Laser surgery is used for the correction of farsightedness, nearsightedness and astigmatism. So what is lasik surgery exactly? Well during laser eye surgery there is a refraction process necessary and this process can be done with a number of different procedures, two of the main ones being LASIK and Precision. Each procedure has its pros and cons and it will be down to your doctor to choose which will be best suited to your condition.

What is Precision surgery?

This procedure is usually performed as an outpatient care with eye drops that have local anesthesia. A refractive correction is put into use with a computer controlled laser beam which reshapes the cornea. The recovery period for this procedure is normally as little as three days. As always though, there is no guarantee that this procedure will completely eliminate your need for corrective lenses, nevertheless your doctor should be able to give you an idea of the likelihood of the procedure being a complete success in your case beforehand. The most common side effect to this procedure is seeing a glare or halo around lights but this side-effect normally disappears with time.

What is LASIK surgery?

The Lasik process is also commonly used, so much so in fact that people often use the term Lasik surgery when they are referring to laser eye surgery in general. Lasik is normally used on people who suffer from nearsightedness. This procedure is a little more invasive than the Precision procedure but it is still considered to be a safe laser eye surgery procedure, hence the reason it is used so much.

With Lasik, Doctors have to actually make an incision in the cornea tissu itself. LASIK is often a very successful option that can correct some pretty severe problems, although these cases may sometimes require more than just one procedure. LASIK often has an even faster recovery period and most patients notice noticeable improvements in their vision immediately following their treatment.

If you want to go forward and have your eyes operated on I suggest you continue your research so that you can make sure you make the right decision. Remember that it will be important to take into account any medical conditions you may have as these could affect which procedure you undergo, healing time, recovery time etc.

For instance Lasik may not be the most suited procedure for someone who has a slow recovery time. Also vascular disease, eye disease, autoimmune diseases and even diabetes can have an effect on the healing process. For this reason it will be essential that your doctor has all of your medical information at his or her disposal in order to advise you on the best procedure for you.

So now you know the answer to the question of what is lasik surgery and laser eye surgery, nevertheless as I said before I still believe that if you do want to have an operation performed you should research the subject more thoroughly as you need all the information at your disposal to make the right decision for you on this matter.

How Laser Eye Surgery Works

The procedure in laser eye surgery is actually quite simple, nevertheless the process involved is on the other hand quite complicated. A thin circular flap is created in the patient’s cornea with the use of an instrument called a microkeratome, this is to gain access to the tissue underneath in order to repair it with a excimer laser. Before the flap is created in the cornea are in marker is used to mark where the incision will be performed.

Although this may sound like a painful experience the reality is that in most cases it is not at all, nevertheless the surgeon may use some special drops to anesthetize the eyes before the operation takes place.

The amount of cornea needed to be removed will vary, depending on the patient’s particular vision problem, and with nearsighted people the goal in this procedure is to flatten the cornea, whereas with farsighted people the goal instead is to gain a steeper cornea.

One of the most important aspects involved in the matter of how laser eye surgery works actually takes place before the procedure. This is because there are a few things you need to do beforehand, such as choosing a good surgeon and having them determine whether or not you are a suitable and eligible candidate for the procedure.

Laser eye surgery is classed as ambulatory procedure, what this means is that unlike other procedures where you would have to stay at the hospital for some time with laser eye surgery you can come by your own means and the by your own means after the surgery is performed, nevertheless you probably would not be able to drive right away afterwards as patients often experience a little bit fuzzy vision just after the operation which clears up later.

Although like with all procedures there are some risks such as in the case of laser eye surgery mostly over or under correction, with this surgery these days such problems are rare and most people consider them to not be a good enough reason not to go forward with the operation. Even if a problem did occur during your operation most of the time the problem can be corrected with a follow-up operation.

The most performed and basic types of laser eye surgery are PRK and LASIK. These 2 to share some similarities however in some ways they are also quite different.
The most crucial bit of information on laser eye surgery here you need to remember is that there are some fundamental differences in how these two surgeries are performed. During LASIK eye surgery, the surgeon uses a laser to create a corneal flap, which is then folded back, exposing the inner cornea.

With PRK surgery on the other hand, the surgeon will get to the inner layers of the cornea simply by removing the thin outer layer of the cornea, the epithelium, completely.

You should also be aware of Epi-LASIK, one of the newer vision correction procedures. It is a surface refractive procedure, one in which the surgeon uses a fine and precise instrument known as a microkeratome, with which they are able to mechanically separate an epithelial flap from the surface of the cornea.

Once this has been completed, an excimer laser is then used to correct the patient’s prescription.

Other valuable information on laser eye surgery involves finding a surgeon. Although all laser eye surgeries are considered as being minor procedures, it is still important to make sure that you are in as safe and qualified hands as possible.

When it comes to surgery, whether it be laser eye surgery or any other, things can go wrong. With those eyes surgery the risks are there, but these days most patients end up with good results, nevertheless it always pays to make sure you have a particularly good surgeon.

These days there are many clinics for vision correction and some very good ones, nevertheless picking out the best isn’t always easy. It is advisable that you consult your doctor for advice on this matter and asked him who he recommends.

Deciding to have laser eye surgery performed is a big decision and not one that you should make in a rush, do your research and make sure you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into before you sign on the dotted line.

But Who Invented Laser Eye Surgery?

Lots of folks ask the question of who invented laser eye surgery and the truth is that there are several answers to that question. It was Dr. Fyodorov, a Russian doctor who actually first applied the idea of refractive surgery in the early 1930s, while it was not until 1960 when Theodore Maiman invented the first true laser, which is known as a ruby laser.

Therefore there was not actually one single person who invented laser eye surgery, but rather a few that were involved in the entire process.

So How Does it Work?

Although the procedure itself is pretty simple, the technology and relevance behind it is considerably complicated . Basically short pulses of invisible ultraviolet light, or laser, is used to remove a small flap off the surface of the cornea, and in doing so correcting the curvature of the patients cornea.

By doing this, the retina is able to focus and concentrate on images much better, and so the patient having the operation performed is able to see a lot better.

People from all over the world have already taken the leap and had the laser eye surgery performed, and the majority of people are completely satisfied with the results. Nevertheless as if true with any health related procedure there are some risks involved that one should know about.

They are however these days very rare, but all the same anyone considering taking up an operation of this kind should still take some time to learn of them so they really do know what they are getting into.

The most typical laser eye surgery complications are overcorrection and undercorrection, overcorrection meaning that too much tissue was removed during the procedure, undercorrection referring to the fact that too little tissue was removed.

If you do your research and get your operation done by a qualified and well experienced surgeon with a good track record, nine times out of 10 your operation will go fine and have a very favourable result for you. Nevertheless no surgeon is 100% perfect and no operation can have a 100% success rate, so you must still remember the risks before you have the operation performed.

Even if you did end up being unlucky and you had something like overcorrection or under correct you should still be able to have an additional operation performed to put this right, of course any additional operations still carry the original risks you had in the first one, so there is still a slight chance things could end up worse, but that’s the risk you take.

For most people this operation will turn out fine and they will almost definitely be glad they had it performed, as having perfect vision when you have been used to seeing things fuzzy can really make a difference in your life.

So now you know a little bit more about laser eye surgery and the answer to who invented laser eye surgery in the first place, why not do some more reading on the subject of laser eye surgery by reading for more of our categories.

Image via Wikipedia

A lot of folks aren’t aware of this, but there happen to exist a few different types of laser eye surgery you can choose from. It is therefore one hundred percent imperative, if you happen to be thinking of undergoing the procedure yourself, to learn about these different types of laser eye surgery, so that you will be able to chose the particular type that is best suited to you and your condition. Of cause you should discuss this mater with your doctor, but here’s is some basic info on the different types of laser eye surgery to get you going.

The Different Types of Laser Eye Surgery

One of the most basic and often recommended types of laser eye surgery is known as radial keratotomy, and this is one in which the procedure will involve the cutting of spoke-like incisions into your eye, so as to flatten out its surface.

Although it is primarily utilized to treat nearsightedness, it is capable of treating all kinds of vision problems; it will be your dr. who will be able to properly determine whether or not this option is right for you.

Another very well known type of laser eye surgery is Laser-Assisted in situ Keratomileusis, or better known to the public as Lasik. In this procedure, a thin flap is made on the surface of the eye, and there is a pulsing of a tightly-focused laser onto the surface, by very carefully controlling the size and number of laser pulses, the surgeon performing the surgery is able to control just how much of the cornea is actually removed.

Just how much of your cornea needs to be removed will vary from one procedure to another and will depending greatly on just how serious your vision problem actually is.

There are of cause even with today’s modern technologies, a number of risks and complications that can arise from these procedures, in particular, the problem of undercorrection and overcorrection are liable. With undercorrection there simple was not enough tissue removed during the procedure, whereas with overcorrection, there was simple too much tissue removed.

Wrinkling can also be a problem that can result from having vision correction surgery performed when using the Lasik technique. This can occurs when the corneal flap has a small fold or wrinkle in it at the moment of being replaced, and this is often not noticed by the surgeon until it is too late.

With all these possible problems generally you can have correction surgery later to put the problem right, but it isn’t always totally successful. Having said that these days most people come out of surgery with out any problems, you should consult with your doctor about the risk to you and then make the decision on whether or not it will be worth while. Remember also that a lot of problems that can occur will be from human error from the surgeon performing your surgery, so make sure you do your research on the surgeon performing your operation so you know he/she has a good record.

Even whilst the trend in laser eye surgical procedures is increasing, you must do your own laser eye surgery research before you sign the dotted line on a consent form. After all, this is your health at stake and what can be of greater importance than your ability to see properly.

Not for everybody

Laser eye surgery research ought to commence with talking with a certified Dr. if you make a fine prospect. Like any surgical operation, LASIK too has its risks and restrictions and it’s wise to be abreast of the pros and cons before you begin anticipating the moon and stars overnight. If you have problems with tear production, if you have extreme hypermetropia or myopia, if your corneas are thicker than normal measurements and if you have an autoimmune disorder and are allergic to some medicines, you may not be such a great prospect for laser eye surgery and research ought to be conducted in to secondary alternatives.

Before the eye Surgery

Laser eye surgery research in addition requires acknowledging what to do prior to, during and following after the actual operation. Prior to the laser eye surgery, research whether the Dr. Applies FDA authorized gear and has provided you adequate time to ask as many queries as you want prior to signing you up. In addition you need to know that you shouldn’t be wearing your contacts for at the very least a fortnight before the operation; even longer if you wear hard lenses. You should in addition stop applying creams, lotions and eye make up a couple of days in advance so that there’s no risk of debris close to the eye and eye lash area which could possibly increase the possibility of infection.

Following the Surgery

You in addition will require having somebody drive you back home from the operation since your sight will be blurred and you’ll be dazed from the numbing medicine. Furthermore, you must wear the eye shield the Dr. gives you so that you refrain from rubbing, itching or poking in anyway your eye as the flap that’s been surgically corrected could move. You absolutely must stay away altogether from swimming, whirlpools and hot baths for 4 weeks following your surgical operation; even longer if your Dr. thinks it’s necessary.

Finally, the most crucial part of laser eye surgery research is to have realistic honest anticipations. Although the majority of individuals are extremely pleased with the operation, other people don’t get the perfect sight they originally had hoped for. They might require further operations done which in turn warrant even more laser eye surgery research.