Lasik Eye Surgery Can Give A New Lease On Life

Going through life dependent on glasses or contacts is fine for some, but others quickly tire of being unable to navigate the world if their corrective lenses get misplaced or break. There are few greater feelings of helplessness then that felt by a person who suddenly cannot see a foot beyond the end of their nose. These people often turn to eye Lasik surgery to help bring their world back into focus.

No matter how you crack it, eye surgery does sound a little scary, but for anyone who has studied the results, the fear factor is easily overcome. A person who undergoes Lasik successfully will soon find they are able to see things better than they have in years or even better than they ever did. A new sense of freedom is born and self-confidence and self-esteem boosts are incredible.

But what is Lasik and how does it work? In a nutshell, this surgical procedure to correct vision involves the reshaping of the cornea, which is the covering on the front of the eye. A laser and a knife are used to cut a small flap in the cornea, a hinge is left at an end of the flap and the flap is folded back to uncover the stroma, or middle section of the cornea. The laser, which is computer controlled, basically vaporizes a portion of the stroma and the flap is put back.

While this might sound horrific, the procedure makes sense. The cornea itself is the part of the eye that focuses light and creates a picture on the retina. It works sort of like a camera lens does to focus light on film. When light is bent and focused, it's called refraction.

When people have difficulty seeing, generally it is because the shape of the cornea and the eye are not in perfect synch. This means the picture on the retina will be blurred or distorted. This is called a refractive error, for which there are three main types: myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. People with myopia are nearsighted, this means they can't see objects that are far away with ease. Hyperopia is farsightedness and an astigmatism is a distortion of the image.

Lasik surgery basically corrects these conditions and helps people focus better, often removing the need for corrective lenses entirely. Lasik is not for all people, however, and pre-exams will be required for a doctor to determine if the eye procedure will work in an individual case.

If Lasik is the chosen route to help correct vision problems, those who undergo it will find it has a pretty high success rate. Although doctors cannot guarantee results, many find they end up with 20/20 vision after the procedure.

The other benefit of Lasik is that it's relatively painless and the surgical site heals very quickly. Most patients can see quite well right after the procedure and within a week vision should be completely in focus.

Lasik eye surgery is a route more than worth investigating for those who no longer wish to be dependant on contacts or glasses. The freedom provided is amazing and the vision improvements in successful cases are also impressive.

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What Happens Before, During, And After A Lasik Eye Surgery Procedure?

Since LASIK was approved by the FDA in the early 1990?s, the procedure has grown to become the most widely-performed eye surgery in the United States. LASIK is a surgical procedure performed on the eye to correct an individual?s vision and reduce dependency on eyeglasses or contact lenses. LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis, which literally means to "reshape the cornea from within using a laser.? The procedure has broad applications to treat refractive errors of the eye and can be used to treat myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism (an elongated cornea).

LASIK works by improving the ability of the eye to properly focus light. In a perfectly formed eye light entering the eye bends and directly hits retina, allowing the eye to produce a clear image. The majority of people, though, have imperfectly shaped corneas. Imperfectly shaped corneas do not properly refract the light on the retina, with the result that the viewed image is blurry and distorted. LASIK can correct these refractive errors by permanently changing the shape of the cornea. Once reshaped, the cornea is able to better focus light, eliminating the need for glasses or contacts.

LASIK patients will be given a detailed set of instructions to follow, beginning a few weeks before the procedure is to take place. It is critical that these instructions are followed if the surgery is to be a success. Patients wearing contact lenses will be advised to stop wearing their lenses anywhere from 2-4 weeks before the procedure, to give their eyes a chance to resume their natural shape. Certain foods, vitamins, beauty products, and medication can also affect the health of your eyes and may need to be avoided prior to LASIK. Failure to follow pre-operative instructions may result in a failed LASIK procedure, or the need to completely redo the surgery.

Patients remain awake and alert during surgery, although the doctor may administer a mild sedative to help keep the patient calm and relaxed. Numbing eye drops will be applied to the eye to serve as a local anesthetic. Since the eye?s natural tendency is to blink when it comes into contact with foreign items, it is necessary to secure the eyelids to keep them out of the way of the laser. This is done using an instrument called a lid speculum. Once the speculum is in place and the eye is cleaned, a small ring is placed on the cornea to apply a strong suction to the cornea. This part of the procedure can be a bit uncomfortable, but the strong suction ensures that the eyes remain immobile throughout the rest of the surgery.

Next a flap is cut into the cornea, leaving a small hinge to keep it attached to the eye. This flap may be made using a small razor sharp knife called a microkeratome, or by using a laser ? also called IntraLase. The suction ring serves as a precise guide for the microkeratome to ensure that the flap is made cleanly and accurately. After the cut has been made the suction ring is removed and the flap is gently teased away from the cornea and peeled back (towards the hinge) to reveal the underlying stroma.

The doctor will then dry the eye and ask the patient to stare at a fixed light, without moving, until the end of the procedure. Once the eye is in the proper position, the excimer laser will be activated. The surgeon will have already programmed the laser to remove the precise amount of tissue from the exact location(s) on your eye before the start of the procedure. More severe refractive errors will require a longer laser treatment, since more corneal tissue will need to be removed. As the laser pulses a beam of light into the eye to remove the excess tissue from the eye, the patient will hear a ticking or zapping sound and may smell an odor similar to that of burning hair. Once the laser has ceased pulsing, the surgeon will replace the corneal flap on the eye and smooth it out to ensure no surface wrinkles develop.

Since an eye is vulnerable after LASIK, it is very important to take extra precautions to protect the eye during the healing process. The doctor will give the patient an eye shield to wear immediately after the LASIK procedure. This shield should be worn while sleeping to prevent a person from rubbing their eye and dislodging the flap. The eye shield also prevents a person from inadvertently putting any pressure on the eye. Antibiotic ointment should be used to prevent infection from forming, while eye drops may be used to keep dry and scratchy eyes well-lubricated as they heal.

The doctor will make a follow-up appointment to evaluate the patient?s eyes within 24-48 hours from the time of surgery. This will allow the physician to monitor the healing process, evaluate the eyes for any potential problems, and begin accessing the success of the LASIK procedure. After the initial follow-up appointment, the patient will be asked to return for regular visits every few weeks, then every few months, until such time that the surgeon is confident that the procedure was successful.

Keep in mind that LASIK is not a risk-free procedure and that not all individuals are good candidates for LASIK. If you are interested in finding more about this procedure, contact your ophthalmologist and request an appointment.

Gray Rollins is a featured writer for MyEyeSurgery.com. To learn more about LASIK eye surgery and LASIK eye surgeons, visit us.

Wavefront - Better Than Conventional LASIK Eye Surgery?

Traditional LASIK surgery achieves a simple correction of focusing power by reshaping the cornea with the aid of a laser. Wavefront LASIK is a variation of that conventional procedure and accomplishes a spatially varying correction based on readings from a wavefront sensor. In essence, a wavefront sensor measures the eye itself. It detects any aberrations by directing a weak laser source into the eye, and by sampling and processing the reflection off the retina.

Wavefront measurements reveal the irregularities of the lens, which cause optical aberrations (any deviation from a desired perfect planar wavefront). Wavefront custom sculpts the cornea to accomplish corrected vision. In many ways, Wavefront offers better results than traditional LASIK. The procedure is carried out by an ophthalmologist, with the aid of sophisticated computer-controlled equipment.

LASIK has certain potential side effects including halos or glare, which are caused due to induced spherical aberration. Wavefront has helped reduce instances of such cases where patients complain of post-operative halos or glares. A drop in such complaints is owing to the precise measurements provided by the wavefront sensor.

Thus Wavefront can help achieve a more optically perfect eye, since the corneal tissue area to be carved is measured more precisely using advanced technology and tools. But, wavefront aberrations are not the sole cause for all types of vision impairments. Therefore, Wavefront LASIK should not be treated as a panacea for all kinds of vision defects. However, eye surgeons claim that a great deal of success has been accomplished in patient satisfaction, relative to earlier refractive surgery procedures.

Though wavefront technology has been used for years by astronomers who require adjusting their telescope optics, its application to human vision has been discovered only recently. It's true that Wavefront is a superior procedure, but it's certainly not required by or suitable for everyone. It is imperative that you go through an elaborate wavefront diagnostic to determine if you are a potential candidate for it.

Nicola Kennedy publishes articles and reports and provides news, views and information about custom wavefront LASIK at Your Lasik Information. The LASIK Surgeons Directory will help you find a LASIK doctor.