Lasik Eye Surgery Surgery
Lasik eye surgery is the best known and most commonly performed laser refractive surgery to correct vision problems. Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) can be an alternative to glasses or contact lenses.
During LASIK surgery, a special type of cutting laser is used to precisely change the shape of the dome-shaped clear tissue at the front of your eye (cornea) to improve vision.
In eyes with normal vision, the cornea bends (refracts) light precisely onto the retina at the back of the eye. But with near-sightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia) or astigmatism, the light is bent incorrectly, resulting in blurred vision.
Glasses or contact lenses can correct vision, but reshaping the cornea itself also will provide the necessary refraction.
Why it's done
LASIK surgery may be an option for the correction of one of these vision problems:
- Near-sightedness (myopia) When your eyeball is slightly longer than normal or when the cornea curves too sharply, light rays focus in front of the retina and blur distant vision. You can see objects that are close fairly clearly, but not those that are far away.
- Far-sightedness (hyperopia) When you have a shorter than average eyeball or a cornea that is too flat, light focuses behind the retina instead of on it. This makes near vision, and sometimes distant vision, blurry.
- Astigmatism When the cornea curves or flattens unevenly, the result is astigmatism, which disrupts focus of near and distant vision.
Advantages of choosing LASIK
- Improved vision: Unsurprisingly, the most obvious benefit of opting for laser vision correction surgeries such as LASIK is improved vision. While there is no guarantee that you will have perfect eyesight after the procedure, around 96% of patients who choose LASIK achieve 20/20 vision. Those who don’t still find that their vision is dramatically improved, and their reliance on eyeglasses or contact lenses is significantly reduced.
- Safety: Although no procedure is entirely risk-free, laser vision correction is now safer than ever before. Nevertheless, the flap technique does present opportunities for a few complications, and these will be covered in the next section.
- Fast healing: One of the first questions that we get asked is about how quickly you can expect to heal after your LASIK procedure. The healing time from a LASIK procedure is typically around 24-36 hours, unless there are any complications arising from the placement of the flap. There is also no need to wear uncomfortable bandages. This means that you can get back to your job and drive with minimal downtime.
