governments or at least some governments are just as bad, penalizing pensioners with a meager salary after fifty years of paying taxes.

People used to grow old gracefully, now it is a sin. There is a long list of ‘improvements’ that you can plough your way through: face lift, liposuction, hair transplants, dentures and a number of others, but the one that actually makes sense to me is eyesight improvement by whatever technique works.

We live in a picturesque world and it is a pity that when we are at the correct stage in our life to enjoy it - that is whilst we have more time, more money and have become more reflective, we begin to go blind. Just as your grandchildren begin arriving, your eyesight starts going.

There are numerous factors why you could begin losing your eyesight besides just old age, but old age does play a part in some of them as well.

Macular degeneration is usually known as age-related macular degeneration, but there is a rare kind that affects the young. There are two types wet and dry. The dry form is less severe, but the wet kind is more easily treated.

Cataracts are thought to be age-related too, but I had premature senile cataracts 20 years early. Fortunately these are easily treated too with only a couple of minutes of surgery. Glaucoma is a vicious one, which can leave you totally blind, if you do not catch it soon enough and have it treated.

The key to success with all of these eyesight impairments is tackling them early. If you suspect that anything is not right with your eyes, go to a GP or optician immediately. Do not get fooled by quack cures that you may see advertised on late night TV or in the small ads. They should be banned.

Eye exercises and eye drops are all right for healthy eyes, but they will not help you if you have a difficulty, only a fully qualified expert can do that. These advertisers prey on individuals who either do not have the money for surgery or who are scared of it and there are many of them about too.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with macular degeneration glasses. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Macular Degenerative Disease

The patient of Lasik surgery has two foremost responsibilities regarding his or her eyes: firstly to pick a responsible, skilled surgeon, which should not be very difficult and secondly, to take care of his eyes after the operation by following the guidance of the surgeon on post-operative care. This second part is very important and should not be taken lightly.

The post-operative care procedure is not difficult, but if you are worried about it, you should ask your surgeon what it will entail before the procedure. The GP or a nurse will be able to explain the procedure of supervision to you in detail or they will give you a pamphlet.

There might be some weird sight aberrations for a few days after the operation, some of which are quite normal. One of the most common aberrations that are standard for a few days are halos around lights.

However, you ought to be certain that you understand the difference between what is standard and so no grounds for concern and what ought to be reported instantly

There are various Lasik procedures and the procedures are advancing all the time so it is not possible to give precise details in this article. Moreover, the shape of the eyes and the causes for deteriorating eyesight are individual to every patient.

Some of the advice that your Lasik surgeon might give for your post-operative eye care may include the following, although different doctors may have their own recommendations.

The first thing is to bear in mind that you have just had an operation including anaesthetic. There might not have been any blood but it was surgery all the same.

All patients are required to take it easy after an operation and you will be no exception. If you had had an operation on your knee, you would use it as little as possible for a time and the same is helpful advice for your eye.

Try to sleep for a couple of hours after the surgery or at least close your eyes and take it easy. Infection is the main anxiety, so do not poke or rub your eye and do not strain it by trying out your newly improved eyesight by reading or watching TV.

If you have to entertain yourself in this fashion wear an eye patch. Your surgeon will almost certainly have given you a stiff plastic eye guard, which you ought to wear at all times.

Some surgeons will warn against allowing water into your eye for a couple of days, which means washing just from the neck down, no showering, no going out in the rain and categorically no swimming.

Be wary of bright light, it cannot damage your eye but it does hurt. Your world will get much brighter after the surgery and looking at a light bulb can become painful. Be cautious of watching moving traffic when the sun is shining, a car window can catch the sun and reflect it back into your eye unexpectedly.

You will be given eye drops so do not forget to use them. Lasik surgery can dry your eyes out, if this happens they may be able to give you alternative or extra drops.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with wet macular degeneration treatment. If you want to know more, please visit our site at Macular Degenerative Disease

Losing one’s sight can get upsetting. In the beginning, if as standard, you start to lose your eyesight at around 40 years of age, it is the first sign of approaching old age, but later as it deteriorates further, people start to worry whether they will go blind.

Well, if you need spectacles at 40 then yes, it is the first sign of approaching old age, but there are not so many individuals who go totally blind now due to advancements in information about the eyes and how to treat impairments.

There is nothing you can do about the former problem, but at least two routes you can take to resolving the latter.

Most people ‘blindly’ follow their opticians advice and purchase spectacles or contact lenses. This is the best option for the optician and the cheapest option for the client in the short term. It is good for the optician because you will almost certainly require new spectacles every two years and contact wearers have to keep buying contact lenses as well.

It is handy for the customer because the outlay is small if you do not go for designer frames like Gucci or Levi. In the long term, though the client pays out many, many times more than if a different procedure had been chosen.

One of these other courses of action is Lasik surgery. This is expensive up front, but can last for 20 years although you may still require specs for either long or short distances. Most individuals have their long distance sight corrected and never ever have a problem with it again, although they do still need reading glasses.

A third option, which you may like to try instead of or in conjunction with any of the above is called Natural Vision Improvement. It has to be said that the technique of Natural Vision Improvement has more detractors than supporters, but some people regard it as a form of yoga for the eyes which cannot do any harm.

The purpose here though is that if you want to attempt Natural Vision Improvement, you should still go to an optician regularly so that they can check for eye diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration, which Natural Vision Improvement cannot hope to, nor does it claim to, cure.

Proponents of Natural Vision Improvement say that contemporary apparatus like TV screens and monitors and even living in a city where long distance eyesight is almost unnecessary because it is blocked by buildings a few yards away, have trained us to ’see badly’.

They say that we need to relearn how to see in the correct manner. They even go as far as to say that spectacles and contact lenses may be part of the problem.

Here they mean that as your eyes become used to corrective lenses, they come to rely on them and so become weaker. Therefore, the next time your eyesight is measured, you will need more powerful glasses.

The Natural Vision Improvement philosophy says to use the weakest lenses that you can and make your eyes work harder. In this manner, they insist, the next time you go for a check up, you can get weaker lenses not more powerful ones until eventually you do not need glasses at all.

Some opticians and optometrists will work with you if you want to attempt this path, but you may have to look about for one. One vital point around the Natural Vision Improvement procedure is that if your impaired vision could create a danger to yourself and others, you should wear regular, full-strength glasses whilst carrying out those activities (like driving).

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with macular degeneration test. If you would like to know more, please go to our site at Macular Degenerative Disease

I have never had Lasik eye surgery, although I have had both of my human lenses replaced with plastic ones. However, I wanted to help a friend recount his story of Lasik eye surgery, because I know from my own experience that there is a lot of rubbish talked about having eye surgery of any form.

I robustly urge anyone who is thinking about having cataracts removed, Lasik eye surgery or absolute lens replacement to go ahead and have it done as soon as they can. There will be no looking back, I promise you and you will live in a brighter world again that you had not noticed had been getting slowly but surely ever dimmer.

I shall name my friend Fred to make it easier for me to tell his story and that of numerous others who have been in a comparable situation to him. Fred wore specs all his life or from the time that he was in the Navy doing his national conscription service anyway.

He got used to this predicament, but was growing alarmed at the rate that his specs were increasing in power year on year and the growing dependency he had on them.

After months of worry and chatting to ‘friends’ in bars, he decided to go talk to the only other person whose opinion actually mattered - the Lasik surgeon. He was quite nervous that they would say that his eyesight was too far impaired, but he was also worried that they would say he could undergo the operation because he had a dread of anyone doing anything to his eyes which could rob him of the little bit of vision that he still had.

The surgeon stated that both of his eyes could benefit from surgery, one maybe more than the other, but that he would definitely still require spectacles for the rest of his life, albeit weaker ones than he was using now. In effect, the surgeon was saying that he could restore most of Fred’s long-distance sight but that at his age, 63, he would still need reading spectacles.

Fred turned up on the morning of the first operation having not been to the pub and having had an early night. In his case they operated on one eye at a time with a week in between the operations. They began both session by putting drops in his eye. These drops dilate and numb the eye although the eyeball does not actually feel any pain.

The operations lasted around three minutes each, but Fred is not sure how much of that was ‘laser time’. He said there was a feeling of intense white light, but no pain whatsoever. He was required to rest in the waiting room for thirty minutes afterwards and then he went home.

On his GP’s advice he had taken a friend with him, because your old spectacles will not fit over the protective shield on your treated eye. This shield had to be worn for 24 hours to prevent Fred from poking or rubbing his eye involuntarily.

Fred had taken the next day off work, but he says there was no need and he did not bother the next time. Fred’s eyes have improved hundreds of percent and sometimes he can even read without specs as well.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with macular degeneration glasses. If you would like to know more, please visit our site at Macular Degenerative Disease