Dr. Robert Selkin | Robert Selkin

Nearsighted:
In nearsightedness, light comes into the eye and is focused in front of the retina. Nearsighted patients typically cannot see well at a distance, but can see well up close. To treat nearsightedness, the laser flattens the central part of the cornea. This allows light to be focused directly on the retina. The lasers at Selkin Eye Center provide the most advanced technology to treat low or high degrees of nearsightedness. In any degree, it is vital to be sure that the patient has an adequate corneal thickness, which we determine with our advanced diagnostic equipment. We use our orbscan II device to determine the entire thickness across your cornea. Dr. Selkin also has Ultrasound packymetry devices for determining corneal thickness.

Farsightedness:
In farsighted patients, light rays enter the eye and are focused behind the retina. This occurs because the cornea is too flat or the eye is not long enough. Patients who are farsighted have a lot of difficulty seeing up close, and can have difficulty with distance vision as well. Many patients who are farsighted notice that they didn't need glasses until they reach age 40, and near that age they need bifocals for distance and reading. Lasik can treat farsightedness by gently flattening the periphery of the cornea to allow the central part of the cornea to become steeper and focus light on the retina. Treating farsightedness improves the distance vision and near vision, though reading glass may be necessary for up close work. For those farsighted patients who want to rid themselves of reading glasses, ask our doctors about monovision laser vision correction.

Astigmatism:
Many patients who are nearsighted or farsighted also have some degree of astigmatism. Astigmatism is a condition in which the cornea has different curvatures (such as a steeper vertical cornea than horizontal). This causes light rays that come into the eye to not be focused on the retina, which causes blurry, distorted vision for any distance.