Considering SupraLase - PRK

by **pungostrawberry** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:29 am

Hi! What a wonderful board! I am very grateful for all of the information I have been able to gather. I haven't seen anything regarding the name of this specific PRK procedure.

I have been examined and the results were -3 with .75 astigmatism and -3.5 with 1 astigmatism. I am considering using a surgeon in my area tha is highly qualified and has been an integral part of Trademarking the Supralase procedure. It is basically Wavefront guided PRK with the VISX STAR S4 Excimer CustomVue Laser System. I was told that I have asymptomatic dry eyes as the Schirmer test came back 1 and 2. My corneal thickness is 511 and 521.

I was just curious to know if you or anyone on the board has heard the term SupraLase. Is this really any different than a regular PRK or is it a marketing gimic?

by **LasikExpert** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:32 am

I respectfully submit that the term is exclusively for marketing purposes. There is no recognized surgical procedure called SupraLase.

by **pungostrawberry** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:59 pm

Thanks Glenn. I suspected as much. He is a very respected surgeon and I believe that I am in good hands. Competition is pretty fierce around here for vision correction which translates to several qualified surgeons. All of whom have marketed their services in interesting ways.

I'll be seeing him next week to get the punctal plugs for dry eye management prior to the surgery. I have your list of questions to take with me. I have several of the answers already. His staff is very competent and very forthcoming with answers to all of the questions that I have asked so far.

by **LasikExpert** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:55 pm

In a competitive environment every business wants to diferentiate itself from the competitors.

I highly recommend that you submit our 50 Tough Questions For Your Lasik Doctor prior to your examination so staff has plenty of time to respond.

by **agent99bm** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 5:56 am

I am new to this message board and find it very informative.

pungostrawberry wrote:I was just curious to know if you or anyone on the board has heard the term SupraLase.

I'm interested to know if you did get the SupraLase procedure. I live in Virginia Beach and think I probably was evaluated by the same doctor you went to since he seems to be the only one that does SupraLase. I, too, am considering SupraLase and was wondering if your surgery was successful and all that you expected.

I am not 100% sure that I'm going to have the surgery yet. I'm 60 years old and am concerned about the amount of correction that can be expected in patients my age. The doctor said I am a candidate, corneas are thick enough, although I do have slightly dry eyes. He proposed using the punctal plugs, both upper and lower, and using Restasis for up to a year after the surgery. His practice covers followup visits for a year and one enhancement during that year if needed. Everything is included in the price except for prescriptions. This doctor charges $4300.00 for both eyes and my health insurance does not cover any of it, although I expected that. The surgeon is very well known in my area; however, he is not on your list of preferred doctors nor are any doctors in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia which I find interesting since it's a huge metropolitan area with lots of lasik surgeons.

As I understand it, Supralase does not create a corneal flap. It reshapes the cornea with a laser thus causing fewer potential problems. I have worn glasses since I was 12 years old and think it would be little short of miraculous to be able to see without them.

I would appreciate any thoughts you have on this.

Barbara

by **bat** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 1:38 pm

Hi there
How bad is your prescription?

by **LasikExpert** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 5:26 pm

At age 60 you are probably fully presbyopic. That means that the natural crystalline lens within your eye is no longer able to change shape to be able to focus on near objects. This is called presbyopia and you undoubtedly require reading glasses/bifocals to see object near or you remove your distance glasses to see objects near.

Because you are presbyopic, Refractive Lens Exchange (RLE) is a procedure that you may want to investigate. RLE is exactly the same as cataract surgery and may provide optimal results - depending upon your refractive error and other individual circumstances.

Your dry eyes are likely to get worse after PRK (SupraLase), so do be prepared to manage the situation. You may want to read our article about dry eye treatment. RLE is less likely to exacerbate dry eyes than PRK.

Fewer than 250 doctors nationwide have sought and maintain our organization's certification. There are major cities without a certified surgeon. That is why we have the 50 Tough Questions For Your Lasik Doctor to help anyone anywhere evaluate a potential surgeon.

by **bat** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:08 pm

Aren't there risks of retinal detachment with RLE? I have been suggested this due to my high myopia but cannot find out how high the risk is, if it can happen any time after surgery or only during, or if its more likely in surgery or as a result of surgery at high prescriptions? I know as a high myope am at higher risk anyway but am only 41 now.
Thanks.

by **agent99bm** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 5:28 am

How bad is your prescription?

I'm not sure what my prescription is. I know it's not as bad as some I've seen on this board but worse than many others. For some reason around 3.50 or 3.75 sounds about right. I didn't ask the dr's office for this info. I have moderate to severe astigmatism (worse in the left eye) and I do wear bifocals for reading. The surgeon I saw planned to correct my right eye for distance and my left for near vision. He said he undercorrects the near vision and he did explain why but I'm not sure I understood it...something to do with the strain it puts on the eye to see perfectly. He said I would still have 20-25 or 20-30 vision in that eye. He also said I "may" need reading glasses if I did any heavy duty reading or had to consistently read small print (I'm in real estate).

Thanks for your answers. I will continue to monitor this board and hopefully I'll be prepared to make a decision soon on whether to have the surgery.

Barbara

by **agent99bm** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 1:52 am

I finally decided to go ahead with SupraLase corrective eye surgery. I'm scheduled to get trial contact lenses tomorrow to see how the modified monovision will be. Monday, I go in for my eye exam and Friday, November 9, I'll have the surgery. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress.

Wish me luck.

Barbara

by **LasikExpert** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:22 am

We hope to hear from you about your experience.

Regarding monovision: I like to say that you can know you love monovision within a week, but it takes 4-6 weeks to know you hate it. That is because sometimes the brain has not adjusted after only one week, but has after 4-6.

by **agent99bm** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:04 am

Glenn,

Do you know if SupraLase is like or similar to PRK, LASEK or Epi-Lasik? I know that it's a surface procedure and does not involve cutting a corneal flap. It seems the name SupraLase is trademarked by the doctor that will be doing my surgery (who helped develop the procedure) and is found only in the Hampton Roads area. Everyone I've spoken to who has had it just loves the results.

Also, Glenn, have you had corrective eye surgery? You're very knowledgeable about it but I wondered if you had personal experience.

Thanks for your response!

Barbara

by **LasikExpert** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:59 am

Details at the doctor's website are very sketchy, but "Supralase" appears to be PRK using an excimer laser to remove the epithelium instead of an alcohol solution or mechanical device. This technique was popularized by a Canadian doctor as "No Touch" PRK about a decade ago.

To my knowledge, no study has ever shown that the long-term results of PRK with laser epithelium removal is superior to traditional PRK, LASEK, or Epi-Lasik. What is important, of course, is if your results are what you desired. How the epithelium was manipulated is secondary.

by **agent99bm** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 7:13 pm

Hi All,

I went November 1 for my modified monovision contact lens trial. They inserted the contacts and I could see great at a distance but the close vision left a lot to be desired. Because my eyes were also very dry, they inserted puntal plugs in my lower tear drains. I wore those contacts overnight. In the morning my eyes were very blurry due to dry eyes and drops did not help much. I went back to the doctor's office to have them removed. They suggested I wait until Monday and try the trial lenses again with a better prescription. I told them I can't live with that kind of close vision and that I wanted to try full monovision. I couldn't see my computer screen, read a menu or magazine and my eyes got very tired after wearing the lenses for about five hours.

On Monday, November 5 I returned to the doctor's office for my laser surgery exam and also to do the trial contact lenses again. My eyes had not settled down since Friday and they couldn't get my eyes to correct for the exam. So, my exam was postponed until November16, my surgery was postponed till November 29, and they inserted another set of trial contact lenses with full monovision. I could see pretty good at a distance and fairly good close up, but it isn't ideal. Of course, they explained that the lenses do not exactly show the correction of the laser surgery. I understand that. They also started me on Restasis for the dry eyes and suggested that they will also insert the punctal plugs in the upper tear drains before my surgery which I assume they will do when I return for my rescheduled exam.

I've been wearing the second set of trial lenses for the last several days. My vision is pretty good. My eyes seem to do well with distance vision but any prolonged use of near vision makes my eyes blurry and tired.

I am evaluating whether I am willing to trade off my near vision for great distance vision with the monovision SupraLase surgery. As it is now, I can put on makeup with no problem without my glasses and I can take off my glasses and read very tiny print up close. But anywhere from about a foot away, my vision begins to deteriorate and I can't even recognize people across the room unless I know who it is (without glasses). I've always longed for good vision, to be able to wake up and see the clock, to go swimming without my glasses, to drive without glasses and to be able to wear regular sunglasses. Is the loss of good near vision a good tradeoff for great distance vision?

Anyone that has had monovision correction care to respond?

Barbara

by **agent99bm** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:34 am

Well, I'm scheduled to have Modified Monovision SupraLase surgery tomorrow morning at 8:20 a.m. I'm nervous, anxious and excited. But I'm keeping an open mind and will hope for the best possible outcome. I'll post my results in "Just Had It" as soon as I can see well enough to do so.

Wish me luck!