CK: Better eyesight with no cutting
By GRETCHEN LOSI/Staff Writer
Daily Press,
Victorville, CA
HESPERIA — Like many people in their mid-forties, Rita Vogler began having problems with her eyesight.
"I think it started about one hour after my 45th birthday," Vogler joked.
She wasn't going to get blind-sided by her fading eyesight, so she opted instead to become one of the first in the High Desert to undergo Conductive Keratoplasty.
She met with Dr. Richmond Roeske at the Pacific Eye Institute in Victorville. Then, after a seven-minute procedure, she is seeing better than ever.
Vogler, a Hesperia City Councilwoman, said she now can read and work on her computer — free of reading glasses.
"My reading abilities are amazing. Now, without my glasses, I can read very well. I love working on my computer. I love being able to pick up and read the newspaper. It's great," Vogler said.
Conductive Keratoplasty |
Who can benefit from Conductive Keratoplasty (CK)?
CK is intended to reduce farsightedness (hyperopia) and presbyopia in people over the age of 40. You're a possible CK candidate if you are over 40 and:
- have had good vision all of your live
- are tired of the hassle of reading glasses
- have difficulty focusing on things up close
- have no health issues affecting your eyes
|
Simply called CK, Conductive Keratoplasty is the newest medical technique approved by the FDA. The procedure uses energy waves, not a laser or scalpel, to reshape the surface of the cornea in one or both eyes.
She said she was talking to some of her friends from Orange County about her worsening eyesight. One of them mentioned CK.
Vogler calls herself "chicken" when it comes to surgery. But when she discovered that the procedure required no cutting, she decided to see if she was a candidate.
Vogler isn't the only one who likes the idea of better sight with no lasers or surgery.
Roeske said since gaining approval from the FDA in March, CK is now the fastest-growing refractive procedure in the country.
He has performed 40 to 50 procedures since May, about 10 of them in the High Desert.
"It's really catching on. The more people are aware of it, the more it is catching on," Roeske said.
The actual procedure takes anywhere from one to three minutes and Roeske said that many patients feel an immediate effect.
"Before Rita walked out of the operating room she was seeing better, but it's not uncommon at all for the full effect to take a full week," Roeske said.
Safe and minimally invasive, Roeske said there is no cutting and no removal of tissue. Instead, a small probe, thinner than a strand of human hair, is used.
He said the typical patient has had good distance vision their whole life and is now having trouble reading things up close. People who have had LASIK and cataracts can have also have CK done. Candidates must be at least 45.
The cost of the procedure is about $1,500 and is not covered by medical insurance.
Being a business owner in Hesperia that requires spending many hours a day both reading and in front of a computer, Volger said her new improved sight is a priceless gift.
::: TOP :::
|
