Lasik Eye Surgery Chicago

LASIK

LASIK is a relatively new, brief outpatient laser eye surgical procedure for reducing/eliminating a person’s need for glasses and contact lenses. The patient need be only lightly sedated. Eye drops numb the eye and the patient is comfortable and relaxed. After the surgeon uses a machine to make a protective flap incision in the outer portion of the cornea of the eye and gently lifts it out of the way, a cool, pulsed excimer laser sculpts the cornea into a slightly different shape. The surgeon cleanses the area and gently repositions the flap which sticks back into position naturally.

Unlike most centers, we then test the first eye before doing the second LASIK. The surgeon and patient go on to do the same procedure on the other eye. Our patients wear clear plastic, protective eye shields on the operated eyes for the day of operation and for the next two weeks while sleeping. After the procedure, the patient should go home and sleep on the back. At home, the eye feels at first as though it has a dirty contact lens in it but should not be more painful than that.

LASIK evolved from a procedure called keratomileusis, first done in 1959. Dr. Epstein has performed thousands of LASIK procedures and regularly performed keratomileusis starting in 1983. We know from experience that LASIK results are stable in the long run. As you research, you will learn about the various risks of surgery. These risks are very real and you should learn how to minimize these. Probably the most important risk is injury or harm to the recently operated eye in the early days after the surgery. During healing, keep your eyes protected. Actually, the probability of serious risk is low in the hands of an experienced LASIK surgeon.

Dr. Epstein has performed the surgery for thousands of patients locally, nationally and internationally and including for his own children. Nationally, over one million procedures have been performed in 2003.

Who is a candidate for LASIK? People are candidates for LASIK if they have a desire to be free of glasses and contacts and understand the risks and benefits, if the procedure can be done effectively and without unusual risk, and if the patient’s eye optics are apparently stable. The only way to really know if you are a LASIK candidate is to have an evaluation especially by a LASIK surgeon after an interview, eye exam and appropriate measurements. See Dr. Epstein’s book for more details. Some people are not good LASIK candidates but are eligible for other procedures to accomplish the same effect. Others may not be candidates at one time but become candidates at another time. At our center, you have the opportunity to become fully free of glasses and contacts even if you are over fifty years old and need reading glasses or bifocals.

In an evaluation through our center, you will have an interview, see an educational video, and have various tests like refraction, a medical eye exam, corneal topography, wavefront mapping, corneal thickness measurement, dark field pupil measurement. Most importantly, you will have the opportunity to talk with the surgeon. Call our office and request a free evaluation.

Watch a video of Dr. Epstein explaining LASIK: