Dr. Baseer Khan, MD, FRCS(C), P.CEO, Ophthalmologist, discusses LASIK eye surgery as an option for some patients who want to eliminate the need for glasses.

Dr. Baseer Khan, MD, FRCS(C), P.CEO, Ophthalmologist, discusses SMILE eye surgery as an option for some patients who want to eliminate the need for glasses.

SMILE is a laser refractive surgery procedure that involves reshaping the cornea by using a femtosecond laser, which is a cutting laser, to create a little wafer of tissue within the cornea. And then that small little wafer is removed through a two-millimetre incision.

So unlike LASIK there’s no flap created, and the tissue is removed through cutting, not ablation. The risks associated with SMILE are like LASIK: dry eye and halos. There is a small risk of regression, meaning that you could drift back a little bit to your old prescription, but if that happens you can often have an enhancement.

The biggest advancement or advantage of SMILE is that there’s no flap created. So there’s no risk of having it dislodged or moved, even in the short period or long period. So if you’re somebody who’s actively involved in sports, like boxing or MMA, or any other physical activities, SMILE may be a good option for you, or a better option, compared to some of the other surgeries that are available today.

To find out more about SMILE, please talk to your optometrist or local refractive surgeon, who would be more than happy to talk to you to see whether you’re a candidate, and what your options are.

Presenter: Dr. Baseer Khan, Ophthalmologist, Vaughan, ON

Local Practitioners: Ophthalmologist

Dr. David Mitchell, OD, discusses laser eye surgery.

LASIK is considered by most refractive surgeons to be the gold standard of laser eye corrective surgery. What does LASIK involve? It involves reshaping the cornea, like all other laser eye surgeries, but specifically, by creating a small flap in the front of the cornea. The cornea is the clear part of the front of the eye.

We create a 100-micron flap, lift the flap up and apply an excimer laser – similar to the same laser that’s used for PRK, to reshape the surface of the eye. Put the flap back down, and let the eye heal over a very short period of time, giving patients a very fast recovery after having had laser eye surgery with minimal discomfort.

Candidates for LASIK could include anybody between a minus 10 to a plus 3 in terms of refraction or high myope or even a low hypero. The most important thing that your surgeon will look for when assessing your candidacy for laser eye surgery is to make sure that your cornea, which is the clear part of the eye, is thick enough to allow removal of some of the tissue.

Patients with severe dry eye, patients with autoimmune diseases, are not candidates for LASIK, and unfortunately will have to look at other opportunities to remove their glasses.

The side effects associated with LASIK include dry eyes, glare and halos at night. The other thing that LASIK patients need to be aware of, especially in the short term immediately after surgery, is they shouldn’t rub their eyes, because if they do, that flap can get dislodged and be moved and need to be repositioned.

Long term, for people particularly who are actively involved in contact sports or otherwise, if they get hit in the eye – even 10 or 15 years after having had surgery, they can move that flap. So if you’re into contact sports like boxing, or MMA, or other similar sports, LASIK may not be the right procedure for you.

But for 99 percent of patients LASIK is a great procedure with amazing and phenomenal outcomes. To find out if you’re a candidate for LASIK, please talk to your optometrist or your local refractive surgeon, who will be more than happy to evaluate you and share their thoughts.

Presenter: Dr. Baseer Khan, Ophthalmologist, Vaughan, ON

Local Practitioners: Ophthalmologist

Dr. Baseer Khan, MD, FRCS(C), P.CEO, Ophthalmologist, discusses PRK surgery as an option for some patients who want to eliminate the need for glasses.

Laser surgery is a way of trying to correct either your nearsightedness, your farsightedness or if you have astigmatism, to correct the astigmatism by using a laser.

It is not meant for everybody but your optometrist is the first person you can consult with in regards to that, and he will meausre the refractive status of your eye, he can check to see that your eye is healthy for it and then he is able to refer you to a good refractive surgeon to have the procedure done.

Follow up is done by the optometrist and it generally will cover about a year’s time. It will also make sure that the surgery goes well, that the eye heals properly and the vision is what we expect it to be.

Presenter: Dr. David Mitchell, Optometrist, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Optometrist