Lasik Vs. Wavefront Lasik - What's the Difference?

Question

Emil William Chynn, MD, FACS, MBA · Answer

Everybody who qualifies and can afford it should get WaveFront or Custom or CustomVue or Hi-Def LASEK or LASIK, not standard.

	I know this as a patient, as I got non-wavefront LASIK a decade ago, before WaveFront came out, so I have some halos around lights at night. This problem is eliminated with WaveFront, as you can put a slightly higher Rx on the periphery of the cornea, which is necessary, as you actually need a higher Rx at the edge of your eye.

	CustomVue on the VISX laser I use treats 25 times more accurately than the standard treatment I had done a decade ago--to the nearest +/- 0.01, not +/- 0.25 like in glasses or contacts (e.g. -3.00 or -3.25, nothing in-between).

	I switched to CustomVue LASEK as you get an EVEN MORE ACCURATE TREATMENT IF YOU DON'T CUT A FLAP SO THE VISION IS EVEN SHARPER AFTERWARDS. Published studies have shown that if you cut a flap in LASIK, the WaveFront map, because it's so accurate, is changed and distorted by just cutting the flap. So the only TRUE CUSTOM LASIK would be to cut the flap, take the patient out of the OR, do the WaveScan with the flap already cut and the patient walking around the office w a cut flap in their eye, then put them under the laser and shoot the WaveScan that was obtained AFTER THE LASIK FLAP WAS CUT.

	Obviously, nobody does this in real life, for 2 reasons: 1) the "through-put" of the laser would be awful, so you could only treat 1-2 patients per day, and 2) people would be skeeved out waking from the OR to the WaveScan and back to the OR with the flap cut in their eyes.

	This is why, since I switched from LASIK to LASEK in 2005, the number of patients who see BETTER than 20/20 DOUBLED. Not the number of people 20/20, as you can get someone to 20/20 with a flap that's a tiny bit misaligned, and a WaveScan that's a bit distorted from the true scan you would get after cutting the flap.

	You also avoid the dry eyes and night glare by not cutting a flap, as the former is caused by cutting the corneal nerves when you cut the flap, and the latter is caused by the cornea being in a two-piece "sandwich" configuration afterwards for the rest of your life.

	So if you decide to do it right, and get CustomVue, I suggest you get a real custom, accurate, non-distorted result by electing to get CustomVue LASEK rather than the not-really-perfect custom LASIK I used to perform.

Michael K. Tracy, MD · Answer

Conventional LASIK treats your eyes based on your glasses prescription. Wavefront LASIK creates a custom map of your corneas and treats based on that. With conventional LASIK about 92% of patients get to 20/20 vision or better. With wavefront 98% achieve 20/20 or better. Wavefront also significantly reduces the chance of glare and halos at night.

Sanjay Rao, MD · Answer

There are significant differences between wavefront-guided LASIK and conventional LASIK.  First, there is a difference in the way the eye is measured.  Wavefront-guided LASIK uses a wavefront scanner to measure the passage of light from the front surface of the eye to the back, creating a unique wavefront map for each eye.  Second, the laser treatment is more precise, removing more of the aberrations that cause glare and halos.  The data shows that wavefront-guided LASIK outcomes are better than conventional LASIK with a higher percentage of patients achieving 20/20 vision or better.

Christopher Starr, MD · Answer

Traditional LASIK corrects only your refractive errors (myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism) or what are also referred to as lower order optical aberrations. With wavefront LASIK we still correct lower order aberrations (myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism) but we also correct higher order aberrations which are unique to your eye and cornea. It is believed that by reducing both higher order and lower order aberrations the final visual outcome will be better.

Thomas E. Clinch, MD · Answer

With standard LASIK, you essentially receive what's in your prescription glasses or contacts lenses permanetly on your cornea to treat your nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. With custom (Wavefront) LASIK, you receive that correction plus the correction for about a dozen other characteristics of your eyes that contribute to blurry vision (like distortion around headlights when you drive at night.) We charge the same at our practice for Custom and standard LASIK to make the decision easy for our patients. Go with the best technology--you won't regret it!

Lasik Vs. Wavefront Lasik - What's the Difference?

Answers (8)

Answer: Traditional LASIK vs. Wavefront

Answer: Traditional LASIK vs. Wavefront

Answer: Standard vs. Custom LASIK

Answer: Standard vs. Custom LASIK

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Lasik Vs. Wavefront Lasik - What's the Difference?

Answers (8)

Answer: Traditional LASIK vs. Wavefront

Answer: Traditional LASIK vs. Wavefront

Answer: Standard vs. Custom LASIK

Answer: Standard vs. Custom LASIK

Browse related questions

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about LASIK

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.