Dishler Laser - Blog

So many people when they hear the word astigmatism, their eyes glaze over and a look of confusion overcomes them.  For many the word alone, astigmatism suggests that there is something very wrong with their eyes.  Perhaps it is a weakness, some sort of birth defect, and likely not very easy to fix.  It usually means contact lenses that are much more expensive and less comfortable and effective.  While great strides have been made in fixing simple near sightedness with contacts and LASIK, astigmatism has been more difficult to treat.  Let us look at exactly what astigmatism is and why we can be more positive about the options to take the "stigma" out of astigmatism.

It was early in the 1990's before anyone even thought about LASIK that we were first with another procedure, ALK.  In Automated Lamellar Keratoplasty (ALK) we used a microkeratome to make a thin flap on the cornea, and then removed a small amount of corneal tissue to reduce severe nearsightedness (sound familiar?).  This procedure was an outgrowth of an even older procedure where the front of the cornea was reshaped using a lathe, that dates back about forty years!  This new procedure was a major advancement, and I published on our results with nine other doctors from around the country, many of whom are leaders in their own community in refractive vision corrective surgery.  What we learned in these procedures made us realize that although our results were promising, they were inexact and needed the refinement that a laser could offer.