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Office Hours
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Address:
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St. Andrews Village
13801 East Yale Ave.
Suite 117
Aurora, CO 80014
Phone: 303.751.2020

Downtown
999 18th St.
Suite 146
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: 303.298.9410

Aurora
1550 S. Potomac St.
Suite 155
Aurora, CO 80012
Phone: 303.369.1020

Highlands Ranch
200 W. County Line Rd.
Suite 150
Highlands Ranch, CO 80129
Phone: 303.794.2433

Lakewood
2766 South Wadsworth Blvd.
Lakewood, CO 80227
Phone: 303.935.2020

Vision Care Specialists
Care Group Line:
303.991.9600

How does LASIK work?

LASIK is the acronym for “laser assisted in situ keratomileusis." LASIK is a surgical procedure that uses a cool laser to reshape the front of the eye in order to improve vision. The surgical procedure is capable of correcting a wide range of nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia) and astigmatism.

In this procedure, a very thin cap of corneal tissue is created. The cap is folded back from the surface of the eye. The computerized laser gently sculpts the cornea, permanently altering the shape of the cornea to correct the curvature. The cap is returned to its original position and adheres quickly back on the eye without needing any stitches.

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Am I good candidate?

Good candidates have a strong desire to be less dependent on corrective lenses and are willing to accept the risks of surgery. You need to be 21 or older, have healthy eyes and your vision needs to be stable before surgery.

Not everyone is an ideal candidate for refractive surgery. Eligibility depends on your current vision prescription, the curvature and thickness of your cornea as well as a number of other factors that our doctors evaluate during the course of your pre-operative examination. With major advances in technology, many people are now good LASIK candidates that previously did not qualify. Our doctors are well trained in this area and will make recommendations based upon your eyes and vision requirements.

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Why choose us?

Every day you hear and see the marketing hype for LASIK advertised on television, radio and print ads. How can you possibly sort through all the media information in order to make the best decision for your eyes?

Refractive surgery is not a single event but a process that begins with a careful preoperative evaluation and ends with regular postoperative care. In fact, the pre- and postoperative exams are as important as the surgery for maximizing the likelihood of a successful outcome.

At Vision Care Specialists, our doctors and staff take the time to conduct a thorough preoperative exam, including all of the necessary advanced tests needed to determine if you are a good candidate for surgery. If you are a candidate for LASIK, we discuss all the variables that go into making the final decisions:

  • Which surgeon is best suited for your needs
  • Which laser is best for your eye
  • Review the different guarantees offered by the laser centers and the diagnostic equipment available.

We will help you make a decision based specifically on your eyes so that your LASIK outcome is the best it can be.

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Pre Op/Post Op

Before surgery

Your pre-operative examination will involve a complete medical and eye history and a comprehensive eye examination. Your vision will be checked for stability, your eyes will be tested for glaucoma and a microscopic evaluation of the interior of your eyes is done. Tests will measure the thickness of your cornea, pupil size, a corneal topography (mapping) will be done and your current refractive prescription will be determined.

If you wear contact lenses, you will need to discontinue wearing them for a while before the procedure. Your doctor will give you the necessary guidelines.

During surgery

During the surgery, anesthetic eye drops are applied to numb the eye. The surgeon applies a suction ring designed to control the eye so you do not have to worry about holding your eye steady. The Ziemer laser is used to create a flap of tissue to prepare the cornea for treatment.

The computer-controlled laser sculpts the cornea’s curvature by removing small amounts of tissue to reshape the cornea to precise measurements. The surgeon then places the flap back into its original position and observes the eye for three to five minutes to ensure flap adhesion. Because the tissue bonds quickly, healing is rapid and no stitches are required. The whole procedure takes about 10 minutes for two eyes.

After surgery

You will need to make arrangements to be driven home from surgery and you should plan to relax the remainder of the day. You may experience some discomfort and you will be given a prescription for pain medication that you can take, if you need. You will also have eye drops to use. Some patients experience light sensitivity and sunglasses will help make you more comfortable. Most patients can return to work within one to two days.

Your post op visits are usually scheduled at 1 day, 10 day, 1 month, 2 months, and 6 months. Your visits consist of monitoring the healing process and evaluating your vision correction and overall health of your eyes.

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How do I get started?

It's Easy!

Just click on the "Contact Us" icon and send an E-mail to our office, or click on the “Locations” icon to find out which of our five convenient locations is nearest to you. Then call us to set up an appointment for your Free LASIK Screening! Or call (303) 936-2020 and ask for our LASIK Customer Service Representative.

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New Technology!

Blade-Free Ziemer LDV Femtosecond LASIK

Ziemer LDV Technology

Femtosecond technology allows the entire vision correction procedure to be performed by Laser. The use of a blade to make corneal flap is no longer required. The blade-free experience provides an unprecedented level of safety, precision and comfort, in an effort to obtain the highest quality of postoperative vision possible.

Ziemer femtosecond technology utilizes tiny pulses of laser light a quadrillionth of a second each to create the Lasik corneal flap. Each pulse passes harmlessly through the outer portion of your cornea to form a uniform layer of microscopic bubbles just beneath the surface of your cornea. This layer creates a flap of precise size and location.

Ziemer LDV Advantage

Reduced Pulse Energy and Faster Pulse Rate: Ziemer technology uses light pulses with much lower pulse energy. It uses an incredibly fast sequence of tiny light pulses to generate the smooth surface in the corneal tissue that is required for an optimal vision correction. Within the few seconds required to create the corneal flap, the Ziemer femtosecond laser will place an almost unimaginable number or 400 million tiny, closely spaced gas bubbles inside the cornea, 500 times more that the technology employed so far.

Larger treatment zones: With the Ziemer technology we can now create larger flaps and therefore apply the vision correction to a larger area on your cornea. Your quality of vision, particularly at nighttime and in conditions of poor lighting or reduced contrast, is further improved by a small but important amount.

Faster visual recovery: Most patients will see clearly 1 to 2 hours after the procedure and on the next day your vision quality will already be close to the final optimum.

Reduced occurrence of Dry Eye syndrome: “Dry Eye” is a minor side-effect of LASIK. It used to occur frequently to patients after classical Microkeratome-LASIK, but has become a rare problem with the more gentle Ziemer technology.

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Allegretto Wave™ Eye-Q Excimer Laser System

The Eye-Q Advantage

Excimer lasers aren’t all the same. The Allegretto Wave™ Eye-Q laser system offers our patients increased speed and accuracy. The Allegretto represents a new generation in laser vision technology. From the start, it was designed to provide Custom treatments by incorporating wavefront principles into each procedure while adjusting the treatment to the patient’s unique corneal curvature. Allegretto technology is referred to as “High Performance Vision Correction” that allows patients to achieve exceptional results. It is the fastest laser in the United States with most patients having their vision corrected in as little as ten seconds, some even more quickly. This increased speed assures patient comfort, reduces dehydration and exposure to temperature, altitude and humidity factors which result in better outcomes

Wavefront Technology

One of the most innovative features of the Allegretto Wave™ Eye-Q is the way it uses wavefront-optimized technology to automatically compensate for the curvature of the cornea. In earlier laser correction systems the optical zone, or area of correction, was centered on the front of the cornea. The result was a flattened circular area that ended with an abrupt edge. The Allegretto preserves the natural aspherical shape of the cornea to a degree that older lasers simply cannot achieve. It is also able to treat with a larger optical zone, virtually eliminating glare and night vision problems associated with older generation lasers.

PerfectPulse Technology®

PerfectPulse Technology ensures safe and precise work at high speed. Each ultra-thin laser pulse is used to sculpt the corneal surface of the eye with the utmost precision. The high-speed eye-tracker follows the eye’s fastest movements, checking the eye’s position 400 times per second to ensure an accurate placement of each laser pulse on the cornea. Every 4-6 milliseconds, the eye’s location is measured and the internal mirrors of the Allegretto Wave™ Eye-Q are automatically aligned. Right before the pulse is released, a second check is made to confirm that the eye has not moved. In addition, an integrated crossline projector provides the surgeon an exact alignment of the eye’s position.

Potential Benefit

Ziemer and Allegretto Laser technology is groundbreaking because it has the potential to improve not only how much you can see - the visual acuity measured by the standard 20/20 eye chart, but also how well you can see, in terms of contrast sensitivity and fine detail. This translates into a reduced risk of post-LASIK complications, such as glare, halos and difficulty with night vision.

Custom LASIK's advantage lies in the area of quality of vision:

  • Greater chance of achieving 20/20 vision
  • Greater chance of achieving better than 20/20 vision
  • Reduced chance of losing best-corrected vision
  • Reduced chance of losing visual quality or contrast sensitivity
  • Reduced chance of night-vision disturbances and glare
  • Potential also exists for custom LASIK to treat those people who have lost best-corrected vision from any prior refractive surgery: LASIK, PRK or RK procedures, etc.

Continue to check back on our website or schedule time with one of our doctors to find out the latest news on this breakthrough technology!

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