Laser Surgery for Eye-Problems/ Diseases

What is Laser Surgery or LASIK?

LASIK is a short form for ‘Laser in Situ Keratomileusis’! This is a type of laser surgery which involves use of laser underneath a corneal flap (in situ) to reshape the cornea (keratomileusis). There is a highly specialized laser which is designed to treat refractive errors, improve vision. This laser based technology used for treatment alters the shape of the cornea, which is the transparent front covering of the eye. This treatment helps in reducing or eliminating the need to wear eye-glasses or contact lenses. Let’s understand about how does this laser based technique actually works to treat eye-problems or vision-problems. First of all such laser surgeries or treatments for eye problems are performed by specially trained eye-surgeons. An expert eye-surgeon first creates a precise and thin hinged corneal flap using a microkeratome. Then the flap is pulled back to expose the underlying corneal tissue. Then the excimer laser reshapes the cornea in a unique per-specified pattern for each patient. After this, the flap is gently repositioned onto the underlying cornea without sutures. Before performing this surgery, consultation is session is conducted between expert eye-surgeon and patient. Certain tests are done on patients and after complete evaluation experts proceed for laser treatment.

Advantages or benefits of LASIK surgery

Laser surgery for eye-problems has been proven to be safe and effective for most people. Certain things are important to make this surgery a complete success. These points are:

• Careful patient screening and selection

• Reasonable expectations

• Procedure performed by experienced surgeon

• Proper precautions taken by patient post-treatment, as expert recommends or suggests

Above mentioned points are responsible that most patients are very pleased with the results after surgery or treatment is done. Following are some advantages from laser surgery:

• This procedure accurately corrects most levels of refractive errors such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism

• The procedure is fast. Generally, the treatment usually lasts for 5 to 10 minutes

• Generally this treatment is painless. However a little discomforts may be felt by patient but that is completely normal and temporary

• In this treatment the laser is guided by a computer, that is why it is very precise and results are very accurate

• Mostly, a single treatment achieves the desired outcome. Nevertheless, improvements and enhancements are always possible if needed.