CK Radio Waves Eye Surgery: LASIK Alternative

CK or Conductive Keratoplasty is a pretty new form of refractive surgery which makes use of mild heat from radio waves to reduce the size of the collagen (the connective tissues) in the periphery the eye corneas. This procedure steepens the corneas thus giving patients suffering from hyperopia and presbyopia better near and far vision. It also helps improving the near vision of patients suffering from presbyopia alone. But if you are nearsighted, Conductive Keratoplasty is not for you.

Earlier problems with the use of CK are now being addressed. The main problems include the tendency of the corneas to revert back to their initial states as well as the difficulty of the corrected visions to remain stable. The recent clinical studies have shown improvement and have come up with more stable results. As such, Conductive Keratoplasty is now being widely accepted by eye surgeons as well as the patients themselves.

Conductive Keratoplasty treatment is offered to patients with the age 40 years old and above, with either mild hyperopia or presbyopia or both. However, if you are wearing pacemakers for heart regulation or other similar electronic devices, you are not recommended to undergo this treatment. This is because the radio frequency waves used could interfere with its functions.

For hyperopia correction, both eyes will be treated and the range for refractive error is between +0.75 and +3.25 diopters, with no more than 0.75 diopters in astigmatism. For presbyopia, the monovision approach is used where only the non-dominant eye is treated for near vision. The dominant eye is left untreated. One of the major advantages of CK monovision correction is that it is less likely to blur a person’s distance vision as compared to LASIK monovision or contact lenses. For both hyperopia and presbyopia correction, you have to make sure that you prescription for glasses or contact lenses is not changed within a year prior to the surgery.

In order to find out if CK correction for presbyopia is you choice, you can have a trial monovison correction using contact lenses. In the test which will be done by your eye surgeon, one of your eyes is corrected for near vision while the other eye is being corrected for far vision. In some cases, the test can be done by holding a test lens in front of your non-dominant eye to make sure that your distance vision still remains sharp.

Conductive Keratoplasty procedure can be done in the ophthalmologist’s office. An eye drop will be used as anesthetic. A special tool is used to support the eyelids to keep them open and prevent the eye from blinking during the procedure. The surgeon will then imprint a pattern on the cornea by using a rinse-away dye. The pattern will show where the radio frequency must be applied. Only a few seconds needed to treat each eye. For hyperopia correction, both eyes can be done during the same visit.

After the procedure, eye drops will be prescribed to reduce the risk of infection and inflammation. You might also need to wear special contact lenses which serve as bandages for a few days to reduce any uncomfortable feelings. You might also encounter some temporary side effects such as being nearsighted for the first week as well as sensitivity to bright light. So wearing sunglasses might be necessary but all these side effects would soon clear up.

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