Correction of defective vision

Correction with contact lenses and glasses
Most prevalent is the correction of defective vision by the use of glasses. Soft or hard contact lenses as well offer an option for the correction of defective vision and most people show good tolerance. However, most of all when soft contact lenses are insufficiently taken care of, in some cases keratitis (inflammation of the cornea) can occur or, if the contact lenses are worn for too long it is possible that blood vessels become ingrown. Some patients - even after long years of usage - develop allergies to contact lens care products or suffer from dry eyes, so contact lenses may not be worn any longer.

Eyeglass passport: What kind of defective vision is present?
Besides several personal information (kind of spectacle lenses and spectacle frame) the measured values of both of the eyes are listed in the eyeglass passport.

Explanations and Abbreviations:

R Values - right eye L Values - left eye Sph (sphere) Gives your dioptre values. Near-sightedness is specified by negative values, e.g. -5.75 dpt Long-sightedness is specified by positive values, e.g. +3.5 dpt Zyl/Cyl (cylinder) Gives the value of your astigmatism by dioptre values, e.g. 1.5 dpt - in this case positive or negative values do not matter. Ach (axis) Gives the axis-position of your astigmatism by angular degrees. In our example the astigmatism on the right eye has a direction of 120°. Add (addition) Shows the value of the presbyopia once it occurs. The value of +2 dpt is added up for the close range sphere-correction .

Surgical options

Beside the conventional correction of defective vision by glasses or contact lenses more and more people in recent years have been making use of the opportunity of having surgical corrections done. During surgery the refraction of the eye is modified (refractive surgery). Surgical means in the areas of the cornea and the lens are distinguished.

Since 1983 photo refractive keratotomy (PRK) has been made use of for the corneal treatment utilising an Excimer laser which was academically acknowledged for the correction of near-sightedness up to -6 dioptre.

The most modern procedure is the laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) employing an Excimer laser. This surgical method has been in use since 1990 all over the world. It was academically acknowledged for the correction of near-sightedness (myopia) up to -8 dpt and since 1999 for the treatment of astigmatism of up to +/-3 dpt. The classification of LASIK as "academically acknowledged" took place as a result of the collective efforts of the German Ophthalmic Society (DOG) and the Professional Association of German Ophthalmologists (BVA). In cases of high degrees of defective vision or too thin cornea the defective refraction of the eye LASIK is not suitable. Alternatively - depending on the patient's age and the clinical report - there is the option of: