There are thousands of stories detailing how LASIK eye surgery has improved the performance of athletes across a wide range of sports. Examples at Coleman Vision in Albuquerque, New Mexico include professional golfer DJ Brigman, tennis professional Jeremy Dyche, and New Mexico United professional soccer player Sergio Rivas. Dr. Stephen Coleman says that sports enthusiasts of all stripes can benefit from LASIK eye surgery whether it be cross-fit, cycling, swimming, skiing or just playing catch with a kid in the backyard.

A not so obvious comparison can be made between what LASIK eye surgery can do for athletic performance and the trajectory of accomplishments made by South Africa’s now fallen hero Oscar Pistorius. Born missing the outside of both feet as well as bones in his lower leg, Pistorius underwent bilateral below-knee amputations at 11 months old.

Despite this, he went on to compete with prosthetic legs as a sprinter in the Paralympic Games. But as the technology around prosthetic limbs advanced, Pistorius, christened the “Blade Runner” by his Nike sponsors and also known as “the fastest man on no legs,” began to compete in the Olympic Games against able-bodied opponents which ignited a firestorm of controversy. The suspicion was that the advanced protheses actually served as an advantage, not a disadvantage, to Pistorius while sprinting.

A similar observation can be made regarding patients who undergo LASIK eye surgery at Coleman Vision in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dr. Coleman frequently observes patients who, once they’ve had their cornea optimized with the precision of today’s laser in the era known as Modern LASIK, see better than 20/20 without glasses or contact lenses and frequently see better than their counterparts who never wore glasses or contact lenses and therefore have never had LASIK eye surgery.

This observation is supported by a recently published paper in the Journal Of Cataract And Refractive Surgery (May 2021) in which Dr. Coleman was a Principal Investigator showing that 96.4% of eyes achieved 20/20 or better uncorrected visual acuity.

So if you are thinking about upping your game a notch, Schedule A Consultation to see if you are a candidate for LASIK eye surgery at Coleman Vision!

Follow Dawn Perez, the chief writer, designer and creator at Wild Simple Joy, a Certified Life & Nutrition Coach, as she chronicles her LASIK journey at Coleman Vision!

Dr. Stephen Coleman, a LASIK eye surgeon in Albuquerque, New Mexico, believes that the history of LASIK can most accurately be summed up with 2 words: progress and cooperation. Many people are convinced that there has never been a more successful example of a true team effort in the history of medicine. Significant contributors to the changes in LASIK surgery have come from a variety of fields and walks of life including ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians, optical engineers, optical scientists, venture capitalists, national laboratories, the United States military, well known TV and movie personalities, as well as patients themselves.

Perhaps the single most significant advancement in LASIK surgery resulting from this wide-ranging collaboration is the transition to using an aberrometer to measure a patient’s wavefront and then using an excimer laser to correct this wavefront on the cornea. LASIK eye surgery done in this fashion are 100% unique to an individual and by definition cannot be reproduced.

The wavefront aberrometer was substantially developed in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the late 1990’s at a company initially called Wavefront Sciences. As is the case with many great technologies, the intent at first was not to build an instrument that would fundamentally change the way in which LASIK is performed around the world. It started as an attempt to eliminate atmospheric distortion when viewing objects from deep space with telescopes on earth.

A brief, 10 minute summary of this technology can be found in Dr. Coleman’s TEDx Talk titled “Seeing Clearly in the Future.” The evolution to the iDesign that Dr. Coleman uses for his LASIK surgery is based on the use of internal adaptive optics, with hundreds of tiny lenslets located within the aberrometer that adjust the shape of a patient’s wavefront in order to optimize the shape of the cornea. Particularly when compared to glasses and contact lenses, the precision, accuracy, and reproducibility of this approach to LASIK eye surgery cannot be overstated.

Dr. Stephen Coleman, founder of Coleman Vision in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been performing LASIK eye surgery for the past 25 years. He has seen many advances and changes in LASIK and has been at the forefront of cutting-edge technology over the years. Much of this technology has been developed in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico by companies that had their start at Sandia National Laboratories.

Dr. Coleman remembers well the “early adopters” of LASIK eye surgery. These were primarily patients who had very large eyeglass prescriptions and no longer wanted to deal with the limitations of wearing glasses which include seeing everything smaller than it actually is (image minification) as well as the loss of peripheral vision. These highly nearsighted patients trusted the accuracy, precision, and reproducibility of laser technology for LASIK even in its early stages.

Wow, have times changed! As Dr. Coleman’s recent TEDx talk illustrates, found on the Coleman Vision website for LASIK eye surgery, the technology today is typically far superior for correcting vision with LASIK than what contact lenses or eyeglasses can offer. But what has been truly surprising at Coleman Vision is the patient population that is driving the current world-wide surge in LASIK eye surgery.

Our on-going COVID-19 pandemic has placed many people in a difficult position to navigate their day while wearing a mask over eyeglasses due to excessive fogging and slippage. This is particularly problematic for our first responders, nurses, firefighters, and law enforcement officials. In addition, contact lenses can act as a reservoir or receptacle for pathogens and air-borne particles which in these uncertain times has become a greater concern. There are several ways to correct vision and in the proper setting, LASIK eye surgery is a great option!

The United States Military has played a pivotal role in advancing the use of lasers to correct vision from the very beginning. The groundwork for the current acceptance of LASIK surgery by all branches of the military was laid in San Diego starting in the late 1980’s when NAVY SEALs underwent laser vision correction as part of a prospective study established and championed by Steven C. Schallhorn, M.D., a dear friend of Dr. Coleman’s and true pioneer in the field of refractive surgery.
Especially for high profile and very expensive-to-train soldiers, such as pilots and SEALs, having laser surgery is a much more practical, safe, and effective way for the military to retain these assets in their job profile without wearing glasses or contact lenses. The United States Military considers vision to be part of the “human weapons system” and every bit as important as the tactical weapons that are deployed in combat.
Many years ago, Dr. Coleman  had the opportunity to spend the night on an aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, in order to watch Navy pilots who had had LASIK land their fighter jets, at night – a trip organized by Dr. Schallhorn. He considers this to be one of the most awe-inspiring and life-changing events he has ever witnessed.
This, coupled with his years as a flight surgeon for an Apache attack helicopter brigade after spending time with the Ophthalmology Consultant to the Surgeon General at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., made Dr. Coleman a true believer in the military commitment to ensuring that soldiers have the very best vision possible when in the service of defending our great nation.

Thank you to all our Military personnel for your service and commitment. Special thanks to Dr. Coleman, recipient of a total of ten prestigious honors including the Bronze Star and Air Medal.

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Dr. Stephen C. Coleman is a leader in the field of LASIK surgery. He performed the first laser vision correction surgery for nearsightedness in New Mexico on June 14th, 1996. Since that time, Coleman Vision has been dedicated exclusively to LASIK surgery. Dr. Coleman does not fit or sell contact lenses or glasses. Advancing the technology used for LASIK surgery is the very foundation of Dr. Coleman’s practice. Dr. Coleman has been a Principal Investigator on countless FDA Studies for over two decades evaluating laser profiles to improve LASIK surgery outcomes. He currently treats patients with LASIK who have nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism. Over the years, Dr. Coleman has developed an intense concentration on the treatment of astigmatism with LASIK.


As a result of the many FDA studies that he has conducted, Dr. Coleman has been directly involved in Advancing The Technology Used For LASIK Surgery and as a result has witnessed many developments in laser profiles. Additionally, he has advanced the use of the diagnostic instruments which assess who should, and perhaps more importantly who should not, have LASIK surgery. Having these tools available at Coleman Vision contributes to the overall success of his practice. Just as no two snowflakes are exactly alike, no two eyes are exactly alike and Dr. Coleman performs fully customized, individualized LASIK treatments for each and every patient. No two treatments are ever exactly alike. This individualized approach maximizes the potential outcomes for LASIK.

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