Q. I`m extremely nearsighted, and know that those thick eyeglasses I must wear give me a ``pig-eyed,`` unattractive look. I`ve been told that there`s some operation that can help, but I do not know either the name of the surgery or how it works? Can you provide me with this information? I`m trying to avoid all the hassle with contact lenses.
A. At the present time, there`s but one generally accepted type of corneal surgery in use to correct the problems of myopia (nearsightedness). It`s called radial keratotomy.
The technique consists of making cuts into the cornea that extend down through almost 95 percent of the thickness of the cornea. These cuts are made in a pattern that resembles the spokes of a wheel and circle the entire front surface of the cornea.
Since these incisions flatten the shape of the cornea, the amount of myopia is reduced. The operation finds use in patients who have at least six to seven diopters of myopia. However, most surgeons who perform the operation use it for individuals who cannot tolerate contact lenses or who are in occupations where they must have better vision without an artificial correcting aid.
The other type of surgery-excimer laser treatment, which uses a laser to remodel the shape of the corneal tissue-still is considered experimental and currently is being investigated.
There have been many new developments and improvements in contacts, including the new disposable lenses, which greatly decrease the amount of
It would seem to me that your best course of action would be to give contacts a trial to determine if you find them more acceptable than you now judge them to be. You may be totally satisfied without undertaking an operation that has both problems and risks, and which cannot be reversed if all does not go as you might wish.
ACROSS MY DESK: Are two hearing aids better than one? Maybe not, if you consider the work of Dr. James F. Jerger, an audiologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Jerger`s research indicates that some hearing problems may result from how sound is processed in the brain rather than from an imbalance of hearing sensitivity in the ears.
Since speech processing is controlled by the left side of the brain, which receives sounds directly from the right ear, a hearing aid in the right ear may have some advantages over one placed in the left ear. In addition, there may be some interference when both ears are stimulated simultaneously, though the reasons for this are still unclear.
For these reasons, Jerger says that for some people over the age of 50, a hearing aid for the right ear only may be the best choice. It certainly would be cheaper.