Summit Eye Center Blog

What is astigmatism? This is a question many have for one of the most common vision problems. At least 30% of the US population has some level of astigmatism. We will answer everything you need to know about astigmatism in this blog. Yes, it is “astigmatism” not “stigmatism” as it is commonly referred to. You don’t have “a stigmatism”...you have astigmatism.

What is Astigmatism?

Similar to nearsightedness and farsightedness, astigmatism is a refractive error. It is simply a problem with how the eye focuses light. It is not a disease or eye health problem.

Is LASIK right for me? If you answer yes to the questions below, then LASIK is likely a good option to decrease your need for glasses and/or contact lenses.

Are you over the age of 18 with stable vision? By waiting until a patient is at least 18 years old, we minimize the chance that a person’s nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism is going to continue to change. Your vision should be stable over the last 12 months at least.

How do I know if LASIK is an option for me?

LASIK is an excellent option for many people to improve their vision without glasses or contact lenses. The best way to determine if you qualify for LASIK is through an eye exam with your eye doctor.

Here are some general guidelines:
• You must be at least 18 years old
• You must have healthy eyes – no evidence of a condition that could affect the healing process
• You cannot be pregnant or nursing, as your hormonal levels can affect measurements

What is Nearsightedness?

Nearsightedness, myopia, is the most common cause of vision problem in people under the age of 40. The number of people with nearsightedness continues to grow. Just a few decades ago, the number of Americans with myopia was about 25%. Today, over 40% of Americans are nearsighted. In fact, it is projected globally that 50% of the world’s population will be myopic by 2050.

Signs and Symptoms of Myopia

Children who are nearsighted often struggle to see things on the board at school or are unable to see things like a clock or television clearly. Adults, typically struggle seeing road signs or recognizing faces across a room. Individuals may squint to see these distant objects. However, these people will be able to see well for near tasks such as reading and working on a computer.

How Our Vision Changes Over One’s Lifetime

Kids and Teenagers Age 8-17

It is important to monitor children’s eye health with annual eye exams. As their bodies are developing, vision changes can occur. Often, nearsightedness will develop during these years. Children will experience increased visual demands as their schoolwork becomes more advanced and they begin driving toward the end of this timeframe. During these years, children will participate in sporting activities that require optimal vision and sometimes eye protection. Having a comprehensive eye examination ensures that their eyes are healthy and seeing to the best they can. Common visual treatments during this stage are glasses and contact lenses.

#10) New Parents

Imagine not having to reach for your glasses before caring for your newborn in the middle of the night. Who doesn’t want to just go to bed when they are tired without the hassle of first removing your contact lenses?

#9) Sunglasses

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to just grab that stylish pair of sunglass off the shelf and not have to worry if your glasses prescription can be put in those frames?

Glare around streetlights and headlights is making driving at night difficult and your overall vision just doesn’t seem to be as good it once was...your eye doctor tells you that cataracts are causing your problems.

One of the most common questions patients have about LASIK continues to be, “Is LASIK safe?” The answer to this question is a definite YES! They will then follow up with, “Is LASIK safe for my eyes?” The only way we can answer this question is with a thorough LASIK evaluation. The doctors at Summit Eye Center are available to perform this evaluation.

First, what evidence do we have that LASIK is safe?

The rate of safety for LASIK ranks among the highest of any medical procedure today. Both the safety and benefit of LASIK have been documented in a large number of scientific journals and clinical studies. In fact in the first ten years after LASIK’s FDA approval in 1998, there were over 300 published, peer-reviewed clinical studies.

When you reach different milestones throughout your life, LASIK is worth considering to enhance one’s lifestyle or simply as a reward. LASIK is a safe, effective procedure to reduce one’s needs for glasses and contact lenses. It can help provide you with hassle-free vision to better enjoy life visually. It can also be a reward for the hard work that was required to conquer a particular task. Why not relieve yourself of the need for glasses and contacts?

Are you finding yourself moving your phone closer to you and further away trying to find the sweet spot where the text is clear? Do you have the text size on your phone set to the largest size? Do you have to pull your head back when your kid puts something in front of your face to read? If you answered yes to these questions you are likely developing presbyopia.

Presbyopia is a normal aging change of the natural crystalline lens, which sits right behind the pupil within the eye. When we are young, this lens is able to change shape to focus from distance to near. As we age, this lens hardens. At some point in our 40s, this hardening reaches a point that we find ourselves holding things further away to maintain clarity while reading. Eventually, things are still blurry when we hold things at arms length. This is when we move on to reading glasses or bifocals to help. As we continue to age the strength of these reading glasses or bifocals will need to increase in power until around age 60 when things typically will plateau.

Spring brings with it a renewed energy to tackle the latest fitness trends as we strive to improve our physical fitness. If you are a HIIT enthusiast, swimmer or jogger...LASIK can make your workout experience better. This week’s blog will breakdown how glasses can be a hindrance with various fitness routines.

HIIT

Steph Curry has made headlines this spring when it was revealed that he had played with less than 20/20 vision until he was recently fit with contact lenses. This makes one think how vision demands vary from sport to sport. Some sports can allow athletes with supreme athleticism to excel despite less than perfect vision. Others require the best vision possible in order for athletes to perform at an elite level.

We are entering the prime “Wedding Season”. There is so much involved with planning for your wedding, likely starting months before the big date. Who do you invite? Where is the wedding? Where is the reception? What do you wear? What does the wedding party wear? The list goes on and on.

Thanks to Mother Nature, the 2018-19 school year ran a bit longer in many of the Kansas City area school districts. Now that we have finally entered summer vacation, Summit Eye Centerer wants to provide a discount on LASIK laser vision correction to teachers this summer. This is in appreciation for the role they play in molding the young minds of future generations.

Common Myths About LASIK

Do you have astigmatism and think that eliminates the possibility of LASIK? Do feel that you are too old for LASIK? At Summit Eye Center, we commonly hear people state various reasons why they feel that LASIK is not a good option for them. Often these beliefs are not correct and in fact the patient is a good candidate for LASIK. We would like to clear up some of these misconceptions in this blog.

Myth #1: LASIK Does Not Correct Astigmatism

Just like nearsightedness and farsightedness, Astigmatism can be corrected by LASIK. Astigmatism is simply and “out-of-roundness” to the cornea, the clear layer over the colored part of the eye. The more “out-of-round” the cornea is, the higher the level of astigmatism. LASIK works by reshaping the cornea to allow one to see better without glasses or contact lenses. Therefore, LASIK is a great option to correct astigmatism. Just like every patient who is nearsighted or farsighted is not a candidate for LASIK, the same can be said for patients with astigmatism. However, most who are nearsighted, farsighted or have astigmatism are candidates for LASIK.

As we enter August, students heading off to college are a common theme. These young men and women are embarking on their first period of independence. They are living away from home, making choices on how they balance their studies with the social experiences that will shape their early adulthood.

LASIK provides a safe, effective alternative to glasses and contact lenses. No longer will these students have to reach for glasses before they start the day. No longer will they have to endure the daily grind of putting in contact lenses every morning and then taking them out prior to going to bed.

One of the most common questions patients have about LASIK continues to be, “Is LASIK safe?” The answer to this question is a definite YES! They will then follow up with, “Is LASIK safe for my eyes?” The only way we can answer this question is with a thorough LASIK evaluation. The doctors at Summit Eye Center are available to perform this evaluation.

First, what evidence do we have that LASIK is safe?

The rate of safety for LASIK ranks among the highest of any medical procedure today. Both the safety and benefit of LASIK have been documented in a large number of scientific journals and clinical studies. In fact in the first ten years after LASIK’s FDA approval in 1998, there were over 300 published, peer-reviewed clinical studies.

“Am I too young or too old for LASIK?” are common questions we hear from patients. The quick answer is that once you reach 18 years of age you are potentially a good LASIK patient. On the other end of the spectrum, although at age 60, LASIK may be an option for you, there could be a different procedure that would be the recommended surgery at this stage of life.

LASIK works by using a laser to reshape the cornea, the clear layer over the colored part of they eye. This allows the correction of a person’s nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism.

It seems that more frequently then ever we are seeing reports of natural disasters disrupting the lives of people all over the world. Have you ever taken a moment to think how you would respond if a tornado, flood, fire or other natural disaster hit your home, work or place you are visiting? Depending on where you are and any advanced warning that is available, your level of preparedness will vary. If you rely on glasses or contact lenses to see well, extra considerations are needed to ensure the safety of your eyes and your vision both during and after a natural disaster.

LASIK and other vision correction procedures are popular choices for first responders in need of vision correction. They need to be confident that there vision is clear, comfortable and dependable at all times, no matter the environment. They not only need this vision at the drop of a hat when disaster hits, but also for the hours to weeks of hard and potentially dangerous work required to keep people and property from harms way after the disaster.

Greg Maddux

4x Cy Young Winner
World Series Champion
18 Gold Gloves
300 wins
3000 strikeouts
Baseball Hall of Fame

LeBron James

3x NBA Champion
3x NBA Finals MVP
4x NBA MVP
12x ALL NBA First Team