Laser Eye Surgery at LZW –
no more glasses or contact lenses
For more than 24 years we have been treating patients with ametropia (defective vision) using state-of-the-art eye surgery methods. Many people have already benefited from this, and since then they have been seeing the world with different eyes ever since.
Our goal is to achieve optimal visual results for each individual patient with every vision correction that we carry out. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see without glasses or contact lenses?
Criteria for LASIK
- You have had a stable prescription for glasses for at least 1 year.
- You have no progressive retinal disease.
- Glaucoma must have been excluded.
- You are at least 18 years old.
What is defective vision?
In defective vision, incoming light rays and/or pixels are not precisely focussed onto the retina at the focal point as they are in eyes with “normal” vision. The result is a blurred or distorted picture, because the ratio between axial eye length and corneal curvature is frequently incorrect. In principle, you can compare the eye to a (photographic) camera: the cornea and lens are the equivalent of the lens, and the retina is equivalent to the film.
Myopia (short-sightedness)
In short-sightedness (myopia), close objects can be seen clearly, while distant objects appear blurred: The eyeball is too long; the light rays are already focused before they hit the retina. In laser eye correction, the refractive power of the cornea is reduced by a certain amount, for example, -2.00 Dioptres, and the focal point is shifted to the retina.
Hyperopia (long-sightedness)
In long-sightedness (hyperopia), close objects appear blurred, while distant objects can be seen clearly. The light rays only meet behind the retina. For a long time, long-sightedness can be compensated for as the lens will adjust. It increases its refractive power and focuses the light rays onto the retina. Long-sighted people are usually able to retain good long-distance vision into old age. However the ability of the lens to adjust, diminishes with age and close objects start getting blurry, which means long-sighted people will need reading glasses earlier.
Astigmatism
In astigmatism, objects at all distances appear distorted, because the cornea is curved like an eggshell and not like a ball, and the lens therefore does not have enough refractive power.
Presbyopia
Most people with normal sight need reading glasses by the age of 45, for the simple reason that the lens loses its elasticity and it becomes less capable of “bending”. Once eyes gradually lose the ability to adjust, objects at reading distance appear blurred. We start holding reading matter further away or resorts to reading glasses. However, this natural ageing process does not compensate for the short-sightedness of a young adult. Someone who is short-sighted may be able to read without glasses even in old age, but will always need distance glasses, e.g. for driving.