The Different Laser Eye Surgery Procedures For You To Consider

An estimated 60 million Americans suffer from vision problems, such as myopia, commonly called nearsightedness, or hyperopia, farsightedness, and astigmatism. This year 1.5 million of them, with the advice of their eye surgeons, will undergo one of these laser eye surgery procedures, to correct their vision problems.

Are you one of them? If so, it�s to your advantage to know what the different laser eye surgery procedures are and how each procedure works to correct vision problems.

Laser eye surgery is a surgical procedure in which the laser beams an intense ray of light through a microscope. This short list is concerned only with the latest, safest and effective laser eye surgery procedures used by today�s eye surgeons.

LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis. FDA has approved this surgical technique for use since 1995. More and more surgeons use this laser eye surgery procedure because for the results. The patient�s vision is restored from one to two days after, it�s relatively painless and operating on one eye generally takes only one minute. This laser eye surgery procedure corrects farsightedness, nearsightedness and astigmatism. Only patients with thick corneas are good candidates for this procedure. During the operation, the eye surgeon uses the laser to sculpt the exposed cornea into a curve by evaporating tissue under the flap.

LASEK is short for Laser-Assisted Sub-Epithelial Keratectomy. This laser eye surgery procedure is the second most popular alternative other for those who do have hyperopia or farsightedness but have thin or flat corneas.

PRK is the acronym for Photo Refractive Keratectomy. Although the FDA gave it a nod only in 1995, this laser eye surgery procedure has long been in use, since the 1980s. It corrects mild to moderate farsightedness and astigmatism. During this laser eye surgery procedure the surgeon uses the laser to evaporate tissue from the surface of the corneas. The laser machine does most of the work, and works best on patients with large pupils or thin corneas. Patient recovery takes longer though by as much as several months.

The laser eye surgery procedures mentioned here have become popular with more doctors performing them because the procedures are safe, permanent and faster results are evident.

Tim Gorman is a successful webmaster and publisher of Vision-Doctor.com an online website that offers discounts on contact lenses, eyeglasses, sunglasses and free information on LASIK eye surgery procedures that you can view in the privacy of your own home.

Facts to Know About Laser Eye Surgery Including Lasik Eye

This page is dedicated to providing you with the knowledge you need when considering laser eye surgery. This procedure can be a bit intimidating for people and hopefully you will feel much more comfortable about it once you have read this. A popular procedure is lasik eye surgery which is intended to reduce your dependency on either your eyeglasses or contact lenses. Your best bet to get fully informed before having laser eye surgery is to go for an evaluation with your optometrist to see if you are a potential candidate for laser vision correction. Before moving forward you want to ensure that you are fully informed about the procedure. Prior to the evaluation with your optometrist, stop wearing your contact lenses and only wear you eyeglasses for a minimum of 2 weeks before your appointment. Contacts actually change the shape of your cornea. By wearing eyeglasses only, your corneas ill go back to their natural shape. After your evaluation, your doctor will be able to determine if you are a good candidate for lasik eye surgery or any other laser eye surgery. They should then explain fully all the risks, benefits and other alternatives to laser vision correction. If you are unsure about anything, it is extremely important that you ask your doctor so that you are making a fully informed decision. Laser eye surgery is virtually pain free as the cornea is anesthetized using special drops. There may be mild discomfort when the anesthetic wears off but this irritation should be minor and last only a few hours. Laser vision correction is a very quick procedure which can take between 15 and 40 seconds. Most patients notice an improvement within 3 to 5 days of having laser eye surgery. So whether you choose lasik eye surgery or any other type or procedure, make sure to do your research and consult a reputable clinic. It is critical that before undertaking anything like this, you are well educated and can go in with confidence.

LASIK surgery – the best way to correct vision

LASIK is the most well known surgical procedure willful to reduce a person’s dependency on glasses or contact lenses. LASIK (Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) provides vision correction by permanently changing the shape of the cornea and changing it’s focusing power. In LASIK surgery the corneal tissue is precisely removed and the cornea is reshaped. In the USA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of LASIK in correcting vision since 1998, for the treatment of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. LASIK is not recommended for the persons which are in their early 20s or younger, the persons which have diabetes, are pregnant, or are taking medications such as steroids. Also, people who had glaucoma suspect, or ocular hypertension, eye diseases or previous eye surgeries should not have LASIK surgery. There are a few indicators of risk that have to be taken into consideration when a person decides to have LASIK surgery, such as: large pupils, thin corneas, previous refractive surgery, dry eyes (LASIK surgery aggravates eye dryness). Before you have LASIK surgery you have to stop using contacts for 1 to 4 weeks advance surgery to permit the cornea to return to it’s initial shape. During the LASIK surgery patients are given an anesthetic and generally they feel no pain, but there are a few cases when they suffer some discomfort. You can have LASIK surgery for both eyes at the same time if your health condition allows it. LASIK surgery regularly takes about 5 or 10 minutes per eye. The newest technology in LASIK is the wavefront laser, approved by the FDA in 2002, which sends a wave of light to the retina that helps producing a 3-D map oh the eye’s visual system. During the LASIK surgery complications can appear in very few cases, for less than 1% of patients. You can be a candidate for LASIK surgery if you are at least 18 years old and you had no radical changes in vision over the past year. In addition, for persons with severe vision problems LASIK may not be an option. After having a LASIK surgery there is a small chance to lose vision, for the patients who were among the persons for whom the LASIK was not indicated. Also, after the LASIK surgery there were patients who had blurred vision, bad night vision and diminished contrasts. Generally, these problems can be resolved by a new treatment.