How Lasik corrective eye surgery works

Lasik corrective eye surgery really has one objective - to lessen your dependence on glasses or contact lenses.

Godsend though they may be, glasses and contact lenses can be an irritant, especially for active people.

While there are no guarantees, for most people Lasik surgery will greatly reduce or even completely eliminate the need for corrective lenses.

After Lasik corrective eye surgery, you may be able to forget about losing lenses in contact situations.  You won't have to worry about forgetting where you put your eyeglasses, or having them fog over with perspiration because you’re exercising hard.

Lasik corrective eye surgery permanently changes the shape of the cornea, which is the clear covering of the front of the eye. The cornea’s role is to help focus light on the retina.    If its shape is not perfect, the image on the retina can be blurred because it is out of focus, or distorted.

Refractive errors

Bending and focusing light is also called refraction, and these particular eye problems are called refractive errors.  The main types are myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism (distorted images).

Lasik corrective eye surgery is designed to correct these errors, one of its great benefits being very quick results.

The eye surgeon cuts a thin, circular flap in the cornea, either using a special bladed instrument called a microkeratome, or a laser.   Be aware that there are pros and cons to consider for each process. The specialist then folds the flap out of the way and removes some of the corneal tissue to change the shape of the cornea.

The reshaping is done with an eximer laser that uses cool ultraviolet light beams to remove very small amounts of the tissue in a very precisely-controlled process. This reshaping causes the cornea to focus better, resulting in better vision.

The flap is put back in place to cover the area where the tissue was removed, and acts as a sort of bandage while the eye heals.

Quick and painless

Lasik surgery is and quick and relatively painless for most patients. The patient remains awake, as the surgeon uses eye drops to anesthetize the eye before the surgery begins. The actual surgery only takes about a minute.

Some patients choose to have both eyes done at the same time, although the general opinion is that this is slightly riskier.

Not everyone is a good candidate for lasik surgery. The refractive errors need to be within certain limits, and cornea thickness is a factor.  So are certain past and present medical and physical conditions.

There are also a number of Lasik surgery processes, as well as highly-specialized diagnostic equipment.

Your surgeon will make recommendations on what lasik corrective eye surgery technique is best for you.   The decision will be based partly on the techniques your surgeon prefers, and partly on what will work best for your particular eyes.