EYE

The process of LASIK eye surgery can be divided into five steps:

1. After you lie down flat, your ophthalmologist will use eye drops to numb your eyes. Although you won’t be in pain, you might feel pressure during the procedure. Patients have reported that the pressure is like a finger pressing against your eyelid.
2. Your surgeon will place an eyelid holder and suction ring on your eye. The holder will keep you from blinking and the ring will keep your eye from moving. Your vision will dim, or possibly go completely black.
3. Using a laser programmed with your eye measurements, your surgeon will make a flap as thin as a piece of paper in your cornea. They’ll then lift and fold that flap back, like turning the page of a book.
4. Next, your surgeon will ask you to stare at a light shining in your eye. Staring at it keeps your eyes from moving. The laser is used again, this time to reshape your cornea so that it refracts light better. The laser might make a clicking/ticking sound. You might smell the scent of burned hair.
5. Finally, your ophthalmologist will fold the flap of tissue back down. It will start to heal quickly — settling into place within two to three minutes.

It’s understandable if the process of LASIK surgery makes you feel uncomfortable. No one likes to think about a laser touching their eye. You might find it reassuring to know that LASIK is proven to be a safe procedure and very few people have any long-term side effects.

Blepharoplasty takes 1-2 hours if both upper and lower eyelids are done at the same time, depending on whether fat is repositioned or if there is additional work to lift cheeks. There will be a stitch in both upper lids that will remain for about a week. The lower lids do not require sutures if the incision is made on the inside of the lid. It is common for swelling and bruising to occur in the upper and lower lids. Within one to two weeks the upper eyelids will look good. Upper lids show the incision line and take a bit longer than lower lids to look great. Expect to stay home from work and limit your activities for several days after surgery to allow your eyelids to heal. Some patients experience dry eyes after surgery, but the condition rarely lasts more than two weeks. If you have dry eyes for more than two weeks, contact your doctor.

Blepharoplasty is a surgical procedure that reduces bagginess from lower eyelids and improves hooding of the upper eyelids. Upper blepharoplasty is a distinct surgery from upper eyelid ptosis repair, which raises drooping upper eyelids. Blepharoplasty often calls for the removal of excess skin, muscle, and underlying fatty tissue, but sometimes tissues can be repositioned rather than removed. While it is primarily a cosmetic procedure, blepharoplasty is also an effective method for improving sight in patients whose sagging upper eyelids obstruct their vision as determined by an ophthalmologist or oculoplastic surgeon.

Blepharoplasty with fat removal does not eliminate dark circles under the eyes or remove crow's feet or other facial wrinkles. Other blepharoplasty techniques that employ fat repositioning or cheek lifting can improve dark circles. Blepharoplasty can be performed in conjunction with other facial surgery procedures, such as laser resurfacing or brow lifts.

Recovery times vary depending on what type of eye surgery you have.

For cataract surgery, it can take four to eight weeks to recover completely, but you should be able to return to your routine earlier than that.

For LASIK and similar surgeries, it might take up to four weeks to get back to all your activities, but you may be able to go back to work the next day.

For a vitrectomy, you’ll be off work or school for about two to four weeks. You’ll have to follow instructions on how to position your head.

For glaucoma surgery, you’ll have a recovery time of about two to six weeks.

For corneal transplants, you may have full vision after three months. It may take as long as 12 months or more.

Generally, before any type of procedure, a provider will want you to stop eating or drinking for a specific period before the surgery. In many cases, they’ll tell you to stop everything by midnight. You should ask them to confirm how far in advance you should stop eating or drinking.

In some cases, they’ll ask you to stop regular medications at some point before the surgery. You should ask them to make sure what medications you may need to stop and when you should stop them.

Many of the routine eye procedures are ones where you can go home the same day. You’ll need an adult to drive you home after the surgery and may need someone to stay with you a while when you’re home.

 Diabetes related retinopatthy is a common complication of diabetes. It’s one of the leading causes of blindness in adults.

Diabetes-related retinopathy is a disease in which there’s ongoing damage to blood vessels in the retina due to long-term unmanaged high sugar (glucose) levels in your blood. Your retina is the light-sensitive tissue in your eye that is needed for clear vision. Most people with diabetes-related retinopathy show no vision changes until the disease is severe. In others, symptoms come and go.

Symptoms include:

• Blurred or distorted vision.
• New color blindness or seeing colors as faded.
• Poor night vision.
• Small dark spots or streaks in your vision.
• Trouble reading or seeing faraway objects.

Treatments include injections of a specific type of medication and surgery that addresses repairing or shrinking blood vessels in the retina.

A cataract is a clouding of your eye’s lens. This cloudy lens can develop in one or both eyes. Cataracts are the world’s leading cause of blindness. In the U.S., cataracts is the leading cause of reversible vision loss. Cataracts can occur at any age and even be present at birth, but are more common in people over the age of 50.

Symptoms of a cataract include:

• Cloudy/blurry vision.
• Glare around lights at night.
• Trouble seeing at night.
• Sensitivity to bright light.
• Need for bright light to read.
• Changes to the way you see color.
• Frequent changes to your eyeglass prescription.

Surgery to remove and replace the cloudy lens with an artificial lens is highly successful with more than 90% of people seeing better after cataract removal.