Imagine having worn glasses or contact lenses for 10, 15 or 20 years.  Now imagine not having to wear any corrective lenses at all.  Imagine the freedom of having near-perfect vision. Laser eye treatment gives you just that. Firstly when assessing laser eye treatment the patient must have healthly eyes before doctors would consider recommending laser eye surgery in order to cure eye problems. I may be in the minority but I wonder about the necessity of corrective laser eye surgery when yours eyes are healthy.

Laser eye treatment is a surgical procedure that corrects many vision disorders. Some of these common vision maladies are nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. There are two types of corrective laser eye surgery procedures that can be performed on individuals.  Those procedures are PRK or photorefractive keratectomy and Lasik surgery or keratomileusis.

PRK as a laser eye treatment

The laser eye treatment known as PRK is a laser eye treatment that is performed in an outpatient laser eye treatment clinic.  To numb the area eye drops are applied that contain a local anesthetic. Once the anesthetic has taken effect the cornea of the eye is reshaped. This reshaping is accomplished by laser eye surgery to remove miniscule amounts of tissue.  This removal of tissue is accomplished through the use of an ultraviolet light beam.  The success of this laser eye treatment is based upon the preciseness of the process and its ability to remove tissue down to billionths of an inch.

In addition, the reshaping of the cornea is not accomplished arbitrarily.  The scientific and precise method of determining how much tissue is removed off of the cornea is determined through various measurements taken during the initial laser eye treatment assessment.  These measurements are then imputed into the laser’s computer which results in the precise extraction of the cornea’s tissue. Generally, this  entire  corrective laser eye surgery procedure allows the patients to return to their daily activities in a few days.
 
Lasik eye surgery

The second laser eye treatment procedure is known as the Lasik procedure.  The lasik eye surgery process requires the use of a surgical knife and as such defines lasik eye surgery as a more complicated method of laser eye treatment.
In this laser eye treatment the procedure begins with the surgeon who is performing the lasik eye surgery cutting the cornea in a circular form.  The flap is then pulled back and the exposed cornea is treated with a low powered laser during this type of lasik surgery.  The laser then is utilized to remove a portion of the tissue.  This lasik eye surgery restructures the cornea and allows for the light captured by the eye to be more succinctly refocused onto the retina.  This laser eye treatment allows for the patient’s eyesight to improve significantly. When laser eye treatment  indicates that the vision requires a more difficult refractive corrections then lasik surgery is recommended. There are laser eye surgery risks of complications after larising which may lead to corneal ectasia in which fluid pressure mounts in the eye and patients may require a corneal transplant to rectify the situation. This is a  serious laser eye surgery risk which must be explored thoroughly during laser eye treatment appointments.

The patient should have realistic expectations before the laser eye surgery or lasik eye surgery is performed. Those who are above 40 should know that it may still be necessary for them to use reading glasses, even after the laser eye surgery.

To obtain a full insight into what sorts of laser eye treatments are available,  whether to have laser eye surgery or lasik eye surgery, use your browser to search and collect all available information. Take this info with you when you go for your initial laser eye treatment appointment so you can discuss it with the optician. There are hundreds of people who have very successful lasik eye surgery so don’t be over worried - just be aware.

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What are some of the possible complications of Lasik eye surgery?

Undercorrection - this occurs when the expected vision correction falls short of the desired outcome. This occurs more commonly with patients who have a high degree of nearsightedness (only objects close up are clear), farsightedness (only objects far away are clear) or astigmatism (images both far and near are distorted). Why? There is more laser corneal sculpting that needs to occur with patients having higher degrees of vision imperfection. When interviewing Lasik eye surgeons, it’s important to ask them what percentage of their patients need retreatment for undercorrection. This should be something that they are willing to freely discuss with you. If not, walk away! This is not to be confused with a planned slight undercorrection for nearsighted patients over forty years old which aids their reading vision. But this is something that you and your Lasik eye surgeon would have discussed before your surgery.

Overcorrection - this complication occurs less frequently than undercorrection and results when the amount of correction (corneal laser sculpting) exceeds what is planned. Slight overcorrection can be temporary and may resolve itself in the first month following Lasik eye surgery. Patients can manage slight overcorrections by wearing glasses until their vision resolves. Some patients with overcorrection may need additional Lasik eye surgery 3 to 6 months following their first surgery.

Dry Eye - many Lasik eye surgery patients may experience the feeling of ‘grittiness’ in their eyes following surgery. This condition usually resolves itself in 3 to 6 months and may be helped by using lubricating eye drops. Patients using birth control pills and patients going through menopause may experience this condition more often. If ‘dry eye’ continues beyond 6 months, Lasik eye surgeons may recommend blocking your tear ducts with tiny silicon plugs to prevent tears from draining away too quickly.

Corneal abrasion - a small percentage of Lasik eye surgery patients may develop a small corneal abrasion (scrape) caused by the microkeratome (instrument used to create corneal flap) used during surgery. This abrasion is generally not serious and will heal quickly. Lasik eye surgeons may temporarily place a thin bandage contact lens on your eye to promote healing. While your abrasion is healing, your vision will be blurry.

Night glare - this annoying condition may not affect your vision clarity but patients may see halos or ghosting of images at night during the first month following surgery. Night glare generally improves in 3 months and often disappears within 6 months. Patients with large pupils and more severe vision impairment may be more prone to night glare.

Corneal flap complication - this occurs when the corneal flap is too small, too thin or is an irregular shape. In some cases the corneal flap may shift slightly following surgery if a patient rubs their eyes during the first 6 hours after surgery. If the flap does shift, ‘wrinkles’ can form causing distorted vision. A second procedure may be necessary to ‘smooth out’ the wrinkles and improve vision.

Infection - although this is the most feared complication of Lasik eye surgery patients, it is extremely rare. If your eye is going to become infected, chances are it will happen in the first 72 hours following surgery and will be treated with antibiotic eye drops. For this reason it is very important to avoid eye makeup, hot tubs and swimming pools for at least the first week following Lasik eye surgery.

The risks of Lasik eye surgery are low with experienced Lasik eye surgeons but you need to be aware of possible complications prior to surgery. Lasik eye surgeons should freely discuss all possible complications of Lasik eye surgery prior to surgery. Do everything you can to put your eyes in the best possible hands.

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To reduce a persons dependency on glasses or contact lenses one can have Lasik surgery. The term LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis and is a procedure through which you permanently changes the shape of the cornea. The cornea is the clear covering of the front of the eye.

Doctors use an excimer laser to perform this kind of surgery. A small knife, called a microkeratome, is used to cut a flap in the cornea. A hinge is left at one end of this flap. The flap is folded back revealing the stroma, the middle section of the cornea. The pulses from a computer controlled laser vaporize a portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced. Other techniques are also in use.

The cornea is a part of the eye that helps focus light to create an image on the retina. The bending and focusing of light is also known as refraction. The shape of the cornea and the eye are usually not perfect and the image on the retina is out-of-focus (blurred) or distorted. These imperfections in the focusing power of the eye are called refractive errors. There are three primary types of refractive errors: myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Persons with myopia, or nearsightedness, have more difficulty seeing distant objects as clearly as near objects. Persons with hyperopia, or farsightedness, have more difficulty seeing near objects as clearly as distant objects. Astigmatism is a distortion of the image on the retina caused by irregularities in the cornea or lens of the eye. Combinations of myopia and astigmatism or hyperopia and astigmatism are common.

Glasses or contact lenses are designed to compensate for the imperfections of the eye. Surgical procedures aimed at improving the focusing power of the eye are called refractive surgery. With Lasik surgery, precise and controlled removal of corneal tissue by a special laser reshapes the cornea and changes its focusing power.

Before Lasik there were other techniques developed to reshape the cornea for example Photorefractive Keratectomy. Often the exact same laser is used for the two types of surgery. The major difference between the two surgeries is the way that the stroma, the middle layer of the cornea, is exposed before it is vaporized with the laser. In PRK, the top layer of the cornea, called the epithelium, is scraped away to expose the stromal layer underneath. In LASIK, a flap is cut in the stromal layer and the flap is folded back.

Can anyone have a Lasik surgery? Most but not everyone and certain complications are unavoidable in a percentage of patients, and there are no long term data available for current procedures. Also, some jobs prohibit certain refractive procedures so be sure to check with your employer/professional society/military service before undergoing any procedure.

Most medical insurance will not pay for refractive surgery and the cost is still significant. If you have what is called refractive instability, like young people, you can not have this kind of surgery. If you are pregnant or have certain diseases like diabetes or are taking medications you should not have Lasik surgery. In these cases you should discuss the possible additional risks with your doctor.

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