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Business Ireland
March 2008
Have you considered life without glasses or contact lenses?
The Wellington Eye Clinic at the Beacon is the leader in Laser Eye Surgery in the country.
Most wearers of glasses or contact lenses would rather be without them, and many may have considered laser eye surgery, often for social and sporting reasons. Top golfers such as Tiger Woods have had laser surgery, as have Ireland’s Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley.
Lasik and Lasek
Laser treatment is computer-controlled surgery by means of a laser that reshapes the cornea to improve your vision. The two most common procedures today are LASIK and, in cases when the cornea is too thin, LASEK. Five to ten years ago the procedure of choice was PRK. With PRK the surface cells were removed and discarded. The cells then regenerated over the next four to five days.
With LASEK, the cell layer is lifted then replaced. LASIK involves lifting and replacing a thicker layer of the cornea. After LASIK, vision is normally very good by the next day, while recovery takes longer with LASEK. For this reason eyes are generally treated separately, but in the past few years the number of patients electing to have LASEK on both eyes on the same day has increased dramatically as new bandage contact lenses allow for quicker recovery than before.
All surgery has risks and complications, and LASIK is no different. It is important to check out the record of the laser clinic you are considering. The Irish owned, Wellington Eye Clinic at the Beacon is the leader in eye laser surgery in the country, having performed more procedures than any other facility in the country, including the operations on the Irish golfers. The clinic introduced laser refractive surgery to Ireland in 1990. In 1997 it became the first clinic in Ireland to perform LASIK on both eyes on the same day. The record of the clinic at that time was 100 per cent in terms of never having had a post-operative infection and hence the decision was made to start doing procedures bilaterally. To this day, 23,000 procedures later, the clinic still boasts a record of never had a post-operative LASIK infection.
LASIK performed in a clinic such as The Wellington Eye Clinic at the Beacon is eight times safer than wearing daily disposable contact lenses (the safest contact lens) in terms of sight-threatening complications. The professional group that has had LASIK more than anyone else is accountants – approximately one of all accountants have had LASIK done. Perhaps a more telling statistic is that 32 per cent of eye surgeons who are members of the American Cataract and Refractive Surgery Society have undergone the procedure.
The most advanced treatment available
The Wellington Eye Clinic at the Beacon uses the most advanced laser currently available – the WaveLight Allegretto Eye-Q 400 Hz laser. This is the fastest laser in Ireland and ensures a safer, quicker treatment for the patient, taking 10-20% of the time most other lasers do to do similar treatments. It uses a Wavefront-optimised profile even in standard cases and it is the first laser to have been designed for customized treatment right from the start.
The Wellington Eye Clinic at the Beacon has been the recipient of the most prestigious award from Wavelight, that Global Ambassador site in recognition of the contribution that the clinic has made to research, teaching other surgeons from around the world and for its commitment to patients.
The clinic was founded in 1980 and in December 2006, it expanded its premises and services, relocating from Ballsbridge to its state-of-the-art new premises in the Beacon Medical Campus in Sandyford. Surgeons and optometrists at the clinic are trained to treat all ophthalmic conditions. The clinic has four (two full time and two part time) Irish Council Specialist Registered Ophthalmologists offering 24/7 patient cover. The clinic also offers a lifetime warranty on the surgery, so if your vision regresses and you need further laser surgery in the future at any time, there are no further costs. In addition, all consultations and assessments are with your surgeon as opposed to any other medical staff or representative.
Among the key personnel is Dr Richard Corkin, Consultant Ophthalmologist, who is originally from Belfast and trained as an eye specialist in South Africa. He has over 23 years experience in private practice. An accomplished cataract and refractive surgeon, he helped establish the Peninsula Eye Clinic in Cape Town in 1995. Dr Corkin returned to Ireland in 2001 to join the Wellington Eye Clinic at the Beacon.
Consultant Ophthalmologist Dr Arthur Cummings has been at the Clinic since 1998 after relocating from South Africa. He has vast experience in LASIK and refractive surgery and is an internationally renowned expert on customized laser treatments, yet he retains a strong interest in general ophthalmology, including cataract surgery. Both surgeons spend 95% of their time performing laser eye surgery.
The Wellington Eye Clinic as the Beacon was the first clinic in Ireland to concentrate on treating presbyopia. Presbyopia is the condition that affects everyone over 50 years of age. It usually starts earlier around 42 to 45 years of age and is due to a progressive hardening of the natural lens. This is normally remedied by wearing reading glasses. The clinic now provides a treatment that does not involve laser treatment and can give you freedom from reading. This treatment, called conductive keratoplasty (CK), is even safer than laser treatment.
Sharon’s experience
Sharon Plunkett, a Dublin business executive, underwent laser eye surgery for short-sightedness in August 2007 at the Wellington Eye Clinic. “I couldn’t see very much and it was particularly annoying first thing in the morning looking for my glasses on the bedside locker”, she said. “I wore contact lenses all the time and they frequently dried out and broke in my eye – it was an interesting experience trying to fish around for the tiny bit of broken lens, particularly if I had taken the other one out already.”
Although Sharon was very squeamish about her eyes, she was reassured by the surgeon and by the professionalism of the clinic, and the procedure went well. “I had the surgery at 3.30pm – I went home and rested for the evening and could see perfectly clearly the next day,” Sharon said. She opted for monovision in order to avoid having to wear glasses by the age of 45. “This way I won’t need them until I’m 55”, she said. For Sharon the biggest advantage of not wearing glasses is being able to see in the shower or the swimming pool.
For more details on laser treatment available from the Wellington Eye Clinic at the Beacon Medical Centre, Sandyford, Dublin 18, see www.wellingtoneyeclinic.com or phone 01 293 0470
Business Connect Magazine
March 2008
IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITY OF UNHINDERED VISION – WITHOUT GLASSES
No more squinting in the boardroom or fumbling for glasses before a meeting business connect visits the Wellington eye clinic at the Beacon to learn more about refractive surgery.
The Wellington Eye Clinic was founded in 1980 and in December 2006, relocated from its Ballsbridge Premises to its state-of-the-art new premises in the Beacon Medical Campus in Sandyford. To date the clinic’s surgeons have performed over 25,000 surgical procedures. The Clinic introduced laser refractive to Ireland in 1990, having previously performed Radial Keratotomy.
“Only the most advanced and safest laser technology is used to treat our patients” commented Dr. Richard Corkin, Consultant Ophthalmologist at the clinic. The Wellington Eye Clinic at the Beacon has 4 (2 full time and 2 parttime) Irish Medical Council Specialist Registered Ophthalmologists, offering 24-7 patient cover.
The Clinic boasts the most advanced laser (Wavelight Allegretto Wave) in the country that incorporates Wavefront technology (wavefront optimized) in every single laser treatment and has been doing so for the last 7 years. This significantly reduces the risk of having glare and nighttime driving problems after surgery. For those with pre-existing nighttime visual problems, the clinic has the widest range of custom treatments available anywhere in Ireland.
This includes Wavefront-Guided, Topography-Guided, Pentacam-Guided and Custom Q treatments. The Clinic is also currently the only facility in Ireland offering corneal cross-linking for keratoconus patients.
The WaveLight Allegretto Excimer Laser is a very fast 0.9mm flying spot laser with a 400 Hz repetition rate. This laser takes 10-20% of the time that most other lasers do to do similar treatments.
The surgery can allow different outcomes depending on the patient’s needs: if you want the best possible vision, you aim for zero-zero which implies that you now have no refractive errors in either eye and will have excellent distance and near vision until you reach the age of +/- 45 at which time you need reading glasses for near work.
The other option is to aim for monovision where one eye is targeted to zero and the other to –1.75 or –2.00: now you have one eye for distance and one for near and this implies that you don’t need reading glasses when you get to the age of 45.
The clinic was awarded the status of Global Ambassador Clinic for the Wavelight Laser Company in 2006. To date our combined staff have performed well in excel of 25,000 LASIK procedures, refractive procedures such as PRK, LASEK, clear lens extraction and PHAKIC lens implantation, as well as 8,000 cataract extractions added Dr. Corkin.
The Wellington Eye Clinic at the Beacon is also unique in that the clinic offers a lifetime warranty on laser surgery procedures – if at any time in the future your vision regresses to a point where you need glasses to drive, they will perform the enhancement surgery free of charge.
The Wellington Eye Clinic at the Beacon established for over 20 years is a trusted, Irish clinic and continues to make advances in improving the quality of life of patients.
