Welcome
to Pattaya Eye Center, our specialists provide
comprehensive ophthalmic medical and surgical
services using extensive instruments for intra
and extra ocular conditions, electrophysical
diagnostic testing of visual and retinal function.
Better vision with professional care
and latest technology
Eye Anatomy
The ability to see is dependent on the actions
of several structures in and around the eyeball.
The graphic below lists many of the essential
components of the eye's optical system.
When you look at an object,
light rays are reflected from the object to
the cornea, which is where the miracle begins.
The light rays are bent, refracted and focused
by the cornea, lens, and vitreous. The lens'
job is to make sure the rays come to a sharp
focus on the retina. The resulting image on
the retina is upside-down. Here at the retina,
the light rays are converted to electrical impulses
which are then transmitted through the optic
nerve, to the brain, where the image is translated
and perceived in an upright position!
Think of the eye as a camera.
A camera needs a lens and a film to produce
an image. In the same way, the eyeball needs
a lens (cornea, crystalline lens, vitreous)
to refract, or focus the light and a film (retina)
on which to focus the rays. If any one or more
of these components is not functioning correctly,
the result is a poor picture. The retina represents
the film in our camera. It captures the image
and sends it to the brain to be developed. The
macula is the highly sensitive area of the retina.
The macula is responsible for our critical focusing
vision. It is the part of the retina most used.
We use our macula to read or to stare intently
at an object.
Services
Available
Comprehensive
eye examination
Diagnosis and treatment.
Visual Acuity Test (to determine if you need corrective lenses)
Test
to measure your eye pressure
Microscopic
Examination
(of the front of the eyes)
Retinal
Examination
(to view the back of your eyes)
Refractive
error
(near and far sightedness and astigmatism)
Cataract, Glaucoma,
dry or watery eyes
Drooping
(inward or outward), turning eyelids
Itchy,
pink eyes or Conjunctivitis
Foreign
bodies on the Cornea, accident to the
eyes
Lumps
or cysts on the eyelids
Surgical
Procedures for cataract surgery "PHACOEMULSIFICATION",
eye muscle surgery for squint or crossed eyes, eyelids
surgery, glaucoma surgery and surgery for pterygium
SuperSight Surgery
SuperSight Surgery is an ideal procedure for presbyopic people who are over 50 and sick of wearing reading or bifocal glasses.
SuperSight surgery procedure, by which the failing natural lenses in the eyes, which now optically inefficient, were replaced by soft, well-flexible or multifocal intra-ocular lenses that can be made to focus for reading as well as being able to see distances, just as in natural younger vision.
The SuperSight procedure also involves laser correction of the corneal curvatures to decrease astigmatism where indicated.
Consequently, your vision after the procedure will be stable and unlikely to change over time.
You will have the ability to perform your normal activities without need of glasses or contact lenses;
this can be an important turning back of the clock, visually.
When cataracts are mentioned,
people often think of a film that grows on their eyes
causing them to see double or blurred images. However,
a cataract does not form on the eye, but rather within
the eye.
Cataract is opacity
in the lens of the eye. To understand what Cataract
is, first of all let us understand how a normal eye
works. The normal eye works just like a Camera. In a
camera, an object is focused by the lens onto the film.
This film is sent to the studio for developing. Similarly,
an object seen by the eye is focused onto the retina
(which is the film of the eye) by its lens.
When the lens of our eye gets opaque,
it is called Cataract.
To understand cataract better, imagine photographing
through a camera with grease smeared onto its lens.
In such a case, the image formed is very hazy and blurred.
Similar to grease smearing onto the lens of a camera,
if the lens of the eye gets opaque, the rays of light
will not be able to pass through the lens of the eye
and the image formed on the retina will be blurred and
one will not see clearly.
For most people, cataracts are a natural result of
aging. In fact, they are the leading cause of visual
loss among adults 55 and older. Eye injuries, certain
medications, and diseases such as diabetes and alcoholism
have also been known to cause cataracts.
CATARACT SURGERY
Eve was born from the ribs of Adam, Science
was born from its brain. It is this same science which
has achieved such gigantic proportions that today the
Intraocular lenses or IOLs used to replace the cataracts
in the eyes has been taken over by a new development
called the Foldable Intraocular Lenses. Today, at Bangkok
Pattaya Hospital, cataract surgery is done without any
injection, without any pad and without any stitch being
placed in the eye. This is called No Injection, No Pad
and No Stitch Cataract Surgery
When
a person has a cataract and the decision is made to
operate, the patient is examined very thoroughly using
various instruments. In the operation, the basic principle
is that the diseased lens, which is cataractous lens,
has to be removed. The cataract is situated inside
the lens capsule, which is like an elastic bag that
holds the lens in place. To remove the cataract, the
front portion of the lens capsule is carefully opened.
The cataract is gently broken apart using ultrasonic
vibrations and vacuumed out of the lens capsule. This
technique is called phacoemulsification. The lens
capsule is left undisturbed so a tiny lens implant
can be inserted in place of the original lens.
The Self-Sealing
Incision Thanks to medical and surgical advancements
in recent years, cataract surgery has become one of
the most gentle medical procedures performed today.
The restoration of precious eyesight is accomplished
every day at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital through tiny
incisions that do not even require stitches. The chances
of developing astigmatism (distorted vision) after
surgery are significantly decreased by eliminating
stitches, which tend to pull the eye's surface slightly
out of its natural shape. Most patients are now able
to enjoy their best possible vision with minimal recovery
time.
This is possible thanks to a tiny,
beveled incision commonly called the "self-sealing" incision.
It is called "self-sealing" because the eye's natural
internal pressure holds the incision tightly closed
allowing the eye to heal without stitches. The self-sealing
is made at the edge of the "clear cornea," and is 3
mm in length. The clear cornea is the transparent covering
of the front of the eye.
Dr. Somchai Trakoolshokesatian
by Dr. Iain Corness
One
eye specialist who is becoming very well
known in Pattaya is Dr. Somchai Trakoolshokesatian,
the ophthalmologist from the Bangkok-Pattaya
Hospital. He is dedicated to helping people
to see, using new surgical techniques, so
I suppose that he could be called a doctor with a vision!
He was born in Nakhon Sawan, of Thai-Chinese
parents. “We were very poor,” said Dr.
Somchai. “My father was a labourer, and
my mother had a small shop in the village.”
Fortunately, or perhaps with foresight,
his parents were satisfied with just one
child, as family finances were not good.
He did well at the local government schools, mixing his studies with
helping his mother in the shop, or going with his father to assist him
in any way that he could. During this time, his interest in art became
very strong and he ventured to his parents that he would like to study
to become an artist. However, his parents were hoping that their only
son would take another direction in life. “The dream of all Thai-Chinese
families is for their children to become doctors. It was my parent’s
dream.” So like all good Thai-Chinese sons, Somchai Trakoolshokesatian
went to university to study medicine.
The fees were not too expensive at Chiang Mai University, and he went
there for six years to study for his basic degree. In return for government
assistance young doctors become indentured and must serve three years
in a public hospital. For Dr. Somchai, this was to be in Tak province,
close to the Burmese border. “We saw lots of Burmese Hill Tribe people,
and held clinics for them, like an extension of the hospital.” These
out-patient clinics were a three day walk with elephants! “We could not
ride the elephants, they carried the medicines and equipment.” Looking
at the decidedly non-muscular Dr. Somchai, it is hard to imagine this
man trekking through the jungles, but he did.
After his three years, he decided to become an eye specialist. “When I
was a student I heard many beautiful stories about patients whom doctors
had helped to see. It impressed me. I wanted to be able to share happiness.
I am not just helping someone to see, it makes me happy too, when operations
are successful.”
There was another reason too. “Eye surgery is very delicate work. Many
doctors are scared of the very delicate nature of it. It’s close to being
art work,” said Dr. Somchai by explanation.
After another three years at Chiang Mai University, he become a licensed
Eye Specialist, certified by the Board of Ophthalmology in 1994.
An amazing scenario then emerged. Here was Dr. Somchai, with his shiny
new certificate, but there were no positions vacant for newly qualified
ophthalmologists at any of the government hospitals. Eventually there was
a vacancy in a hospital in Rayong which he took. Three months later the
hospital closed, and the new ophthalmologist was unemployed again!
A friend of his opened a polyclinic and asked him to help him out, working
as a general surgeon/GP/physician for the next 12 months. This was not
what he wanted to do, but at least it kept some money coming in. This was
necessary, as by this stage he had married and had one son to rear.
However, in 1996, the Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital was looking for a resident
ophthalmologist, and Dr. Somchai, wife and son moved to Pattaya.
Now fully employed in his own specialty, he was very interested in refractive
surgery. It was the artistry that he had always leaned towards, and he
could combine his artistic skills with the demands of eye surgery. LASIK
became the new way to correct refractive errors and Dr. Somchai went to
Antwerp, Belgium to do the international course in Refractive Laser Surgery.
He followed this up, the following year, with the international course
in Refractive Surgery (Akkommodative-1CU) in Munich, Germany. This was
to learn the very latest techniques in implantation of Intra Ocular Lenses
(IOLs). It was here that he began to formulate his own ideas, and could
see that one very important factor was to select the right lens for the
differing eyes of the patient’s. This required extreme accuracy in pre-operation
measurements. He visited the company in Germany that was making IOLs and
discussed the calculations and formulae that were being used.
He returned to Thailand and began to develop a system by which his accurate
measurements were then followed by insertion of an IOL that could be focussed,
using the patients own ciliary muscles (small muscles in the eye that are
used to change the focal length of the normal lens). The end result was
a lens that acted like a normal one, able to see distance, but still could
be focussed close up, to make reading glasses no longer needed. “I had
to change the point of view to be that of the patient, rather than that
of the doctor.” In this way he could begin to see (sorry about the pun)
the needs of the patients and adapt the methods to assist them. He called
his system “SuperSight” and is now the leading surgeon in the world using
the special German lenses, implanting 90 percent of the companies output.
Now his SuperSight takes up even more than 90 percent of his time, both
at work and at home. His relaxation is watching videos of his surgery,
looking to see what he might be able to improve.
I asked him if SuperSight were now an obsession and Dr. Somchai stopped
for a minute before answering. “This makes me sad. Everyone around me,
and my family, helps me. What am I doing for them?” That is a question
that only Dr. Somchai can answer, with his family now one more with a two
week old daughter, but the testimonials he receives from happy patients
shows what he is doing for some of the world’s visually impaired is very
much appreciated.
Dr. Somchai Trakoolshokesatian, the eye artist, is a remarkable man.
Source: Pattaya Mail Vol. XIII No. 14
Friday April 8 - April 14, 2005
Services
Available 
