LASIK SURGERY

Are you a LASIK Surgery Candidate?
During your initial free LASIK surgery evaluation, we will thoroughly examine your eyes and perform comprehensive testing to make sure that iLASIK and a WaveFront Lasik custom procedure is the right for you.  A medical and eye history will be taken and several tests will be performed, including:

• Dry eye testing
• Visual acuity and refractive error
• VISX CustomVue aberrometer readings
• Pupil size in low & medium light
• Ocular pressure
• General health of the eyes
• Corneal topography & Corneal thickness 

What if I am not a LASIK surgery candidate?

• PRK is laser vision correction similar to LASIK surgery, performed without a flap.  PRK results are equivalent to LASIK and is the preferred laser treatment of choice for patients with a variety of conditions which preclude LASIK sugery.  Click here to read more about PRK.
  
  
• NON-LASER OPTIONS FOR PATIENTS LESS THAN 45
  Many patients are not candidates for either LASIK surgery or PRK surgery due to severely thin corneas, irregularly-shaped corneas, or severe myopia (near-sightedness).  A solution for these patients requiring vision correction is the Visian ICL™ (Intraocular Contact Lens).  The word "phakic" means that your natural crystalline lens is left in the eye.  The procedure involves placing a lens implant inside the eye similar to a soft contact lens.  This is generally done in a 15-20 minute procedure under topical anesthesia, one eye at a time.  The implant is between the iris and the lens (Visian ICL™).  This gives the eye another focusing lens that provides high-quality, high-definition vision that, for very near-sighted people, has been shown to be better than LASIK surgery.  For patients less than 40-45 years of age, the Visian ICL™ allows for viewing at both near and far.  The implant can be removed if needed.  Click here to read more about ICLs.
  
  
• NON-LASER OPTIONS FOR PATIENTS OLDER THAN 45
  If you are not an ideal candidate for LASIK surgery and are over 45, intraocular lenses might be a good option for you.  Intraocular lenses, or IOLs, are artificial lenses that replace the eye's natural lens which is easily removed with a surgical procedure known as phacoemulsification.  Implanted routinely following cataract surgery, IOLs have been around since the mid-1960s, though the first FDA approval for one occurred in 1981.
  
  The new multifocal IOLs (Restor™ and Rezoom™) and accommodating IOLs (Crystalens™) offer the possibility of seeing well at more than one distance, without glasses or contacts.  This is especially attractive for patients who need both distance correction as well as reading correction.  Click here to read more about multifocal lenses.
  
  Once the pre-operative testing is complete, you will meet with a LASIK Counselor to discuss your testing results and your candidacy for LASIK surgery.  You will also discuss LASIK surgery fees and scheduling at this time.  Click here to read more about the cost of Lasik surgery.

Featured Article:

So You’re Thinking About Having LASIK Surgery? 

[Posted on November 13]

GREAT…now go do your homework.  The first thing to research before having Lasik surgery is the surgeon.  How many LASIK procedures has he/she performed?  The second thing is technology (for instance…many surgeons still create their patients flap with the microkeratome (blade) system.  Last, but not least is… price (many people put price over surgeon and technology). 

The Surgeon:  Dr. Edward Wade of the Eye Center of Texas is one of the top LASIK surgeons in the country.  He has performed over 40,000 LASIK procedures and is considered “the doctors…doctor” – meaning more Houston doctors refer their patients to him than any other LASIK surgeon.  And…he is known for correcting other LASIK surgeon’s mistakes.  He is also one of a select number of surgeons in Houston that offers the Visian ICL procedure – a procedure for extremely nearsighted people that probably are not candidates for LASIK. 

Technology:  Many doctors that perform the LASIK surgery in the Houston area are still using metal microkeratomes (blades) to make flaps.  The difficulty with flaps being make with microkeratomes - is the chance of a significant complication is much greater than with the IntraLase (blade free) method for creating flaps.  Dr. Wade used the blade microkeratomes for many years, but as soon as a safer and more precise technology was available, he changed over.  Now, all our flaps made during the iLASIK procedure are blade free IntraLase.  Dr. Wade loves the safety and exact nature of the blade free flap making experience.

Additionally, some Houston doctors that are performing the LASIK surgery are still doing non custom LASIK procedures.  At the Eye Center of Texas we only offer the Advanced CustomVue Wavefront–guided VISX excimer laser technology for a truly customized experience.  When you match the IntraLase method with the CustomVue Wavefront laser vision correction procedure, you get the absolute best results.  iLASIK is the latest and most advanced LASIK procedure available - and it’s the only technology the Eye Center of Texas offers.

Price:  If you check around, you will find that we are not the most expensive…but then we are not the cheapest.  We are right in line with the other reputable Houston doctors that perform the LASIK surgery…but in addition to having surgery by Dr. Wade, one of the top LASIK surgeons in the county – you will receive a ‘limited lifetime warranty’.  Very few LASIK surgeons offer this.  And if you need a little help with payments, you may want to consider Care Credit Financing.  This makes it easier for those patients that would like to ease the burden of payment.

Call the Eye Center of Texas at 713-395-1515 to schedule your FREE iLASIK evaluation or visit us at www.eyecenteroftexas.com