Lasers have changed a lot about modern living. They’re useful for telecommunications and eye-catching displays. They can have another use for your eyes, too.
With laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), Hilla Steinberg, MD, can correct a range of eye conditions. LASIK can be a life-changing procedure if you’re sick of waking up and feeling around for your glasses. And because Dr. Steinberg is an expert in eye surgery, she gives you a way to get clearer vision with LASIK right here at our office on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.
Issues such as nearsightedness and farsightedness arise from problems with the shape of your eye.
To see clearly, light needs to bend (refract) properly through your lens and cornea. This allows it to reach your retina, the light-sensing tissue at the back of your eye that enables you to see.
When you’re nearsighted, your eyeball is overly long or your cornea is overly curved. As light enters your eye, it focuses in front of the retina. That makes faraway objects look blurry.
Farsighted people have the opposite problem. A too-short eyeball or too-flat cornea makes the focus point of light in the eye too far back. As a result, it’s hard to see things up close.
With LASIK, Dr. Steinberg has a way to correct the shape of the eye and the resulting light refraction. This means that when light enters your eye, it gets focused on your retina like it should. Then, you can see clearly.
Dr. Steinberg can also use LASIK to correct astigmatism, or irregular eyeball shape.
Before LASIK, Dr. Steinberg checks to ensure you’re a good candidate. If you are, you’ll likely get clearer vision from this eye surgery.
After Dr. Steinberg confirms that you’re a candidate, she makes a surgery plan for you. She measures the surface of your eye to figure out what needs to change for light to properly refract onto your retina.
LASIK surgery is an outpatient procedure, meaning you’ll go home afterward. Although we thoroughly numb your eye beforehand, you'll be awake during it. The procedure usually takes 30 minutes or less, during which Dr. Steinberg uses a laser to reshape your cornea.
You’ll need someone else to drive you home. Plan to relax the rest of the day. It’s very important that you avoid rubbing your eyes. Dr. Steinberg may fit you with a clear eye shield to help with that.
By the next day, you shouldn’t need your glasses. It can take a few months for your vision to stabilize, but you should see much clearer than before, nearly immediately.
If you’re ready to say goodbye to your eyeglasses for good, come see Dr. Steinberg to see if LASIK vision correction surgery could be right for you. Call our office or book an appointment online today.
