Laser Based Technique for Eye Surgery

Laser-Assisted-In-Situ Keratomileusis is commonly known as LASIK. A type of laser based technique is used for correcting refractive errors people suffer from. This procedure has been proved very effective and is the most frequently performed elective surgery. It is also known as refractive surgery. And some people call it laser vision correction procedure. This type of surgery for eye can correct different types of refractive errors. Vision problems that can be corrected using laser surgery are Myopia, Hyperopia and Astigmatism. There are some other eye-problems and eye-diseases that can be treated by performing different types of laser based surgery procedures. Let’s understand what does Laser surgery for eye or LASIK involves.

Medical practitioners or highly expert eye-surgeons performed laser surgeries for correcting eye problems on patients. The procedure involves certain steps. Below are the step by step points involved in the process.

•    It all starts with an eye examination. When report comes, doctor examine it, evaluate it and then suggest a patient which type of procedure he/she may need to go under. Or, if it is suitable for patient or not!

•    Other medical examinations are done on patients, in order to confirm what can be the risks, and how risks can be eliminated and if there can be any complication considering patient’s past history and medical conditions.

•    Doctor conducts a consultation session with the patient to inform & educate each and every important aspect and point related to eye-surgery, what to do and what not to do before and after and during the surgery.

•    Then the date is fixed and then expert doctor performs a surgery for patient.

•    Anesthetic eye drops are applied to the eye to numb the eyes.

•    Surgeon creates a protective flap to access the inner corneal tissue. Due to this specific step, patient’s vision dims and becomes blurring. Patient may have dim or blur vision for about a minute. 

•    After the flap is created patient will be able to see the flashing fixation light of the laser.

•    Then the inner layers of cornea receive computer-controlled pulses of cool laser light.

•    Laser light is used to gently reshape the inner corneal layer.

•    A device tracks patient’s eye movements. This is done to ensure precise correction.

•    Then expert-surgeon carefully repositions and aligns the flap to its original position.

•    Protective shields are placed over patient’s eye to prevent accidental rubbing.

•    Patient may feel moderate discomfort and irritation for a few hours, post eye surgery.

Causes of eye floaters

Floaters in the eye appear in a variety of shapes and sizes. While some of the people see it as tiny specks there are others who see larger floaters appearing in their field of vision all the time. Sometimes, they also take the form of cobwebs or fine lines. In some case, they only appear in one part of the eye while the other remains free of floaters.

So what is the real cause behind these floaters? And can they actually be prevented? Let us try to find answers to some of these questions through this short piece of article.

When it comes to the causes of floaters, they can actually be categorized into two main categories:
•    Posterior vitreous detachment: In this case, the vitreous humor gets detached from the back of the eye ball called retina and leaves behind certain debris, which then appear in the form of floaters in the field of vision.

•    Syneresis: It is that part of the eye where protein collagen gets deposited in clumps due to its thickening over a period of time, due to a variety of reasons, age being one of the factors. This shrinkage of vitreous humor and its transformation into fluid leads to the thickening of protein strands, which then get clumped up together and cast a shadow on the retina. These shadows then appear in the field of vision as different types of structures floating in front of our eyes.

The unfortunate part about these floaters is that they cannot be prevent, as they usually result due to ageing, which in itself is an irreversible process.

There are a few other causes of floaters in the eyes, some of which are much more serious than the ones mentioned above. For instance, a vitreous hemorrhage can also cause floaters. This is a case where blood enters the vitreous humor due to hemorrhage. If only tiny droplets of blood enter the vitreous, then one would see tiny specks in the field of his or her vision. However, if the blood enter in large amounts then it can severely affect the patient’s visibility. In such a scenario, one should rush to the nearest eye specialist and get this condition treated. Else it could easily impair his vision permanently.

Some other causes of floaters include inflammation, retinal detachments and diabetic retinopathy among others.

So if you are experiencing this problem, then get your eyes tested before it is too late.

Myths and facts about floaters

Not only are they weird but they are very confusing and quite wormy as well. And most of the people around the world would have to deal with them at some point of time or the other. We are talking about the floaters in the eye. So what are they? Let us take a closer look at them while getting rid of some of the myths commonly associated with them.

Myth 1: Floaters are nothing but just a trick of the light.

Fact: If you happen to be living with this myth, then you have been living with a lie all your life. The reason behind it is the fact that eye floaters are not any sort of trick of the light but arpe a sort of problem that occur inside our eyes. The cause behind it is the small pecks of collagen which tend to get deposited in small clumps due to various reasons, age being one of the factors. So as the collagen fibers shrink and turn into shred like structures, they directly affect the light which hits the retina present in our eyes. It is because of this reason that we see a range of structures floating around in front of our field of vision.

Myth 2: Eye floaters are a result of some serious vision related problems

Fact: In most of the cases, eye floaters are absolutely harmless. So you need not worry about them most of the times. The problem, as mentioned above, can occur due to a variety of reasons, and most of the times they do not become a matter of serious concern. Even kids can face this sort of problem but that does not mean that you have to get worried. However, if these floaters in the eye are giving you some serious problems, then you can meet an eye specialist who will diagnose the problem and suggest the treatment accordingly. Some of the floater related problems can be a sign of retinal tear or detachment. So if they are giving a lot of trouble, then you must get your eyes checked without any sort of delay whatsoever.

Myth 3: Eye floaters will go away on their own

Fact: A lot of people do not get their eyes checked because of the misconception that eye floaters will go away without any treatment. But the fact is that eye floaters never go away on their own. You have to get them treated.

Points you need to know before opting for lasik eye surgery

If you are considering the option of undergoing a lasik eye surgery, then there are some really important things that you need to consider before making up your mind to go for it. Through this article, you will get to know what these things are, which in turn will help you make a better and a much more informed decision.

The first thing that you should make note of is the reason for going for this surgery. You need to know the fact that the results of this surgery will last with you for the rest of your life. So it is important not to get caught in the fad or carried away by emotions. Also, a lot of people who have undergone the surgery are still wearing glasses. Although the results of the surgery have improved to a considerable extent, but as with other surgical procedures, there are always chances of errors. So do not expect any sort of guarantee while going for this form of advanced surgery.

Secondly, you should make it a point to gather as much information about your surgeon as possible. You should make sure that the surgeon you have chosen for this procedure is a board certified eye surgeon or ophthalmologist in medical terms. You should also not be afraid to ask direct questions to your surgeon. Ask him or her about their experience. You should also ask them about the success rate as well as the chances of complications before the surgery. In addition, ask them if they will take care of you post surgery or will you then be directed to some other doctor.

Another important point that people planning to give lasik surgery a shot should be aware of is that if they have a higher refractive error, then they might be required to go for more than one session of this procedure, which is usually termed as refinement, in order to get the best results. So make sure that you do ask your physician if you will need a repeat procedure or not, so that you can prepare yourself accordingly and avoid any last minute surprises.

You should also be aware of the entire procedure and the process as you will not be under anesthesia during the surgery. Also, not every individual is eligible for this sort of surgery. So ask your doctor all the right questions before making up your mind.

Types of Laser Eye Surgery Procedures

Laser Eye Surgery is also known as Vision Correction Surgery and Refractive Eye Surgery. This is a surgical procedure performed by expert eye-surgeon to correct vision problems. There are types of laser eye surgeries and most of them work by reshaping the cornea so that light traveling through it is properly focused onto the retina located in the back of the eye. The other types of such procedures involve replacing the eye’s natural lens. Following are some of the common, important and frequently done surgeries by experts for patients.

•    LASIK: The most common type of laser surgery. It stands for laser in-situ keratomileusis. It is performed to correct vision in people who are nearsighted, farsighted, and have astigmatism. A flap is made in the outer layer of the cornea so that the underlying tissue can be accessed. Then surgery involves correcting vision by reshaping underlying corneal tissue. This is done so that it can properly focus light into the eye and onto the retina.

•    PRK: It stands for photorefractive keratectomy. This type of laser eye surgery is used to correct mild to moderate nearsightedness, farsightedness, and/or astigmatism. In this procedure, an eye surgeon uses a laser to reshape the cornea. This laser, which delivers a cool pulsing beam of ultraviolet light, is used on the surface of the cornea.

•    LASEK: It sounds similar to LASIK, but it is different from it. LASEK is a type of surgery, laser epithelial keratomileusis, which is a variant of PRK. In this procedure, an epithelial flap is created and then epithelial cells are loosened using an alcohol solution. A laser is used to reshape the cornea and the flap is replaced and secured with a soft contact lens while it heals.

•    RLE: Refractive Lens Exchange, RLE, is a procedure commonly known as clear lens extraction. It is performed for cataracts and involves making a small incision at the edge of the cornea to remove the natural lens of the eye and replace it with a silicone or plastic lens.

Above are some common and important types of laser eye surgery. There are other types of laser surgery available and performed by expert for patients to correct different eye-problems and diseases. Laser Clinic offers expert medical assistance for all patients suffering from any type of eye-problems, eye-diseases.

LASIK Eye Surgery and its Advantages

A popular surgery based on laser technique to correct vision in people is LASIK. It stands for Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis. This procedure is performed in order to treat types of refractive error people from, such as nearsighted, farsighted, or astigmatism. Eye-surgeries based on laser techniques work by reshaping the cornea. Cornea is the clear front part of the eye. This is done so that light can travel through it is properly and can be focused onto the retina located in the back of the eye. There are surgical techniques for eye-surgeries as well those are painful and lengthy but LASIK eye-surgery is one of a number of different surgical techniques used to reshape the cornea which is associated with minimal pain and can be in an hour of time. There are benefits of undergoing this new and advanced technology based treatment. The Advantages of LASIK Eye Surgery are:

•  It has marked great and higher success rate because of its successful results and effects. It corrects vision, different refractive errors so that people can have clear and correct vision.
•  This process is associated with very little pain due to the numbing drops that are used during procedure.
•  Results are immediate. A patient’s vision is corrected nearly immediately or by the day after LASIK.
•  There are no bandages required.
•  There are no stitches required after surgery.
•  Moreover, years after this process, adjustments can be made to further correct vision if vision changes while patient age.
•  This process dramatically helps in eliminating need of wearing eyeglass or contact lens.  

Approaching an expert eye-surgeon is important. Consultation session is conducted where a patient requires informing eye-surgeon about past-medical history or health-conditions. Examinations can be conducted by eye-care-expert. Examinations or tests are done to check conditions about, for example corneal thickness, refraction, corneal mapping, air pressure, and pupil dilation. Then expert evaluates all information given by patient and got from examinations so that he can decide and suggest which type of laser eye-surgery is suitable for patient to get the desired results. Expert also explain patient about what to expect and what to follow during and after the procedure. There are many eye-care-clinics and expert eye-surgeons offer best of the medical services for eye-treatments. People can use internet as source, as for recommendations from friends, family members and colleagues to search for best eye-surgeon in locality.

Floaters in Eye can be serious too!

Have you noticed tiny spots, specks and flecks that drift aimlessly around in your field of vision? Those cobwebs! They are known as eye floaters. Eye floaters in the eye are very common. Generally, they are not any cause for alarm that you should start seeking medical attention. Typically, they appear when tiny pieces of the eye's gel-like vitreous break and loose within the inner back portion of the eye. Throughout a person’s youth-phase, the vitreous has a gel-like consistency. By aging, that vitreous begins to dissolve and liquefy to create a watery center. And, there are some un-dissolved gel-particles left rarely. They will float around in the more liquid center of the vitreous. And they can take on many shapes. They can be of different sizes too. A person having floaters in the eye notices these types of spots and floaters particularly pronounced when he/she peers at a bright, clear sky or a white computer screen. These can be visible while looking at something brighter!  Actually the shadow-kind-image is visible to a person. Also, these cobwebs or specks never seem to stay still if a person tries to focus on them. They move when eye moves. They just create an impression that they are drifting. And that is why they are called as eye-floaters.

As mentioned generally, their appearance is not a cause to alarm to seek medical attention but a person need to/ should seek medical attention immediately, if he sees a shower of floaters and spots. They may be, sometimes, accompanied by light flashes. The sudden appearance of these symptoms is associated with that the vitreous is pulling away from retina or that the retina itself is becoming dislodged from the inner back of the eye that contains blood, nutrients and oxygen vital to healthy function. This may cause severe eye-diseases or problems, vision-problems. Vitreous can invade the opening of retina, if retina is torn. Vitreous can push out the retina that leads to a detachment. There is a treatment for eye-floaters. The treatment is performed by expert eye-surgeons and is based on laser technique. Well, even in cases of retinal tear or detachment, patient must take action as soon as possible. This would help patient and an eye surgeon as well to reattach the retina and restore function before vision is lost permanently.

Eye Floaters - Causes, Symptoms and Medical Attention

What is Eye Floater?

Eye floater is actually an image formed by a deposit of protein drifting about in the vitreous, the clear, jelly-like substance that fills the middle of the eye. It comes and keeps moving in front of the eye, but it does not block vision.

What causes eye-floaters?

The floater is a result of debris from the vitreous casting a shadow on the retina. As we age, the vitreous and its millions of fine collagen fibers shrink and become shred-like. Shreds can accumulate in the vitreous. This can cause a change in the amount of light that hits the retina. This change causes the symptoms of eye floaters. It is described by people as spots, strands, or little flies. Rarely, floaters are caused from a separation of the vitreous gel from the retina, called posterior vitreous detachment. This is generally not a serious condition. But it can be if it is interrupting in vision and there are more numbers of floaters in the eye . Generally, floaters in the eye occur between age of 50 and 75. Especially people, who are very nearsighted or have had cataract surgery, can get floaters in eye, but it is not restricted to it. They can appear or happen at any age. Also, occasionally they can result from other eye surgery or eye disease, eye injury. Some health and medical conditions can be associated with them too, like diabetic retinopathy and crystal-like deposits that form in the vitreous and eye tumors such as lymphoma.

Eye disorders associated with eye floaters

There can serious eye-disorders coupled with eye-floaters like, Retinal detachment, Retinal tear, Vitreous hemorrhage (bleeding) and Vitreous and retinal inflammation caused by viral infections, fungal infections, or auto-immune inflammation. There can be eye tumors as well. For information, there is a unique form of eye floaters which is linked with the visual aura of migraine headaches.

Need of Medical Attention for Eye Floaters

You must see a doctor and seek a medical attention to treat eye floaters in the eye, if they seem to worsen over time, especially if the changes are sudden in onset. You might experience flashes of light or any vision loss accompanied by eye floaters then it is a call that you need to go to see a doctor. If you find eye floaters are developed after any eye surgery or eye trauma, you have just undergone. You need a medical attention if you have eye pain along with eye floaters.

Laser eye surgery – An effective and successful procedure

Laser Surgery for eye has been proved successful and effective. Everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. In this blog, we are discussing about advantages from laser eye surgery procedure and some of its consequences as well. We will be discussing how to eliminate these disadvantages, as well. Laser surgery is being performed to correct different types of refractive errors. This type of surgery is an outpatient safe procedure.

Following are its benefits or advantages:
•    A technique known as LASIK, a type of laser surgery is fast and quick. This type of technique takes less than 30 minutes to perform and it is very effective.

•    The technical progressions integrated in the LASIK technique helps in eliminating the clinically significant risks that may lead to visual impairment after a refractive surgery.

•    This type of technique is helpful in eliminating need to wearing eye-glasses and contact lenses.
Now, let’s discuss some of the risks of this type of surgery:

There is no doubt that laser eye surgery is an effective procedure. And, most patients are satisfied with their vision following the procedure. But this technique has some risk as well. After getting a surgery results may not be permanent. A patient might still have difficulty in seeing at night. It may not eliminate the need to wear glasses or contact lenses. In some cases, patients may experience dryness in the eyes immediately after the surgery. This is due to temporary decrease in tear production. This can causes eyes to reduce the quality of vision.

How to eliminate the risks associated with laser eye surgery

Well, now its time to understand what to do to eliminate these risks! The one and only solution to this is, before going under laser eye surgery, consult each and everything with the eye-surgeon or expert. It becomes important to share each and everything details related past-medical history or current medical conditions, if any. Also, ask expert about all risks and complications may arise after surgery. Another important point is to follow all instructions, advices, suggestions and recommendations that an expert give. There are many eye-clinics and many experienced and expert eye-surgeons offer different types of treatment based on laser technique to all patients. Always make sure to approach and get treatment from highly experienced eye-doctor or eye-surgeon, so that you can get certainly effective results and can eliminate all the risks mentioned associated with eye surgery.