What is Lasik eye surgery?
Laser eye surgery
What is Lasik eye surgery?
As someone who has had laser eye surgery I can honestly say I asked myself exactly the same question before I had the treatment! Now although I wouldn’t call myself an expert, having done lots of research on the subject I think I now know what Lasik eye surgery is.
The first thing to say about Lasik eye surgery is that it is a type of laser eye surgery in the same way that Volvos and Vauxhalls are types of cars. Lasik is one of the 2 main types of laser eye surgery as is Lasek surgery. The main thing that differentiates Lasik from Lasek is that during the Lasik procedure a flap is created whereas this is not the case with Lasek.
Lasik eye surgery
During the Lasik procedure once your eyes have anaesthetised (your eyes are numbed using eye drops not an injection as some people think!) a flap needs to be created.
Laser eye surgery is performed on the outer part of your eye which is the cornea. The actual lasering of the eye is performed in the deeper layers of the cornea so consequently the top part of the cornea needs to be lifted and put to one side before the laser is applied. This creation of the flap is performed using either a surgical blade of using a laser.
Three Main Layers of the Eye
A surgical blade is used during standard Lasik, whereas a laser is used to create the flap during Intralase Lasik. Intralase Lasik is therefore said to be a bladeless procedure and for this reason it is the preferred method of Lasik. It is as you would imagine more expensive though.
Once the top layer (flap) is created and pulled to one side, the laser is then applied to the inner layers of the cornea. The actual lasering of the eye is not painful and I didn’t feel anything at all. It only lasts about 30 seconds and during this time the laser is effectively reshaping the surface of your eye to eliminate the prescription in your glasses. Once the laser has been applied the flap is then replaced and your eyes are left to heal.
For me the vision was perfect almost straight away although it can take a bit longer for some people.
I was certainly pleased with my Lasik surgery and 16 years on, I still have perfect vision. Although there are laser eye surgery risks if you do your research you could hopefully get the eyesight you always dreamed of having.
To read more about laser eye surgery you could check out Treatmentsaver.com which provides lots of useful information.
Major side effects of Lasik EYE surgery
Major side effects include:
- blurry vision for the day following the procedure.
- starbursts,
- night-driving problems,
- corneal scarring
- eye dryness
My Lasik Experience, 24 Hours Later
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