By Dr Angelo Appiotti

During my career as a surgeon, I have treated both amateur and professional athletes who chose refractive surgery to correct their vision problems and ultimately improve their sports performance. For people who practise sports, having good vision is fundamental to unlock their physical and athletic potential.

A few days ago, I was flicking through a famous sports newspaper when I stumbled across the most bewildering article on a new refractive surgery technique, namely Femto-LASIK Lux, that only used “natural” methods instead of surgical procedures...

Last year in July I posted on my blog an article titled “The (false) promise of a Steel Jeeg-like vision”. On that occasion I voiced my concerns about a sloppy, and sometimes even inaccurate, article that I had read on a famous sports magazine. It has already been a year since then. I was flicking through a newspaper when I stumbled into an article in that same vein. I will…

The experience of a renowned Austrian eye surgeon. Despite being an ideal candidate for PRK, Dr. Martin Dirisamer, well-known eye surgeon from Linz (Austria), chose to undergo SMILE surgery for the advantages this new refractive surgery technique had to offer. The ReLEX SMILE technique allows for better corneal structural integrity, faster visual recovery compared with PRK in the first 24 hours following surgery and more predictable results in patients suffering…

In 1993 a psychologist named K. Anders Ericsson published a study in which he tried to find out what makes people able to reach the highest levels of competence in specific discipline. From this study the 10,000 hours theory was born, this theory states that dedicating 20 hours a week for 50 weeks a year in 10 years anyone can reach mastery levels in any subject.

During my career as a surgeon, I have treated both amateur and professional athletes who chose refractive surgery to correct their vision problems and ultimately improve their sports performance. For people who practise sports, having good vision is fundamental to unlock their physical and athletic potential.

Eye surgery always represents a major decision, requiring the patient to take the time to retrieve information, compare and carefully choose the eye surgeon and clinic most suited to his/her situation. But when the patient hits a certain age and suffers from a severe refractive error or an impairing illness such as a cataract, surgery may and must represent an effective solution to restore his/her autonomy and help him/her live…

For many people, 20/20 is synonymous with perfect eyesight and is the goal that most want to attain when they decide to correct their vision problem. This unit of measurement is not used to measure vision in the strict sense of the term, but rather it expresses our visual acuity or visus, namely the ability of our eyes to clearly identify even the smallest details around us.

I have often outlined in my blog the ReLEx SMILE advantages over other refractive surgery techniques. More than ever this happened to be true with Annalisa, one of my latest patients. Annalisa a professional employee aged 49, suffered from a complex visual impairment in both eyes: a high compound myopic astigmatism (right eye -8.50 of myopia and -3.50 of astigmatism; left eye  -6.50 of myopia and -4 of astigmatism). In…

In my blog I have often talked about the innovative ReLEX SMILE, often describing its overall benefits as compared to other refractive surgery techniques. As doctors, we often forget that medical and technical information do sound less important to patients who are seeking for practical answers to questions such as “Why should I choose a new surgical technique as opposed to existing ones?”