LASIK

LASIK Eye Surgery in San Francisco, CA

Dr. Goodman has been performing LASIK eye surgery in San Francisco for over 20 years. He is one of California’s best LASIK surgeons, and also the founder of Northern California’s largest single-specialty eye surgery center, The Eye Surgery Center of San Francisco. If you are considering laser vision correction click here to request your appointment today!

Goodman Eye Center strives to provide the best possible LASIK eye surgery and care in San Francisco. Come in for a consultation and rest assured that you are in great hands. Dr. Goodman is both skilled and experienced and will work with you to make sure you are getting the individualized care that you need. When getting LASIK surgery at Goodman Eye Center in San Francisco, we offer options to fit your needs. Goodman Eye Center offers many different options for LASIK in San Francisco. We have the VISX Star S4 Excimer Laser, CustomVue technology, and Intralase bladeless LASIK. These surgical procedures can provide independence from glasses and contact lenses.

We want you to come into our office and feel comfortable and informed. Here at Goodman Eye Center, we like to provide our patients with San Francisco knowledge of what happens during our LASIK surgery procedures as well as the many options available. Read the information below to learn more about these cutting edge procedures. To schedule your LASIK San Francisco consultation, contact Goodman Eye Center today at (415) 474-3333.

What is LASIK?

LASIK is a safe, reliable and painless way to improve vision without the need for glasses or contact lenses. LASIK, which stands for laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis, is a form of refractive surgery that changes the way light enters your eye so that it focuses properly on the retina to provide clear vision. The procedure is effective for many patients with nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia) and astigmatism.

diagram describing the LASIK eye surgery process

LASIK involves two different lasers, the IntraLase™, which creates the corneal flap and the STAR S4 IR™ Excimer Laser System which reshapes the cornea. The entire process of this bladeless LASIK takes about 15 minutes and is performed in our in-office surgical suite in San Francisco.

 

You will need to come in for a pre-operative evaluation where our doctors will measure your vision, the curvature of your cornea, the thickness of your cornea, and your pupil size to determine if you are a good candidate for LASIK. Our premier LASIK Surgeon Dr. Goodman has been performing LASIK surgery in San Francisco for many years.

Patients with thin corneas and extremely high nearsighted or farsighted prescriptions may not be good candidates for LASIK. Alternative procedures such as PRK or Implantable intraocular lenses may be better alternatives.

Dr. Goodman, a premier LASIK surgeon in San Francisco, specializes in the management and treatment of complications due to previous refractive surgery. With the new customized wavefront-guided laser treatment, imperfections from previous surgery can often be corrected. If surgery is not an option, our optometrists are skilled at fitting patients with corrective lenses to optimize their vision.

Patients who have presbyopia, the loss of near focusing ability that occurs after the age of 40, can either get both of their eyes corrected for distance and wear reading glasses for near work, or they can get monovision, where one eye is corrected for distance, and the other for near. This type of correction does slightly compromise the distance vision, but it allows for the most freedom from glasses.

Yes, as with any surgical procedure, there is a risk for potential complications, such as intraoperative flap complications, dry eyes, glare and halos at night, and light sensitivity. The risk of flap complications is extremely low, with Dr. Goodman having one of the lowest flap complication rates in the nation. Dry eyes and other complications are temporary and usually, resolve within a few months after the procedure.

Having dry eyes is a common temporary side effect of LASIK. The symptoms usually resolve within a month after the procedure and are treated with topical lubrication. For patients who already have dry eyes prior to the procedure, their postoperative regimen may require more frequent lubrication for a more extended period of time.

If you do not have significantly large pupils and are determined to be a good candidate for LASIK by Dr. Goodman, our premier LASIK surgeon, your night vision should not get worse after LASIK. In fact, with our new CustomVue LASIK, patients have reported an improvement in night vision after LASIK.

If you are over the age of 40 and do not get monovision, you will have to wear reading glasses. Some patients with monovision opt for driving glasses to wear at night time, but usually, are free of glasses for their other needs. If your vision is not optimal after LASIK, and an enhancement is not an option, glasses or contacts may be needed to improve your vision.

The change in the corneal correction from LASIK is permanent. With age, your vision may change due to changes in the lens inside of your eye, such as cataracts, but the curvature of the cornea should remain stable.

Most patients will be in the laser room for about 20 minutes, with the majority of the time spent preparing the patient for the procedure. The flap forming portion of the procedure takes about 60 seconds, and the actual laser time can range from 10-90 seconds, depending on the extent of the correction being treated.

LASIK is a relatively painless technique. During the procedure, the patient may feel some pressure during the flap forming portion of the surgery. After the surgery many patients will experience some discomfort, with scratchiness, light sensitivity, and tearing, similar to the sensation of having an uncomfortable contact lens in the eye. This sensation is usually helped with eye drops and oral pain relievers if needed and resolves within a few hours. PRK patients will feel more discomfort for a longer duration (2-3 days).

Most LASIK patients can return to work the next day. The vision may still be a little blurry the next day, but that haziness often resolves within a few days. PRK patients usually will return to work within three days after the procedure. The visual recovery after PRK may take one or two weeks longer than LASIK.

Please call our office at 415-474-3333 to schedule your consultation. Or, you may contact us and one of our receptionists will call you to schedule an appointment.

Intralase Laser for LASIK Eye Surgery

Precise pulses of laser light create rows of microscopic bubbles just beneath your corneal surface in a uniform plane. Then, the IntraLase laser stacks bubble around your corneal diameter to create the edges of your flap. These bubbles are stacked at an angle that is determined by Dr. Goodman and is individualized to the way your eye is shaped. The process takes only about 30 seconds from start to finish—it’s quiet and comfortable. Once the flap is created, Dr. Goodman gently lifts the flap to allow for the second step of your LASIK treatment. When treatment is complete, the flap easily “locks” back into position and rapidly begins to heal.

Intralase Machine

Interested in LASIK?

Click the button below to take our LASIK Self-Test.

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The STAR S4 IR Machine

Wavefront Guided LASIK

The STAR S4 IR™ Excimer Laser provides a custom corneal reshaping treatment by importing each patient’s corneal image via the WaveScan WaveFront™ System.  This is known as Custom LASIK and is the most advanced technology currently available for laser vision correction.

Learn More About Custom LASIK Here
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lasik Self-Test
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2211 Bush St.
San Francisco, CA 94115

(415)474-3333
(415)474-3939
Hours:
Mon - Fri, 8:30AM - 5:00PM

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