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Seeing without glasses - LASIK or lens What is better?
In Germany, more than 60 percent of people over the age of 16 now need glasses - and the trend is rising. Extensive computer work, long reading in rooms with little daylight and improper eating habits have led to an increase in ametropia in recent years. However, many adults are bothered by the glasses and they opt for surgical measures such as eye lasers or lens implants to permanently dispense with the unloved "nose bike". Which method is suitable and when at a glance:
LASIK - method of choice for low refractive errors
Correction with the laser is considered very safe today. LASIK stands for Laser in situ Keratomileusis and is a scientifically recognized method to correct myopia to minus ten, farsightedness to three and astigmatism to about minus five diopters. In today's conventional femto-LASIK, a very thin layer of the cornea is first prepared with a laser. This layer, also known as flap, is folded to the side and the released inner surface of the cornea is treated with an excimer cold-light laser. Dr. Robert Löblich, ophthalmologist at the Artemis Eye Clinics in Frankfurt, explains what happens: "The laser changes the refractive power in the eye and thus corrects the refractive error." LASIK has been approved in Germany since 1990 and thus the procedure with the most experience. The procedure is not suitable for pregnant women or nursing mothers because changes in the refractive power occur in the body due to hormonal changes. No or only limited LASIK treatments are suitable for people with rheumatism or certain eye diseases.
Lasik or lens? Picture: blueringmedia - fotolia Contact lenses in the eye
To enable more ill-informed people to live without glasses, doctors use art lenses that correct long-sightedness to eight diopters and myopia to minus 20 dioptres - even in combination with astigmatism. In doing so, they eye an artificial lens in addition to their own. The natural ability of the eye to focus itself on different distances is maintained in this procedure as well as in LASIK. For the procedure already sufficient a pinhead sized cut. "Since no tissue is removed here, lens implants are also suitable for people with very thin corneas," Dr. Commendable. "And the procedure is reversible." Stable glasses for at least one year are considered a prerequisite for the operation. In addition, physicians advise against chronic eye inflammation as well as during pregnancy and lactation from such interventions.
Even extreme vision problems can be corrected
To treat extreme vision defects of up to -24 and +10 diopters, physicians use combined lens use and LASIK procedures. In all methods, patients enjoy their new vision a short time after the operation. "Many patients report that the surgery has given them a whole new sense of life with a tremendously improved quality of life," says Dr. Commendable. (Pm)