Archive for July, 2010

You Can Get a Cheaper LASIK, but You Can’t Get a Better LASIK than iLASIK

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Over the years, the LASIK procedure has evolved to become better and safer.  The LASIK procedure still consists of two main steps: 1. creating a flap and 2. reshaping the cornea under the flap.  The ultimate in safety and results in LASIK is iLASIK which is the culmination of improvements in both steps.

In the first step, flap creation, a metal blade is replaced with a laser.  In the second step, a technology termed “wavefront-guided” treatment is used to insure the final shape is free of aberrations in order to achieve the best quality of vision.  The resulting advance in LASIK technology is termed “iLASIK”.  Because new instruments and user fees set by the laser manufacturers are added to this premium LASIK procedure, patients can expect to pay more for iLASIK than conventional LASIK.

Recently other technology has been developed to reduce the cost and still achieve some of the advantages of iLASIK.  Z-LASIK offers the advantage of a more precise flap thickness over the bladed microkeratome but it does not match the safety or visual results of iLASIK.

Patients may want to believe that the newer, cheaper Z-LASIK technology is just as good as iLASIK, but just as with many other things in life, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t”.  The iLASIK procedure has proven itself to be the best technology available for LASIK vision correction.  After extensive investigation, the U.S. military has chosen iLASIK exclusively for performing vision correction on our troops because of it’s stellar history.

Medical Director, Dean Dornic, MD is the first Raleigh ophthalmologist to perform iLASIK and has extensive experience in all-laser LASIK procedures.  If you believe, as we do, that the few extra dollars to receive a better LASIK procedure is worth it, why not come in for an evaluation?

So to book you free LASIK Raleigh consultation call today at (919) 467-9955, spots are filling up quickly..

IntraLase Gives You a “Do-Over”

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Wouldn’t it be great if everytime things didn’t go exactly right you got a “do-over”. How much higher would your grade point average be if you had an opportunity to take that test over that you didn’t study properly for? How much better would your golf score be if you got to take over that shanked drive or missed putt? Well IntraLase is like that because your surgeon gets a chance for a “do-over”.
With Z-LASIK once the flap is cut, well, it’s cut. So if the equipment malfunctions while the flap is being created then you could be left with half a flap or an irregular flap. The procedure may have to be abandoned. Intralase is different. IntraLase works by creating a bubble layer under the surface of the cornea. This works like creating perforations in a strip of stamps. The flap is not complete until the surgeon peforms the “sidecut” and lifts the flap. So in the case of IntraLase, if a malfunction occurs while the flap is being created, the procedure can be halted, the bubbles can be allowed to dissipate and the procedure resumed; the do-over.
Dr. Dornic has performed both IntraLase and Z-LASIK and his findings confirm the published data on all-laser LASIK. IntraLase is safer. No wonder the US military and most major university eye centers choose IntraLase over Z-LASIK. Intralase is the safest method to perform LASIK. If you are in the Raleigh – Durham area and are thinking about LASIK, you owe it to yourself to investigate all the advantages that the IntraLase method offers. Why not come in for a free consultation with Dr. Dornic and find out for yourself?

Less Risk of Flap Displacement with IntraLase

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

One potential risk of the LASIK procedure is a flap complication. You know that the IntraLase procedure is the safest way to create the flap but did you know that the safety benefits extend even after the LASIK procedure has been completed?
Here’s why. One potential complication is displacement or “slippage” of the flap, especially early on before the flap has healed. When a flap is created with a microkeratome (blade) or Ziemer laser (Z-LASIK), the flap cut is a single plane. The IntraLase flap, however, is meniscus shaped so it fits snuggly like a manhole. The IntraLase flap is better, therefore, at being able to tolerate trauma. This is one reason why the military performs all their LASIK using the IntraLase method.
The IntraLase method of LASIK has a lowest complication rate at the time of the procedure. It also has the lowest complication rate after the procedure has been completed.