So you’ve heard of laser eye surgery, but the thoughts of having a space man fire a laser gun into your eye are scaring you off? Don’t fear, because knowledge is here. And just to put your mind at ease: there are no space men and lasers involved in Lasik laser vision correction – there are well qualified doctors and nurses at hand to ensure the best possible results for you and your future eyesight.
If you’re tired of the drudgery of wearing glasses or contact lenses, you should consider this procedure, as the results are incredibly favourable. In a recent study, 92-98% of people who had undergone this procedure reported that they were very, very please with the results. With such a high rate of success, it seems crazy not to consider this procedure as an alternative to wearing those glasses, or having scratchy eyes from your contact lenses.
In terms of Lasik laser vision correction itself, it helps to know exactly what happens when you sign yourself in for the procedure.
Patients who wear soft contact lenses are required to stop using them up to 3 weeks before the surgery and some recommend that those wearing hard contact lenses have to wait even longer. It is suggested that those wearing hard contact lenses stop wearing them at least six weeks before the procedure, plus another six weeks for every three years they’ve been wearing hard contact lenses.
Before the procedure, patients’ eyes are checked to ascertain exactly what is wrong with them, the levels of myopia and astigmatism and a topographical map is made of the retina, so doctors can work precisely. Patients are also usually prescribed antibiotics prior to Lasik to ensure that no infections start after the procedure.
The operation itself is performed with the patient awake. Sometimes they are given a mild sedative, in case of over-excitement, and anaesthetic eye drops are administered. Lasik eye surgery is performed in three steps. First, a flap of corneal tissue is made. Secondly, the cornea underneath the flap is remodelled using the laser and finally, the flap is repositioned.
To create the flap, your doctor will apply a corneal suction ring to your eye. This holds your eye in place to ensure accuracy. This may sometimes cause small blood vessels in the eye to burst, resulting in bleeding into the white of the eye, but this usually recedes in a few weeks and is entirely harmless. Once the eye is held in place, cutting a tiny flap in the cornea creates the flap. The flap is folded back to uncover the middle section of the cornea.
For the laser remodelling, your doctor will use a laser to finely vaporise tissue in the corneal stroma. This is incredibly accurate and no burning or heat comes from the laser. Lasers in current use a sophisticated eye tracing system, which follows the movements of the eye and repositions up to 4000 times a second, to ensure that the laser always comes into contact with the correct place.
The final step of vision correction is the repositioning of the corneal flap. Once the laser has done its work, the flap is very carefully placed over the initial treatment zone by the surgeon. It is then checked for any debris and air bubbles and for a proper fit on the eye itself. The flap will remain in position over the eye due to natural adhesion until it has healed itself back into place.
After the procedure is done, patients are given antibiotic and anti-inflammatory eye drops, to be used in the weeks after surgery. To protect their eyes, patients are advised to wear a darkened pair of shields to protect their eyes. Some patients even wear goggles while they sleep to stop scratching of the eyes at night. Eyes can be a little dry after the operation, but moisturising eye drops generally take care of that.
Within a few days of the operation, patients are able to drive and carry on living their lives as normal, and leave their glasses or contact lenses behind to live a life of clear vision. What with Lasik surgery becoming so advanced, is there any point in not going in for the procedure?