Laser Eye Surgery

For the last 30 years, medicine has advanced so that vision correction procedures are much more common. One of the most used methods has been laser eye surgery. As medical doctors specialize in the safe use of a laser to quickly reshape the cornea of the eye, having to wear glasses or contact lenses is no longer necessary for many patients. People who have been near-sighted (can only see clearly up close) are most interested in laser eye surgery. Many have worn glasses since elementary school.

In laser eye surgery a tiny amount of the cornea is removed, which changes the way that light enters the eye. The cornea is a transparent covering in front of the iris and pupil. When light enters the eye, it goes through the cornea, through the pupil, through the lens and passes through to the retina at the back of the eye. Attached to the retina at the back of the eye is the optic nerve to the brain. The optic nerve translates light to electrical impulses which the brain interprets as the object we see. Our eyes are very complex organs.

Over the last 60 years, the number of people who must wear glasses or contact lenses to correct their vision has increased from about 20% of the population to 80% of the population. The greatest increase in this trend seems to follow the trend of daily use of home and workplace computers. With major developments in technology come medical advances that make correcting vision permanently possible for many people. About 70% of the people who elect laser eye surgery end up with 20/20 vision. Some of the others still must wear glasses or contacts for fine, close vision. Even these gladly accept the freedom of no longer having to wear glasses or contacts full time.

Laser eye surgery was developed over 25 years ago. There are several different methods of performing this micro-surgery. Only your doctor can accurately tell you if you are a good candidate, as not everyone is. The surgery itself takes about 15 minutes. The patient must undergo several tests before the surgery to determine first if it will benefit him and then to actually create photographs of the eye which will be used to guide the laser. The most common and least painful surgery is called LASIK which stands for Laser-assisted In Situ Keratomileusis. In this surgery, the clear covering at the front of the eye is cut partially to form a flap. The flap is folded back while the cornea is being reshaped. The flap is then replaced over the cornea to minimize the irritation caused by the surgery. No stitches are needed as the flap sticks back in place by itself. The patient has anesthetic drops applied to the eye prior to surgery so feels nothing.