Janette Dowling, a mother of two and accountant residing in Melbourne, has overcome legal blindness with the aid of an innovative laser eye surgery, granting her perfect 20-20 vision.
Suffering from severe short-sightedness, Dowling’s dependence on glasses or contact lenses left her legally blind without visual aids. “I probably wouldn’t be able to see one or two metres ahead of me. It was pretty blurry,” she recounted to 9News.
Seeking a solution, the 39-year-old consulted Dr. Christopher Chan at the Medownick Laser Clinic in Richmond, inner Melbourne. Dr. Chan recommended a state-of-the-art laser treatment called Smart Sight, now accessible in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia. The non-invasive procedure, starting at $3300 per eye, caters exclusively to individuals with short-sightedness or astigmatism.
The swift treatment yielded immediate results for Dowling. “Pretty much straight after surgery I sat up,” she recalled. “Everything was a bit hazy at first, but I noticed the clock in particular, I could actually read the time and that was pretty amazing.”
During the procedure, which lasts less than a minute, gentle pulses of light generate a thin tissue layer called a lenticule in the cornea through a minuscule incision. Dr. Chan explained that subsequent removal of this tissue by a surgeon reshapes the eye, leading to improved vision within 24 hours. “I’m very excited with this new technology because it’s fast, it’s painless,” Dr. Chan expressed. “What it does is it changes the shape of the front surface of the eye.”
While praising the efficacy of the treatment, the Australian Society of Ophthalmologists emphasized the importance of considering various laser options and seeking professional advice before undergoing any surgical procedure. “A patient’s choice to undergo any surgical procedure is unique to the individual and should be made with consideration of the advice of their doctor,” the Society emphasized.
