Lasik Eye Surgery & Treatment in Dubai
Refractive surgery is the term used to describe surgical procedures that correct common vision problems like nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia. This vision correction procedure will reduce your dependence on prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses. LASIK is the most popular refractive laser eye surgery performed in Dubai. Over the past 25 years, surgical techniques, tools, and procedures for vision correction have evolved rapidly.
The ophthalmologists at Quirónsalud use laser techniques like Intralasik, iLasik and PRK/Lasek. Our Lasik eye specialist doctors will make a comprehensive review of your eye conditions before advising on the most appropriate procedure.
Approx. procedure time
10 Mins
Both eyes
Approx. recovery time
1-2 Days
About Refractive Problems
Published estimates based on epidemiological studies indicate that myopia affects 1.89 billion people worldwide, and, if the current prevalence rates do not change, projections show that it will affect 2.56 billion people by 2020.
Myopia and high myopia is estimated to affect 27% (1893 million) and 2.8% (170 million) of the world population, respectively, in 2010.
A Singaporean survey found the mean cost of myopia approximately USD $709 per person per year.
It is estimated that about 153 million people around the world are visually impaired because of uncorrected refractive errors. It seems that these errors are the commonest cause of visual impairment and the second leading cause of treatable blindness.
Poor vision may influence the child’s performance in school and has a negative impact on his or her future life in terms of affecting the child’s personality.
A recent screening conducted in Dubai private schools revealed that the common error of refractions identified among the sample were myopia (9.8%), hypermetropia (4.8%) and astigmatism (43.9%).
The most significant preventable risk factor for visual disorders in children is maternal smoking. Children of women who smoked cigarettes during pregnancy have higher rates of strabismus, hyperopic, and astigmatism.
Myopia in children has been significantly related to lower consumption of protein, fat, Vitamins B1 B2 and C and iron, besides the cholesterol factor as well as less exposure to sun.
FAQs
All our surgeries are performed under anesthesia so the patient don’t have pain at all and the time of performance is very short. Laser surgeries or lens implantations don’t require aggressive anesthesia. The refractive surgeon will assess you about this.
When will I recover my vision for normal performance?
Depending on the procedure can be different, but most of our cases recover good vision in some hours to 2 or 3 days. In very few cases, can be later but the refractive surgeon will tell you before.
Are the results forever?
Myopia can increase with the time but very low frequency and amounts. If you need glasses again with the years, in most of the cases you can have an enhancement but this situation is very unusual.
Are there any possible complications?
Refractive surgery is performed worldwide and is considered a safe surgery. It is normal to have some light disturbances as dry eye sensation, visual adaptation, sensibility to light, night halos or brighter lights during the first days. All of them tend to decrease with time. Severe complications are avoided with proper patient selection, correct surgical indication and adequate postoperative care. The refractive surgeon will explain it in detail before the surgery.
Can I become myopic again if I got pregnant?
Normally, pregnancy doesn’t increase myopia. In the unusual case of increases due to the evolution of pregnancy, they tend to be small and most of them return to the previous state after the birth.
What if I am pregnant now?
We advise all pregnant woman to wait some months after the childbirth to have refractive surgery
Advantages of the Lasik Treatment
The operation lasts only about 10 minutes and will be followed by a short rest period in the clinic, after which the patient can go home.
No Touching of the Eye
No Cutting
Comfortable Procedure
LASIK Eye Surgery Facts
- The procedure is done with a high-tech precise laser
- It is simple and takes about 10 minutes in its entirety
- Recovery is a breeze and needs minimal post-op care
- Surgery is quick and easy. Most people are amazed how effortless it is
- Patients experience substantially improved eyesight just a few hours after surgery
Why LASIK Surgery Is Right for You?
Before you decide to have LASIK surgery, visit one of our eye specialists at Quirónsalud to talk about whether or not it is the right procedure for you. LASIK eye surgery might not be the best option if your eye glasses or contact lens prescription is still changing. People with thin corneas or with certain medical conditions, such as dry eyes, might not be good candidates for LASIK surgery either.
Our LASIK Center in Dubai
IntraLase
IntraLase is a new state of the art laser treatment that prepares the LASIK corneal flap by using a femtosecond laser. Usually, LASIK treatments use a mechanical device called a microkeratome which uses a blade to produce the LASIK flap. IntraLase is a “no blade” procedure a flap which is much more precise in depth, is cleaner, more accurate and is thinner.
The surgical process for Intralasik uses the femtosecond laser, creating microscopic gas bubbles to slice through the tissue. People with naturally thick cornea can get more benefit from this procedure than traditional LASIK treatment
Benefits of IntraLase Treatment Flaps
The primary benefit is that all suitable prescriptions can now be treated with bladeless technology, thus eliminating the induced distortion and possibility of serious complications associated with the creation of the flap by the manual blade.
More patients achieve 20:20 vision or better; fewer patients lose the sharpness of vision. Both short term and long-term safety are improved upon. Increased confidence for both the doctor and patient lessens stress and anxiety. Both mechanical breakdown and human error are reduced.
How is PRK performed?
Initially, your eye surgeon will remove a central area of the corneal epithelium with an alcohol solution or a blunt surgical instrument. After this process, an excimer laser is used to precisely reshape the curvature of your cornea’s surface.
The laser is computer-controlled and highly specialized which delivers pulses of cool ultraviolet light that remove microscopic amounts of tissue with precision. Later, a soft contact lens bandage is placed on the cornea to protect the eye. New epithelial cells grow back in about four to five days, after which the ophthalmologist removes the bandage contact lens.
LASIK Treatment FAQ’s
LASIK
The LASIK surgery technique is currently the most widely used for the correction of refractive defects and is fully consolidated after more than 25 years in Dubai and worldwide. The main indications are myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism.
In the LASIK technique, a superficial corneal flap is lifted, and the excimer laser is applied for seconds to the superficial layers of the cornea, in order to reshape its curvature and be able to have clear vision.
In total, the operation lasts about 10 minutes and will be followed by a short rest period in the clinic, which the patient must pass before being able to go home.
Phakic intraocular lenses (ICL)
Patients with high myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism, thin corneas or low vision despite the best possible optical correction, we can get better results by implanting a flexible epicapsular lens compared with LASIK. These are clear implantable lenses that are surgically placed directly in front or behind the iris without removing your natural eye lenses. The intraocular lenses work from within your eye, and you cannot feel the lens in your eyes like contact lenses.
The ICLs are made of soft, biocompatible collagen polymers and hence are very flexible. During the implantation, the lens can be folded, requiring a small surgical incision to complete the process. The intervention is performed under topical anaesthesia (drops), it takes around 5 minutes, and it is not necessary to patch the eye after surgery. The vision is recovered very soon.
Flexible epicapsular ICL lenses are able to correct up to 18 dioptres of myopia, and 8 dioptres of hyperopia, with or without associated astigmatism of up to 6 dioptres. For refractive impairment above this dioptre range, or in the case there is a residual refractive impairment, which is very rare, the patient may undergo a refractive adjustment procedure using the LASIK or PRK-LASEK techniques.
FAQs About ICL LensesENSE
What is Presbyopia
Presbyopia is the main visual anomaly that affects people over 45 years. It happens when the natural lens of the eye loses part of its flexibility. This flexibility allows the eye to focus on different distances. Presbyopia is associated with aging of the organs and can not be prevented. Currently, we have very safe and effective surgical treatment to correct this problem.
When the eye is relaxed, it is also normally focused for far. No matter if the person is wearing glasses or not. When the person needs to focus a near object, the brain sends an order to some muscles around the lens to make it steeper. If we want to focus for far again, the muscles relax and the lens recovers its natural curvature. After 45 years old, the lens proteins start to become stiffer and despite the brain impulses, the lens doesn’t curve so much and there is a blurred near the image.
The initial symptoms may be noticed with the difficulties in reading and the need to hold reading material farther away to see them clearly. Some people may also develop blurred vision at near reading distances, including headaches or eye strains, after engaging with close-up work.
Presbyopia is progressive until 55 – 60 years old. The patient will have to use glasses or contact lenses to see nearby images. The amount of diopters needed will depend on the age and the working distance. Most of the presbyopic patients use reading or progressive glasses. With the increase in life expectancy, presbyopia prevalence will also increase. Around 80% of population over 45 years and almost 100% of those over 65 suffer from presbyopia.
If I have surgery for my presbyopia, will I develop cataracts?
If presbyopia is corrected with a multifocal intraocular lens, we can also correct other refractive problems (myopia, farsightedness and/or astigmatism) and, as we change the eye lens, the patient will not develop cataracts when older. In case of laser correction, cataracts can develop as we keep the eye lens. The refractive surgeon will advise the best procedure for each individual case.
What is Myopia
Myopia is a problem of refraction manifested when the patient perceives fuzzy far objects with nearer than normal vision due to a longer than normal eye or because the cornea, the lens or both are too powerful.
Despite the bad far vision, myopia is not a disease in most of the cases. The patients develop normal life but they must wear glasses or contact lenses at any time. Only in some cases, myopia is related to bad vision due to anatomical problems, normally in cases with high number of diopters.
Signs and symptoms of nearsightedness include blurry vision when looking at distant objects and may cause headaches due to eye strain. Those with myopia may need to squint or partially close the eyelids to see clearly. Night myopia is a condition where you may have difficulties while driving a vehicle, especially at night.
Symptoms of myopia may occur from infancy and may increase over time as changes in graduation occur. As a rule, myopia tends to stabilize from the age of 18 years and once the evolution has stopped, further increases are very spare. It may present with other refractive defects, such as astigmatism (myopic astigmatism) or presbyopia.
Is there any diopter limit for myopia correction?
The correction limits with laser surgery are usually 8 to 10 diopters of myopia. These limits may vary depending on the characteristics of each patient. For higher amounts of myopia, an intraocular lens should be implanted. It should be the Refractive Surgeon that assesses whether or not a patient is a good candidate for refractive laser surgery and which technique should be applied in each case during the preoperative consultation.
Is myopia a genetical disorder?
Myopia has a very important familiar background but some personal factors may influence.
What is Hyperopia
Hyperopia or farsightedness is when a patient has blurred and uncomfortable vision at close range, although, from a certain age, far objects are also seen blurred. It is caused by a shorter than normal eye or because the cornea, the lens or both are less powerful than average.
The cornea or the clear outer layer of the eye is involved with bending the light to form the visual of the object clearly in the retina, which lies back of your eyes. Hyperopia occurs when your eye structure is too short or due to the weakness in focusing on objects, resulting in the image settling behind your retina, making things look blurry.
Some early-onset cases are associated with strabismus (ocular misalignment) and amblyopia (low vision in one eye). During the first decades, most patients can compensate this natural defocus with an extra effort with the lens but they can complain of headaches and blurred vision after some time, especially when reading. This can cause school delay.
Hyperopia affects most of the newborns since its visual system is not yet fully developed (physiological hypermetropia), but during the period of growth tends to be corrected. Hyperopic patients tend to have refractive surgery earlier than myopic ones.
Is there any diopter limit for hyperopia correction?
The correction limits with laser surgery are usually 3 to 4 diopters of hyperopia. These limits may vary depending on the characteristics of each patient. For higher amounts of myopia, an intraocular lens should be implanted. It should be the Refractive Surgeon that assesses whether or not a patient is a good candidate for refractive laser surgery and which technique should be applied in each case during the preoperative consultation.
Is hyperopia a genetical disorder?
Hyperopia has a very important familiar background but some personal factors may influence. Many patients report similar familiar cases.
I have always had farsightedness and I have seen evil from close up, but now I am beginning to see evil from far without glasses. Why does this happen?
Farsightedness usually affects the vision of nearby objects. Many hyperopic patients keep good uncorrected far vision meanwhile the lens is young and only use glasses for near activities (reading, computer, etc.). As we get older, it is quite common that it also begins to affect the vision of distant objects due to lens increasing rigidity.
What is Astigmatism
Astigmatism is a refractive problem that occurs when the eye refractive surfaces (mainly the cornea although can be the lens or the even the eye shape) does not have the same curvature in all its areas. Can be associated to myopia or hyperopia.
This curvature difference makes that light entering the eye has no focus point but a stretched focus zone that produces a blurred image.
Although most people are born with the condition, it can also occur after an eye injury, disease, or following surgery. The symptoms come slowly, and you need to consult your ophthalmologist if you notice a change in your vision.
The main symptom of astigmatism is the blurred or distorted perception of both distant objects and nearby objects. It is also common the difficulty to perceive small details at all distances. In cases where astigmatism is associated with farsightedness, it is common for the patient to suffer visual fatigue, itching redness and stinging of the eyes, dizziness or headaches due to the overexertion of the eye to focus the images.
Those associated with myopia usually increase with the growth. The others tend to be less evolutive. As all the other refractive defects, astigmatism can be operated when demonstrates stabilization.
Some astigmatisms are related with ocular pathologies (mainly keratoconus). We must suspect this disease in case of a progressive evolution and decrease of vision. With a deep ocular examination, these cases should be diagnosed and refractive surgery must be avoided.
Is astigmatism a genetical disorder?
Astigmatism has a very important familiar background but some cases are related with corneal disease (keratoconus) or corneal scarring (corneal herpes, accidents,…).
How is its evolution?
Astigmatism is usually the most stable of all refractive problems. When associated with myopia, usually there is more evolution in the myopic part than in the astigmatic part. When associated to hyperopia or in mixed astigmatism, the evolution is very small. If it increases slightly, it is common to stabilize at 20-25 years.
Can astigmatism be prevented?
Astigmatism can not be prevented, but it can be detected through a complete ophthalmological examination and subsequently corrected by the use of glasses, contact lenses or different types of surgical techniques.
Is the surgery more difficult if I have another problem associated with astigmatism?
No, it isn’t. With the current laser surgery or with the available lenses, we can treat all the refractive problems a patient have with the same excellent results. It should be the Refractive Surgeon that assesses whether or not a patient is a good candidate for refractive laser surgery and which technique should be applied in each case during the preoperative consultation.
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Early treatment can prevent long-lasting consequences
