San Jose Laser Eye Surgery doctors

Gary Kawesch, MD Gary Kawesch, MD
San Jose Ophthalmologist
606 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose
2 answers
Craig S. Bindi, MD Craig S. Bindi, MD
San Jose Ophthalmologist
606 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose

Recent Answers

Correcting Laser Eye Surgery Side Effects

I had laser surgery done 4 years ago and still have starbursts, halos, and glare. Is there any help for me?

A: Glare, halos, and night side effects four years after LASIK

I'm assuming you did NOT have these problems before LASIK. If eyeglasses fully correct the quality of your night vision, then you have a residual refractive error (ie nearsightedness, farsightedness, and/or astigmatism), and you could consider more treatment with either "traditional" or "wavefront" laser vision correction. Correction could be LASIK if you have sufficient corneal thickness under your flap, or it could be a surface ablation such as PRK. Both work well. Wavefront might be better, but it typically ablates more cornea, and depending on your thickness, may or may not be an option. It also typically costs more.

If eyeglasses DON'T correct the night side effects, then a traditional retreatment would NOT correct them either. Wavefront LASIK or PRK would be the only option, and would probably help. There is a chance it would solve the troubles you are having, but there is also the possibility of only a partial improvement (or rarely, no improvment). Treating high order optical aberrations such as spherical aberration, coma and trefoil with wavefront guided LASIK is good but not always perfect.

Other nonsurgical options include eyedrops such as Alphagan P at dusk to slightly reduce the size of your pupils, to reduce these night side effects.

And of course, a full eye exam should be done to make sure you don't have anything else going on, such as corneal scarring, epithelial ingrowth, a decentered original ablation, cataracts or even glaucoma, all of which can cause the night effects you describe.

Gary Kawesch, MD
San Jose Ophthalmologist
Lasik for $299: is This a Scam?

One lasik clinic quoted me $2,000 an eye.  Another advertises only $299. Is the expensive clinic trying to rip me off?  They told me to watch out from something called the "Nidek" brand machines

A: LASIK for $299

Yes, but the preop anesthetic costs an additional $1700... seriously though, these low-price offers are laden with fine print, and require purchase of many "extras" such as postop care. It costs more than this to do surgery, so any clinic offering these deals will not be around long. The field of refractive surgery (LASIK) is littered with the carcasses of defunct discount surgery centers which have disappeared and left patients without any aftercare. In some cases, centers have required prepayments to secure a low price, then have shut their doors and kept all these prepayments.

In LASIK, as in life, you get what you pay for.

Regarding the Nidek laser, it is an older machine but tends to give very good results. It gets a bad rap from surgeons who have never used it. Those who have, know it's a great machine and gives great results (for the right prescriptions). There is no royalty paid to the manufacturer for Nidek use, so surgeons who offer this laser are generally able to discount the price to the patient a bit (a few hundred dollars per eye). Plenty of great surgeons offer the Nidek. I use it to this day, along with the "latest and greatest" lasers such as the Allegretto Wavelight and the Bausch & Lomb Zyoptix.

Gary Kawesch, MD
San Jose Ophthalmologist
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