Although most people are familiar with eye conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, and astigmatism, most people are unfamiliar with pterygia.

This summer, start your vacations with crystal clear vision with LASIK! At Eastside Eye Associates, we have performed LASIK laser vision correction for many years, and have seen firsthand the outstanding results we can deliver to our patients. Summer is a time when you can break out of your cold-weather slump and enjoy the outdoors to their fullest – IF you don't have to wear glasses or contacts. It's hard to play frisbee, run, and waterski when you have to wear glasses, and even contacts can dry your eyes out.

Most of our patients considered having LASIK for many years before actually going through with it, and many told us that it was the best thing they'd ever done for themselves. The freedom we are able to impart to our patients is remarkable, and we have thousands of patients living life to the fullest who can attest to that.

To learn more about LASIK, call us at Eastside Eye Associates to schedule a free no-obligation consultation!

The United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation was recently awarded to Gholam A. Peyman, Phd MD for his patended LASIK procedure.

Since his patent's approval in 1989, people worldwide have seen the incredible results from laser vision correction. People who wore glasses their whole lives were now living healthy, active lifestyles without the hindrances of glasses or contact lenses.

The medal itself, which was presented by the president of the United States, is a national honor for Dr. Peyman, who continues to do research in the field of ophthalmology today. He believes that research is the key to the goal of curing blindness throughout the world.

If you or someone you know is interested in LASIK, give us a call at Eastside Eye Associates! Modern laser vision correcion is customized for each and every patient. Early LASIK procedures used statistical data to approximate the best procedure for patients, but CustomVue LASIK allows us to create a detailed map of the cornea. This map serves as the blueprint for the customized treatment.

We offer free LASIK consultations and affordable financing options for every budget.

Refractive Lens Exchange is an innovative way for people to improve their vision and prevent future eye conditions. The lens of the eye, nestled just behind the iris, is about the size of an M & M and helps to change the range of the eye's focus. As we age, this ability to focus at any distance, called accommodation, gradually diminishes. Fortunately, we now have the technology to replace the lens with a number of special intraocular lens implants. The Crystalens is an accommodative lens that works in much the same manner as the eye's natural lens, changing shape slightly to focus at all distances. The ReSTOR multifocal lens also provides the eye with several different ranges of great focus. Replacing the eye's lens with one of these lenses is a procedure called Refractive Lens Exchange, or RLE.

A secondary benefit to RLE – but a big one – is that RLE patients will never develop cataracts. Cataracts are a part of the natural aging process, and can begin interfering with vision as early as 55 or 60. If you think you might be interested in this procedure, give us a call at Eastside Eye Associates.

Cataract surgery is permanent. The lens implanted in the eye will never develop a cataract. However, many patients may experience a condition called a secondary cataract.

The good news is that it's easy to treat. A YAG laser can actually clear up the secondary cataract, and patients do not have to worry about another full cataract surgery – but what is it?

Basically, there is a membrane behind the lens. This membrane will sometimes cloud up after patients receive cataract surgery. This is not uncommon, and it can occur even when everything in your surgery goes just as planned.

A secondary cataract is nothing to be afraid of. If you've had cataract surgery, and you find that your vision is once again experiencing unwanted changes, call Eastside Eye Associates! 

Since being FDA approved in the 1990s, LASIK has changed a lot.

In the early days of laser vision correction, refractive surgeons (ophthalmologists who perform LASIK) used a one-size-fits-all procedure to reshape the cornea based on averages.

Custom LASIK is very different. Custom LASIK utilizes wavefront technology – which NASA used to produce near-perfect telescopic lenses – to produce similarly awesome accuracy in the cornea. The procedure is fully customized to each patient's eye(s), and it can be used to treat nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.

As the end of 2012 nears, many patients find that they have forgotten about their Flex Spending Accounts! FSAs are offered by many employers as a way to use money on healthcare related services without paying taxes on the money earned.

Unfortunately, money in an FSA does not roll over to the next year. This leaves many patients scrambling for ideas on what to spend their money on. So, you could stock up on Tylenol. Or, you could improve your vision. Most flex dollars can be applied to elective procedures like LASIK. If you've been thinking about having LASIK, now may be the best time! To learn more, contact us at Eastside Eye Associates.

Pterygium is an unusual eye disease that people experience most often in dry, sunny climates. With this condition, the sclera (the white part of the eye) begins growing abnormally toward the cornea (the clear part of the eye). This abnormal but noncancerous tissue growth, which is sometimes called "surfer's eye", can cause eye irritation, redness, and even vision problems.

Recent innovations in pterygium surgery now allow patients to remove a pterygium, which is remarkable considering doctors once told patients that this condition is not curable. By utilizing both a conjunctival autograft and fibrin tissue adhesive, patients can now treat their pterygium and have a recurrence rate of less than 1% – older methods left recurrence rates as high as 50%.

If you have a pterygium, it is quite easy for Dr. Shulman to diagnose. Call Eastside Eye Associates to learn more!

Photorefractive keratectomy, or PRK, is a refractive procedure very similar to LASIK. They both use an excimer laser, and the end results are the same. The primary difference is that PRK does not require the creation of a corneal flap.

This seemingly minor detail actually makes a big difference in one thing: the recovery time. LASIK patients generally experience a full recovery in one week, and can even swim after two weeks. PRK patients will find that their vision will gradually get better and better over several months, but the process takes time. People in certain professions may prefer PRK because it maintains a slightly higher degree of corneal integrity. For example, a boxer subjected to gloved punches to the eye and surrounding areas may prefer to have PRK. However, we recommend LASIK to the vast majority of patients.

LASIK does have a number of criteria though, including adequate corneal thickness, and no extreme flatness or steepness. Many patients who are noncandidates for LASIK are candidates for PRK though, which makes PRK an excellent LASIK alternative. As previously mentioned, the end results are the same, and most patients see 20/20 or better with either procedure.

Although premium lens implants provide patients with a wide range of focus, they do add some out-of-pocket expense to patients. Many patients ask Dr. Shulman if he believes these lenses to be worth the cost.

"Patients ask me all the time what I would recommend for an aunt or a sister, or what I would do for myself in this situation. I would recommend a premium lens implant, and here's why. There are very few investments that you can make that you will use every waking moment. There are very few investments you can make that do not depreciate. There are very few investments you can make that improve your quality of life permanently and, in the case of some examples, even improving over time. The premium intraocular lens implants, including Crystalens and ReSTOR, are just that."

Premium intraocular lens implants are designed to provide spectacle independence for patients after cataract surgery. To learn more, check out our website.