Lasik Eye Surgery.

LASIK  (short for “laser assisted in situ  keratomileusis”) is a corrective eye surgery in which a laser is used to correct the refractive error of the eye. That simply means short sightedness(myopia) or long sightedness (hyperopia) or astigmatism ( a condition where the cornea is oblong instead of spherical) is corrected. The main purpose of Lasik is to eradicate the need of wearing glasses or contact lenses and correct your vision. To know how this laser eye surgery works, first know what is refractive error and why it gives you those glasses.

What is refractive error and why do you need to wear glasses.

When the rays of light from  an  object which you are viewing enter the eyes, they pass through the cornea and the eye lens, both being transparent. To view the object properly, the rays have to be refracted in such a fashion, that they converge to meet on the retina,  on the posterior wall of the eyeball. If this does not happen perfectly, then the object is not viewed properly and blurring of vision occurs. Depending on where the light rays meet, in front of the retina or beyond the retina, appropriate glasses accordingly are prescribed, so that the refractive error is corrected and the light rays converge to meet exactly on the retina. The diagram below illustrates what is explained above.

refraction Lasik Surgery Rid yourself of glasses.

How Lasik Surgery works.

The Principle of Lasik Surgery is to alter the incorrect shape of the cornea of the eye to the desired standard so that the newly acquired shape helps to refract the rays of light in the right manner and the need for glasses is abolished. This lasik eye surgery is performed using a computer which, with the help of a software, analyses the shape of the cornea and determines  the necessary corrective changes to be incorporated in its shape. The surgery is performed using a highly specialized laser called the excimer   laser  which emits very concentrated light and operates as per the feed from the computer. This  surgery is performed by a highly skilled lasik eye surgeon. Both the eyes can be operated at the same time.

Picture of Lasik Eye Surgery and Lasik Eye Surgery machine.

lasik Lasik Surgery Rid yourself of glasses.

Preoperative procedure for Lasik surgery.

  • A general check up of the eye is done to rule out   any other eye pathology.
  • The cornea is examined and its thickness is measured with the help of an instrument called the pachymeter.
  • With low  grade lasers the topography of the cornea is determined and mapped out. This will also help to rule out astigmatism. Eye analysis is also done using the new wavefront  technology which gives a more detailed and exact information of your eye defects. The wavefront  guided lasik has given better results. These details of the cornea are necessary as it is the cornea  which is operated upon in lasik surgery. With the help of these details the lasik eye surgeon is able to calculate and determine from where and how much of the corneal tissue is to be removed.
  • The patient to be operated for lasik is placed on systemic and local antibiotics.
  • If the patient wears soft contact lenses, he is advised to stop wearing them 2 to 3 weeks before the lasik eye surgery. Hard contact lenses are required to be avoided for a longer period.

Know the cornea from the diagram below.

cornea Lasik Surgery Rid yourself of glasses.

The Lasik Surgery Procedure.

During the lasik operation, the patient is awake. A mild sedative may be given and local anesthetic drops are instilled into the eyes. The whole procedure does not take more than 15 minutes though the actual laser procedure takes less than 5 minutes.

  • First Step – creating a flap in the cornea. A partial  incision is carried out in the cornea either manually with help of a microkeratome, (a high precision surgical blade) or with the help of a laser microkeratome  and a flap is created in the outer layer of the cornea. The flap is folded back to reveal the middle layer of the cornea called the stroma. This flap folding   requires precision and skill.

Corneal flap is created.

corneal flap1 Lasik Surgery Rid yourself of glasses.

  • Second Step – Using the laser. The computer controlled excimer laser is used to vaporize the  pre calculated amount of corneal stroma from the pre determined part of the corneal stroma. The laser is very precise up to tens of micrometers thickness. This laser ablation is so fine and accurate that it does not damage any adjacent stroma tissue.  There is no pain and a quick visual recovery results because of this and it is in these advantages,  that lasik scores over the earlier followed PRK (photo refractive keratectomy) procedure.
  • Third Step -  The corneal flap is then carefully repositioned back to its original position to heal on its own. No stitches are necessary.

Diagram showing various steps of lasik eye surgery.

lasik steps 2 Lasik Surgery Rid yourself of glasses.

Post operative Care after Lasik surgery.

  • Follow up regularly with your eye surgeon for six months.
  • A course of systemic antibiotics and local antibiotics eye drops are continued to avoid infection from setting in..
  • Patient is asked to stay indoors and sleep as much as possible.
  • Patient should wear dark glasses even during sleep to avoid eyes from being rubbed.
  • To resume outdoor activity only after your eye surgeon permits.

Next:

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