Dr. Kevin Niksarli is a board certified ophthalmologist of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and a specialist in LASIK and laser Vision Correction. Learn more about Dr. Kevin Niksarli by watching our video.

Best Regards, Dr. Kevin Niksarli

Three Years and Counting. . .
I had LASIK done in 2007 and clearly, the best thing I could have ever done for myself. Today I had an independent eye exam with my regular ophthalmologist and can still see 20/20, and was informed eyes are healthy and have healed beautifully.

The place for LASIK in NYC

I went to MLC for my first ever consultation for Lasik. I had a great feeling about this place but I wanted to be sure so I went to other Lasik centers. After visiting other centers, I decided to go with MLC. The other places were ok, but I felt MLC was the best choice. I was right! I had my surgery two weeks ago and I am so happy with my results. I was freaking out about the surgery, but it was completely painless. I worried for nothing. It did not hurt and it wasn’t too uncomfortable. The recovery was painless and quick. You have some blurriness for about a week or so, but it won’t keep you from day to day activities. Overall, it was a great experience. Dr. Niksarli was very reassuring during the surgery. He is a great doctor and super nice. The staff is wonderful. I never had to wait very long. Overall, I’m very happy with my results. I had -8.00 myopia and I can see now without my glasses. No more waking up blind, scrambling for my glasses. So if you think your vision is bad and you’re concerned about the effectiveness of the procedure….trust me, my vision was awful and I can see now. I would definitely recommend this place and it was very affordable.

Thank you for your testimonial.

Best Regards, Kevin Niksarli

Many people now choose to have LASIK surgery performed in order to correct vision problems that necessitate them wearing glasses or contact lenses.  Nearsightedness and farsightedness can be successfully treated with this type of surgery as can astigmatism.  Astigmatism is the condition whereby the shape of the cornea is slightly irregular, causing blurry vision.  Usually, contact lenses or glasses will help to improve astigmatism, but LASIK surgery may provide a more permanent improvement in your vision.

Treating eye problems with laser surgery was first practiced in Columbia, but improvements followed in Russia and the United States.  The technique was refined, and after much study, a new type of laser was invented that would provide safer and more effective surgery than that which came before.  The advanced techniques have been learned by many eye surgeons, including Kevin Niksarli, MD, who can now provide this surgery to his patients to improve their vision and quality of life.

LASIK surgery does not require hospitalization, the patient simply arrives at the doctor’s office, is treated, and can then return home.  There is no general anaesthetic administered – sometimes a light sedative will be given, and anaesthetic drops are put into the eye, but otherwise the patient is completely awake and responsive.  It should be noted that if the patient wears soft contact lenses, they must not use them for six weeks prior to surgery, and that period is longer if the lenses worn are hard.

After your eyes have been numbed, Dr. Niksarli will use a device to hold your eyelids open.  Once you are prepared, the doctor will begin the surgery.  A flap must be made, something like a lid, that will allow access to your cornea.  A laser is generally used to create this flap.  After the flap has been lifted, your doctor will begin to work on shaping your cornea.  You will have to watch a light so that the doctor can monitor the progress of the procedure, and you will hear clicking from the laser and perhaps be aware of a slight burning odor.  A computer will guide the laser to be sure that your treatment prescription is followed exactly.  A more involved prescription will take longer, of course, although the whole procedure generally takes no more than five or ten minutes.  After the cornea has been reshaped, the flap is replaced and will adhere to the cornea without the need for stitches.

After your LASIK surgery is complete, you will be able to return to your home.  Pain medication might be prescribed, but this is often not needed.  Eye drops to prevent infection and assist with any swelling will be given to you.   Resting for several days is probably the best idea, and heavy exercise should not be done for about a week.  As the corneal flap will take time to heal, rubbing the eyes should be avoided.  Some doctors provide goggles for their patients to prevent accidental rubbing, even at night.  Kevin Niksarli, MD will recommend these if he feels it necessary in your case.  You should also feel free to contact his office with any questions or problems that might arise.

Best Regards, Dr. Kevin Niksarli

On July 15th, 2010 Dr. Kevin Niksarli will be giving away one Apple iPad to one qualified winner, who comes and registers for the drawing during the free consultation process with Dr. Niksarli on or before July 15th. Kevin Niksarli is a board-certified ophthalmologist of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and a LASIK NYC Surgeon. He has performed over 45,000 successful LASIK procedures.

Best Regards,  Kevin Niksarli, MD

Anyone who has cataracts and is considering surgery to correct the condition is certain to have a number of questions.  Understanding exactly what cataracts are, how they are treated, and what you can expect from surgery will help to make any patient more confident and better prepared to make decisions with the help and advice of Dr. Kevin Niksarli.  The most frequently asked questions about cataracts and cataract surgery are discussed below.

What is a cataract?  A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye.  The lens directs light back onto the retina, which will then send this information to the brain via the optic nerve.  The lens is composed of water and protein.  Trouble begins when the protein clumps together and actually begins to make a small area of the lens cloudy.  The more protein sticks together, the worse the cataract becomes, until vision is obscured.

Who can develop cataracts?  Cataracts usually occur in older people – people over the age of 60.  There are also hereditary cataracts, and cataracts can also be caused by disease or injury.

How can cataracts be treated?  Cataracts can really only be treated by the removal of the clouded lens.  This lens will then be replaced by an artificial lens, called an intraocular lens (IOL), to restore vision.  Kevin Niksarli MD will explain how the surgery is performed, and what results you can expect. In very rare cases, the patient will not be able to use the IOL because of a reaction, then glasses or contact lenses will be prescribed.

What kind of lens are used in cataract surgery?  There are actually two kinds of lens that can be implanted when the cloudy lens is removed.  One type of IOL will provide one type of vision – either close up or distance vision.  Corrective glasses will be needed to compensate for the lack of flexibility.  The other kind of IOL , a mulitfocal lens, will permit near, intermediate, and distance viewing, and the patient generally will not need glasses or contact lenses.

What will be the effects of cataract surgery?  Most people, in the range of 98%, who receive cataract surgery experience improved vision with few, if any, complications.

Are there any risks with cataract surgery? Dr. Kevin Niksarli will inform you that there are very few risks associated with cataract surgery.  However, there can be complications such as swelling of the cornea, infection, or a clouding of the back of the new lens.  Considering the advantages of being able to see once again, the risks associated with cataract surgery should not deter you from seeking treatment.

What will cataract surgery cost?  And will my insurance pay for it?  These two questions are very important and will influence not only if you will have surgery, but what kind of lens you will have implanted.  The average price of cataract surgery is approximately $3,000.  Most, if not all of the cost will be covered by insurance or Medicare if a conventional IOL is implanted.  If you decide to have a mulitfocal intraocular lens implanted, you will have to pay for it yourself in  most cases.  These lenses will cost more than the conventional lens, and will represent an out-of-pocket cost of about $5,000.

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Glaucoma is the second cause of blindness worldwide and has been called “the sneak thief of sight” because there are often no symptoms associated with it until it is fairly well advanced.    Eye exams for people of all ages are important because if glaucoma is detected early, treatment can begin immediately that will arrest or slow its course.  Scheduling an eye exam with Kevin Niksarli, MD, will enable him to spot any problems now, before they become serious.

When glaucoma occurs, the fluid pressure inside the eyeball increases, and this will ultimately cause  damage to the optic nerve.  Ordinarily, the fluid in the eye is kept at the proper pressure because it drains off near the iris.  Glaucoma results when damage to the drainage canals occurs, which keeps the fluid from draining off normally.  Permanent vision loss will result from this optic nerve damage.  To begin with, glaucoma will only affect a few areas of peripheral vision, and will be almost impossible to detect by the person with this disease.  These areas will grow in time and produce tunnel vision.  If no treatment is available, complete blindness will eventually result.  A terrible prognosis.

Two basic types of glaucoma exist: open-angle glaucoma and closed-angle glaucoma.  Most of the glaucoma in the United States, 90%, is open-angle glaucoma.  It is painless and will gradually rob a person of eyesight.  Only 10% of glaucoma is closed-angle glaucoma, but this form of the disease is not subtle, and will usually manifest itself with sudden pain in the eye, vomiting, nausea, sudden decrease of vision, halos around lights, and a fixed pupil.

The sooner glaucoma is detected, the sooner treatment can begin to help save your sight.  Testing for glaucoma is a standard part of a comprehensive eye examination.  The pressure within the eye can be measured through a tonometry test.  Dr. Kevin Niksarli might also use gonioscopy or a field of vision test to look for glaucoma.  Computer imaging may also be used to test for and diagnose glaucoma, and several new techniques have become available in recent years.

Some people are more at risk than others to develop glaucoma.  Those at highest risk are those over the age of 60, people with a history of glaucoma in their family, older Hispanics, Asians, and people who have been using steroids.  Eye injuries can also cause glaucoma, sometimes immediately, but sometimes not for years.

Treatment for glaucoma generally begins with eye drops that will lower the pressure in the eye.  However, several surgical methods are also being employed now to help alleviate the symptoms of this disease.  Laser surgery has joined conventional eye surgery to treat glaucoma, and while there is not yet a cure for this disease, temporary relief of the symptoms is possible with surgery.  This is often used with people who have congenital glaucoma.  It is of the utmost importance to control glaucoma before it deprives you of eyesight.  Discussing every aspect of treatment with Dr. Niksarli will help you to manage this disease and preserve as much as possible of your vision.

Dr. Kevin Niksarli is part of the Ceatus Media Health Network with provides information about various topics include LASIK, plastic surgery, mesothelioma and weight loss surgery.

Best Regards, Dr. Kevin Niksarli, MD

While nearsightedness occurs because the eye is oval or egg-shaped, farsightedness occurs when the eye is too short.  Farsightedness can also be present because the lens of the eye is unable to become round enough for perfect vision.  Also called hyperopia, the farsighted eye causes the light entering through the pupil to focus behind the eye, rather than on the retina as it should.  Someone with hyperopia is able to easily distinguish objects that are some distance from them, but will be unable to focus on those closer.

Near objects will be blurry when hyperopia is present, and reading or close work will be basically impossible without some sort of corrective help.  People can be born with a predisposition to farsightedness, and children who have this will sometimes be able to grow out of the problem as their eyeball lengthens naturally.

A person who has uncorrected hyperopia will often experience headaches and fuzzy vision of close objects.  Farsightedness can also be a reason to be tested for glaucoma.  When scheduling an eye examination with Dr. Kevin Niksarli to have your hyperopia checked, you can be sure that he will make sure that testing for glaucoma is included.  He will also want to examine your retina, to make sure that it is functioning normally.

Besides the farsightedness that someone might be born with, this condition can also develop as people age.  In this case, it is called presbyopia.  After the age of about 40, the lens of the eye loses its capacity to change shape as needed, it becomes more rigid.  It will become more and more difficult to read, and often the words become impossibly blurry as time goes on.  Holding the book or newspaper at ever increasing distances provides only a temporary solution.  Close work will also become harder to do.

Eyeglasses can provide one solution to this problem.  Corrective lenses, often as bifocals or trifocals can help the person with age-related farsightedness to see more normally.  Contact lenses can also address the problem, but will often leave the person with the inability to see at a distance now.  Glasses and contact lenses will have to be changed as the eyesight continues to deteriorate.  Also, glasses can be forgotten or lost as can contact lenses, and contact lenses also have the possibility of causing eye infections.

A better, and more permanent solution lies in refractive surgery.  There are several option available to the hyperopic patient including LASIK, LASEK, Custom Wavefront LASIK and others.  New York Lasik Surgeon Dr. Niksarli is familiar with and expert in all these methods, he will be your best source to guide you to the treatment that will benefit you most.  The custom laser treatments will allow you to see at every distance comfortably, just as you were able to do previously.  Scheduling an appointment with the doctor to discuss your farsightedness with him is the first step towards helping to correct it.

Best Regards, Kevin Niksarli, MD

Whether you are experiencing any vision problems or not, it is always a good idea to fit a regular eye examination into your schedule.   Children should get their first eye examination before they enter school, and it would be a good idea to have them checked every two years.  Adults in their twenties will need an exam one during this time, and those in their thirties, twice.  It is only after age 40 that more frequent exams will have to be done.  From age 40 to 65 it is recommended that an exam be performed every two to four years.  Yearly exams should probably be done after a person has turned 65.  Of course, if there are any problems, an examination should be sought immediately.  Even if you are experiencing no trouble, an regular eye exam can spot problems before they have a chance to worsen and when they are easier to treat.

When you go in for an eye exam, the doctor will ask about any general health problems and whether you have been having any problem with your eyes.  They will want to know if there is any kind of eye disease in your family, or any other health conditions.

The first thing to be done will probably a test of the muscles that control the movement of your eyes.  All that is needed here is that you follow a moving object with your eyes.  After that, you distance vision will be tested with the Snellen chart.  This will be 20 feet away from you and will let the doctor know if your vision is perfect, or whether you are nearsighted or farsighted.

The doctor will also want to examine your retina, and will do this in one of several ways: by shining a light through your pupil to directly observe the retina (direct examination), by using a head mounted light to examine the entire inside of your eye (indirect examination), or with a slit lamp, which will give even more detailed information than the previous two methods.

Another important test your doctor will perform will be one that will test for glaucoma.  As this is virtually undetectable by the patient until it is advanced, having your doctor find this early will help to preserve your sight.  There are several methods by which the doctor will measure the pressure inside your eye, one involves nothing more than a puff of air being directed against your eye, while the others involve the use of numbing eye drops so the doctor can use an instrument on your cornea to measure the eye’s pressure.

A visual field test is often given to find out if you are experiencing any problems with your peripheral vision.  During this test you will be asked to look at a spot while lights or objects are moved at the outside of your field of vision.  Loss of vision in certain areas can signal a problem.

When Kevin Niksarli has finished with the eye exam, he will give you the results.  A score of 20/20 will mean that you have perfect vision.  On the other hand, the doctor might recommend eyeglasses, contact lenses, or specific treatment for a condition or the need for more testing.

Whether you just need a regular eye exam, or whether your are experiencing a problem, scheduling an appointment with Dr. Kevin Niksarli is the best way to ensure the health of your eyes.

Dr. Kevin Niksarli is part of the Ceatus Media Health Network with provides information about various topics include LASIK, plastic surgery, mesothelioma and weight loss surgery.

Best Regards, Kevin Niksarli, MD