Looking to the Future

By: Katharine Griffiths
Created on 31st January 2012

With the post-Christmas blues over and done with, and January coming to an end, it's time to really enjoy what 2012 has to offer with a lifestyle spring clean.

One of the most important lifestyle changes can be finally getting rid of your glasses. While contacts and spectacles temporarily correct vision for millions of people, they also become costly, inconvenient and a hindrance to getting on with your life.

Focus Clinic are the UK's top laser eye surgery specialists with 100 per cent of their patients coming away with 20/20 or better. In fact, in 2011, 40 per cent of their patients received 20/12 'super vision' (the sharpest any human can get is 20/10 - and this is extremely rare).

With that in mind, CosmeticSurgeryToday has compiled a run down of how you can live your life with HD vision this new year!

Z-LASIK
Z-LASIK incorporates two state-of-the art lasers to refine eyesight and reduce unwanted side effects such as ‘halos' and glare.

Firstly, the UK's only Crystal Line LDV 'bladeless' laser creates a corneal flap. The excimer laser then reshapes the inner corneal layers with a groundbreaking process known as ‘ablation'. The excimer laser is a ‘cool laser' which means instead of using heat, it uses a unique energy to disrupt molecular bonds of surface tissue and disintegrates them into the air. The result? A seven-minute ‘out-patient' treatment with minimal discomfort and virtually no downtime.

PRK/LASEK
This re-shapes cornea without the need for a ‘flap'. Also known as ‘surface laser eye surgery', LASEK is especially suitable for those in contact sports or with particularly active lifestyles. With PRK and LASEK, the surface skins cells are removed and the underlying surface is exposed.

PRK is usually chosen for anatomical reasons, typically a patient with thinner corneas. However, with the arrival of very predictable thin Z-LASIK flaps, even some of these patients can now have the benefits of LASIK.

BLENDED VISION & CUSTOM Q
This treatment is for age related vision loss and people in the 40+ demographic. Presbyopia is the name of the condition which causes the need for reading glasses. Presbyopia is an inevitable part of the ageing process, and with Focus's unique Blended Vision treatment, you can maintain both near vision and long distance vision. Their 'Custom Q' profile alters the shape of the cornea making it 'bullet shaped' (rather than the standard 'flat curve') - this affects the depth of focus and allows for at least 20/20 vision.

Z KAMRA
The latest treatment to combat Presbyopia, Z KAMRA is the UK's first ever permanent solution to age-related vision loss. Utilising a tiny implant, thinner than a red blood cell and with an internal diameter of 1.6mm, the Z KAMRA surgery blocks out the amount unfocused light entering the cornea, for a more streamlined vision. What's more, it allows someone the age of 70 to have the same vision as someone aged 17 - permanently!