Zdenek Eye Institute

What Is LASIK? LASIK allows patients to experience life as they may never have before: Clear and Hassle-Free. Free from contacts or glasses. As many of my patients have said, ‘Clearer than glasses or contacts’, ‘reduced to eliminated night glare that I had with my contacts!’ LASIK is a laser procedure performed on the surface of the eye (cornea) to reshape it to give you clearer vision at near (nearsightedness-myopia), distance (farsightedness-hyperopia), or even clearer reading (Presbyopia). Is LASIK Right For You? Dr. Z offers a Free Lasik Consultation to help you to determine if LASIK is right for you. With many vision correction options out there, it is usually difficult to sift through all the information. Dr. Z is an educator at heart so he is able to explain it in a way that you will be able to understand. The most common misconception I hear from my patients is, “I was told that since I have Dry Eyes I can’t have LASIK”. There are several available treatments to help manage dry eyes before and after your LASIK procedure. Dry Eyes may be something we have to address and treat but it should not stop you from enjoying clear vision from LASIK. There are definitely things to consider or general criteria to follow. Below is a list of items but a custom-tailored LASIK consultation will review items that are specific to you and your needs. Age: Candidates must be 18 years old. General Health: Candidates must be in good general health. Talk to Dr. Z about your specific health to determine if a path to LASIK is a possibility. Eye health/Eye problems/Eye injury: The FREE LASIK Consultation is the perfect place for you to discuss any specific eye problems you may have experienced in the past or if you have amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (muscle imbalance), or any recurrent, residual or active eye conditions that may influence healing. Generally, candidates should be free of eye diseases corneal diseases, and certain retinal and optic nerve diseases. Nursing/pregnancy: Candidates should not be nursing or pregnant when undergoing the LASIK Procedure. Every situation is different and it is best to talk with Dr. Z about your specific situation, needs, and goals. Contacts: You will be required to be without your contact lenses for a period of time. A backup pair of glasses may be required. The amount of time will be determined by Dr. Z and your specific situation. A general rule of thumb is the longer you have been wearing contacts (consistently) the longer you should go without your contacts prior to your “LASIK Work-up”. If you only wear soft contact lenses every so often, (~2 days a week) then Dr. Z might determine that you will need to be without your contacts for only a few days prior to your “LASIK Work-up”. If you have been wearing hard contact lenses for several decades, then Dr. Z may determine that you will need to go without your hard contact lenses for up to a year (depending on your cornea fluctuations). The precise length will be determined by Dr. Z based on your individual situation and eyeballs. Corneal thickness plays an important role in determining candidacy for LASIK. The thickness of your cornea will be measured on the day of your “LASIK Work-up”. Although the above is not a complete list, there are many factors that go into determining if you are a good candidate for LASIK. It is important to talk to Dr. Z, inform him of your situation, your eyeballs, your health, and the two of you can make a good decision together. Unlike the large LASIK Centers, every exam is with Dr. Zdenek, your eye surgeon. He is the one performing the exam and calculations, he performs the surgery, and also your follow up care as well. I WANT PERSONALIZED LASIK INFORMATION Why Choose Dr. Z? mmerritt lasik11 2014 4 e1556054323988 Dr. Z has been performing LASIK since 1998 and has corrected vision in over 45,000 patients. Although LASIK has become the most popular vision-correcting procedure, it is not the only option. Dr. Z believes in a strong doctor-patient relationship which quickly becomes the cornerstone of success in vision correction surgery. He believes that if his patients understand what is happening then they can make a better, well-informed decision with amazing results. Your first step is saying, ‘YES’ to wanting to get rid of your glasses or contacts and the coming in to see Dr. Z for a FREE LASIK Consultation.

What Is Involved In A Retina Exam? Sometimes called ophthalmoscopy or funduscopy. Performing these tests allows Dr. Zdenek to see the back of your eye; your retina, the optic disk and the underlying layer of blood vessels that nourish the retina (choroid). zei 5320 Dr. Zdenek reviewing an Retina image. Dr. Zdenek may use one or more of these techniques to view the back of your eye: Direct Exam Indirect Exam Retinal Imaging Direct exam. Your eye doctor uses an ophthalmoscope to shine a beam of light through your pupil to see the back of the eye. Sometimes eyedrops aren't necessary to dilate your eyes before this exam. Indirect exam. During this exam, you might lie down, recline in a chair or sit up. Your eye doctor examines the inside of the eye with the aid of a condensing lens and a bright light mounted on his or her forehead. This exam lets your doctor see the retina and other structures inside your eye in great detail and in three dimensions. Retinal Imaging. OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) is used to capture an image of the retina. Why Get A Retina Exam? A retinal exam is used in the diagnosis and treatment of Diabetes, Macular degeneration, Glaucoma, and many other diseases. A Retinal exam doesn’t replace your annual eye exam but adds another layer of precision to it. Finding retinal disorders as early as possible is critical to potentially preventing serious disease progressio.

Dr. Zdenek has found some of his new favorite equipment with State of the Art Technology in imaging. Dr. Zdenek has invested in his practice and his patients…have you invested into your eyes? Vision threatening diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy often have no outward signs or symptoms in the early stages, so our practice has begun using state-of-the-art technology to assess the health of your eyes. The iWellnessExam™ is a quick, non-invasive scan that allows our doctors to see beneath the surface of your retina. This unique technology can help Dr. Zdenek detect vision threatening and systemic diseases in their very early stages, when they are most treatable.

Could Your Dry Eye Be Caused By A More Serious Disease? For some people, their dry eye symptoms might be a sign of a more serious condition. For as many as 1 in 10 people with dry eyes, their symptoms could be a sign of Sjögrens syndrome-a chronic, a progressive autoimmune disease. Common early symptoms of Sjögrens include dry eyes and dry mouth. Unfortunately, these early symptoms are overlooked, making it difficult to diagnose Sjögrens. Sjögrens’s Syndrome Overview Pronounced SHOW-grins An autoimmune disease in which a person’s white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands Affects about 4 million people in the United States, 3 million of whom have not been diagnosed Causes other symptoms such as fatigue, GI distress, muscle weakness, and muscle/joint pain May affect many different areas of the body Diagnosis And Treatment Sjögrens syndrome can be difficult to identify because there is no single test which will confirm the diagnosis. Although nine out of ten Sjögrens patients are woman, signs and symptoms can vary significantly from person to person. The average age of diagnosis is late 40s, although it can occur in all age groups and in both men and women. If you have a dry eye condition, Dr. Zdenek would suggest for you to take the Sjö diagnotic test. Sjö is a screening blood test which will detect Sjögrens syndrome in its early stages with more accurate results. Dr. Zdenek’s research has lead him to incorporate the Sjö test in his practice to help with early detection of Sjögrens. Currently, the national average for accurate diagnosis is 4.7 years. Dr. Zdenek wants to help his patients detect and manage Sjögrens symptoms sooner and better. Early detection can help you effectively manage your symptoms.

Do your eyes tear? Are they red and irritated? Are they scratchy? How about fatigued or heavy eyes? Did you know that healthy eyes have 3 components or layers (oily, watery, and mucous)? Which of your layers is inadequate? Each layer of the tear film serves a critical purpose. For example, tear lipids help keep the tear film from evaporating too quickly and increase lubrication, while the mucous layer helps anchor and spread the tears across the surface of the eye. A deficit in any of those layers can contribute to all the above symptoms. Dr. Zdenek has done extensive research into Dry Eyes and why people suffer from Dry Eyes and which treatments work in which situations. With over 35 years of experience, Dr. Zdenek has made several discoveries. One of the biggest discoveries that Dr. Zdenek has found is that there is a correlation between dry eyes and poor sleep habits. When your eyes lack any one of the layers of tear film the REM sleep pattern is interrupted by pain. How You Ask?!? When you hit your REM sleep cycle, your eyes twitch back and forth. If your tear film is lacking, then pain ensues because your unlubricated surface of the eye is rubbing on the back side of your eyelid. Although not painful enough to wake you up, it is painful enough to snap you out of your REM sleep. So, What Is Your Number? Dr. Zdenek performs an actual tear osmolarity test that measures the layers of your natural tear film. Knowing and tracking your tear film numbers can help monitor the success of the treatments. It can even help determine if you have Dry Eyes. There are several reasons why any one of your 3 layers can be struggling. Although we would love to know why, let’s start with getting those layers healthy. There are several approaches Dr. Zdenek can take. A part of your annual eye exam can include a few tests that help determine which treatment is right for you. Be sure to mention to Dr. Zdenek your symptoms (what you are experiencing) and ask Dr. Zdenek to track your Dry Eye numbers. There are several effective treatment options if you suffer from chronic dry eye. In many cases routine use of artificial tears and minor behavioral modifications can significantly reduce dry eye symptoms. In other cases, Dr. Zdenek might recommend prescription eye medications and/or in-office procedures, called punctual plugs, to help your body create, secrete, and even maintain more tears and decrease eye irritation and inflammation.