ophthalmology

Laser sight correction is a modern method of preventing myopia, farsightedness or astigmatism. The effects are instant and the quality of sight improves right after the operation. Choose AIWA Clinic professional specialists and feel safe!

Operation

We use a state-of-the-art technology excimer laser ZEISS MEL-90. AIWA Clinic employs professional and experienced specialists who provide a customised approach and treatment with the help of laser correction LASIK surgery. The procedure uses the state-of-the-art excimer laser ZEISS MEL-90, which provides excellent sight in patients with near-sightedness (myopic refraction), farsightedness (hypermetropic) or astigmatism. Currently, the LASIK method is the most commonly used surgical sight correction method in the world. Sight improvements are noticeable right after laser surgery.

Frequently asked corrections:

1. Can I undergo sight correction?

Before the operation, you must undergo an in-depth examination, which lasts about 90 minutes (price: EUR 75). During the examination, the specialist fully examines your eyes to prepare an individual programme appropriate for you. The LASIK method allows to correct myopia (up to -8.00), farsightedness (up to +4.00) and astigmatism (up to 4.00).

2. How old do I have to be to undergo laser correction?

Laser correction of this kind is recommended for patients aged 18 to 45 years.

3. In what instances is laser correction not performed??

During the consultation, the suitability of both the patient’s eye structure and general health for refractive laser surgery will be assessed.
It cannot be used in people with systemic diseases, such as people with diabetes, pregnant women, women who are breast-feeding, patients with unstable sight in the last 12 months and in the case of eye disease, or during illness.

4. What are the guidelines that I need to observe in relation to the operation?

Soft contact lenses must not be worn for one week before surgery. If the patient uses hard contact lenses, these should not be worn for one month before surgery. The day before the procedure is not recommended to use cosmetics (makeup), perfume. Do not drink alcohol. We recommend not to wear fluffy clothes.

5. Will I feel pain during the operation?

The operation is conducted under a local anaesthetic – drops. Therefore, you will not feel any pain.

6. Will I be able to go home after the operation?

Yes. On the day of the operation you will spend about 2.5-3 hours in the clinic. The operation takes about 15 minutes, but the laser effect – only a few seconds.
You may have blurred sight or watery eyes until the next day, so we recommend that you avoid driving.
Outdoors, your eyes should be protected with sunglasses, because they will be sensitive to light for 2-3 days.

7. What will I have to do after the operation?

The day after the operation, you must attend a post-operation consultation (free of charge). The next three tests should preferably be performed by an optometrist AIWA Clinic.

During the first week of laser sight correction surgery, it is recommended that you:

• do not rub or touch your eyes with your hands,
• do not use make-up (in the eye area),
• avoid physical exertion (especially with the head down),
• protect your eyes from wind, dust, smoke, etc. when going outside and wear sunglasses,
• avoid swimming underwater and getting water in your eyes,
• do not visit the sauna and solarium,
• use eye drops in accordance with your doctor’s advice.

8. When will I notice the improvement in my sight?

Your sight will improve immediately after the operation, the next day the ability to work is restored. The result of the postoperative is guaranteed. If sight changes within 3-6 months, additional surgery for maximum results is performed free of charge.

A cataract is a clouding of the natural clear lens of the eye. Lens clouding is caused by the loss of fluid in it. A lens affected by a cataract gradually loses its transparency and becomes denser and opaquer, almost like a dirty window through which it is difficult to see.

Cataract treatment

The only effective cataract treatment is surgery. Besides, in 98% of cases, it is possible to restore vision to the state that was before the onset of the disease! The natural lens of the eye is replaced by a transparent artificial one. The operation itself lasts an average of 15-20 minutes and usually, general anesthesia is not required. Within a month, a certain postoperative regimen must be observed.

What are the causes of eye cataracts?

A cataract occurs gradually over many years, but it can also be caused by diseases, injuries to the eyes or head, radiation, smoking, various general, or ophthalmic medication. Cataracts are also observed in children.

Cataracts significantly impair the quality of vision.

Signs and symptoms of cataracts

Blurred vision (for both near and far distance with glasses)

Vision is checked using eye charts or projectors. Corrective lenses are used to make sure that the reason for the loss of vision is not inappropriate correction with glasses. In the case of a very cloudy lens, the patient sees only light.

Myopization – observed in patients who previously used (+) glasses for reading – they begin to read without glasses, but those who had (-) glasses, (-) strength increases.  

Glare from light sources – even slight clouding of the lens can cause glare from light sources.

Doubling (looking with one eye) – if we close a healthy eye, then, looking with a sick eye, we see two objects in one place.

Decreased contrast vision – with reduced contrast vision, it is more difficult to distinguish objects, navigate the environment, recognize faces, and perform everyday tasks.

Changes in color vision – when the lens becomes cloudy, it also changes color. Often, a natural lens appears yellow or even pinkish. Patients may not notice changes as they occur gradually.

Causes of cataracts

• Aging. The lens consists mainly of water and protein. Over the years, these proteins are destroyed and cataracts develop.

• Congenital protein defect, genetic disease, or intrauterine infection

• Eye injury

• Eye surgery

• Eye inflammation

Contributing factors

• Exposure to ultraviolet light (sun)

• Smoking

• Diabetes

• The use of medication – steroids, tamoxifen, cytostatics, other drugs that are less associated with cataract progression (for example, statins, diuretics, hormone replacement therapy, tranquilizers, etc.).

• Stress

How to diagnose the disease timely?

Reaching the age of 40, an ophthalmologist needs to be visited once a year!

Preoperative diagnostics

The patient should be fully examined before surgery – the doctors examine the anterior part of the eye in a slit lamp and with an enlarged pupil, they examine the deeper parts of the eye. Besides, the ophthalmologists measure eye pressure and check visual acuity for far and near distances. They perform ultrasonography of the eyeball to exclude eye diseases in which cataract surgery cannot be performed. Also, the ophthalmologists calculate the desired strength of the artificial lens.

Family physician before surgery:

• Normalizes arterial hypertension

• Cancels blood thinners (if possible)

• Eliminates acute inflammatory processes in the body

• It is advisable to provide the ophthalmologist with information about diagnoses and medications used. The ophthalmologist is interested in bronchial asthma, diabetes mellitus, skin diseases, oncological diseases, allergic diseases (anesthesia, iodine, etc.).

By choosing a monofocal intraocular lens of the appropriate strength, with cataract surgery, the desired refraction can be achieved. This means that, for example, if the patient wore glasses with a strength of + 3 diopters for a far distance, the surgeon during the operation can insert an artificial lens, in which he does not need to wear glasses for a far distance. Using toric intraocular lenses, during surgery, you can get rid of astigmatism (glasses with cylindrical lenses), but by choosing premium multifocal intraocular lenses, from wearing glasses for far and near distances. 

Glaucoma is an eye disease for which early diagnosis and treatment are very important, as it can progress to complete loss of vision. Therefore, a consultation with your doctor, noticing the first symptoms of the disease, is the most important task.

Glaucoma treatment

Glaucoma is usually treated with medications that reduce the pressure inside the eye, and only if they do not work, it is treated surgically, which improves the circulation of intraocular fluid. When doing this operation, most patients subsequently do not need any additional treatment, since the disease is stopped.

What are the causes of glaucoma?

Glaucoma is damage to the optic nerve. Scientists are still arguing about the real cause of the disease. Since the exact cause of glaucoma is unknown, it cannot be cured one hundred percent. However, you can significantly slow down the progression of the disease and not lose sight. If a person is diagnosed with glaucoma, the doctor’s recommendations must be followed. The untreated disease causes irreversible blindness.

Symptoms of glaucoma

There are primary or open-angle glaucoma and closed-angle glaucoma. It often happens that at first glaucoma develops in only one eye. Since visual acuity persists, and the other eye compensates for impaired functions, a person does not experience discomfort, which indicates the need to consult a doctor.

The most common symptoms are:

• Blurred vision

• Feeling of heaviness in the eye or eyebrows

• Eye fatigue, sometimes stinging sensation in eyes

However, these complaints are also common among people who use a computer every day, read a lot. People usually do not pay much attention to these signs, believing that their eyes are tired after work. However, when a person feels a deterioration in vision, irreversible changes have already begun. Often many fibers of the optic nerves are already lost, and therefore it is difficult to maintain vision. This is because it is the optic nerve that transmits the information received by the eye to the brain. If the nerve is damaged, it can no longer fulfill its function and a person complains of visual impairment, most often a narrowing of the field of vision.

Angle-closure glaucoma shows other symptoms. Usually, it begins with an acute attack, when the pressure inside the eye rises, the eye turns red, the pupil is enlarged. There is a feeling of heaviness or severe pain in the eyebrows and forehead, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, and heart problems are possible.

How to diagnose the disease timely?

Reaching the age of 40, an ophthalmologist needs to be visited once a year!

The most important is the measurement of intraocular pressure, which should be between 10- and 21-mm Hg. The measurement of intraocular pressure by modern methods no longer causes discomfort to the patient. Modern technologies also allow you to measure the fibers of the optic nerves and compare their condition every year, timely detecting the changes caused by glaucoma. It is important to regularly monitor eye pressure so that it can be observed in dynamics. It is assumed that each person may have their rate of pressure, but there are no tests to determine it. The only way to detect glaucoma timely is the examination by an ophthalmologist. It includes not only measuring pressure but also checking visual acuity, biomicroscopy, a thorough examination of the fundus, and determining the field of vision using computer perimetry. During the examination, a liquid is instilled into the eye, which dilates the pupil of the eye so that the optic nerve can be well examined. Glaucoma is most often indicated by the narrowed and serrated edge of the optic nerve, it’s fading, changes in the blood vessels of the optic nerve.  

Increased risk of glaucoma

• For elderly people. Over the age of 60, glaucoma affects an average of 4.2% of the population, and 1.5% between the ages of 40 and 49.  

• Those who have glaucoma in their families. If parents or other close relatives suffer from this disease, it is necessary to visit an eye doctor once a year from the age of 35 for prevention purposes.

• Patients with increased intraocular pressure.

• People who have experienced other eye diseases or injuries. The latter increases the risk of developing glaucoma in 2-10% of cases.

• People with a high degree of myopia are at risk of developing open-angle glaucoma, while people with a high degree of hyperopia are at risk of developing angle-closure glaucoma.

• People with low blood pressure. This is because these people often complain about the freezing of their hands and feet, which indicates circulatory problems. Accordingly, doctors allow circulatory disorders throughout the body, including the eyes.

• Diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and high blood cholesterol are also risk factors for glaucoma.

• Smoking increases the risk of glaucoma.

• A thin cornea increases the risk of glaucoma.

Intravitreal injections are a widely used treatment method in ophthalmology, which is used to inject the medicament into the vitreous body to treat retinal diseases. It is performed under local (drip) anesthesia under sterile conditions (operating room).

Often, the disease begins in only one eye, and the feeling of symptoms can occur late, so preventive visits to check eye health are especially important.

Treatment process and benefits

More recently, it was not yet possible to help such patients. Now the latest technology allows you to temporarily or even completely stop the development of retinal dystrophy.

The procedure in which medications are injected into the eyeball ensures the delivery of the drug to damaged tissues of the eye.

Most commonly used medicines:

• Anti-VEGF (ranibizumab, bevacizumab, aflibercept) – anti-VEGF medication has been available for intravitreal injection since 2004 for the treatment of retinal dystrophy. They block the action of the vasoproliferative factor, which stimulates the growth of endothelial cells and the formation of new (fragile) blood vessels. Usually, 3 injections are made, and then the state of the retina is monitored using an optical coherence tomography (OCT). The patient should use eye drops before and after the injection to prevent inflammation.

• Steroids (Kenalog) – for the treatment of a wide range of eye diseases, such as retinal edema after cataract surgery.

Causes and contributing factors

Age is a major risk factor for retinal dystrophy.

Age-related macular degeneration is divided into two forms: dry and wet. For the treatment of the dry form, preventive therapy is most important, and for the treatment of the wet form, anti-VEGF medication.

It is important to track and compare changes in the state of the retina using OCT (optical coherence tomography), which allows you to notice minimal changes and take timely action.

With the help of therapeutic laser surgery, you can successfully solve:

• The problem of irregular astigmatism that occurs after injuries, diseases, if the surface of the cornea is uneven;

• Some forms of corneal dystrophy;

• If it is necessary to grow a new epithelium on the cornea, for example, after eye injuries. With the help of therapeutic laser surgery, you can remove the old epithelium – then a new healthy epithelium will form itself.

Treatment

If there is an asymmetric surface change on the surface of the cornea, the laser topographic device calculates for a particular cornea a suitable ablation map, which is realized by the laser. The patient undergoes a topography of the cornea and has the measurement of the depth of the lesion. During the procedure, the correction is performed at the required depth without affecting the healthy tissue of the cornea.

Reconstructive and aesthetic surgeries on the eyes and eyelids make it possible to solve problems with the patient’s eyes both functionally and aesthetically, not only improving visual function but also eliminating undesirable visual factors, such as reducing aging signs, which can be especially noticeable in the eye area and may cause some discomfort.

Nowadays, you no longer need to put up with droopy eyelids, because there are several types of blepharoplasty that help correct sagging eyelids. It is a plastic surgery that removes excess skin and fat from the upper and lower eyelids. The choice of a particular type of treatment depends on the particular case. However, only a specialist – an ophthalmic surgeon – can determine the cause of sagging eyelids and set the correct surgery.

Even after various eye injuries, successful reconstruction of the eyes and eyelids is possible, as well as surgery on the eyelids or operation of conjunctival neoplasms and removal of the lacrimal sac.

Our surgeon-ophthalmologist also performs reconstruction of the conjunctival cavity, correction of the inverted eyelids, excision of neoplasms on the skin of the eyelids, treatment of trichiasis, etc.

Treatment process

AIWA Clinic specialists will carefully evaluate the individual complaints of each patient, assess the need for appropriate surgery, and prescribe the most appropriate treatment.

Blepharoplasty is performed without visible incisions using minimally invasive surgery. However, in any case, this is a serious operation, which requires not only the high skill of the surgeon but also the responsible attitude of the patient himself.

All surgeries are performed using world-famous and modern technologies that are minimally invasive and gentle. Recovery after surgery is quick and the patient can quickly return to normal life.

The advantage of blepharoplasty over all other surgical methods is that the patient is immediately freed from the senile appearance and looks 10-15 years younger.

In most cases, increased lacrimation from the eyes indicates problems in the lacrimal canal, and some eye diseases can cause this lacrimation.

Problems with the lacrimal canal cause extreme discomfort even in everyday work, but for a long time not solving this problem, it can become an obstacle to learning certain professions and performing duties.

Treatment

Of course, not all problems of lacrimation should be solved surgically, but if the tear drainage system is blocked, only surgery can help. AIWA Clinic performs this operation together with otolaryngologists who specialize in diagnostic, therapeutic, and various otolaryngologic operations endoscopically, which is a minimally invasive method at the highest level following the modern world standards and requirements.

Apply for a vision screening for children (from 6 years and older) before school now and receive a certificate requested by school. We invite you to apply in time to avoid queues at the end of summer.

Today, children have a much greater strain on their eyes because they spend time at computers, smartphones, and often in inadequate lighting, being too close to the device screen and in an unnatural position. Eyestrain can increase by 3-4 times, which can negatively affect the child’s visual system. Pay close attention to your child’s vision and make sure that your child sees the world in bright colours.