Why Do I Need Eye Exams after LASIK Surgery?

Importance of Regular Eye Exams It’s a wonderful morning: the sun is shining, the coffee is brewing already and, best of all, you can see your alarm clock clearly and distinctly since your LASIK surgery! A few days of inconvenience has given you better vision than you ever imagined, and you healed beautifully. You’ve donated your glasses; why can’t you throw away your eye doctor’s phone number too? Why...

How to Research Your Eye Surgeon

Caveat emptor; buyer beware! That’s pretty standard operating procedure these days. We have a mechanic check out the used car we want to buy, hire a house inspector before closing the deal on real estate, but what do we do when choosing a doctor; more particularly, a LASIK or cataract surgeon? Eye surgery requires a high degree of skill and continuous training to maintain the greatest knowledge in this...

Insurance and Laser Eye Surgery

Will Insurance Cover My LASIK Surgery? In the past, laser vision correction surgeries were not usually covered by insurance programs. Has anything changed? In some cases, yes! Many vision plans today have expanded their coverage to include LASIK and PRK. You may even be able to get your medical insurance plan to pay for the surgery under some limited circumstances, so it’s important to investigate your...

The Curious Case of Dr. Beck Weathers… or Mountain Climbing after LASIK (Part 1)

  LASIK and Mountain Climbing (Pt 1) Dr. Beck Weathers is probably one of the best known mountain-climbing LASIK patients of all times. The thing is, he never had LASIK surgery. For those of you who are not familiar with Dr. Weathers’ story, let’s go back to the second half of the 1990s. Weathers, a Dallas, Texas pathologist, was an experienced mountain climber with six of the world’s seven...

Does LASIK Work for Presbyopia?

  Presbyopia, the unofficial harbinger of middle age, causes us to need reading glasses by our mid-40s. While not completely understood, it’s believed to be caused by the hardening of the lens which causes our near vision to blur, giving us trouble with reading and other fine detail work. Up until a few years ago, your New York LASIK surgeon had few tools in his toolbox for presbyopia treatment aside from...

Flaxseed and Dry Eye: Does it help?

  Could flaxseed help with dry eyes? Buy this and get skinny; buy that, improve your heart health, brain health, colon health. Buy some other product off of late-night television commercials and improve another kind of condition (not rated for children’s viewing hours) ….. We are inundated with claims, proclamations, and outright lies about nutritional supplements. Because these products are not food...

Laser Eye Surgery New Jersey

  Which one is the right procedure for me? This question about which laser eye surgery New Jersey or New York is right for you can only be answered after a comprehensive screening exam to assess your needs. The exam includes numerous tests that determine the unique qualities of your eyes. All laser eye surgeries work by changing the shape of your cornea to refocus the light properly onto your retina and...

Laser Eye Surgery New York – Advanced Lasers

  Most Advanced: Allegretto Wave® Eye-Q 400Hz Laser Dr. Cohen’s first choice in excimer lasers is the WaveLight® Allegretto Wave® Eye-Q excimer laser, which he uses in more than 90% of his New Jersey and New York LASIK cases. He selected this laser technology for 5th Avenue Eye Center because he considers it to be the leader of the pack. In Dr. Cohen’s expert hands, the Allegretto Wave® Eye-Q...

Presbyopia – Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

What is Presbyopia and What Can I Do About It? Presbyopia is a natural part of the aging process that affects everyone starting somewhere between 40 and 50 years of age. It leads to difficulty with focusing on close objects, even in people who had perfect vision all of their lives. Some common signs of presbyopia include our need to hold books and magazines at arm’s length (or further!), blurry vision at a...

New York & New Jersey LASIK Surgery

  Do I qualify for LASIK? To determine if you are a good candidate for New York or New Jersey LASIK surgery, or any other form of vision correction surgery, you need to have a screening exam with a professional at one of our 5th Avenue Eye Center offices. During this visit, which typically takes about 30-45 minutes, you will undergo special tests to determine if you qualify for LASIK laser vision correction...

Dry Eyes

What are dry eyes? Dry eyes are one of the most common eye problems that afflict the general population today. It is one of the more common eye conditions we encounter in our offices in New York and New Jersey. Dry eyes can affect people of any age from the very young to the very old. However, its effect and magnitude usually worsens with age. Reduction of the moisture in the eyes causes an uncomfortable feeling...

Pterygium Surgery

Innovations in New York & New Jersey Pterygium Surgery Pterygium is one of more common eye conditions we encounter in our offices in New York and New Jersey. Pterygium is an abnormal growth of tissue over the eye. It often progresses to encroach over the cornea. The cornea is the clear part of the eyes that is responsible for the transmission of light. Therefore, Pterygium can cause reduction in vision, by...

DSAEK (DSEK) or endothelial keratoplasty

What is Corneal Edema? Corneal edema is a swelling of the cornea, which is the transparent dome at the front of the eye (similar to a window) which covers the iris. The cornea works with the lens to refract light and help the eye to focus. It must be clear for us to have sharp vision. When the cornea swells, it is often because of a problem with the endothelial layer of the cornea. The endothelial layer makes up...

Corneal Transplant Procedure, Alternatives and Complications

Everything You Want to Know about Cornea Transplants Corneal transplant, also known as Penetrating Keratoplasty and Corneal Graft, is the replacement of the part of the eye called the cornea with a graft obtained from a human donor. The cornea is the clear part at the front of the eye (similar to a window) that’s responsible for transmission of light into the eye. Various disease processes that affect the...

Collagen Cross Linking

About Keratoconus and Collagen Cross Linking   What is Keratoconus? Keratoconus, a progressive eye disorder that causes the cornea to become conical in shape, can be treated in a number of different ways. The most common ways of treating it are with contact lenses, corneal transplant surgery or Intacs. Recently, a procedure has shown a lot of promise in treating keratoconus and may be a safer, less expensive...

Intacs

What Are Intacs? Intacs are a newer keratoconus treatment option performed by Dr. Ilan Cohen of 5th Avenue Eye Center. Intacs for keratoconus has demonstrated excellent results. Intacs are corneal ring segment inserts that are also used as an alternative to laser surgery for correcting refractive errors unrelated to keratoconus. These thin, semi-circle implants are made from Plexiglas. They are inserted into the...

Keratoconus

Keratoconus: Keratoconus is a relatively common degenerative eye disorder that affects about 1 in 1000 people. The disorder is characterized by a thinning of the cornea, the transparent layer on the front of the eye. As the cornea thins, it becomes conical in shape. Keratoconus can cause a number of visual distortions including blurred vision, multiple ghost images, streaking around light sources, and light...

Laser Vision Correction New Jersey & New York

  Don’t qualify for LASIK? There are alternatives. Due to varying medical conditions, infections, injuries and various other factors, not everyone qualifies for conventional LASIK surgery. But don’t give up your hope to correct your vision problems and get rid of those glasses or contact lenses! There are many surgical and non-surgical options to choose from for laser vision correction in New Jersey...

LASIK NJ & Alternatives

  Are there alternatives to LASIK? Dr. Ilan Cohen and 5th Avenue Eye Center do not exclusively perform conventional LASIK. Instead, we offer a complete spectrum of laser vision correction options to meet the needs of our thousands of patients. This means that you will always be offered the unique procedure that is best suited for your individual eyes. Although LASIK NJ is a popular choice, it is not...