State-Journal.com - Reshaping how people see LASIK

Photo By State Journal/Hilly Schiffer

Dr. Irfan Ansari performs LASIK surgery at the Frankfort Eye Center.

“I didn’t know I was missing things until I got it done.”

That’s how Liberty Hall, 29, describes the outcome of recent LASIK eye surgery performed by Dr. Irfan Ansari of the Frankfort Eye Center.

Hall says she felt great when she walked outside and could see everything clearly – without her glasses.

Ansari, 34, has performed LASIK on 19 in the Frankfort area since opening the Frankfort Eye Center in August.

“My father was an ophthalmologist, so I have been interested in working with eyes since I was a boy,” Ansari says.

Originally from Pakistan, Ansari grew up in England and received his education in Canada. He moved to the U.S. 10 years ago, where he practiced in Illinois.

Last year he moved his wife and two children to Frankfort to start the full-service Frankfort Eye Center, which includes optical services to complement the eye health procedures Ansari provides.

“My wife has friends in Lexington, but we like the small-town feel of Frankfort,” Ansari says.

Ansari performs numerous surgical procedures for cataracts, retina treatment, diabetic eye disorders and glaucoma. Eyelid conditions, such as droopy eyelids, are the second most-requested procedures he performs.

But LASIK is first and foremost what people are interested in today.

LASIK, an acronym for Laser Assisted In-situ Keratomileusis, uses a laser to reshape the cornea. It requires no incisions and no stitches, and the healing time is rapid.

In most cases, like Hall’s for example, the patient can immediately see a difference in reading or driving without having to use glasses or contacts.

Nevertheless, Ansari says the public should be clear on what LASIK is and what it is not.

First, the majority of LASIK surgeries are to correct distance only vision.

“In some cases, you can have one eye corrected for distance, and the other eye corrected for near vision,” Ansari says.

Second, not everyone is a candidate for LASIK.

“Some of the conditions that would prohibit someone from receiving the surgery are: pregnancy, eye infections or some immune conditions, predisposition to dry eyes, a scarred or irregular cornea, and a cornea that is too thin for the amount of correction needed,” Ansari says.

“We do a preliminary evaluation, which takes about an hour and involves six different types of tests, to determine whether LASIK is right for you.”

A third concern is the risk involved in the procedure.

“Nothing is 100 percent safe,” Ansari says. “But research from the more than a million of these procedures already done show a less than 1 percent risk of injury to the eye, and only a 0.2 percent resulting in infection.”

And, finally, there’s the cost Ansari says can run up to $3,000 for both eyes.

“Right now, you will find our prices much lower than most places because we are introducing the procedure into the Frankfort community,” Ansari says.

He is encouraged about the advances in eye health care that have occurred in just the last 15 years.

“I remember my father telling me when I was about 10 years old that even if you don’t want to wear glasses, there is nothing you can do,” Ansari says.

Today there are so many alternatives, and research on the eye itself is promising.

“The eye is an extension of the nerves,” Ansari explains.

“Right now we cannot regenerate nerves that have been destroyed. We hope to achieve this in the near future.”