Exclusive to Optilase

What does the KAMRA procedure involve?

The eye surgeon will put numbing drops into your eyes to make sure you’re totally comfortable throughout the quick procedure. Then, he’ll create a microscopic opening on the surface of your cornea with a specialised laser-it’s completely painless and only takes a moment-and implant the tiny inlay.

The inlay is made of a biocompatible polymer, which means your body doesn’t react negatively to it. It has thousands of microscopic holes to allow eye fluids and nutrients to pass through freely to ensure corneal health.

What can I expect after the surgery?

The First 48 Hours
Immediately after surgery, you’ll be sensitive to light; and you might have a little irritation or watery eyes. Your recovery time will vary but you should be able to go be to work and resume normal activities within 24 hours of surgery.

The First Week
The amount of improvement in near vision will increase. For some people it’s quite immediate; for others it might take a little time, depending on how quickly you heal. It will range from dramatic to moderate, varying by patient, in the first week.

The First Three Months
Regardless of your healing pattern you’ll find yourself reaching for your glasses much less often, if at all. It’s fairly common to have to use artificial tears at this stage as your natural tear film hasn’t recovered yet. You should take breaks from up-close tasks to avoid eye strain in these first couple of months; your vision might still fluctuate a little.

The Next Nine Months
You should be experiencing a whole new level of visual freedom by now; you’ll have follow-up with your surgeon to make sure all is well. The goal of the KAMRA inlay is to reduce your dependency on reading glasses-you might still use them for working in dim light or performing up-close tasks for a long period of time.

Will my eye look different?

The inlay is tiny; much smaller than a contact lens, microscopically thin and light. It’s almost impossible for anyone to see it, even on light-coloured eyes.

What are the most common side effects?

Your Optilase team will thoroughly discuss all of the expectations and common temporary side effects with you before surgery; they’ll monitor you afterward and ensure you have tear drops to keep your eyes moist until your own natural tear film settles down.

Common side effects like glare or light ‘halo’ will resolve over time. To find out if you are a suitable candidate for KAMRA, give Optilase a call and book a free consultation on 0800 0121 565.

Exclusive to Optilase

KAMRA is the advanced new treatment for people with Presbyopia, available only from Optilase and involves the implantation of a corneal inlay in one eye. This very tiny inlay acts just like the zoom feature on a camera, narrowing the focus to increase the depth of field.

In other words, it reduces the amount of unfocused light entering the eye by providing a smaller aperture or hole over the pupil, giving you increased sharpness of vision for near objects.

Try This Experiment

Try this little experiment to see if KAMRA might be for you; it’s a good way to visualise how the inlay works.

Hold your hand up to one eye, and close the other eye. Curl your fingers into a fist on front of your eye, and then slowly open your fist until there’s a small tunnel of light in the middle.

Now look through that tunnel at the words on this page. Do the words look sharper?

Try this experiment with and without your reading glasses if you have them, and try it with and without looking through your tightened fist.

If you find the words look sharper through the tunnel you made with your fist, then you may be a candidate for KAMRA, because that’s exactly how the procedure works-it gets rid of unfocused light and uses a microscopic inlay on your eye to focus the light through it onto the retina at the back of the eye, giving you clear vision.

Optilase will conduct a far more sophisticated test than this one!

Call them to book your free consultation on 0800 0121 565.

Glaucoma is a medical condition of eye that refers to increased ocular pressure due to incompetent drainage of the fluids. Increased pressure can lead to compression of optic nerve behind the retina and result in permanent, partial or complete loss of eyesight. Fortunately, optometrists have discovered some advanced treatments for reinstating the normal intraocular pressure and the effective treatment methods can solve the eye problems associated with Glaucoma.

Standard treatment and management protocols of Glaucoma

Glaucoma usually develops in the late age (over 60 years); but nowadays lot of younger patients are suffering from the problem as well. As the drainage system becomes incapable of handling the fluid properly, it becomes difficult to resolve the problem at once. There are few standard treatment protocols:

• Medicines: certain medicines are used for treating Glaucoma and hypertensive eyes. Basically, the medicines are prescribed in eye drop forms. Sometimes, doctors also prefer oral pills, tablets and capsules as well. The medicines are Prostaglandins (Travatan Z (Alcon), Beta blockers (Timolol, Pindolol), Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (Trusopt, Azopt) etc. These medicines reduce the intra-ocular pressure by influencing the amount of secretion and facilitating drainage.
• Glaucoma surgery: Laser eye surgery procedure for Glaucoma has become the only option for an optometrist when the medicines fail to resolve the issue effectively. The procedure refers to three different techniques: Laser Trabeculoplasty (used for treating open angle glaucoma), Cyclophotocoagulation (when other non-invasive and surgical procedures fail to manage a case of glaucoma) and Laser Iridotomy (for treating angle closure glaucoma).

Laser eye surgery procedure: steps explained

1. First a clinician recommends the anti-hypertensive agents to reduce the blood pressure and optimise the area for Laser surgery. The procedure helps the medical specialist to make the eyes numb.
2. Once done, the patient is requested to sit in front of a slit lamp. The optician examines their eyes and rule out the type and extent of disease.
3. Then a powerful but tiny beam of Laser light is allowed to pass into the affected eye. The light ray strikes on certain areas and creates micro-holes for facilitating drainage of the clogged fluid.
4. Excessive fluid that was clogged inside oozes outside and thus intra-ocular pressure reduces effectively through the tiny holes.
5. The patient suffers from blurred vision for next 48 hours. The eyes might be very itchy and swollen during this period. The condition is reinstated after 3 days of surgery.

Glaucoma laser eye surgery facts

• A patient requires surgery only when the conservative medicines and eye exercises fail to reduce the intra-ocular pressure.
• One might require multiple laser surgeries for controlling the hypertension comprehensively. At the same time, the patient might need to use medicines after surgery for optimising ocular pressure.
• The outcome of laser eye surgery depends on the age of the patient, extent of Glaucoma, type of hypertension, interfering diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes etc.

Nowadays, Glaucoma isn't considered as a major cause of acquired blindness anymore. The number of treatment methods and medicines has proved effective for treating ocular-hypertensive disease like Glaucoma. If you are prone to develop (or already developed) Glaucoma, consult an expert optometrist as soon as possible.

Suffering from eye problems? Ever heard of laser eye treatment? This is a medical process that is used to correct eye defects using laser equipment's as a tool by refracting the eyes' cornea. Basically laser eye surgery from a physics perceptive, it is a beam of light that is directed to a certain area.

Laser treatment has currently been adopted to solve a number of health conditions hence eye treatment has not been left out.
Laser eye treatment works best in correcting cornea visual defects such as long sightedness, short sightedness and astigmatism. This kind of treatment is recommended by eye surgeons because it is more accurate, long lasting and the process is irreversible (once changes to the eye have been made they can't be undone).

Before any kind of treatment can be done, an optician first draws a sketch of one's eye and examines if it needs surgery. A sketch is also provided for the result after surgery if it takes place. A lot of benefits can be derived from this procedure especially for people who have to wear glasses and contact lenses all the time.

How does laser eye treatment work? This is a question that is often asked by patients. Well, this procedure can be done using different types depending on the particular eye defect but we will focus on the most common types.

LASIK (Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileus) eye treatment is by far the most used type ranging to 80% of all eye treatments since it treats short or long sightedness and astigmatism which are the most common defects. This procedure alters the corneal tissue using an excimer laser that is an efficient ultraviolet laser. This procedure greatly relies on the advancements in technology; a computer calculates the eye's position at a frequency of 4 Hz (4000 times) while the excimer cuts the incisions in the cornea.

Photo refractive keractomy removes a small portion of the front eye (cornea) hence altering the shape of the eye. This procedure takes about 10 minutes to complete. The optician then covers the surface of the eye with a clear plastic shield to prevent the eye to prevent rubbing and other accidents.

Putting it that way makes it sound dangerous but it is one of the safest procedures around with great benefits since minimal complications have been reported after undergoing the surgery. This procedure is done while one is fully conscious but a mild aesthetic is applied to the eye to help with the pain.

EPI_LASIK is another form which makes use of a separator instead of the surgical blade. It is primarily LASIK without alcohol. This method does not make use of alcohol which is good since it does not damage the limbal stem cells at all hence patients treated with this form recover faster. An epi-keratome slides on the surface of the cornea below the epithelial cells while suction is performed.

Before one undergoes laser eye treatment, it is advisable to seek advice as some medical conditions may not allow one to undergo this form of procedure. With laser eye treatment, one can't go wrong due to the proven successful surgeries carried out over the years.

Laser eye surgery is carried out to correct the shape of the cornea for light to enter the eyes. Laser eye surgery is performed to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. Eyes are different for everyone and the treatments done to correct their issues also vary. After a detailed consultation, a surgeon will be able to suggest the correct laser eye surgery. Following this there are different laser eye techniques available to correct problems related to eyes.

LASIK: Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis is the most popular laser surgery performed around the world. Lasik is preferred by most patients because of its very short recovery time. The recovery time varies from 24 hours to 48 hours after a surgery with no discomfort to the patients. This procedure is extensively used to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. This surgical method makes a flap in the clear tissue at the front portion of the eye. This flap is folded backwards and the cornea is reshaped using laser technique. Once the cornea is corrected this flap is put back on the same position. It sticks on its own without the need of any stitches. The effect is permanent in a LASIK surgery with little eye irritation for most. Results are noticeable within 2 days of the surgery. It is one of the safest eye surgery techniques with no major side-effects.

Wave Front Guided LASIK: This is an improvement to the LASIK procedure. It uses two of the most advanced and innovative treatments. The Standard and Advanced CustomVue wave front. With the help of advanced technology it creates a detailed map of how light emerges from the eyes. All the irregularities of the eye are produced on the map for the surgeon to guide the laser to treat the edges of the cornea, which is different from the centre. This surgical method is used to correct glare, halos and night vision. The mapping system used in this procedure is 25% more accurate than many other traditional methods. The map is unique like a fingerprint. It is performed to correct any imperfections caused due to other laser procedures.

IntraLase: This method is the most advanced way to create a flap in the eyes during a LASIK surgery. It is also known as a blade free process with outstanding results. Tiny laser lights pass through the outer region of the cornea. These tiny laser pulses are controlled by a computer for achieving an exact precision. The intralase flap is created in a few seconds and the surgeon uses the LASIK procedure to reshape the cornea. The whole process is extremely quick and pain free. Patients recover very quickly without any complications.

Photorefractive Keratectomy or PRK: This is done on patients with thin cornea. The LASIK procedure is undesirable in such cases. It involves surgery of the inner tissues rather than the outer tissue in the LASIK surgery. This form of treatment is also known as LASEK. The only disadvantage of this procedure is its long recovery time along with some discomfort during the healing period. Only an Ophthalmic surgeon will be able to suggest if PRK is right for you.

All the above laser treatments can result in minor side-effects, but with technology these can be eliminated. Laser surgery is not suitable for all patients, only a surgeon will be able to decide which procedure is suitable depending on the condition of the eye and its problems.

After having had laser eye surgery, the after care is quite important. A good surgeon will take you through the aftercare process in order to ensure that you recover well and don't catch infections of any kind. After care advice for laser eye surgery is very important. It will determine how well you recover from the surgery. Knowing exactly how to go about the whole recovery process is faster without any side effects. Your surgeon may give you such advice before or after the surgery for you to know how to go about after care following laser eye surgery. Below is some after care advice for laser eye surgery that you are most likely to get from your surgeon.

1) Driving: You are required to have someone drive you around after the surgery since it will be impossible for you to drive immediately after laser eye surgery. You can get back to driving at least a week or more after the laser eye surgery. It is important that you do not take such a risk as you will be endangering yourself as well as others in the process.

2) Use of Antibiotic Drops: These are highly recommended as they will help prevent infections. You will be required to use antibiotic drops as they will be prescribed by your doctor. Apart from antibiotic drops, there are other medications that may be prescribed by your doctor. It is important that you take all the medication prescribed by your doctor for you to recover fast.

3) Use of Sunglasses and Hats: These will help ensure that you are comfortable considering the fact that your eyes will be quite sensitive to light right after the laser eye surgery. Such sunglasses to relieve the intensity of light will be required to be used for a few days after the laser eye surgery. Hats come in handy in ensuring that nothing gets into the eye that may cause injuries or even re-infection.

4) Washing Eyes with Soap: it is advised that you avoid getting soap into the eyes and washing your hair right after the surgery. This can only be done at least a week after the laser eye surgery. Hair spray and shaving lotion as well as other products that may have some forms of chemicals should never come in contact with the eyes for at least one week after the surgery. Such products will only hinder the healing process.

5) Dusty Environments: You are required to ensure that you avoid all environments that are dusty be it your working place or room. This is to ensure that the dust does not come into contact with the healing eyes as it may cause infection. Such environments should be avoided for at least a whole week after the surgery as by this time the eyes will already be healing.

6) Help All-Round: After the surgery you need to have someone over at your place to help you get along as you will not be able to do much for at least a week. This person may be a family member or friend.

Laser eye surgery is an effective solution to sight problems. With its high success rate, the procedure frees patients from restrictions that are brought about by long-sightedness, short-sightedness, presbyopia and astigmatism. After Lasik surgery, you do not have to worry about broken or misplaced glasses, lost eye contacts or avoiding some of your favourite activities. The procedure reshapes your eyes' cornea permanently, offering immediate results.

An outpatient procedure, Lasik is safe and quick, lasting less than an hour and performed with highly specialised equipment. Nevertheless, it is delicate and must be performed by a skilled, qualified Laser eye surgeon. Safety Precautions with Laser eye surgery are therefore extremely important to avoid infections and other side effects.

As a precaution, Laser eye surgery at Optilase begins with tests to determine suitability of a patient for the procedure. Prepare your eyes by avoiding wearing hard contact lenses about three weeks to the examination. The tests mainly involve mapping the cornea and measuring the thickness of the cornea, checking the prescription level and the degree of correction needed. Your eyes should be free of other diseases and in good shape to undergo the surgery.

Once you are booked for the procedure at any of our Optilase clinics, you are advised on pre-operation care and all your questions are addressed. On the day of the surgery, you should not forget to take any prescribed medications. Dress comfortably, avoid eye makeup and heavy jewellery and have a light meal. You will also need to have someone accompany you to drive you home after laser eye surgery.

At the Optilase Laser eye clinic, patient safety and comfort is of highest priority. Laser eye surgery is performed using advanced technology in a safe environment. Our team strictly observes safety precautions with Laser eye surgery. An important factor that determines the success of Lasik surgery is the surgeon's skill. Our respected Laser surgeons have high levels of expertise and experience carrying out the procedure. So far, more than 40,000 Laser surgeries have been performed at Optilase with high success rates as reflected in our 2011 patient satisfaction survey in which 99 percent of them said they would recommend our services to others.

During the actual surgery, local anaesthesia is administered for your comfort. Your eyes are positioned in place and a tiny incision is made on the cornea. The cornea is then folded back and a Laser beam is applied to reshape the cornea then it is replaced back to its normal position.

Precautions should also be observed after Laser eye surgery. Healing after Laser eye surgery is generally fast though it varies from patient to patient. Some discomfort is normal after surgery, including dry eyes and sensitivity to light. You may need to use eye drops for relief from dry eyes and avoid glaring lights.

You need not worry if you experience any eye problems after the surgery. Call our 24-hour helpline for advice and support. On recovering, you will likely notice remarkable improvements in your eyesight. You will no longer need your contacts or glasses, find it easier to read and drive and your performance in sport will improve. Overall, your newfound freedom will boost your confidence and self esteem.

Laser Eye Surgery Astigmatism

When it comes to laser eye surgery astigmatism, there are a lot of different things that one need to be mindful of. Astigmatism is a medical condition in which the eye is unable to focus the light on the retina properly. This is caused by an irregular cornea that distorts the light entering the eye. As a result, the person having that problem is unable to focus on objects, or object appears blurred to them. The severity of the problem or disease depends upon the amount of damage occurred to the cornea. Some people may feel headaches or eyestrain.

It is not necessary that both eyes will be affected. It is possible that you might have astigmatism in one eye, while the other eye has perfect vision. However, when someone is facing this problem, this does not mean that he or she cannot have any other eye problems. People suffering from this problem could also have nearsightedness or farsightedness. Most people having different eye problems inherit from their parents. However, this can also be caused by some sort of an accident or injury to the eye. There can be a variety of reasons for that.

In the past, astigmatism was treated by using eye glasses or contacts. However, owing to the popular introduction of laser eye surgery method, many individuals are looking to use this treatment method to throw away the eye glasses and have their vision corrected once and for all. Laser surgery treatment option has been available for long time for people having nearsightedness and farsightedness problems, as treating those issues with laser surgery is convenient and result-oriented. However, reshaping eyes with astigmatism was far more challenging and complex in the early days of this treatment. That was the reason laser eye surgery astigmatism was not realized.

Since the introduction of computer technology along with the laser eye surgery treatment, it has become possible to undergo the necessary surgical treatment with better accuracy and precision. Nowadays, astigmatism is one of those common eye vision problems for which laser refractive surgery is used. However, refractive surgery may still be unable to correct some more serious cases of astigmatism. But, for normal to medium cases, this technology has been developed to an extent that correction is not a major problem anymore. Therefore, laser eye surgery for astigmatism is performed more often than before.

Just like any other surgery treatment, you will first have to consult with a good laser eye surgeon who can evaluate your condition to decide whether you are the right candidate for such treatment. To find the best surgeon, you are suggested to seek advice from local people as to which eye care offices they recommend for getting necessary treatment. What else you can do is to search through the Internet and find out what are the best professionals that can help you get what you are looking for. When you are thinking to undergo laser eye surgery for astigmatism, you need to consider aforementioned points for better decision-making.

Many people have vision problems. For a long time, glasses were the only option. Then there were contact lenses, so people could see without having to wear glasses as many felt embarrassed by them, especially if they were of the thick variety. For quite a while now, laser eye surgery has become not only a viable but affordable option as well.

Laser eye surgery is pretty much what you may think it is. It is a surgical procedure that uses lasers to correct vision problems. People who have had imperfect vision due to myopia, astigmatism, hyperopia, etc. can now have better vision through this procedure. Despite some concerns, laser surgery is quite safe.

With laser surgery, the need for contact lenses or glasses will be eliminated. Not only does this have aesthetic value, but it has practical value as well.

For those who wear glasses, they can attest that glasses can be very expensive, sometimes costing as much as $700 and potentially more. Those who wear contact lenses will affirm that although better in appearance than glasses, contact lenses can be quite inconvenient and costly as well. With a successful laser procedure, the recurring expenses will be over, the inconvenience will be gone, and the person will be able to get rid of any concerns about their looks from wearing glasses.

There are several types of laser eye surgery. The most common type is LASIK. This stands for Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis. LASIK is also the most popular type of laser treatment globally, and boasts a fast recovery time. It is performed on the outside of the cornea.

Another type is LASEK or PRK, which stands for Photorefractive Keratectomy. This type focuses on the inner cornea, which would be recommended for those people who have thin corneas. A thin cornea would prohibit a person from getting LASIK.

Another laser eye procedure is called WaveFront. This type of surgery is usually used to correct problems with night vision. Halos and glare can make night driving dangerous or even impossible for some people. WaveFront uses more advanced technology to detect and correct these problems.

IntraLase is a part of LASIK surgery, and is performed without blades. IntraLase creates a flap in the eye. This is the most advanced type of laser eye surgery there is today. With continuing advancements in technology, it is likely that this procedure will be deemed low-tech in possibly as little as a few decades.

To determine if a person is a good candidate for laser eye surgery and what type will be needed to correct their vision problems, a consultation and some testing will be needed to determine the eye problems at hand and what type of surgery will be best suited for that individual's needs. Although some may see it as expensive, it is much cheaper when compared to the fact that glasses and contact lenses have recurring costs, and will add up to much larger amounts over time, not to mention the benefits of convenience and the aesthetic value. Laser eye surgery may sound scary to some, but again it is very safe, cheap when compared to glasses and contacts, and it is normally over within minutes. After it's all over, recovery takes place and the patient can get on with life with a better view.

Laser eye treatment candidates often go from poor eye sight to 20/20 or better. The best part of this procedure may be that for most patients, it causes very little discomfort, can be done in a matter of minutes, and is an outpatient procedure. Once the procedure is over, most patients will be seeing better within days, if not hours. Not everyone goes to 20/20 or better vision, but reports indicate that 90-98% achieve significant vision improvements.

Prior to Laser Eye Surgery

The first step is to undergo a complete eye exam and obtain a map of the eye with computer assisted wavefront technology. The exact shape of the eye and any anomalies or irregularities are determined. This will include analysis of astigmatism, hyperopia and myopia among other things.

Contact lenses can reduce the amount of oxygen the cornea can absorb. This can cause neovascularisation (growth of blood vessels into the cornea) which in turn can create inflammation. Inflammation will have an adverse affect on post-operative healing. For this reason, it is usually advised to stop wearing the contact lenses for awhile prior to laser eye treatment.

Finally, a course of antibiotics is prescribed prior to treatment. This pre-medicating will help prevent infection during the post-operative healing period.

The Laser Eye Surgery Procedure

Patients are not put to sleep during Laser eye treatment, but may be given a sedative to help calm them. Eye drops containing topical anaesthetic will be used to numb the eyes.

With the patient lying down, a special retainer that has a suction ring is placed over the eye to make sure the eyelid stays open. Few people ever report any discomfort with this.

Aided by computer to track the exact eye position, the surgeon uses a blade or femtosecond laser to cut a flap in the cornea. The flap is left attached on one end. The flap is retracted to expose the stroma (middle part of the cornea). The surgeon then vaporizes the part of the cornea to be removed with an excimer laser. Cool ultraviolet light rays are used to excise tiny pieces of tissue without causing damage to the stroma. The amount of tissue to be removed will depend on the severity of corneal defects. The cornea is then reshaped also using the laser.

The laser has a clicking sound while running. You will probably hear that. You will also smell a mild acrid scent associated with the tissue being removed. The removal of tissue and reshaping of the cornea, aided by precise computer measurements, allows the cornea to focus better.

Finally, the flap is replaced and allowed to heal. The procedure will vary in the amount of time it takes with the severity of abnormalities being corrected.

Post-Operative Considerations

Following post-op advice is very important to a good outcome of any surgery and it is especially important with laser eye treatment. Here are some things to consider.

No Driving

Immediately after surgery you will be instructed by your surgeon not to drive. The amount of time will vary, but be sure to follow the surgeons recommendations and when in doubt about when to start driving always check with the surgeon first. In many instances, 48 hours after surgery you may be able to start driving for short distances.

Depending on your work, you will also probably need to take some time off work. Discuss this possibility with your surgeon before the procedure and make necessary arrangements.

Post-Op Visits

Follow up visits are normally scheduled for one week, one month, three months and sometimes six months post-operatively. It is very important to keep these appointments to make sure that healing is proceeding normally and to avoid complications.

Eye Make-Up

You will usually be asked by your surgeon to stop wearing make-up three days prior to surgery and for three days after the surgery. You will also usually be asked not to use any facial lotions for 48 hours post surgery. Eye make-up can usually be worn again about one week after surgery, but this will ultimately be up to your surgeon. You also will not want to use soap or facial washes for a few days after surgery when you are showering or washing up.

Post Surgical Expectations

The corneal flap must heal and conform to the reshaped inner corneal surface. This can take up to six months for normal healing and vision problems to disappear. Full corneal flap healing can take up to 2 years, but vision problems should be gone well before that.

You will usually be given eye drops to use for about 4 weeks and these will help to alleviate any discomfort during this time. Your first post-op visit will normally be in 24 hours from the surgery with 4-5 more after that. Again, be sure to keep all appointments.

It is normal during this initial healing period to experience certain discomforts. Among these are: watery eyes and runny nose, sensitivity to light, redness and/or swelling of the eye, dry eyes and slightly blurred vision.

For those who get tired of being dependent upon contacts or glasses whenever they want to see something, Laser eye treatment may be worthy of consideration. You should consider carefully your current situation and your potential situation. Ask your eye doctor what the risks are for you.