St. John’s Clinic-Eye Specialists first in area to offer high-performance LASIK

LASIK eye surgery, which corrects nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, continues to be the most popular elective surgery in the United States.

However, until recently, freedom from glasses and contact lenses often came with a price: the potential need for second procedures or enhancements to correct LASIK -induced night vision problems, such as glare or halos.

The Allegretto Wave excimer laser system is the first LASIK device built specifically to address certain optical distortions that are the chief cause of nighttime visual disturbances.

Nighttime vision quality was a major factor for St. John’s paramedic Sean Gasper, 36, when he underwent LASIK surgery last fall.

“As a paramedic who often drives the ambulance, my vision needed to be excellent as quickly as possible after the procedure,” Gasper says. “Before the procedure, I had 20/100 vision and always had to wear my contacts, which is difficult when you work 24-hour shifts like I do. Now, my vision is better than 20/20 and it was amazing how quickly I was able to see the results. I see better now than I ever did with my contacts and have no problems with nighttime glare or halos.”

Gasper, an active individual who lives in Branson West, plays soccer, rides motorcycles and spends lots of time in the summers fishing, boating and waterskiing on Table Rock Lake with his wife and three children.

“You’re not really supposed to wear contact lenses in the water, but I had to so I could see, especially if I was skiing,” Gasper says. “I got a lot of eye infections from wearing my lenses in the lake. I’m really looking forward to not dealing with that for the first time this summer. It’s also great to be able to see my kids across the room or the alarm clock in the morning without first having to put my lenses in.”

Drs. Tauber and James Gessler, M.D., of St. John’s Clinic-Eye Specialists began offering LASIK with the Allegretto Wave technology last fall.

"Our goal is to provide patients with the vision they desire the first time around," says St. John’s ophthalmologist Shachar Tauber, M.D. "The technology itself is as important as surgical experience in achieving the best visual outcomes for patients - the laser must perform impeccably. With other laser platforms, our re-treatment rate was about eight percent. Now, with the Allegretto Wave laser, the need for re-treatments is almost nonexistent (less than 1 percent of patients nationally) as patients are achieving optimal vision within hours of treatment. No other laser platform is this precise or predictable."

To learn more about laser vision correction, free LASIK consultations and live LASIK seminars, please call 888-540-1060.