What Causes Nearsightedness?

If an eye doctor has diagnosed you with myopia, or nearsightedness in Charleston, this means you have a refractive error that causes distant objects to appear blurry. Nearsighted people can usually see close objects clearly but they may need to wear corrective lenses to see well at a distance.

Nearsightedness can occur for one of two reasons:

• The eyeball is too long
• The cornea is too steep

When either of these conditions are present, light entering the eyes will focus in front of the retina (the back of the eye), instead of directly on the retina, causing blurred distance vision. Myopia can usually be corrected with glasses or contact lenses.

After age 21, myopia can be corrected surgically for some patients through LASIK vision correction. Dr. O'Day performs blade-free LASIK in Charleston to alter the shape of your cornea by removing a microscopic amount of tissue so light can focus correctly on the retina. This procedure has been highly effective in helping nearsighted people achieve 20/20 vision.

According to the American Optometric Association, nearsightedness affects almost 30% of the United States population. This vision condition usually develops in children and it may progress into a person’s early 20s. But with today’s advanced LASIK technology in Charleston, achieving clear distance vision can be a reality.

LASIK is not right for everyone. If you are nearsighted and are curious to know if LASIK might work for your eyes, contact Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery today at 843-856-5275 or charlestoncornea.com to schedule a free, no-obligation LASIK Consultation. 

Is LASIK Safe?

More than 14 million Americans have had LASIK vision correction since the mid-1990s. While LASIK is usually considered a safe medical procedure, it is important to remember that it is still surgery...and the decision to have LASIK should not be taken lightly.

You can increase your chances for an excellent visual outcome (20/20 vision or better) through LASIK by choosing your LASIK center and doctor carefully. Here are some tips to help you make the best decision:

• Demand a thorough preoperative exam to ensure your eye health, corneal thickness and medical condition meet the standards for the procedure.
• Make sure the board certified surgeon has specific LASIK training and experience performing successful LASIK procedures. Don’t be afraid to ask the doctors questions about their success rates.
• Fully understand what type of LASIK technology will be used during the procedure. Most reputable doctors today offer advanced, blade-free LASIK technology on-site in a controlled environment to ensure patient safety and the best possible vision outcomes.
• Don’t base your decision only on cost. If the cost of a certain doctor’s LASIK sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You don’t want to take risks with your vision just to save a buck.
• First impressions count. If you don’t feel comfortable with any aspect of the LASIK center you are researching, even if that center was recommended by a friend or family member, keep looking.

Dr. O'Day at Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery performs advanced blade-free LASIK in Charleston. He offers a free LASIK Consultation to help potential patients learn about their unique eye characteristics and determine whether LASIK is a viable option for clear vision. Most importantly, he uses the Consultation to help patients learn everything about LASIK and encourages them to ask questions about the procedure, the potential risks and his experience.

No medical procedure can ever be called 100% safe. However, by doing your diligent research and choosing an experienced LASIK doctor in Charleston, you will increase your odds for a successful outcome.

Call 843-856-5275 or charlestoncornea.com today to schedule your free LASIK Consultation at Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery. 

2014 World Sight Day

World Sight Day is October 9, 2014.  The call-to-action for this year’s observation is “No More Avoidable Blindness” and is part of an overall plan to reduce avoidable blindness by 25% by the year 2019. Created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), this initiative supports their overall theme of “Universal Eye Health” and protecting/preserving eyesight for people around the world. 

In celebration of this event, Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery is urging people to make their eye health a top priority by scheduling an eye exam in Charleston. We also encourage you to spread the word about the importance of regular eye exams. Often people neglect their eyesight – until they experience a problem. Regular eye exams can detect conditions that may be silently robbing you of your vision, such as glaucoma or cataracts, and eye doctors can even detect underlying health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or brain tumors.

During an eye exam, you may also learn that your eyes have the right conditions for vision correcting procedures, such as LASIK vision correction. During a free LASIK Consultation, you can learn about the pros and cons of LASIK, how LASIK technologies differ and find out if 20/20 vision without glasses is a possibility.

Make the most of World Sight Day 2014. Schedule your eye exam or free LASIK Consultation in Charleston today by contacting Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery at 843-856-5275 or charlestoncornea.com. 

LASIK for Astigmatism

In the early days of LASIK, patients with astigmatism were often not deemed good candidates for the procedure. Today, advances in LASIK technology allow many astigmatism patients to achieve better vision through this vision correction procedure.  

What is Astigmatism?

Astigmatism is a very common refractive error caused by an irregular shape of the cornea (the clear front of the eye) or by the curvature of the lens in the eye. Astigmatism eyes will not be the typical round shape, but rather football-shaped, which causes multiple focus points to occur on the front and/or back of the retina. This causes blurry or distorted vision for both near and far objects. Astigmatism can also be found in patients who are nearsighted or farsighted.

Not all astigmatism patients are good candidates for LASIK. The only way to know for sure is by having a full eye exam in Charleston with an ophthalmologist to have your eye anatomy analyzed. Conditions like corneal thickness, corneal topography and your medical history will be reviewed. At Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery, Dr. O'Day will only approve patients for advanced LASIK in Charleston if he feels the conditions are perfect for a good outcome. No doctor can guarantee 20/20 vision after LASIK, but by only treating patients who are good candidates the odds are improved.

If you have astigmatism and must wear glasses or contacts to improve your vision, contact Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery to schedule a free LASIK Consultation in Charleston. There is no obligation to proceed with the procedure, and it will provide insight into your own eye health and help you fully understand your vision improvement options.

Call 843-856-5275 to speak to the practice directly or visit charlestoncornea.com to schedule an appointment online any time day or night. 

Will School Make You Nearsighted?

Researchers in Germany have uncovered a possible link between spending more years in school and the prevalence and severity of nearsightedness. In the Gutenberg Health Study, they looked at 4,658 Germans ages 35-74 who had myopia (nearsightedness), which causes distant objects to appear blurry while close-up objects are clear. The study did not include participants with cataracts or anyone who had refractive surgery.

The Findings

• 53% of university graduates had myopia
• 39% of high school graduates had myopia
• 24% of participants without a high school education had myopia

The myopia became more severe with each additional year of school.

Don’t Sacrifice Education for Vision

We are not recommending that people drop out of school to possibly protect their vision. Instead, while you are pursuing your education, be aware of your environment and how it is affecting your eyesight. For example, take frequent breaks from your computer and give your eyes a rest.

Another Reason Why Recess is Important

If these findings are valid, it makes sense for students to increase their time outdoors…making recess an important part of the school day (regardless of your level of education).

Already Nearsighted? You Have Options

Of course, people can have myopia regardless of the amount of schooling – you can be born with this condition where your eye is too long or too steep, causing light rays to focus in front of your retina rather than on the surface. If you are already nearsighted, you have options to correct your vision, including LASIKvision correction in Charleston. This quick and virtually painless procedure uses a laser to microscopically reshape the cornea so light will focus on the retina (the back of the eye) and clear vision can be obtained.

To learn more about your own vision characteristics and find out if LASIK technology in Charleston may help you see with 20/20 vision, contact Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery by scheduling your free LASIK Consultation at charlestoncornea.com or by calling 843-856-5275. 

Celebrate the Summer Solstice

The summer solstice is Saturday, June 21, 2014 at 6:51am EDT. Hopefully you have plans to enjoy the longest day of the year with family and friends. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, some countries celebrate Midsummer’s Day which occurs near the solstice. Legend has it that the dew on Midsummer’s Day morning has special healing powers to make old people look younger, and Midsummer’s Eve is a time for wishes and magic.

Whether or not you believe in such folklore, this year’s summer solstice may be the perfect time to find out if your wish for better vision could come true. At Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery we have helped thousands of people reduce or eliminate their need for glasses and contacts through LASIK vision correction in Charleston. Many of our patients feel as though our LASIK technology truly is “magic” because after just a few short minutes of laser treatment they are already starting to see better. Of course, every patient heals at a different rate, but after a good night’s sleep most LASIK patients are able to see without glasses the next morning.

It’s important to note that even successful LASIK patients may require reading glasses later in life from a condition called presbyopia. This affects most people after age 40 and is caused as the eye lenses become less flexible as we age making it difficult to focus on up-close objects. So, the sooner you have LASIK as an adult, the longer you may be able to enjoy a lens-free life.

If you wish you could say goodbye to glasses or contacts, find out if LASIK might be right for you. Schedule a free LASIK Consultation at Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery by calling 843-856-5275 or visiting charlestoncornea.com to schedule your appointment online. You can also take our free online LASIK Self-Evaluation anytime, day or night, to find out if you might be in the ballpark for this procedure. 

How Do You Handle Visual Information Overload?

Have you ever experienced information overload…on your eyes? There is a real condition called Load-Induced Blindness that occurs when you have too much visual information coming at you. A new study showed that when you are faced with a lot of visual data at once, your ability to see critical information is reduced – similar to what happens when there are lower light levels on an image you need to detect.

The study included volunteers with normal vision who completed a sensory memory task involving colors, positions and line orientations on rapidly flashing squares. In high load situations (lots of visual data), participants were only able to accurately spot line orientation in 64% of the images; in low load situations, that percentage went up to 95%. In the high load situations, participants needed 50% more light contrast to increase accuracy.

The bottom line is that too much visual information at one time may cause you to miss important things. Add into the mix that your vision is impaired with nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism and you may have an even more difficult time at distinguishing important images during attention-demanding situations (although this was not specifically included in the study).

Having LASIK in Charleston to correct vision problems will not change how your brain processes high loads of visual information, but it may allow you to see without the need for corrective lenses (glasses or contact lenses)…removing one more barrier to seeing clearly. LASIK has changed the lives of many of our patients at Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery, allowing them to work, play and parent with visual freedom.

To learn more about LASIK technology in Charleston and find out how much LASIK costs, contact Dr. O'Day to schedule a free LASIK Consultation. Call 843-856-5275 or visit our website at charlestoncornea.com today. 

Enjoy March Madness Even More

March Madness begins March 18! Whether you plan to root for your college alma mater in the NCAA tournament or just love any kind of college basketball, you are bound to see exciting wins and devastating upsets. The question is, will you be watching the action through a corrective lens?

If you are nearsighted, farsighted or have astigmatism, you probably have to wear glasses or contacts to see clearly. And, let’s face it; glasses and contacts can get in the way of your celebrations. Wouldn’t it be much better to watch your favorite teams with your own lens-free eyes?

Charleston LASIK vision correction just might be the ticket to visual freedom. Of course, not everyone will see with 20/20 vision after LASIK, but when you choose an eye doctor in Charleston who has a great track record of success, uses advanced LASIK technology and performs a thorough LASIK screening process to ensure you’re a good candidate, the odds are definitely in your favor. Dr. O'Day is that surgeon and he’s ready to help you take those first steps.

Make a fast break to improve your vision. Call Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery today at 843-856-5275 or charlestoncornea.com to schedule a free LASIK Consultation in Charleston. 

Olympic Medalist Bode Miller Regrets Not Having LASIK

The 2014 Olympics are over, but many of the athletes are still feeling the pain of disappointing losses. One such athlete is alpine ski racer, Bode Miller. After failing to reach all of his goals in Sochi, he revealed to the media that he would have changed the skis he used for one of the races, would have changed his skiing style and would have had LASIK vision correction surgery before the Olympics as he had planned.

"I was supposed to get an eye surgery earlier this year," Miller said. "We just never found a time to do it because the race schedule was so tight. We were pretty [upset] looking back that we hadn't found a time to do that. For me, my vision is critical. When the light's perfect, I can ski with any of the best guys in the world. When it goes out, my particular style suffers more than the guys who are more stable and don't do as much in the middle of the turn."

Miller’s comments drive home the fact that waiting for the ‘perfect’ time to have LASIK simply doesn't pay. So many people fret over the idea for years before having a LASIK evaluation…only to find out that they were never a good candidate for LASIK in the first place because of their eye condition or health condition.

At Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery, many of the patients we perform successful LASIK procedures on remark that they “Wish they had done it sooner” because of the level of visual freedom they experience after LASIK in Charleston, South Carolina.

Even if you’re not an Olympic athlete, having better vision can not only improve your game…it can improve your life. Don’t regret not having LASIK. With the amazing LASIK technology available today, the perfect time to have LASIK is right now. Contact Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery at 843-856-5275 or charlestoncornea.com to schedule your free LASIK Consultation. 

LASIK and Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a common refractive error, which means that the eye does not focus light properly on the retina (the back of the eye). This condition causes light to focus on areas in front of and/or behind the retina, making vision blurry or distorted at all distances.

Astigmatism occurs when you have an irregularly-shaped cornea. LASIK vision correction can often correct the “football” shaped cornea of astigmatism into more of a “basketball” shape, thereby allowing light to properly focus on the retina and provide clear vision.

LASIK is not the best option for all patients with astigmatism. For example, if your corneas are too thin to support the procedure or if you have a medical condition that may interfere with healing, an alternative to LASIK (such as PRK) might be more appropriate.

Advances in LASIK technology have made this popular procedure a viable option for more patients than ever before. To find out if you might be a good candidate for LASIK, contact Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery in Charleston to schedule your free LASIK Consultation at 843-856-5275 or charlestoncornea.com. 

Lasers in Toys Pose Eye Damage Risk

With the holidays just around the corner, your kids are probably already making their “wish” list for Santa. If toys with lasers are topping the lists, you may want to reconsider letting Santa bring those products down the chimney.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned consumers that toys that incorporate lasers pose a threat of serious eye injury and even blindness, especially when the laser beams are shone into the eye.

Products with lasers like the ones listed below can injure kids, adults and even pets:

• “Weapons” such as toy guns or lightsabers
• Spinning tops
• Optical effect lasers for entertainment

When pointed at your eyes, these lasers may even be more hazardous than staring directly into the sun.

If you must purchase a toy that incorporates a laser, read the labels on the products to make sure it complies with 21 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Subchapter J. For more information about this consumer update, click here.

At Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery we use lasers for LASIK vision correction; however, this eye surgery is done in a controlled environment using extreme safety precautions. Our LASIK technology has been FDA-approved for LASIK and we continually monitor any changes to the FDA approval.  

To learn more about LASIK, contact our office to schedule your free LASIK Consultation at 843-856-5275 or charlestoncornea.com. 

It’s Your Last Chance to Think about Yourself before the Holidays!

The holiday season is right around the corner. That means an endless stream of holiday parties, gift-buying, present-wrapping, cooking, baking, decorating…and on…and on…and on…

Before the holiday craziness hits, take a moment to do something good for yourself...something that will help make your holiday season a little easier…especially if you currently wear glasses or contacts to correct myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism.

We’re talking about LASIK vision correction.

Did you know that more than 14 million Americans have had LASIK to correct a refractive error? This is when your eye is shaped in a way that light does not focus directly on the back of the eye (the retina). LASIK uses lasers to remove tiny, precisely targeted amounts of corneal tissue to create a slightly different shape and allow light to focus properly. The effectiveness of this procedure depends on several factors:

• The LASIK technology being used
• The experience of the surgeon
• The health and condition of your eyes

The best news is that the entire surgery only takes minutes per eye, and most patients are able to return to work (or their holiday preparations) within a day or two after surgery. And, if you’re concerned about spending too much money before the holidays, Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery offers LASIK financing options to make the procedure budget-friendly.

Treat yourself to a free LASIK Consultation. You might learn that you could remove the added stress of glasses and contacts from your holidays. Contact Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery in Charleston today by calling 843-856-5275 or visiting charlestoncornea.com.