Sunday, April 20, 2008

Understanding LASIK for Permanent Vision Correction

By Timothy Croy

For many people, the first activity in the morning is groping for a pair of glasses or going through the ritual of applying contact lenses. Sports are complicated when corrective lenses are worn as well, and often different glasses are needed for different tasks like viewing a computer monitor. But with laser vision correction LASIK surgery, there is a real freedom to jump out of bed ready for anything.

Most people have heard of corrective surgery for vision problems, but the terms and definitions may be confusing. Since surgery of any kind on the eye tends to be daunting, it is helpful to clarify the terms. LASIK is an acronym for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis. That's a real mouthful so it's clear why the term LASIK is preferred and most commonly used. What it means is that an excimer laser, a special focused and concentrated light beam is used to remodel the deeper layer of the cornea after raising a flap.

Think of the cornea as the window into the eye. It is curved naturally, and light is bent by both the corneal surface and the lens that lies behind the cornea, working just like a camera's lens. By changing the shape of the cornea, the clear film over the eye's anterior surface, the way light bends changes and common visual acuity problems like nearsightedness (myopia), far-sightedness (presbyopia) and astigmatism can be corrected.

When a person wears contact lens or prescription eyeglasses, correction is done on the outside of the eye, but with LASIK, the eye itself has been corrected. Most people are able to stop using glasses or contacts completely. Vision is noticeably better immediately after surgery and gets better with healing in a fairly short time.

The eye is anesthetized during surgery with special eye drops so there is no pain involved, and the procedure takes a few minutes to complete! For a few days, the eye may feel a bit irritated or "scratchy" but there is little or no pain for most patients. Antibiotic and anti-inflammatory eye drops are used during healing, and goggles are worn at night to prevent rubbing the eyes.

LASIK surgery is considered an advancement over the older PRK (sometimes called ASA) procedure and can be used for most patients. It offers less discomfort and faster healing for LASIK patients and also allows very precise correction. For those who want to stop the hassle of contact lens care and the expense of lenses or glasses, LASIK is a modern miracle.

http://mylasik101.com is a website fully devoted to providing you with the best information regarding Lasik Eye Surgery. Whether you're interested in learning more about laser vision glasses, or you want to know the possible laser vision surgery side effects, we've got you covered!

No comments: