Laser Eye Surgery
Laser eye surgery (otherwise known as LASIK) is a popular procedure to correct the vision in your eyes. Millions of people have chosen this surgery as a way of ending the need for glasses and contact lenses, seeing huge improvements in vision.
How Does It Work?
Our vision can become distorted due to errors in the way the light enters our eyes. Light rays are bent through parts of the eye to be sent to the light-sensing area of our eye. If there are errors with our eyes, the light rays aren't conveyed properly and images will be blurry. This can produce either short-sightedness or long-sightedness.
These errors are able to be corrected using a laser, which reshapes the area of the eye underneath the front area known as the cornea. There are other types of refractive surgery that do a similar job but without the use of the laser. However, the laser treatment is extremely safe, quick and pain-free.
Why Do People Need Laser Eye Surgery?
Glasses and contact lenses can be worn to help bend the light correctly, though laser eye surgery goes to the eye itself to correct the tissue. It works by using a high-precision laser that reshapes the cornea to make sure light enters the eye at the right angle, resulting in clear vision.
Since this is a surgical procedure, there are certain risks that come with laser eye surgery, however most patients see significant improvements in vision.
Who Is Suitable for Laser Eye Surgery?
It is important to seek advice from a laser eye surgery clinic to ensure you're suitable for the procedure. In general, you will need to be healthy and have healthy eyes, and be over the age of 20. You will be unable to undergo treatment if you have any of the following conditions:
- Increased internal eye pressure,
- Eye infections,
- Diabetes, unless it is well controlled and you have healthy eyes,
- You are partially sighted or blind,
- Crohn's disease,
- If you have had herpes in the eye,
- Rheumatoid arthritis,
- Lupus,
- Glaucoma,
- Pregnant or breastfeeding.
All of this will be confirmed when you have an appointment with your consultant.
Types of Laser Eye Surgery
Standard LASIK surgery makes use of cutting a small flap on the surface of the eye, which is then lifted to allow the laser to get to work on reshaping the eye. This is the most common form of laser eye treatment available today, but there are also several other treatment options to bear in mind.
PRK: This treatment option was the most popular before LASIK treatment. It is slightly different to the LASIK that's common today, and each treatment has its own advantages and disadvantages. PRK treatment leaves the vision in the eyes to improve more slowly than LASIK. It can generally treat patients in the same ways as standard LASIK, though some surgeons prefer to use PRK for those patients who have larger pupils or thin corneas.
Epi-LASIK: This treatment is a lot newer, and was developed as a way of solving problems that might occur with LASIK or LASEK treatments. In traditional LASIK treatment there is a risk that the flap could be cut too quickly, but with epi-LASIK the flap is a lot thinner. This flap is harder to create in those who have steeper corneas, making this treatment inappropriate for those patients.
LASEK: This treatment is a variation of PRK, where the laser is applied directly to the outer surface of the eye. It makes use of an ultra-thin flap and is used for people who have thin or steep corneas, that are unsuitable for traditional LASIK.
Custom LASIK: This treatment is also known as wavefront, and is based on extremely precise measurements of the eye meaning that individualised correction can take place (which isn't possible with standard LASIK). This is only useful for certain types of problems in vision.
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