WEBVTT - TechStuff Stares at Laser Eye Surgery 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.960 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:17.560 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello everyone, 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.119 welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Polette, and 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:22.760 I am an editor at how stuff works dot com. 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:25.919 And I see sitting across from me as he typically is. 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:29.240 I think I can't tell. I don't war my glasses on, 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.000 but I think it's senior writer Jonathan Strickland. She'll be 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:35.400 the same except for bionic eyes. She lost the real 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:40.480 ones in the robot Wars. Nice. Thank you. Yeah. Today 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:44.440 we're going to talk about laser eye surgery. We've had 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:46.839 some people ask us about laser eye surgery and what 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:50.159 goes into it and exactly how are leasers used in 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:52.559 the process. But I think that's a record for your 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:56.440 use of that version of lasers. Yeah, and so we're 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:58.800 going to, uh, we're gonna kind of break it down 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:02.640 and talk about it goes into a laser eye surgery procedure. 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:06.360 And we should also mention I should mention that I 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:08.959 am very close to someone who has had laser eye surgery, 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.000 not right now, not like physically. I was going to 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:16.000 say my wife. My wife had laser eye surgery, um, 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:20.360 and she has been very happily moving around without the 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:24.160 you need for glasses for several years now. Um. And 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:26.160 it was very impressive to me because my wife is 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:29.920 not the sort of person who typically likes people, uh 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:33.800 you know, mesballs exactly. Yeah. She's that's not high on 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.680 our list of things to do today, but she did 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:39.000 it anyway. And we're going to kind of talk about 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.399 the process and what you have to do in order 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.000 to get laser eye surgery and what's actually being done 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.320 to you. Yeah, and I think probably the best place 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:52.520 to start is speaking of eyeballs, with the eyeball itself, yeah, 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:54.560 and why you might need laser eye surgery in the 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:58.320 first place, right, Uh. To to to understand this discussion, 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:01.080 you have to have at least a basic geography of 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:06.080 the eyeball. So let's talk a little bit about the eye. So, 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:08.680 so your your eye. The outer coating is this sort 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:12.040 of tough outer coating called the sclera, and that's sort 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:14.840 of what keeps the eyeball in its shape. It's it's 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.960 kind of the the well, it's just it's the outer layer. 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:20.639 And then part of this outer layer about I think 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:24.480 one sixth of it is the cornea, which is the 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.680 clear outer layer that goes over the part of your 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:30.600 eye where light actually passes through to get to you know, 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:36.079 your eyeball. So the cornea is, uh, it's kind of 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:38.040 like a window in a way, or if you want 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.400 to think of it like a a tablet device or something. 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:45.160 It's the gorilla glass. It's on the outside that texts 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:49.200 the the the innards, and then behind the cornea. Well, 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:50.919 first of all, you've got the sort of a watery, 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:56.639 clear liquid called the aqueous humor. Yeah, this goes back 0:02:56.680 --> 0:03:02.320 to the old humor's uh idea that dates back centuries 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:06.360 where we used to think that our bodies we were 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:11.640 like we're governed by a well, a small group of 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:17.880 various liquids called humors. We've somewhat developed beyond that at 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.520 this point, although I do think it's it's funny that 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:24.480 even now we are referring to this particular liquid as 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:27.639 a humor. Yes, so, so the aqueous humor, it's it's 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:31.079 this clear, clear liquid that's behind the cornea. It's also 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:33.000 in front of the iris, and there's a little bit 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:36.160 behind the iris as well. So then that leads to 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:40.160 the question, what then is the iris. Well, that's the 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:42.880 that's the color part of your eye. So for example, 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:47.480 my iris is blue because it lacks a certain amount 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.640 of pigmentation, which makes it a blue color. My wife's 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:54.560 eyes are brown. And uh, this is the part of 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:58.120 the other acts as like an adjustable diaphragm around the pupil. 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:03.600 So the pupil is that's the dark center of your iris. 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:08.040 That's the little opening actually that allows light to pass through, right, 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:11.480 And of course that's the part that the uh enlarges 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.000 or get smaller depending on the amount of light in 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:18.760 the room. Yeah, it's it's it's really an ingenious kind 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:21.040 of approach. Really. It's it's the same sort of thing 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:22.960 that we do with cameras when we have an aperture, 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:25.800 you know, the aperture of a camera. And you may 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.400 remember this if you listen to our our podcast about 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.640 slow motion. We talked about the aperture quite a bit. Uh. 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:34.800 That's what allows you to adjust how much light comes 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:38.400 in through the camera's lens and hits the sensor. Uh, 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:42.600 same sort of idea here. The iris is what will 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:46.279 expand or contract around the pupil and thus control the 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:47.920 amount of light that comes in. So if you walk 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:51.880 into a dark room, then the it's going to the 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.960 the iris is going to allow more light to pass through. 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:56.640 It's going to allow more of the pupil to be 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:58.880 exposed so that you get more light so that you 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:01.480 can maneuver through because you're gonna be able to you 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.440 need to be able to see if you're in a 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.520 really bright environment. In order to protect the eye, that 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:10.640 diaphragm is gonna close around the pupil to restrict the 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.839 amount of light that comes in. Right, and of course 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:19.599 UM there there's more than one UM analog as far 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.479 as the eye and a camera shut. We were talking 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.640 about cameras not too long ago where we we talked 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:28.440 about the lens and how light passes through the lens 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:32.320 to the film on the other side, or or an 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:35.080 image censor in the case of a digital camera. Well, 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:39.720 in the eye, you've got the retina, which is um 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:42.760 if you will, on the on the back side of 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:45.400 the eye, which is what records the image as as 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:48.480 the light comes through the pupil. Right, You've got you've 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.039 got the pupil, that's the aperture. You also have a lens, 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:53.400 right behind the pupil. Right, So the lens, the lens 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.400 is what is focusing that light, directing that light so 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.800 that it it hits the focal point ideally, which is 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:04.320 the retina. And the retina contains certain kinds of cells, 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:10.360 rod cells and cone cells. These are light censoring light sensors. Essentially, Um, 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:15.280 he sells sense the presence of light, and uh, through 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:18.960 a chemical reaction, send that information to your brain and 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:23.559 then your brain says, hey, I recognize that that's a puppy. Also, 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:27.440 at interesting point, if you weren't familiar with this, uh, 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:31.080 the image that you see when you're looking at something 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.640 when it hits your retina, it's actually inverted, just as 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:37.000 it is in a camera. But yes, that's the So this, 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:39.400 this is the basic part of the eye. Now, what 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:44.640 happens when something is just not quite right? For example, Uh, Chris, 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:46.680 I don't know. Are you near sighted or far sighted? 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:49.960 I am myopic. I am also myopic. That means we 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:52.440 are both near sighted, and since we both have our 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.720 our glasses off at the moment, we're both a little blurry. 0:06:55.560 --> 0:07:00.960 So myopia means that the focal point is hitting. Uh, 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.160 it's it's hitting before it gets to your retina. So 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:07.720 inside your eye there's a you know, the light is 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:11.240 being directed by the lens to your retina. Uh, those 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:14.560 the points of light are all converging, right, and that 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:17.400 point of convergence is the focal point. Now, the focal 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:21.280 point for those with myopia is in front of the retina. 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:23.760 It's not hating the retina just right. So that means 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.720 that when we start looking around things, things tend to 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.440 be the further way things are, the blurrier, they tend 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:35.080 to be. Yes. Um, Now, this can happen through various uh, 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:39.600 just well, irregularities. There could be irregularities in the cornea 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.240 that can cause this to happen, or in the lens itself, 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:46.160 or it could be that the eyeball itself is elongated. Yes, 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:49.200 so that the you know, if the eyeball was not elongated, 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:51.119 the focal point would be right there on the retina 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:52.840 where it's supposed to be in Everything will be fine, 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:57.880 but the eyeball has been stretched. Nice sound effect, thank you, 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.560 doesn't necessarily Jonathan Strict lines, it doesn't necessarily mean that 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:03.960 someone's actually gone in there and stretch your eyeball. It 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:07.400 just means that that's kind of the way it developed. Um, 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.800 now far sighting this, which is a hyperopia hyperropia, thank you, 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:14.520 I'm glad you're ready for that. One's ready? Yeah, hyperopia. 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:19.119 You've got the focal point that's that's actually behind the retina, 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:22.240 so when the lights hitting hitting the retina, it's not 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:27.840 converged on that point like it should be. And uh, hyperopia, 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:33.640 if you're hyper hyperopic, would that be correct? Hyperopic? Then 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:36.040 that would mean that you know, you would the the 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:40.040 closer something is, the more out of focus it is, 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:43.360 the further away it is, the clearer it is. Also 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:48.840 in addition to being myopic, I also have an astigmatism, 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:52.040 I too have an a stigmatism. I think he's just 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:53.920 just you know, doesn't want me to have one more 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:56.920 than he does. I only have one. Do you have 0:08:56.960 --> 0:09:03.000 to know? I'm saying, are you and have an a stigmatism? 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:09.160 Me too? Me too? It just it happen anyway. And 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:12.480 and an a stigmatism, Um, you have a difference in 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:16.080 the shape of your cornea or the lens. And basically 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.680 what happens is it creates in effect two focal points 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:24.319 within your eye. UM. And so basically that sort of 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:27.560 confuses the way the light is traveling inside your eye, 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.200 and that um, you can have, as we were both 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:32.800 pointing out just a moment ago, you can have uh 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:36.480 an a stigmatism on top of another eye condition. Yes, 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:40.400 it's it's really an uneven curvature of the cornea or 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:44.560 or lens, and yeah, it's it. It can cause problems. 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:50.080 So the thing is that the humans are clever. Yeah, 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.040 and we figured out a long time ago that if 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:57.120 you use a lens of glass and it's curved just 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:00.400 the right way, the curvature of the glass us can 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:05.360 direct light so that it corrects for these problems. I 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:08.400 can't imagine the amount of trial and error it took 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:14.160 to be able to figure this out. But to correct 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.440 your your vision, you have to, you know, take into 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:22.360 account what the focal point is doing uh inside your eye. 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:26.240 So with it's a little bit different between myopia and 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:30.040 uh and hyperopia. But anyway, the curvature of the lens 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.640 depends upon the condition, right, you know, if it's going 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:34.760 to be a concave lens for one and a convex 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:37.720 lens for the other, And honestly, I can't remember the 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:39.240 one from the other. I guess I could stare at 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:41.080 my glasses long enough and try and figure it out. 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:45.000 But um, but the point being that that's what's going 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.319 to direct the light the right way into your eye 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:51.400 so that it corrects for whatever problem you already have. 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:54.720 And then, of course, well what if we didn't want 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:58.440 to wear glasses, what if we wanted something where it 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:02.040 wasn't you know, this this pair of frames sitting on 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:04.600 our face. Well that's when we started to come up, well, 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:07.520 we could maybe make a lens that could sit directly 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.720 on the eye and do the same sort of correction. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:17.360 It's going to require a more precise approach because it's 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:20.440 going to be a much smaller lens that by definition, 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:23.880 I mean you can't have an enormous lens shoved into 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:28.719 your eye and expect any sort of comfort. So that's 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:31.720 where the contact lens idea came from, where we started 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.520 to kind of get you you apply these same kinds 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:39.560 of thought to a thin lens that could fit directly 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:41.560 on top of the eye. But then we thought, hey, 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.360 wait a minute, we're really just talking about lenses here. 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:48.200 Even even the cornea can act somewhat as a lens. 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:52.120 The cornea on your eye itself directs light. So what 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:55.920 if we were to reshape the cornia so that it 0:11:56.120 --> 0:12:00.160 corrected for whatever problems we had as you know, as 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.120 far as vision problems are concerned. Uh, what if we 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:06.240 just did that, then we wouldn't have to wear contact 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.160 lenses or glasses or anything. And that's where the idea 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:15.839 for corrective surgery comes from. And um, and at its 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:20.720 very most basic level, what correct what this laser eye 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:24.840 surgery is doing is it's altering the shape of the 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:28.040 cornea so that directs light in a way that corrects 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.880 for whatever vision problem you have. That's that's the basic 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:33.960 you know, when you get down to it, that's what 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:37.360 laser eye surgery is all about. So it's just it's 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:40.800 that same principle behind grinding a lens so that you 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:43.560 can see, you know, in a pair of eyeglasses, but 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:48.640 now it's applied directly to our biology. It sadly does 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:51.760 not mean you will actually end up with laser shooting 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:55.599 out of your eyes, well at least not for most people. No, 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:01.960 I would think that's a pretty rare side effect. So, yeah, 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:05.120 where would you like to start with laser eye surgery? Well, 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.400 I was going to talk about sort of the process 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:09.720 you have to go through before you get laser eye 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:12.640 surgery done, and then we'll get into what is actually 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:18.440 going on in a laser eye surgery session. Yeah, because frankly, 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:21.880 it's it's reminds me of a lot of life events. 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:25.760 You know. The actual event itself doesn't really take all 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.360 that long. Laser eye surgery only takes a few minutes. 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:32.000 It can take less than half an hour total um. 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:33.960 But there is quite a bit of preparation that needs 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:36.880 that you need to go through beforehand to make sure 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:41.400 that everything goes smoothly um and preferably not panicky, which 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.959 is the reason that I haven't had it done. Yeah. 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:46.640 So the first thing you have to do is you 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.719 have to go through and we're talking about a reputable 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.480 laser eye surgeon. This is a good time for us 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:55.240 to point out there are a lot of different facilities 0:13:55.280 --> 0:14:00.280 out there that offer laser eye surgery services. Do your research. Yes, 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.600 that's a great idea, because I know for a fact 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:06.640 that there are there's a few in Atlanta that have 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:12.839 a reputation for being less than honest, Like they'll the 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:17.480 what the they do is they'll offer this amazing sounding deal. 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.280 And of course we all know the phrase it sounds 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:24.160 too good to be true. It was probably on the internet. Um, 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:26.720 and the deal, the deal would be something like two 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:30.960 d I, which is about a tenth of what some 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:34.920 eye surgeries cost, you know, and you're thinking, wow, that's amazing, 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.280 and then you know it's got an official sounding name 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:39.200 and it's gonna be great. And then if you actually 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:41.360 start doing some research, you'll see that there's often a 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:43.680 lot of bait and switch involved where you'll go in 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:49.000 and they'll do this initial I exam and then they'll say, oh, well, 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:53.080 in your case, because you have this particular you know, 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:57.120 condition or whatever, it's actually gonna be closer to undred 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:00.240 per eye or and and just that alone is a 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:02.480 you know, first of all, that's kind of a shady 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:05.200 business practice. But beyond that, you don't want, you know, 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:09.400 you don't know how far their ethics extend into say, 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:13.840 not being a good doctor. So so in other words, 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:19.040 do your research. Yeah, quack alert. So, assuming that the 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.720 the facility has got a good reputation, uh, you go in, 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.240 you would get a very thorough eye exam, probably more 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.480 thorough in fact, I would are definitely more through than 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.560 you would get going to just get a pair of 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:34.840 glasses or contact lenses. I'm sure yes, because they have 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.240 to be they have to be very careful. Um, if 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:41.239 you're going to go for for lasic, for example, UM, 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:43.960 your eyes have to fall within a certain set of 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:49.360 parameters and they can treat myopia, hyperopia, and a stigmatism. 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:52.120 But it has to be within a certain range. Now, 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:55.920 of course that's measured in die opters. Um. That's that's 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:58.720 kind of the degrees of prescription. So you know, if 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:01.640 you hear someone say, oh, I've got minus three in 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:04.520 this I and minus two point seven five in that, 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:07.960 I the myopic. Yeah, their myopic. Yeah that a negative 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:13.280 number means myopia, a positive number is hyperopia. And then um, 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.400 a stigmatism can go either way. Yeah. Now, we we 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:19.120 do have a great article on how lasic works on 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:23.680 the website. Um and according to the research in there, UM, 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:28.200 myopia treatable with lasic can be from negative zero point 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:30.920 seven five to negative ten, which is that's a big, 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:34.840 big range. And and I should also add that depending 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.160 on which doctor you go to, they may tell you 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:40.320 that if your eyesight falls within you know, a certain range, 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:44.040 like saying, let's say the negative point seven five to 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.000 say negative one point five. They might say, you know what, 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.120 the the experience you're going to have, the the new 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.320 vision you're going to have, is may not be so 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:56.720 dramatic as to warrant laser eye surgery. Again, a reputable 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:01.280 UH clinic is going to tell you if the the 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:03.840 result is going to be truly noticeable or not. For 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.920 some people, it may not be. I for at least 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:08.919 years ago, when my wife could have done I was 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:12.199 right there on the the border like like, you know, 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:14.080 I could have gotten it done, but it may not 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:16.480 have been that dramatic. And when you're talking about that 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.360 kind of expense, really do you want to go in 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.399 for that. My wife, however, she had gotten to the 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:24.800 point of vision where they no longer use the eye chart. 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:27.080 They would say how many fingers am I holding up? 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:32.440 So she was an ideal candidate. Well you have to 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:37.560 hold some up? Um? Yeah, whoa, you need some surgery. 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.320 Hyperopia that they can treat with lacing ranges from plus 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:43.399 zero point seven five to plus four and then they 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:45.960 can treat a stigmatism for plus or minus zero point 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.360 seven five to plus or minus four. Um. So that's 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:52.000 a pretty a pretty decent range of vision that they 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:54.920 can they can correct. Um. They also look at the 0:17:55.200 --> 0:18:00.520 cornea thickness. It has to be five microns or greater UM. 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.000 That will explain why the cornea has to be at 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:05.239 least that thick coming up. And that's going to be 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:10.240 the the squiggly squirmy part where we're both like, okay, 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:14.600 so here's what happens next. I'll be going out for water, Chris, 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.320 Chris might Chris might go bye bye for about for 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.720 about five minutes that thud. Yeah, But there are other 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:23.920 types of laser eye surgery that you can pursue if 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:26.760 your cornea is not of that thickness, if it's if 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.200 it's thinner than that, there are other types of laser 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:34.040 eye surgery you can look into, so to speak. Um. 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:38.240 And then your pupil uh should be no more than 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:42.800 six point five millimeters in diameter UM, although you know 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:46.160 there are advances now that allow you to work with 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:49.320 up to eight point five UM. Also, so if you've 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.960 been Diesel from that that movie where he's got those 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:57.040 huge corneas, the huge pupils, that just wouldn't work. Lady 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:59.720 Gaga from that that one video, Yeah there you go. Yeah, 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:04.280 those those folks, I'm sorry, or practically any Disney character, 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:07.879 because I mean, have you seen Tangled. That girl's eyes 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:12.440 are huge. Yeah, Sailor Moon's not gonna have it done either. Um. 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.920 So yeah. And also if you're pregnant, have heart problems, 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:20.160 severe heart problems anyway, Um, if you're taking drugs such 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:26.280 as medicine for migraines or acne, um, you have a 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:30.439 condition called kara to conas. I'm hoping I'm pronouncing it right. 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:32.439 I didn't check the pronunciation, but that's a thinning of 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.480 the cornea condition. And um, actually I might be Uh, 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:40.879 I might not be eligible either because certain conditions like 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:45.040 autoimmune diseases, one of which I have, UM, vascular disease, 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:48.240 different kinds of eye diseases, and diabetes. All these things 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:52.640 might prevent you from going through with a lasic procedure. Um. 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:54.359 So these are things that the doctor is going to 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.080 have to talk to you about. Um, and I would 0:19:57.160 --> 0:20:00.840 encourage history. Yeah. You need to be honest too, because 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:03.800 you know, even though you may not want to wear glasses, uh, 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:06.280 you know, this is serious business and you could end 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:08.520 up with results that you are not happy with. It 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:11.760 can be complications as well, I mean even yes, you know, 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.800 it could be that everything goes well, but uh, you 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:18.280 have some complications during the healing process, and if your 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:21.560 medical history means that you can't have certain kinds of 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.360 drugs to to help that healing process along, that could 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:27.600 be an even bigger problem down the road. So yeah, 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.600 it's very important. And then the actual exam, you're going 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:33.120 to be looking through lots of different devices that are 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:37.160 going to be measuring how your eyes are receiving light. 0:20:37.440 --> 0:20:40.720 And there's actually technically mapping out your eyes the inside 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:44.960 of your eyes. Um. There's a thing called a corneal topographer. Yes, 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:47.159 that's where they type on your eyes, right, that's a 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:53.600 typograph back topographer. It actually maps the cornea, so it's 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:59.040 it's looking at the actual shape and thickness of the cornea. Um, 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:02.199 and it's too uh to really determine exactly how the 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:06.240 light is behaving once it hits that part of your eye. Um. 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:11.040 There's also the pupilometer, which is another device that's looking 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:13.119 specifically at your pupil I mean there's not a big 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:17.200 surprise there, right, you have a student in your eyeball. Yeah, 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:22.240 and then the their software very powerful software, but working 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:25.040 behind the scenes, that's mapping out your eye so that 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:29.840 the surgeon is going to know exactly what sort of 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:32.520 of adjustments they're going to need to make to your 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:37.320 cornea in order for it to um to direct light 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:39.159 the way you need it to be so that you 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:42.120 don't have to wear glasses or contact lenses anymore. So 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:45.840 it's it's pretty complex stuff. I mean, it's um pretty 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:49.200 fascinating to see. And also a laser eye surgery procedure 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:55.320 often requires two people, a surgeon and a patient, well 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:59.920 beyond the patient to people to actually to do the procedure. 0:22:00.320 --> 0:22:03.560 The surgeon and then there's usually a an operator who's 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:07.960 working on one of the laser machines. And so now 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:11.280 we've now we've talked about the process where let's say 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:14.240 that you've gone through you've had your eye exam, you've 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.480 done your medical history, and they've determined your what is 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.200 called an ideal candidate. Now that does not mean you 0:22:20.240 --> 0:22:23.000 are the perfect person to have had laser eye surgery. 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:26.280 It just means that you fit those parameters that uh, 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:28.960 you don't have anything outlying any of those parameters that 0:22:29.000 --> 0:22:32.080 would that would cause concern. It appears that it will 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:35.960 work out. Yes, Uh, now is the time where you 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:39.639 start to um to to actually go through the surgery itself. 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:42.239 And I think I think we can walk through the 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:47.080 laser process because that's still fairly common. I mean that's 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:49.280 that's actually probably one of the most common forms of 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:52.240 laser eye surgery out there. But we'll also talk about 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:56.200 how the other kinds are a little different. So, um So, first, 0:22:56.200 --> 0:22:58.720 when you arrive to get your laser eye surgery done, 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:02.240 one thing that's happens fairly frequently is that they offer 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:05.800 you something to calm your nerves. Yes, because it turns 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:08.240 out when a lot of people, when they're thinking they're 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:10.080 going to be laying down on the table with someone 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.480 shooting laser beams into their eyes, they get a little anxious. 0:23:13.920 --> 0:23:16.240 I can't imagine why. Actually, that's not the part that 0:23:16.280 --> 0:23:19.280 makes me anxious, but we'll get into that. Um So, 0:23:19.359 --> 0:23:21.920