In recent years, LASIK has become one of the most popular and common options for patients who suffer from various forms of vision impairment. Primarily, patients know that LASIK can reduce or eliminate the need for prescriptive lenses for those who suffer from the refractive errors that result in nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. While this is the primary goal of LASIK, the advanced technology of custom LASIK offers patients an even greater degree of vision improvement. Using wavefront technology, our eye surgeons at North County Laser Eye Associates can correct even the most minor corneal irregularities. This allows us to correct vision problems known as higher order aberrations, which includes poor night vision. We are happy that we are able to offer our Carlsbad patients custom LASIK and improved night vision as a benefit of treatment.
The Custom LASIK Difference
In general, traditional LASIK is not very successful in improving a pre-existing condition of poor night vision. Traditional LASIK surgery makes general alterations to the shape of the cornea in order to improve myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism. These are known as lower order aberrations and are the result of corneal irregularities. Custom LASIK takes the traditional LASIK procedure a step further. Using wavefront technology, we are able to scan the cornea and create a digital map of each patient’s eyes. This gives the most detailed image of the cornea and allows our surgeons to pinpoint the minutest corneal imperfections, those that are known as higher order aberrations. Higher order aberrations are known to cause problems such as poor night vision, the appearance of glares and halos, and poor visual contrast. With the wavefront technology used in custom LASIK, very precise instructions can be sent to the excimer laser that is used in surgery, allowing our surgeons to address both higher order and lower order aberrations. By improving the shape of the cornea and by addressing irregularities, custom LASIK allows the light that enters the eye to be properly focused on the retina, the tissue at the back of the eye. This clears a patient’s overall vision and also results in better night vision and improvement of other higher order aberrations.
Night Vision Correction
Following LASIK surgery, many patients do experience difficulty with night vision, even those who did not previously have night vision problems. It is a common side effect of surgery for glares and halos to appear around sources of light, making night vision difficult. However, this is a temporary side effect that will dissipate over time for most patients. Patients who previously had trouble with night vision should see a marked improvement after undergoing custom LASIK. While the exact results will vary by patient, custom LASIK offers patients the chance to significantly improve night vision, something that is not very likely with traditional LASIK surgery.
Contact Us
At North County Laser Eye Associates, we offer treatments, such as custom LASIK that can improve vision and eye health. To learn more about the services offered at our eye care center, contact us to set up a consultationwith one of our experienced ophthalmologists. We look forward to meeting you!
