LASIK Consumer Guide
As a consultant and advisor to patients, eye surgeons and the eyecare industry worldwide, Dr. Gulani stresses on the importance of seeing clearly on two levels:
• For Eye Surgeons to strive for vision beyond 20/20 in their patients.
• For patients to research your Surgeon and SEE clearly thru the advertising maze.
The real basis of customized surgery is in selecting the best surgery for each individual eye and then tailoring the technique for a customized vision outcome.
The limitation to this concept is that in most practices, Lasik surgeons know of only one or two techniques and hence the patient is not given much choice for their best suited surgery but rather are made to fit the candidacy of that surgeon’s limited options.
Dr. Gulani teaches Lasik surgeons the entire spectrum of vision surgery and reiterates to them to approach each eye like a camera and fix it’s optical elements for the best vision potential that patient may have. If you are searching for the best LASIK in the Jacksonville areas, schedule an appointment with Dr. Gulani at his premier LASIK center.
Everyday many deserving patients are turned away from Lasik eye surgery; be it they have thin corneas, high astigmatism, large pupils…the list is endless. This means everyday people give up hope that they can receive the vision that they want without the aid of glasses. However, Dr. Gulani, as defined by Goldline Research as one of the leading laser eye surgeons in the United States, offers the full spectrum of vision corrective surgeries to help these “not a candidate” patients and custom designs surgery to their unique eyes.
Dr. Gulani with his international privileges is often among the first in the world to experience break throughs in technology which in addition to his three decades of experience, innovative surgical techniques, and custom designed approach gives him an unparalleled edged over other surgeons in truly customizing your vision.
Thus if one understands how Vision Corrective Surgery and over 40 techniques and combinations are what all LASIK surgeons must be capable of performing and offering, it becomes easy to realize how every patient can indeed have the best surgical technique tailored to them for the safest and most predictable outcome. Vision Corrective Surgery can then change from a Commodity to an ART. Dr. Gulani has invented Lasik surgical instruments, published Lasik protocols and honed to his present day no-cut no-blade LaZrPlastique™ technique, and teaches LASIK complication management to eye surgeons all over the world. He has recently introduced a new super-specialty in Lasik called Laser Corneoplastique™ by which many of the Lasik complications can be corrected back to excellent vision.
Nevertheless, he says prevention is the way to go!
Among a handful of eye surgeons in the world who can correct previous LASIK patients back to 20/20 vision, Dr. Gulani has summarized basically four reasons for poor outcomes in Lasik surgery:
Misleading advertising by Lasik surgeons:
• Doctors who may be new and inexperienced themselves but use the established name recognition of their more experienced, senior partners (who may have actually even retired from the practice).
• Eye surgery “Mills” that advertise the joint number of cases done by all chain centers across the nation (ie. 500,000 cases done) while their surgeon may be a novice with a high chance of causing bad outcomes.
• “Bargain” Lasik or Lasik deals
• Doctors using celebrity testimonials (NFL sportsmen/movie stars etc). In many such cases, the doctors actually pay a hefty sum to be known as official surgeons of such celebrities. Also, they most often will do surgery for free to get an endorsement.
Lack of patient education and expectations:
• Patients are not educated about other available options since the surgeon may themselves not be capable of performing those options.
• Patients feel intimidated to ask questions about surgeon qualifications, vision expectations, side effects etc.
Cookie-Cutter surgery by Lasik surgeon “One size fits all”:
• LASIK may be all that the surgeon performs. They be ignorant or incapable of performing the entire range of Laser Vision Surgeries.
• Lack of knowledge, initiative or expertise in offering and performing vision surgery options if Lasik is not ideal for the patient (ie. New generation ICL surgery for Thin cornea patients who are not ideal Lasik candidates).
Poor pre-operative Technological analysis of the patient’s eye anatomy, vision and stability:
• Lack of understanding on surgeon’s part regarding interaction between, anatomy, physiology and optics of the eye to get a great vision outcome.
• Lack of technological finesse to detect early abnormalities and avoid Lasik in improper candidates
• Inability to deliver the best outcomes due to lack of modern, cutting edge equipment.
Gulani Rules For Safety In Choosing A Lasik Surgeon:
• Besides visiting the surgeon’s website; do use a search engine (ie. Google/Bing/Yahoo etc.) and type in the doctor’s name and see what comes up. “Do you find only a website and other paid advertising claims? Or do you find interviews, published articles and third-party confirmations of the doctor’s status?”
• If your surgeon says that they are the “FIRST” or that they teach other Lasik surgeons, ask for evidence. Are they “FIRST” in the world, country, state or just on their street (decreasing order of importance)? Do they teach at local dinner meetings that they host or are they invited to teach nationally and internationally at prestigious podiums?
• Meet with the surgeon, get a feel for the integrity and involvement of the surgeon in educating you and answering every question. Also make sure that your surgeon is contactable and that they do indeed respond when you call.
• Make sure that your surgeon will see you before surgery, perform your surgery and also see you and be available after your surgery.
• Find out if your surgeon performs the full spectrum of Laser Vision Surgery (remember Lasik is just one of many Laser Vision techniques) so they can offer what is truly best for you rather than suggesting the only surgery they know how to perform.
• Do not fall for flashy computer screens and equipment in the office; make sure that you understand all that is going on and insist on asking the surgeon to explain in layman terms.
• When meeting your surgeon, do ask about possible side-effects and complications. Ask if in the rare event that you do end up having a complication can they handle it? If the answer is yes, then ask for evidence.
Thus due diligence on part of the patient, experienced selection of individualized surgery by the surgeon and effective use of modern technology can all together raise the bar on safety and predictability in LASIK — one of the most successful surgical breakthroughs of modern times.
We welcome you to the Gulani Vision Institute and will be happy to schedule a personal consultation for you.
Related Medical Publications:
Gulani AC, Probst L, Cox I, Veith R. “Wavefront in Lasik” : The Zyoptix.
Platform.. Ophthalmol Clin N Am 17 (2004). 173-181
Gulani AC. Sharpen your LASIK Technique. Review of Ophthalmology, Vol. 22, no. 2, p. 68-69
Gulani AC. “A New Classification and Management Guide for Corneal Complications of Lasik ”. Journal Canadien D’ Ophtalmologie 2000; 35 (2). 103-105
Gulani AC. “New Instrument For Revision LASIK Surgery”. Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (JCRC), 1998; Vol 24: 595
Gulani AC. “A New Concept for Laser Refractive Surgery”. Ophthalmology Management 2006; 10 (4). 57-63
Gulani AC. Laser Corneoplastique. Techniques in Ophthalmology 5(1):11-20, 2007
Gulani AC. Vision Corrective Surgeries: Past Techniques, Present Trends and Future Technologies. North East Florida Medicine. 2007; 2 (58) 41-44
Gulani AC. “Laser Corneoplastique” Video Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Vol XXII. Issue 3, 2006
Gulani AC. “How to put logic into action after Lasik”- Review of Ophthalmology, 2006; XIII (9), 60-64.
Gulani AC., et al. Innovtive Real Time Illumination System for Lasik Surgery . Clin Surg Ophthalmol. 2003;6:244-246