Steps To Ensure Safe Laser Eye Surgery

By M. Jedediah

In the modern world, laser eye surgery is one of most widely performed procedures every year. Since it was first performed in the United States in 1991, more and more people looking to rid themselves of expensive and inconvenient eyeglasses and contact lenses, have turned to corrective eye surgery to achieve their goals.

Today, more than one million people in the U.S. alone have undergone the procedure – most with no complications and amazing success. In fact, only 3-6% of those who have undergone the procedure have reported any long term complications associated with it, making safe laser eye surgery what most people have come to expect. But in order to really ensure your safety when it comes to laser eye surgery it is imperative to act as an advocate for yourself and take the steps necessary to protect your health and your eyesight.

Laser eye surgery utilizes laser technology to resurface the cornea – the thin, transparent covering of the eye. During the procedure, the surgeon will make a small incision in the top layer of the cornea in order to create a flap. Once the flap is folded back the mid-section of the cornea is revealed and the surgeon can then use a low-powered laser to resurface the cornea – clearing the way in which light is refracted in our eye and thus improving vision.

The patient’s eye is numbed the entire time during the procedure and most who have undergone laser eye surgery report little to no pain associated with the procedure. Nonetheless, there is risk associated with every surgery. And when it comes to laser technology used in and around the eye, it is absolutely imperative to ensure that you are working with skilled and reputable surgeons and a surgery center that is committed to patient care through safe laser eye surgery.

The burden of finding this information is up to you – the patient – but is well-worth the time it will take to ensure a positive experience. Begin your search for safe laser eye surgery by researching the laser eye surgery centers in and around your area. Talk to friends and family who have undergone the procedure to assess their experience; and get recommendations from your general eye doctor and even your primary care physician. Recommendations are key to narrowing your search for a reputable surgery center.

Once you have narrowed your search through recommendations it is crucial that you conduct your own research by examining each surgery center’s history, surgical and patient care philosophy, reputation in the industry, and financial options that will be available to you. Follow-up this research by visiting the surgery centers yourself to assess cleanliness of the facility, professionalism of the office and medical support staff, and commitment to safe laser eye surgery through the level of technology being used.

Finally, meet with the surgeon who would perform your procedure to determine his/her experience and strategy for patient care and safety procedures. Any surgeon in which you are interested should perform laser eye surgery on a daily basis and have an overall dedication to safe laser eye surgery and successful results.

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Is Your Child Ready For Contact Lenses?

By Karen Bianchi

If your pre-teen or teen wears glasses, chances are, you've been discussing the option of contact lenses. As a parent, you may be wondering if your child is old enough to wear contacts.Dr. Thomas Soviar, O.D., of Sears Optical says the most common age for kids to start wearing contacts is 11 or 12. "I do have some patients who are as young as 8. Their parents wanted them to have the contacts and they're working out just fine for them."

There are benefits and potential consequences to wearing contacts. Knowing the facts can help you make the right decision for your child.

Better Vision.

Contact lenses sit directly on the eye, so they offer a clearer view with less distortion. Spectacle wearers do not enjoy the same peripheral vision as their contact lens wearing counterparts. Frames on eyeglasses block the outer vision, forcing the wearer to turn their head more. Some studies even suggest wearing rigid contact lenses may slow the progression of nearsightedness.

Sports Advantage.

"Contact lenses are much more conducive to playing sports than glasses," says Dr. William Goldstein, MD, an ophthalmologist in Shelby Township, MI. " Contacts offer better peripheral vision and they stay in place." Perspiration on the face can cause eyeglass lenses to fog up and the frames to slide down the nose. Sharper vision and comfort can increase athletic performance. Wearing contacts also enables your child to wear protective eye wear while participating in his or her favorite activity.

Self-esteem Boost.

It's no secret that appearance is very important at this age. Most kids feel they look better without their glasses. Increased confidence and better vision can improve grades and the desire to become more active in school activities.

Maturity Level.

If you have problems getting your child to willingly perform such tasks as washing his hands or brushing his teeth, you may want to consider if now is a good time to start wearing contacts. Dr. Goldstein notes, "When a young patient asks about contacts, the first thing I do is turn to the parent and say 'this cannot be another thing for you to remember at the end of the day. If it is, it's a bad decision.' Kids need to be able to take care of their own lenses."

Health Risks.

According to Dr. Goldstein, the two biggest risks behind kids wearing contacts are improper cleaning, which can cause infections, and over-wearing the lenses, maximizing risk of potentially blinding corneal ulcers.

If you wish to explore the option of contact lenses, your child will need to have an eye exam to make sure he or she is a candidate. Conditions such as allergies and dry eyes may call for special measures to make wearing contacts possible. For a child with healthy eyes, however, wearing contacts can make life more pleasant and in some cases, safer.

Karen Bianchi is a freelance writer and the editor/owner of http://www.AwesomeMomsNetwork.com To receive the free monthly Awesome Moms Network newsletter, send a blank email to subscribe@AwesomeMomsNetwork.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Bianchi

How Safe is Laser Eye Surgery?

By Derek Miller

Tired of hunting around for those pesky lost spectacles? Well laser eye surgery might be the answer to your problem because it can rectify visual defects rapidly and easily.

There are two different types of corrective eye surgery by use of laser, PRK and LASIK. PRK differs from the latter because it involves a surface ablation procedure. This technique removes the outer layer of the cornea, or epithelium. Think of it rather as scraping away the outer layer of cells, rather like hosing away leaves on an autumn day. In LASIK, on the other hand, the laser is used to cut a flap in the cornea. These techniques might make it easier to read the newspaper of search for those missing car keys, but they might not suit everybody! So before embarking on what might be an expensive bout of surgery that causes you risky complications it pays to ask your ophthalmologist a number of searching questions, and don’t let the specialist get away with it if you receive a series of evasive answers.

First you need to know how effective your eye doctor thinks the procedure will be in your own particular case. Then how accurate will the re-shaping, or mapping of the eyeball be. You always want a global figure that will probably be a percentage of the number of patients who have undergone corrective eye surgery without having to resort to a second or subsequent intervention. In other words you want to be re-assured that the surgeon can get it right the first time. Of course another key question is whether or not there are side effects and what these could be. If your eye specialist is up to speed, you will have a body of evidence at your finger tips to help you make the decision of whether to proceed or not.

How effective is laser eye surgery? Sometimes expectations are not met as people can experience a halo effect, find glare particularly disturbing and lose the ability to see clearly in the dark. All of that can have serious effects on night driving for example! Moreover, experts note that 20/20 vision from laser corrected surgery may differ considerably from that experienced by the use of corrective lenses. Sometimes it might just be better and simpler to stick with the eyeglasses.

However, like everything in life you get what you pay for. It seems the more expensive the technique the less likelihood there is of risk and possible side effects. So the best advice one can give for those considering corrective eye surgery by laser is to research the subject extensively before embarking on the treatment and don’t skimp on the cost!

Interested in this subject? Try this link for more of the same.

http://www.eyesurgeryglance.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Derek_Miller

The Reality Of Workplace Eye Injury

By Joe B. Russell

Almost 2,000 workers, in the United States alone, suffer from workplace eye injury per day. You read that right... 2,000 workplace eye injuries PER DAY.

Around 700 of these daily injuries require emergency care. Around 5% of them incapacitate the victim from doing work for at least a day.

Around 60% of workplace eye injuries are caused by small particles that manage to strike the eye. Around 30% is caused by contact with chemicals that are harmful to the eyes.

Almost 2% of these workplace eye injuries cause permanent blindness.

Though most workplace eye injury is physically caused, a number of them can be attributed to harmful substances that come in contact with the eyes. Worse, these harmful substances can cause other diseases detrimental to the victim. Such disease can be something as trivial as minor conjunctivitis or temporary soreness, or something quite serious as hepatitis or a case of avian flu.

Hence, the statistics above do not really represent the total extent of eye-related injuries. They just point to actual workplace eye injuries which can immediately be determined.

Nonetheless, the statistics above deliver some grave news.

These alarming statistics have given birth to calls for stricter measures to make eye protection mandatory in industries that are plagued by hazards to the most important of the body's senses. Eyeglasses, goggles, face masks, respirators and the likes should be made available for those engaged in industrial undertakings, highly technical work, health care, janitorial jobs, laboratory work and animal handling.

Such eye protection should satisfy the following requisites, least they bring more problems than solutions:

• They should be comfortable to wear and in no way should they impair the use of the wearer's other faculties.

• They should not hinder the wearer's peripheral vision.

• The protection they will provide should be commensurate to the danger level that the hazard poses.

• They should be adjustable so that they can easily accommodate multiple wearers or size changes that a particular wearer may exhibit.

• They should be made of industrially safe materials.

• A highly effective anti fog product such as Fogtech should be included as an added safety measure

Workplace eye injury is one of the most common work-related accidents in this day and age. As such, employers should really make it a point to consider and implement necessary precautions to minimize, if not totally prevent, the happening of such disasters.

The statistics presented at the start of this piece are warning signals.

They tell us that eye injuries are real, and they happen so frequently. They tell us that there are many dangers to our eyes and that utmost care should always, always be observed. They remind us of the old adage, that an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure, and they emphasize the importance of eye protection in many industries.

Joe Russell is the President/CEO of http://www.iatcenterprises.com and http://www.fogtech.ca IATC is a distributor and retailer of Fogtech and WileyX protetcive eyewear as well offering other products and accessories for extreme sports applications and industrial safety.

IATC Enterprises also provides marketing consulting as well other business services to small, medium or large companies and corporations.

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