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Why Choose Dr. Liang
Choosing your refractive surgeon is a very important process. There are many issues to consider including experience, surgical outcomes, price, doctor/patient relationship, facility, staff, etc. The list goes on.
How can you know that Dr. Liang is the right LASIK surgeon for you?
As a Sacramento based surgeon, Dr. Liang has performed thousands of successful refractive procedures, and he was the first Sacramento area ophthalmologist to be trained in refractive surgery during his residency at LSU.
His ophthalmology practice offers comprehensive eye care which means he has a vast range of experience and knowledge regarding your eyes. In addition to performing LASIK surgery on a weekly basis, he also performs the newest techniques in cataract surgery every week, as well as laser treatments and advanced testing and exams.
Dr. Liang earned his undergraduate degree from UCLA and his medical degree from the University of Southern California. He completed his residency at Louisiana State University-Lions Eye Center, where his training had a strong focus on refractive surgery. His research at LSU included clinical trials in PRK with the Excimer laser.
Due to his training and experience, Dr. Liang has developed a Laser Vision process and philosophy that provides patients with the opportunity for the best possible outcome.
- Trust your eyes, your most important sense, to Dr. Liang
- Free Screening
- Patient Education
- Comprehensive Evaluation Exam
- Recheck Appointment Prior to Surgery
- Day of Surgery
- Post Operative Care
- Commitment to Patient Care
- Turning 40
- Comanaging with your Optometrist
- (1) Dr. Liang personally examines your eyes before surgery.
Dr. Liang feels it is important to meet and examine every one of his patients personally. He is your doctor and will provide your personal care before, during and after surgery. (At some laser centers you don’t meet the surgeon until 5 minutes before your surgery. This is not in the patient’s best interest.)
Dr. Liang is the only surgeon who uses his Excimer laser, making it fine tuned for his patients. The laser is only as good as the LASIK surgeon and it is Dr. Liang’s knowledge, experience and diligence with knowing the laser that ensures precision and great surgical outcomes.
- (2) Patient Education
Dr. Liang and his staff are proud of their commitment to patient education.
We offer:
- Educational information on Dr. Liang’s training
- Educational information on Laser Eye Surgery – risks and benefits
- Literature on our Process, What to Look for in a Refractive Surgeon, Commonly Asked Questions, Dr. Liang’s LASIK Outcomes, and Eye Terminology
- Trained LASIK counselors to answer your questions
- Informational videos
- (3) Free Screening
We offer free personalized screenings to see if you are a LASIK candidate. Although not as detailed as our evaluation exam, this screening allows Dr. Liang to take a quick look at both your prescription and your eyes. We look at your glasses prescription, measure your vision with and without correction and measure your corneal thickness. This gives us a good idea if you are a candidate and gives you the opportunity to visit the office and ask questions. The next step is to schedule the Evaluation exam.
- (4) Evaluation Exam
Our refractive exam is a more detailed eye exam than you have had in the past. This exam includes the steps detailed below and usually lasts 2 ½ hours. It is a dilated exam.
For the most accurate results, you need to discontinue the wear of your Soft contact lenses for 7 days prior to this exam; if you wear Rigid Gas Permeable or Soft Toric contact lenses you need to discontinue the wear for 14 days prior to the exam.
- Corneal Mapping Topography
To assist in analyzing your cornea’s natural shape we create a corneal topography of your eye. This topography is a map of the cornea’s surface which allows Dr. Liang to rule out specific corneal diseases such as keratoconus (a progressive thinning of the cornea).
- Wavefront Mapping
Dr. Liang has been using wavefront technology for several years. Wavefront technology measures higher order aberrations unique to your eye. This technology uses a narrow ray of eye-safe light that passes through the optical system of the eye. This information is very accurate and maps the eye much like taking a finger print of the eye. It is used to determine the best way of treating your eyes.
- Undilated and Dilated Eye Exams
Working with your prescription and topography, we will examine your eyes undilated, and then check them again dilated. While dilated, Dr. Liang can take a look into the back of your eyes to ensure the health of your eyes.
- Checking Corneal Thickness
Checking your corneal thickness is very important because the thickness of the cornea plays a key role when making the flap for LASIK surgery. Some patients are not candidates for surgery due to their cornea being too thin. In this case, other surgical options may be discussed.
- Your Expectations
At the end of this comprehensive exam, you’ll know whether you are a candidate and you’ll know what you can expect after surgery. You can schedule a day for surgery at this exam.
- (5) Recheck Appointment
Because Dr. Liang wants the best for your eyes, he will bring you back for one more appointment before surgery. At this appointment we will retake all the maps of your eyes and review your prescription. Your eyes will not be dilated. This appointment takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour. We will go over the instructions for surgery at this appointment.
- (6) Day of Surgery
On the day of surgery, we want you to relax and trust your eyes to Dr. Liang. Dr. Liang’s Surgery Center is located in the same building as his office.
Our office staff will be with you on the day of your surgery. The faces will be familiar and the same individuals that helped you during your evaluation exam will assist you with the preoperative and postoperative process.
- (7) Post Op Care
You will be asked to go home and rest, keeping your eyes shut for the remainder of the day, this helps the healing process. Dr. Liang will see you the afternoon of surgery to make sure that you are healing well before the weekend. Patients can usually return to work and normal activities on Monday.
Dr. Liang will continue to see you personally at each of your postoperative visits. Included in your surgical fee are your 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year post op appointments.
- (8) Commitment to Patient Care
- Your correction is checked, double-checked, then triple-checked
- A topography is made of each eye and again at the recheck appointment
- A wavefront picture is taken of each eye and again at the recheck appointment
- The laser is calibrated between each patient
- Surgery is done in an Ambulatory Surgery Center, not a laser suite
- The surgical center is climate controlled to ensure safety in surgery
- The laser is permanently installed and operated only by Dr. Liang
- The laser, microkeratome and other precision instruments are used exclusively by Dr. Liang
- Sterile techniques are used by Dr. Liang and every technician
- (9) Turning 40
As we get older, our eyes become less accommodating (less able to adjust their focus). You may know people who never wore glasses before suddenly having to wear glasses to read or work on the computer. This
condition is called presbyopia. This happens to most people as they move into their forties. Unfortunately, once accommodation is gone, it cannot be regained.
For those who are nearsighted, reading without glasses or contacts may not be a problem, but with glasses or contacts, their up-close vision may be blurry. LASIK does the same thing as glasses and can give the nearsighted patient clear vision for distance, but because of loss of accommodation (presbyopia), the close vision will be blurry. Solutions consist of implanting an accommodating (Crystalens) or multifocal (ReStor or ReZoom) lens inside the eye, monovision or reading glasses.
Monovision is a very personal choice. With monovision, one eye is corrected for near vision and the other is corrected for distance vision. For some people, the brain adapts and the eyes work together so the patient doesn’t notice that their eyes have different vision. If you have presbyopia, this may provide you an alternative to reading glasses for casual use, like reading a menu or checking a price tag. If this is of interest to you, it is recommended that this is tried in contacts before LASIK surgery to ensure a positive outcome.
- (10) Comanaging with your Optometrist
For LASIK surgery you always have the option of comanaging your post operative care with your optometrist. Comanagement means Dr. Liang performs your surgery, but the majority of your postoperative visits are with your own optometrist. Many of you have seen your optometrist for years and really trust their opinion; they may have even referred you to Dr. Liang. Comanagement is the patient’s choice.
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Friday, May 16, 2008
