Laser Eye Surgery Information

As much as I love my comfortable contact lenses, there are times when I wish I could wake up in the morning with perfect vision, especially when I've taken my lenses out several times to get rid of dust or tiny hairs which just won't come off with gentle rubbing.

I know many people who have opted for laser eye surgery and urged me to give it a go too. But ugh, the thought of someone pointing a laser directly at my eye makes me squirm...

...no way would I allow any surgeon near my delicate eyeballs, no matter how safe he says the laser eye surgery procedure is!

I will admit, however, that my reluctance to undergo refractive laser eye surgery is partly due to lots of bad stories back in the 80s when laser eye surgery first became popular. A well known UK chemist brand called Boots even opened up special clinics to offer the surgery; then hastily closed them after several cases that went horribly wrong!

But my negativity was also due to lack of knowledge about LASIK vision correction, so off I went to research the subject. This laser eye surgery information summary page is the result of copious amounts of reading!

Laser Eye surgery Information - Operation: PRK or LASIK?

There are two different types of laser eye operation commonly used for permament vision correction. The most modern one goes by the name of LASIK, which stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis. It is rapidly replacing PRK eye surgery, which stands for Photorefractive Keratectomy.

In a nutshell, LASIK uses the latest technology to offer a safer and more accurate procedure and patients can walk out within minutes, or at worst a few hours, of their operation with perfect vision.

PRK, however, requires time for healing (due to the different process outlined below) and it may be days, weeks or even months before complete vision correction is achieved.

Both types of surgery use an excimer laser, which provides a "cool" ultraviolet beam of light to trim the cornea of tiny bits of tissue, reshaping it to allow light to pass through correctly to give perfect vision.

The key difference is that with LASIK eye surgery, a thin flap is cut from the cornea (using either a different type of laser or a blade...

...and raised to then allow the excimer laser to do its work.

With PRK, the cornea is not lifted and the laser effectively burns through tiny sections of the surface of the eye to get the job done; apparently some people notice a slight burning odor - ugh! This procedure is still used on people who have very thin corneas that are not suitable for LASIK surgery. PRK is cheaper than LASIK. Mmm is that enough laser eye surgery information to make you squirm already? How about a visual guide then?

LASIK Eye Surgery Video

Step by Step LASIK Procedure
see it now at All About Vision.com

Here's what happens during LASIK eye surgery - the link opposite gives a step by step LASIK eye surgery video to help you understand the process.

According to the laser eye surgery informeation I've researched, it usually takes about 5 minutes to perform the operation, longer if you have a very high prescription (either plus or minus).

Eye drops numb your eye so there is no pain and a computer controls the laser, operated of course by a skilled surgeon.

The cornea is cut and a flap raised, the corneal eye tissue is carefully reshaped using the excimer laser and the flap then replaced to act as a natural bandage, protecting the delicate eye tissue and allowing a pain-free healing process to begin immediately.

If you haven't been put off having laser eye surgery yet, do read my related pages below for additional laser eye surgery information.

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