Dishler Laser - Blog

Like Dyson says, "There's a misconception that invention is about having a great idea, tinkering with it in the tool shed for a few days, then appearing with the finished design. In fact, it's usually a far longer and iterative process - trying something over and over, changing one small variable at a time.  Trial and error. " These new ideas often arise when you least expect them and often times these new ideas stem from a problem with the current design.  The same can be said for advancements in the refractive surgery arena, with constant reinvention we have be able to solve the problems with flawed design to create products and procedures that work better and have less risk to patients.  This continued mental tinkering has lead to my latest patent, a new lens that may be able to solve the problem of reading glasses!

Our mission at Dishler Laser Institute is " to meet or exceed our patients expectations". We are happy to share our patient's actual words about their LASIK experience at Dishler LASIK.

Let me start out by putting the link to the video which inspired this topic right here: Fear of LASIK

This patient discusses how he overcame the fear of LASIK surgery and went on to have an experience which was much easier than he anticipated and now has great uncorrected vision.  Many patients have two concerns, fear and cost in that order.  They often ask about cost because they are uncomfortable talking about fear.  Chris Meyer in this short video described it so honestly and clearly when he said that he heard a little voice in his head that said, "I can do this" and then took the next step.  Our job is not only to perform LASIK to the best of our abilities but also to help those who want to examine this option be able to make that same statement, you CAN do this.

Many websites these days have a video or two making them multimedia experiences.  We have dozens of videos, including a new video viewer section which includes many videos by category and includes transcripts of all of them.  Why so many videos?  We believe at Dishler LASIK that you can get to know us better by watching these videos on a variety of topics.  Many of them include television interviews on a variety of topics.  While we have much of the same information on our website, the video gives a more  personal approach to learning about our center, our philosophy and our people. 

It has been fifty years since the LASER was invented and 25 years ago was when the first laser vision correction procedure was performed.  About five years laser or almost 20 years ago the very first LASIK or instrastromal laser vision correction was performed in Italy, and it has been 15 years since Dishler Laser Institute began performing LASIK in Colorado.  We were also about the first to offer the all laser method of vision correction approximately 10 years ago.  Some of these events are being commerated this week in Paris at the ESCRS, a meeting of European and international doctors who are celebrating the changes that lasers have made in the field of vision correction.

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.

Most everyone has heard of the four C's of diamonds that are carat, color, cut and clarity (not necessarily in that order).  We have found that there are also four C's in LASIK which gives a basis to begin to evaluate LASIK providers and the decision to have this procedure.  The first one that comes to mind is COST (this could be for diamonds also but they don't mention it for some reason).  The second is COMFORT since nobody or almost nobody wants to experience pain.  The third C is Convenience of the visits, the procedure, and lifestyle impact in general.  And the final C is the most important one, credibility.  You will notice that I did not mention anything about results which are implicit that the reasons people want laser vision correction are to see better, and we have already discussed how with the best technology available today, the results are in general excellent.

Tomorrow, June 29th is the one year anniversary of appearing on the Tom Martino show, and this week we are bringing a patient who had LASIK with Dr. Jon Dishler one year ago.  Our guest, Brian, is an avid golfer, and he is going to share how having LASIK last summer improved his game both right away and now a year later.  Brian began with 20/100 vision, and had trouble with contacts drying on his eyes.  He couldn't see the alarm clock when he woke up, and he had a lot of trouble especially on windy days.  Now he can see better than 20/20 which is a common experience of our LASIK patients.  He is able to be very competitive at golf and enjoy all the activities that summer offers.

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.