Tax returns can bring extra spending money in some cases.  This money can be invested in self-improvements for great results.  It is important to look your best for job presentations or job interviews. Ideas to think about:

Botox - Hide the wrinkles and look more young and vibrant.

Latisse - Longer Eyelashes can highlight and draw attention to your eyes.

LASIK, Intralase, or Wavefront LASIK - get rid of the glasses allow people a clear look at your face.

If you are looking for a new job or looking for advancement in your current job, self-improvements are vital to presenting yourself in the best possible light.  These improvements can often be financed over a year or longer.  Call for more information.

LASIK is most often considered an elective procedure so it is rarely covered by insurance plans. HMOs often offer LASIK or other laser vision correction procedures but it has to be purchased separate from the monthly costs of the insurance plan and their prices are usually the same (or higher) than outside providers. In many cases, HMO LASIK surgeons are less experienced than private LASIK providers since the most experienced surgeons generally own their own clinics and set their own prices.  HMO surgeon are often beginning LASIK surgeons who want a guaranteed patient base.

LASIK and other vision corrective procedures (including contact lenses) are often tax deductible. According to the IRS web site, the cost of items such as prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses, and laser eye surgery are deductible medical expenses. Additionally, you may deduct transportation costs primarily for and essential to medical care that qualify as medical expenses. The actual fare for a taxi, bus, train, or ambulance can be deducted. If you use your car for medical transportation, you can deduct actual out–of–pocket expenses such as gas and oil, or you can deduct the standard mileage rate for medical expenses. With either method you may include tolls and parking fees. You may also deduct the cost of prescription medication that you purchase.

Turner Eye Institute offers a variety of payment plans with 0% interest that can be paid over a period of 12 months, 18 months, or 24 months. The length of the payment plan can depend upon your credit score.  Longer plans often have interest associated with them.

In the long run, LASIK pays for itself with the reduction in spending required for glasses and contact lenses. It generally cost $2000 per eye though so it can be a large investment. The sooner a person has it though, the more he or she will save over time.  If you are interested in LASIK surgery or other vision correction procedure, contact are office now and we can set up a customized procedure to fit your needs.

Silicon Valley is a major center for technology and is well-regarded across the globe.  In addition to software and other computer technologies, the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley are major hubs for medical care and medical technologies.  It is not surprising that San Jose, the East Bay, and San Francisco would provide advanced laser vision and refractive surgery technologies.

Dr. Stephen Turner is recognized by his peers as one of the top Laser Vsion Correction Providers in California.  He has been performing the safe and effective procedure since it was FDA approved and has performed more than 30,000 vision correction procedures during his more than 30 years in practice.  Patients who choose Dr. Turner recognize that experience is an important aspect of choosing a skilled surgeon and many are referred by other eye doctors and optometrists throughout the bay area.

Dr. Turner has pioneered many of the most advanced procedures in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Jose and was the first surgeon in Northern California to perform a significant number of advanced vision procedures.  In addition to LASIK, Dr. Turner offers a variety of other options that can be customized to fit the needs of each patient.  While LASIK has proven to be safe and effective, many times a patient can receive more satisfactory vision with other advanced procedures that are now available. 

Laser Vision Correction providers in San Francisco and San Jose have been particularly affected by the downturn in the economy.  Laser Vision Correction Procedures, such as LASIK, have decreased dramatically across the country and internationally as interested customers choose to delay the satisfaction of vision without glasses or contact lenses in order to purchase basic necessities.  When money is tight, people tend to avoid cosmetic and elective surgeries.  While LASIK can provide immediate satisfaction, it can also be delayed in order to respond to more pressing needs, such as housing and food.  Additionally, during the housing boom, many people found that they could obtain the needed funds for LASIK by borrowing against the value of their home.

With the decrease in LASIK procedures being performed, there have been significant down-sizing and even closures in major chain providers of laser vision correction   24 LASIK Vision centers in the United States and Canada have closed.  One location in San Francisco was unable to notify patients before closure and arriving patients were greeted with a sign informing them of the closure and referring them to a nearby clinic.

Other chain vision correction stores have had to close some offices and consolidate in order to remain operational.  Some have decreased staff hours or reduced staff in order to decrease operating costs.

Despite the increased time availability of LASIK surgeons, there has not been a significant decrease in the price of LASIK surgery.  With high operational costs and overhead, such as the expensive laser equipment and trained staff, it has been difficult to reduce the price without incurring a further loss.  There are numerous specials advertised and low-cost providers still advertise low rates, although usually these result in extensive upselling to customers.  Some studies have shown that despite the low advertised costs at some bargain LASIK providers, the end costs are usually very similar to the more reputable LASIK providers.

It is recommended that patients should select a LASIK surgeon and laser vision correction clinic based on experience, skill, and knowledge of the doctor and staff.  Often optometrists and medical providers can recommend a good surgeon.  It is also a good idea to meet with more than one surgeon and educate yourself on the available techniques and excimer laser systems in your area.    

An FDA clinical trial of participants using LATISSE® (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution) 0.03%, and documented their progress throughout the 16-week treatment period. The results were more than eye-catching: 78% of participants experienced a significant increase in overall eyelash prominence (including elements of length, fullness, and darkness) at week 16. The following case studies capture these images. These are real women with real results. Their lashes have not been retouched.

LATISSE® solution is a prescription treatment for hypotrichosis used to grow eyelashes, making them longer, thicker and darker.
Eyelash hypotrichosis is another name for having inadequate or not enough eyelashes.
Get ready for an innovation in lashes.
LATISSE® (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution) 0.03% is the first and only prescription treatment approved by the FDA for inadequate or not having enough eyelashes, growing them longer, fuller and darker.
LATISSE® works effectively.
LATISSE® makes lash growth possible because of its active ingredient: bimatoprost. Although the precise mechanism of action is not known, research suggests that the growth of eyelashes occurs by increasing the percent of hairs in, and the duration of, the anagen (or growth) phase. Lashes can grow longer, thicker and darker because bimatoprost can also prolong this growth phase.
Clinically proven results you can see over time.
LATISSE® is FDA approved and effective. It’s a once-a-day treatment you apply topically to the base of your upper eyelashes. Patients in a clinical trial saw results in as few as 8 weeks with full results after 12 to 16 weeks.
It’s an innovation backed by research.
While LATISSE® is a treatment for inadequate or not enough eyelashes, it was developed through years of research by Allergan, a pharmaceutical leader with over 60 years of expertise in prescription eye care products.

LASIK today is far advanced from where it was 10 years ago.  A simple look at the FDA results of excimer lasers just 10 years ago, shows that major improvements have been made in LASIK eye surgery.  What changes have occurred?

Eyetracking - Early lasers did not have eye trackers.  Eye tracking technology has improved over the past decade.  Turner Eye Institute has upgraded all lasers to the newest eyetracking technology.

Wavefront - Early lasers could only correct for near-sightedness and sometimes astigmatism.  Newer upgrades can now correct for many types of corneal aberrations and can provide a level of accuracy that was impossible just a decade ago.

Smaller spot size - smaller laser treatments increase the accuracy of the entire treatment.

Faster treatments - the frequency of the excimer laser has increased to shorten treatment times.  Shorter treatments are safer for the patient and cause less dehydration of the tissue.

Better nomograms - excimer laser manufacturers have improved the formulas they use to offer a more exact treatment to LASIK patients.

Better surgeons - Surgeons who started a decade ago have now been performing the procedure for 10 years.  Experience is important in any procedure, including LASIK.

Dr. Stephen Turner has been performing LASIK since it was introduced to the San Francisco Bay Area.  Turner Eye Institute has continually upgraded its LASIK equipment and offers the newest and most accurate LASIK treatment available.

Turner Eye Institute celebrated its staff appreciation party.  The Turner Eye Institute’s well-trained staff have received the highest marks from LASIK and cataract surgery patients from across the San Francisco Bay Area.  They deserve to be commended on their great reviews.  Patients have always expressed the highest level of satisfaction with the Turner Eye Institute staff. 

Dr. Turner would like to personally thank the staff for their great support and their willingness to go the extra mile to give patients a pleasant experience at Turner Eye Institute.  Without the help of the technicians, LASIK counselors, and the excellent office support, TEI would not have been as successful as it has. 

Excellent results and high patient satisfaction require a team effort.  TEI congratulates all its staff for their hard work and friendly attitudes.

Stephen Turner, M.D. was chosen as the official LASIK surgeon for the Golden State Warriors for the 2008-2009 NBA season.  Many NBA players have LASIK surgery as it is a safe accurate procedure for correcting near-sightedness, far-sightedness, and astigmatism.  It also allows a higher level of performance than cumbersome prescription goggles that can fog up and hamper peripheral vision.  Most NBA players select LASIK rather than use contact lenses or glasses.  High profile athletes around the world select LASIK surgery in order to compete at their highest level.

Presbyopia affects everyone.  Throughout our lives we gradually lose our ability to focus up close.  Young children can focus on objects just a couple inches from their face.  Teenagers can read something a few inches from their nose.  College students see clearly at less than a foot away.  By forty years of age, however, books must be held farther back to be read comfortably.  The eyes didn’t suddenly go bad at forty.  The eye had been gradually losing the ability to focus since birth due to growth of the lens inside the eye and a resulting loss in flexibility.

Since LASIK treats the cornea (on the outside), it has often been assumed that it does not affect the onset of presbyopia.  Older LASIK patients have commonly been told that either they wear reading glasses like everyone else, or they correct one eye for near vision and the other eye for distance vision, a treatment known as monovision.  While this is acceptable to some people, most people would prefer to avoid glasses entirely.

There exists an opportunity for LASIK (or some other refractive surgery) to correct vision for both near and far.  Several companies have experimented with multifocal LASIK corrections but none have managed to show significantly satisfying results.  Many of these LASIK treatments rely upon concentric rings of different prescriptions to provide a multifocal correction.  Unfortunately, the cornea is human tissue and doesn’t react like plastic when treated with a laser.  It can be sculpted but cannot adopt the same shapes and zonal profiles as a transparent plastic would.

Newer treatments are looking at using natural corneal shapes in order to provide a more subtle blend of near and far vision.  Researchers have long realized that higher order aberrations can cause an increase in the depth of focus of optical systems.  These aberrations can also lead to a degradation of image quality however.  Many researchers believe that there exists a compromise between perfect vision and a good depth of focus.  Such a compromise would result in good (but not perfect) vision at a wide range of distances.  Currently several intraocular lenses (used in cataract surgery) provide such a solution.  The question is whether LASIK could also provide for such a solution.

Wavefront LASIK has been used for nearly a decade now.  Wavefront LASIK has been marketed as a method of providing better-than-normal-vision by treating more than glasses or contact lenses.  In addition to treating near-sightedness, far-sightedness, and astigmatism, wavefront LASIK has sought to treat other optical aberrations (such as coma, spherical aberration, trefoil, and others).  Wavefront LASIK has achieved a moderate amount of success.  Studies have generally agreed that vision is better than conventional LASIK. 

But what if correcting all aberrations is not optimal.  Certainly an aberration free system would provide a perfect focus at one distance.  But it would also provide a worse focus at every other distance.  For young patients, this wouldn’t be a problem.  Older patients, however, would find that a perfect focus at distance leads to worse vision at near.  Perhaps in the future, wavefront LASIK will offer a new option for older patients.  It could offer a vision profile of good vision at distance and near by simply correcting the wavefront to an ideal pattern that expanded the depth of field without degrading vision below 20/20.  New evidence is showing that this future application might indeed by possible. 

Over the past ten years, excimer laser technology has improved tremendously.  Today’s lasers are faster, more accurate, more safe, and more efficient.  In the initial FDA studies laser surgery patients were content with 20/40 vision.  LASIK was viewed as a success when a patient could pass a driving test without glasses.

Today LASIK and laser eye surgery has reached a point where most patients consider their surgery a failure if 20/20 vision is not achieved on the first attempt.  While this may or may not be a realistic expectation, more and more surgeons are able to achieve 20/20 results with greater than 90% frequency.

Even more important however is that the complications which once plagued laser surgery patients are becoming less and less frequent.  Dryness is overcome with better pre- and post- treatment and improved patient selection.  Glare has been significantly reduced by better measurements and improved excimer laser patterns as well as larger treatment zones and less tissue use.

Surgeons have improved as well with experience.  As the technology allowed for better results, the LASIK specialist has adapted his or her own style and equipment choices to best serve the patients.

When choosing a LASIK surgeon, find someone with significant experience, advanced technology, and a good understanding of his or her limitations and the technology.  They should be aware of what technology is available and be able to address their choice of excimer laser.

They should also be making regular upgrades.  It is not unrealistic to expect a surgeon to upgrade their laser every 2 to 3 years.  The best LASIK clinics routinely evaluate the newest upgrades available on the market and make decisions based on the needs of their patients.