Raindrop Near Vision Inlay, a new LASIK-style procedure, is the solution for people who are tired of struggling with readers
How we see the world is important to us and that’s why more than 30 million people have had Laser Eye Surgery — or LASIK — over the last few decades.
As the procedure has become quite common, life still goes on. Aging occurs. Sure, you can make out the small lettering on that traffic sign while driving on the highway, but all of a sudden, the simple task of reading the newspaper has become a burden. And then reading glasses start to populate every room in the house.
If only there was a way to maintain strong vision from afar while also staying sharp up close. Introducing Raindrop Near Vision Inlay, a revolutionary new laser-assisted procedure, that would allow even LASIK patients to read without glasses.
Tami Burke is a marketing expert who has spent her career working with small businesses, and when she joined the Virginia Eye Consultants team in 2015 she saw at once how devoted the doctors and caregivers were to the best possible outcomes for any issue with your eyes.
So when they decided to adopt Raindrop, she threw her hat in as one of the first patients.
“I had Lasik a year ago but still needed reading glasses,” said Burke, who has lived in Norfolk for the last five years.
“Then it got so that I had reading glasses in every room. One at my desk, one in my pocket book and one on the top of my head because I always forgot they were there.”
Like many people older than 40, Burke started to experience presbyopia, which means her eyes started to gradually lose the ability to see things clearly up close. It is a normal part of aging. In fact, the word ‘presbyopia’ means ‘old eye’ in Greek.
Burke found herself at home and in her office holding reading materials farther away in order to see them clearly. It affected her everyday.
There is no way to stop or reverse the normal aging process that causes presbyopia. However, presbyopia can be corrected with the Raindrop Near Vision Inlay procedure, performed by Dr. Elizabeth Yeu at Virginia Eye Consultants in Norfolk.
“This has really been a game-changer for me,” said Burke, who admitted that she could not read without her glasses for more than a decade before she had the Raindrop surgery in September.
“Before this was available, everyone needed reading glasses. It doesn’t have to be that way anymore. I have to read for my job so it’s very important. It’s more than just a luxury for so many people.”
The procedure takes less than 15 minutes, is painless and patients will literally see results within one week. And with a board-certified and award-winning ophthalmologist like Dr. Yeu who is available to perform inside a local office, there is no reason for people with presbyopia to suffer anymore.
“Until now, this age group has been the most difficult for me to help and I now have options available to do so,” Dr. Yeu said. “It’s a great feeling to wake up, improve someone’s quality of life and know that, for that one part in their lives, I have had a positive impact.”
Is it time to live your life with better near vision and to reduce — or completely eliminate — your need for reading glasses? Dr. Yeu and the Virginia Eye Consultants are ready to help.
Raindrop improves near and intermediate vision by simply reshaping the front part of the eye. Using laser technology, a flap is created within the cornea of a patient’s non-dominant eye, underneath where a small transparent disc, called an inlay, is implanted. The Raindrop inlay is made of approximately 80 percent water and from material similar to a soft contact lens. It’s a quick, laser-assisted procedure that is designed to help you regain your near vision quickly and safely.
“The whole process was fast — it felt like about three minutes,” Burke said. “It’s a similar experience to LASIK, but in my case, since I already had LASIK, Dr. Yeu was cutting another flap. Easy as pie and no discomfort.”
Burke also said she did not experience any dry eye or sensitivity to light. She was one of four patients that Dr. Yeu performed the Raindrop procedure on that day.
“I’ve experienced an immediate improvement that keeps getting better,” Burke said.
Dr. Yeu, who was voted to the 2017 Global Power List as a ‘Rising Star’ by the international publication The Ophthalmologist, is also an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Eastern Virginia Medical School. She serves on several boards and committees, conducts clinical research, writes prolifically and lectures often.
More and more local candidates for Raindrop continue to find out about the procedure right here at home so Dr. Yeu has been very busy. She juggles her hectic ophthalmologist schedule with her husband, Dr. Stephen Lin, and their two children, Gabriel and Olivia.
“For me as a surgeon, there is nothing more fulfilling than the ‘Wow’ of restoring someone’s sight,” she said. “I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing the changes in the quality of life a patient experiences when their vision is improved.”
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