What is LASIK eye surgery?

In the past 25 years more than 10,000,000 people around the world have chosen LASIK or a related laser correction procedure to eliminate their need for contacts and glasses. LASIK is one of many available options for reducing or eliminating your dependence on glasses or contacts. In addition to LASIK surgery, The Fifth Avenue Eye Center offers the latest laser correction options including flap-less LASEK and PRK. The terms IntraLASIK, Bladeless lasik, non-cutting laser procedures, and flap-less LASIK are all different names or variations of these three primary Laser Vision Correction procedures. With so many terms and misconceptions about laser vision procedure, you might wonder what procedure is best for you. Dr. Ilan Cohen and the staff at The Fifth Avenue are experts in vision correction will help you navigate the options. As our expert surgeon, Dr. Cohen personally determines which procedure is best suited to your individual needs and unique prescription.

Why choose us?

The doctors, patients and staff of the Fifth Avenue Eye Center are confident that we provide one of the most accurate, safest, and reliable solutions for Laser Vision Correction in the New York and New Jersey area. We perform all surgeries at New York's leading eye care facility, Manhattan Eye Ear and Throat Hospital. Unlike centers that use their own equipment, the calibration of hospital laser machines are strictly regulated. In addition, Dr. Ilan Cohen's vast experience and innovative spirit has brought him nationwide recognition that may be of interest to you. Consider the following:

Experience, experience, experience:

Dr. Cohen is a fellowship trained cornea and refractive surgeon. After performing thousands of successful laser procedures, he is one of the most experienced surgeons in the nation. In addition, he is the address to which other LASIK surgeons refer their complications. Patients have traveled from as far as Europe, Middle East and South America to seek Dr. Cohen's surgical skills and expert advice. As an innovator in surgical techniques (see below), he is highly regarded amongst patients and surgeons alike.

Safety:

Not everyone is a candidate for LASIK. Moreover, some patients may be borderline candidates for LASIK but be much better served by an alternative Laser or Non-Laser procedure (based on age, specific prescription and other factors).

Dr. Cohen's expertise with different technologies allows him to offer the safest procedure for your needs, whether it's LASIK or an alternative procedure like PRK, LASEK or VisianICL. This is a safer, more professional practice than the commercial "LASIK ONLY" centers that offer LASIK as their only vision correction solution. In addition, Dr. Cohen is a highly conservative surgeon and will tell you if it is safer for you to defer surgery or wait for a future Technology.

Reputation for excellence:

Over many years of practice, Dr. Cohen has established a national reputation of expertise, ethics and excellence amongst his colleagues. For this reason, dozens of doctors and laser eye surgery specialists have chosen him as their surgeon to treat their own and their family members' eyes.

What are the different LASIK technologies?

The Laser Vision Correction technology has evolved very rapidly since it was introduced more than 20 years ago. In general, at the core of the procedure is the Excimer Laser machine which modifies the curvature of the cornea. There are many different companies with competing technologies.

Wavefront Technology (Customvue, custom treatment): This laser Technology comes to provide a solution for the natural aberrations (imperfections) of the eyes.

If we want to improve the vision beyond 20/20 we need to eliminate these aberrations which interfere with the perfect focusing of light on the retina. The Wavefront machine measures not only the prescription of your eyes, but also the individual Wavefront aberrations. The computer then plots a specific laser treatment pattern aimed at resolving these aberrations along with the prescription (something not possible with contacts or glasses). Hence, we can potentially obtain visual acuities that are better than 20/20.

Clinical studies show that this Technology produces 20/20 vision in more than 98% of the patients, and large part of them obtain better than 20/20. It is also better in eliminating or reducing the incidence of glare and haloes. However, it is only available to the appropriate candidates, based on prescription and other factors.

Bladeless LASIK (Intralase, all laser Lasik):

During LASIK, a flap is created. The laser treatment is performed under this flap and at the end the flap is repositioned. This flap can be created in two ways. Either by a separate laser machine or by a fine tuned mechanical instrument (a microkeratome). There has been an ongoing debate among surgeons for years now as to which of these technologies produces superior results. In our experience, both can produce excellent results in the appropriate patient if tailored to that patient's individual eyes. Neither one can produce better results consistently for everyone. This needs to be evaluated on an individual basis and is not the same for all patients. There are valid arguments for and against each one of these two technologies. Unfortunately, this academic debate has been tainted with the marketing tactics that some centers use to attract more customers. They use the fear of the "Blade" for the patient, to make it look as if the laser created flap is better for everyone. Their claim to fame is that they use the Bladeless Technology for everyone. This statement has no academic merit and is no more than a marketing gimmick. Although there are patients who will benefit greatly from the Intralase technology, most patients don't need it and will even expose themselves to complications that didn't exist before with the older Technology.

Innovation:

Dr. Ilan Cohen is the first surgeon in the Tri-State area to perform cutting edge corneal surgeries such as the "Implantable Contact Lens" and "Artificial Cornea Replacement". He has been featured in numerous media outlets including CBS, FOX and CNBC news for these innovations. You can watch video clips of Dr. Cohen on Youtube and in the News section of this website.

Affordability:

We will work with you to find a financial solution that best meets your needs. Our surgical coordinator will work with you to navigate low interest payment plan options, health insurance discounts, and promotional pricing. We can even help you use your flexible spending plan to pay for your procedure. Over time you will spend less on LASIK than on wearing glasses or contacts. To learn more about the cost of laser vision correction, visit the pricing page.

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