Preparing for LASIK I’m so excited for you and glad to help you in your LASIK journey. There are many things to consider when preparing for LASIK eye surgery. Almost everyone has some anxiety and nervousness about the preparation for LASIK, the laser vision correction surgery itself, and the immediate and longer-term post-operative period. In…
What is Vuity? How can it Help me not Need Reading Glasses? In October of 2021 there was an FDA approval of an eyedrop that can potentially help people who need reading glasses to see near objects such as their phone, food and watch. I’m sure many of you are looking for information on Vuity…
Sunglasses After LASIK Sunglasses after LASIK, or sunglasses after cataract surgery, or sunglasses after eye surgery are generally used to minimize the light sensitivity that often happens after any eye procedure. Post LASIK goggles or post LASIK sunglasses are not absolutely required, but may make you more comfortable. Most people will experience some light sensitivity,…
LASIK vs Contacts vs Glasses Boy, this is an easy one! If you want the short version: I would choose LASIK every time given an option of contacts vs. glasses vs. LASIK. In fact, I did choose LASIK in 1998, and I’ve enjoyed clear uncorrected vision ever since. I had very thick (-8.00) glasses and…
What is Bladeless LASIK? The term “bladeless LASIK” is a bit of a blast from the past. As a high-volume LASIK surgeon over the past 24 years, I performed probably over 30,000 procedures using a microkeratome from 1998 to about 2006 or 2007. Since about 2006 or 2007, I completely stopped using the microkeratome because…
LASIK Success Rate People often will ask about the LASIK astigmatism “success rate.” The LASIK success rate is difficult to put into a single number because different people have different ideas about what LASIK statistics they are talking about. The success rate of LASIK is very high, and the LASIK complication rate is very low….
Best Colored Contact Lenses Contact lenses have been in use for over 100 years. The materials, colors, sizes and fitting has improved dramatically. Contacts have become very thin, oxygen permeable, comfortable, and can correct a wide variety of prescriptions from nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Sometimes they are used therapeutically to help someone who has an…
Are Sunglasses Bad for You? There’s one reason, and you’ll be shocked what it is. For several generations, we have known of the potentially harmful rays of the sun that can cause skin cancers, including melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and others. These skin cancers can be fatal (in the case of melanoma),…
What is Legally Blind? This is an important question that has consequences affecting how we as a society and the government help people who have difficulties due to visual impairment from myriad causes. Many times I’ve heard patients say that they or someone they know was “legally blind“ without their glasses. This is not the…
Swimmer’s Eye: What It Is, How to Prevent It and Treatment Methods Swimming is one of the best ways to stay fit and healthy. What’s more, swimming is an excellent way to spend a summer’s day. Unfortunately, irritation and redness in and around the eyes during and after swimming can ruin any day out. Known…
Optometrist vs. Ophthalmologist I’m so glad you asked this question! I would say that very few people outside of our profession know the difference between an optometrist and ophthalmologist. I have been asked “is an optometrist a doctor?“ and “What is the difference between an optometrist and an ophthalmologist?“ So I’d like to explain ophthalmology…
Types of Eye Surgery In this blog post, I will try to cover the wide variety of eye surgeries. Eye surgery types are also called ocular surgeries, referring to the eye and surrounding tissues. There are laser eye surgery types, as lasers are extremely precise and have many applications in eye surgery What Are Different…
Can I play video games after LASIK? I don’t know…can you? Should you? Don’t worry, you can enjoy playing video games after LASIK, watching TV after LASIK, and resuming computer use after LASIK! There’s no evidence that using your computer after LASIK causes any harm to your eyes. You may blink less frequently, which has…
Can lack of sleep cause blurry vision? Of course it can! What else causes lack of sleep? Drinking too much, which can cause dehydration, which causes a “lack of sleep dry eyes” also called “lack of sleep blurry vision” but we know what the real cause is now, don’t we? (Alcohol dry eyes!) Just about…
What is Custom LASIK? What’s the Difference? What’s the Best? LASIK procedures underwent a bit of a branding crisis a few years ago, where different companies adopted different names that sound almost the same: Wavefront guided LASIK, wavefront optimized LASIK, and topography guided, custom wavefront LASIK. To make it worse, Visx laser trademarked the name…
Are there any simple, natural dry eye remedies? Dryness of our eyes is an extremely common problem for millions of people of all ages. It affects women much more frequently than men, and affects us more as we age, especially around the time of menopause for women. If you’ve ever watched the national news media,…
LASIK in the military LASIK and the military have been intertwined for the past 25 years. The benefits are obvious: when a soldier is in the field, glasses and contacts are a liability. If the soldier loses contact lenses or breaks glasses, it could be dangerous or lethal to the soldier and to their unit….
Does laser eye surgery hurt? Does LASIK hurt? This is a perfectly valid question, but the answer is a simple: “NO!” Many people ask me, “Is LASIK painful” or “Is laser eye surgery painful?” Once the procedure is performed, our patients are astonished that the answer to the question, “Is LASIK surgery painful?“ is a…
LASIK for reading We often have patients that come to SharpeVision MODERN LASIK to see whether we can help with their near vision. The condition, called presbyopia, affects everyone typically around the age of 45 and older. This occurs because the natural lens of our eyes becomes less and less flexible as we age. One…
LASIK vs PRK: Which is Better? This is a fascinating topic to me, and I have thought about it at length. When considering having laser vision correction, you may come across things online discussing LASIK vs PRK asking, “Which is better: PRK or LASIK?” Or asking, “Is PRK safer than LASIK?” These two questions are…
This is an enormous topic, but many people are searching online for the cause of their bad vision. The easiest answer is to go to an eye care professional, get a comprehensive eye exam, and discuss the causes and treatment for your particular problem. I will try in this blog post to give a broad…
What Does 20/25 Vision Mean? If you have 20/25 vision, it means you’re just a tiny bit blurry compared to most other people. It could be that you have a slight glasses prescription, it could be that you have dry eyes, or it could be many other things. For your reference, here are some different…
Why is my eyesight getting worse? Hundreds of thousands of people over many centuries have dedicated their lives to answering this question. There are specialists and sub-specialists in ophthalmology, neuroscience, chemistry, physics, and many other fields that dedicate their lives to developing medications, products, devices, and techniques to improve vision. If your vision is getting…
Can you get LASIK while pregnant? This is an excellent question and one that frequently comes up with my female patients of childbearing age. Questions that you may have as you plan your LASIK and as you plan your family are: LASIK before pregnancy? LASIK during pregnancy? Pregnancy after LASIK? LASIK while Pregnant LASIK eye…
Eye Drops after LASIK Surgery Eye drops after LASIK surgery are an important part of your postoperative and sometimes preoperative regime. Different surgeons recommend different variations of the LASIK eye drop, but most post LASIK eye drops include the same basic elements: an antibiotic and a steroid post LASIK eye drops. Most LASIK surgeons recommend…
I would say that the most common questions asked after cataract surgery are: What causes blurred vision after cataract surgery? What can I expect after cataract surgery? How long does it take for vision to clear after cataract surgery? In this blog post, I’ll try to answer these and other related questions as best I…
Better than 20/20 vision? Is it true? Is it possible? Absolutely! In fact, most healthy people are capable of better than 20/20 vision . If you are capable of seeing 20/15 with glasses, then there is a 98% chance we can get you seeing that without glasses at SharpeVision through laser vision correction. Of the…
Can you get LASIK twice? Can you get LASIK twice? The short answer? Yes. When my patients ask me: “Can you get LASIK more than once?” or “How many times can you get LASIK?” My reply is, “Yes, but you won’t likely need to have LASIK a second time.” When I worked at a large…
Nearsighted vs farsighted: What’s the difference between farsighted and nearsighted? This is another area where many people are confused. When I was a child, all I learned was that farsightedness meant that you could see far and nearsightedness meant that you could see near. That is about as far as most people go with their…
How can I prevent or slow my child’s nearsightedness? A World Health Organization (WHO) report from 2015 https://www.who.int/blindness/causes/MyopiaReportforWeb.pdf#12 describes an alarming increase in the percentage of people who are nearsighted, and the increasing degree of nearsightedness (myopia) throughout the world. This has many parents asking: “How can I prevent or slow my child’s nearsightedness?” Recently,…
How bad is my eye prescription? Many of my patients ask me, “How bad is my eye prescription?” or “What eye prescription is considered bad?” Sometimes they’ll ask “What eye prescription is legally blind?” or “What is a legally blind prescription?” These are great questions. Most everyone who wears glasses or contacts thinks their eyes…
Alternatives to LASIK : options for laser eye surgery When people come to me and say they want LASIK, I think what they are saying is that they want to live their lives free of the burden of contact lenses and glasses. There are many alternatives to LASIK eye surgery, and while LASIK is still…
How old do you have to be to get laser eye surgery? I’m glad you’re asking! It’s so exciting to think of living your life seeing your surroundings clearly without needing any glasses or contact lenses. It’s a burden to constantly have to worry about. Do you have enough contacts, enough solution, your glasses, your…
How does LASIK work? This is a fair question, but no, LASIK is not a miracle, it just often seems that way. It’s science. I love explaining to my patients in terms they can understand when they ask, “How does LASIK surgery work?” or “What does laser eye surgery do?” So if you don’t understand,…
Am I a candidate for LASIK? I’ve answered this question over 100,000 times. Conversely, people will tell me they were deemed a non-candidate by their eye doctor because their eyes weren’t stable. This is generally false for adults. Although your prescription may read slightly higher or lower on any given day, this does not constitute…
My pupils are dilated! What now? Many people have questions about their pupils before, during and after an eye exam, especially after they have been dilated. In this blog post, I will talk about the truly amazing function of your pupils – the little black holes that let light in your eye. We will discuss:…
What does 20/20 vision mean? What is 20/20 vision? This is one of the most common questions eye doctors get. There are several different ways of answering this, but the easiest is to imagine yourself 20 feet away from a street sign. If you can just barely see the letters, and you have good vision, you…
Well, is LASIK Permanent? I don’t think I’ve been asked the question “is lasik surgery permanent” as much in recent years. I think the reason why, may be due to more people knowing someone who had LASIK many years ago, and the person is still doing well and is happy they had lasik. I know that’s true…
I Want to Get LASIK. What is the Best LASIK Vision Center for Me? LASIK has been performed for over 25 years now, and many millions of people worldwide are enjoying clear uncorrected vision that would not have been possible a generation ago. Since the beginning of LASIK and PRK in the 1990’s, thousands of…
Does Insurance Cover LASIK? I Want LASIK, But… Many people want LASIK, and for a variety of reasons they have not yet had it. Here are the top reasons for not getting LASIK that I hear: I’ve got astigmatism! My prescription isn’t stable. I heard it doesn’t last. My optometrist told me I’m not a…
Ok, you had LASIK one month ago. You had PRK one month ago. What should you expect? Most people who had LASIK or PRK a month ago may not even read this, because they’re seeing fantastically well. In fact, more than 19 out of 20 people can see the 20/20 line on a standard vision…
Perhaps no year has seen as much improvement in the intraocular lens as 2020. Intraocular lenses have been improved continuously since the first one was implanted in the eye after cataract surgery by Dr. Harold Ridley in 1949. By the 1980’s, the majority of people still did not have IOLs implanted, and had to wear…
Refractive Surgery and how the Eye Works The best patients are well-informed patients. I love it when a patient comes to the decision to have refractive surgery based on a good understanding of how the eye works, how refractive surgery works, and the risks and benefits of refractive surgery. I want all my patients to…
LASIK vs SMILE: Which is Best? Whenever a new technology arrives with FDA approval, we at SharpeVision continuously evaluate and follow it to see if it’s something we want to offer our patients. I feel an extreme responsibility when recommending a new technology. It should have better uncorrected visual acuity, be safer, have a quicker…
Instagram, that arbiter of taste and style, is showing more younger folks with glasses—even those with quirky, clunky frames. The trend that you can’t see as easily, is that young people are choosing LASIK over glasses at an astonishing rate. At SharpeVision we’ve seen the average age of our LASIK patients go from 41 down…
Glasses have been around for hundreds of years, (anyone remember Ben Franklin?) but a higher percentage of young people are needing glasses for vision problems than ever before. Vision problems tend to increase as we age, but millennials are having more vision problems and at a younger age than previous generations. Nearly 70% of millennials…
Why Are My Eyes Red? My residency program director said there are over a hundred reasons for red eyes. I never sat down to count, but I’d guess he was probably correct. So first and foremost: get an eye exam to rule out serious, vision-threatening problems. I have seen patients many times in my career…
The Safety Benefits of Laser Vision Correction In 2015, Reddit cofounder Steve Huffman said he got LASIK to increase his odds of survival in the case of a natural or man-made disaster that sends the world into the apocalypse. I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon, but if supply chain disruption impedes access…
Do blue filter glasses work? Nearly everyone will use computers for at least part of their day, and an even higher percentage of people use smartphones for work and pleasure. Digital Eyestrain is a “thing.” It can be uncomfortable and sap our productivity. There also may be harmful effects from long-term and higher doses of…
What is Presbyopia, and How Can I Correct It? Ok, listen up: this is probably the hardest thing to understand about our vision, and usually isn’t explained well, so I’ll try a little different angle, by using the term “focusing power,” to mean bringing light rays together like the point of a pencil, or the…
