Chicago LASIK and PRK Blog

Doctors for Visual Freedom

Archive for February, 2012

LASIK: Safer Than Contacts?

Monday, February 6th, 2012

Contact lenses are such a normal part of many people’s daily lives that we tend to assume they are perfectly safe. This is not necessarily the case. In reality, contact lenses can pose several threats to the health of your eyes – more risks overall than LASIK eye surgery. According to the FDA, contact lenses can potentially cause irritation or infection in your eyes. Such conditions can develop quickly, and in some cases, lead to blindness.

Other potential hazards of contact lenses include:

  • Corneal scarring
  • Corneal ulcers
  • New blood vessel growth in the cornea
  • Irregular astigmatism

Careful use of contact lenses that is monitored by an experienced ophthalmologist can help patients avoid these issues. However, more and more people are seeking out LASIK eye surgery to free themselves of their dependence on contact lenses for good. When you choose LASIK, you are not only opening the door to Visual Freedom, but you are protecting your eyes from the potential injuries and infections that can be caused by contact lenses.

If you would like to learn more about LASIK safety, please contact our Chicago LASIK surgeons today to schedule a free consultation. Doctors For Visual Freedom has two offices in Illinois: one in downtown Chicago, and one in Arlington Heights.

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The Advantages of the Synchrony Lens

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

The Synchrony lens is a new type of intraocular lens (IOL) that is designed to treat cataracts and certain refractive disorders, such as presbyopia. Unlike the Crystalens, which was the previous standard for accommodating IOLs, the Synchrony lens has two lenses instead of one – both of which move closer or further apart to adjust and change focus. The Synchrony lens also successfully moves within the eye’s original lens capsule, providing for maximum focusing power.

Multifocal lenses – such as ReZoom, ReStor, and Technis – often cause a small degree of degradation in a patient’s vision quality, since they have more than one focal point, which requires images to be split. This forces your brain to sort out multiple images as it tries to determine whether you need to see far away or up close. The Synchrony lens avoids this problem by having only a single point of focus.

Recent studies have shown positive results in both near and distance vision for patients who had the Synchrony lens implanted. Although this revolutionary new IOL is still awaiting FDA approval in the United States, it is already in use in Europe, Australia, and South America with positive results.

Dr. Golden says that the Synchrony lens is the first accommodating  IOL that he would want implanted in his own eye, since it provides excellent near and distance vision. Once it receives FDA approval, he looks forward to recommending the Synchrony lens to patients.

If you would like to learn more about intraocular lenses and other strategies for vision correction, please contact our experienced Chicago eye doctors today. Doctors For Visual Freedom has two offices in Illinois: one in downtown Chicago, and one in Arlington Heights.

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