Laser eye surgery / LASIK
This might seem a bit out of place in a vision improvement web site. However, we should not dismiss laser eye surgery because it has worked wonders for many people.
Instead, let us find out more about laser eye surgery and whether it can work for you as well. The best decision is an informed one.
The most common laser eye surgery methods nowadays are Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) and Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK). A computer analysis of the cornea allows the surgeon to accurately judge the position and amount of corneal tissue to remove with the excimer laser.
The key difference between them is that LASIK includes the additional step of cutting a flap in the cornea, so that the laser reshapes the inside of the cornea instead of the surface (You can find more information in the glossary).
The end result is the same: a reshaped cornea that accurately focuses light onto the retina, resulting in sharp and clear eyesight. LASIK is rapidly overshadowing the older PRK technique, so we will focus on LASIK from now on.
Millions of people have undergone LASIK procedures, and it is now considered a safe and effective surgical procedure that does not require hospitalisation.
Side effects
So why is there still trepidation? As with any form of surgery, there is always a risk involved. Side effects do occur. Common problems include:
- Light sensitivity and glare
- Halos and starbursts - this occurs if light enters the eye around the edge of the treatment area. These defects are more noticeable at night, when the low light causes the pupil to dilate larger than the corrected corneal area.
- Under-correction or over-correction - it is impossible to judge wth 100% accuracy how the eye will heal and react to the laser correction, so the possibility of under-correction and over-correction will always exist.
- Irregular astigmatism - this occurs if the cornea heals in a wavy configuration
- Regression- the myopia can return, especially if you do not take care of your eyes after the laser eye surgery. Always treat your eyes with respect.
- Contrast Sensitivity - Laser eye surgery causes a patient’s contrast sensitivity (the ability to see well in low contrast situations, e.g. driving at night) to fall below normal levels, in turn reducing the ability to see clearly. After several weeks, or months, contrast sensitivity usually returns to normal and vision becomes clearer in low contrast situations. However, in some cases contrast sensitivity will not return to normal.
Benefits
These risks should be evaluated against the benefits of LASIK laser eye surgery.
- Fast - patients can usually see clearly within minutes of the surgical procedure.
- Clinically proven effectiveness - unlike natural vision improvement techniques (unfortunately..), there is no doubt that it can improve vision.
So if you wish to go for the quick and dirty method, you might use to consider LASIK eye surgery.
What you should do
You should always understand thoroughly how the LASIK procedure works, and the associated risks. When evaluating which clinic to do it at, do not just judge by the price. After all, it’ll be much more expensive to attempt to correct a botched operation by an incompetent eye surgeon.
Some things to note include:
- Professionalism of the clinic - do they conduct a thorough screening and briefing of patients, or are they just after a quick buck?
- Past record of the surgeon - how many patients have your particular eye surgeon operated on, and what is the success rate?
Want to play it even safer ? Here’s a list of 50 tough questions for your eye surgeon (some content specific to USA).
Remember, surgery is never a trivial matter. So do go into this with your eyes wide open.
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