What Is Laser Eye Surgery And Can It Give Me A Better Vision?

The development of computer technology the recent years has had a huge impact on the medical science. Today this technology is used in every aspect of medical field. This is also true when it comes to eye surgery. Nowadays, there are many types of surgery available to correct a persons vision problems. Laser eye surgery is one of the most advanced, and is used especially for the correction of problems like myopia (near sightedness), hyperopia (far sightedness), and astigmatism (distorted vision).

Why is the reason such problems occur in the first place? The main cause of such problems is problems with focusing the image on the retina of the eye and the reason for that varies upon three different factors:

the distance from the back of the eye to the front of it,

the shape of the cornea which is the curved clear front surface of the human eye above the iris and the pupil. It provides approximately two thirds of the eye's ability to focus.

the shape of the lens.

The shape of the cornea is changed using special devices during a laser eye surgery. One such device is called excimer laser. What this procedure does is producing a laser beam that vaporizes tissue around the eye. It actually removes targeted areas of the eye tissue without harming the surrounding area. Therefore It also goes under the name if "cold" laser.

Laser Surgery Procedures

The most common types of laser surgery procedures are

PRK (Photo-Refractive Keractomy), available since early nineties and

LASIK Eye Surgery (Laser Assisted in situ Keratomileusis), first introduced in mid nineties.

The PRK procedure take small amounts of eye tissue on the surface of the eye and vaporizes it using a beam of light in this type of surgery. This procedure removes enough tissue to reshape the cornea and correct vision. The recovery takes a week or less.

The LASIK surgery procedure involves a series of steps that are considered complicated.

Step one is to cut a flap of the cornea and lifted.

Step two: the surgeon removes precise amounts of the inside layers of the cornea using a laser guided by a computer.

Step three: the surgeon puts the flap back in its place and the eye heals fast by itself.

What are the benefits and the risks?

Highly skilled and well prepared medical specialists perform the Laser eye surgery. For majority of the patients, the results are very good and their lives are significantly improved. They can throw away their glasses or contact lenses after a successful surgery.

Keep in mind the importance of having realistic expectations about laser eye surgery. In some cases it might be necessary to wear glasses for reading if the patient is over 40 years of age. The eyes continue to change after the surgery and you may have to wear prescription glasses or lenses at some point in your life. A second laser eye surgery is normally not ruled out if the first one is not entirely successful.

One side effect of PRK laser eye surgery, is that the patient may have a blurry vision throughout the healing process. Fortunately, this generally clears up later.

Regression is another side effect from such surgery. What happens is that the eye returns back to its' previous condition. This might happen within six months and if it happens you might need another surgery to correct it or you have to wear glasses or contact lenses.

The negative side effects are very less in a LASIK surgery. Even the healing of the eye is faster. Since a LASIK involves cutting of some tissues of the eye the complications and risks are a bit higher than the other eye surgery procedures we have mentioned.