A Complete Guide to LASIK Eye Surgery: Benefits, Disadvantages

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LASIK Eye Surgery

Want to get rid of, contact lenses and eyeglasses? Thinking of having LASIK surgery? But before choosing this option, don’t you think you should have complete knowledge of LASIK eye surgery.

LASIK eye surgery

Our article is intended to guide you for this purpose and will cover up all the necessary information you need to be provided with.

A Complete Guide to LASIK Eye Surgery

First, Lets us Learn What LASIK is?

LASIK stands for “laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis,”. It is a refractive surgical procedure that treats nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. This most common laser eye surgery is just like other refractive surgeries where the shape of the cornea is reshaped so that the light which is entering the eyes is focused properly on the retina.

Not taking much of your time LASIK eye surgery is the painless procedure.

So Lasik eye surgery is no doubt very good option to reduce the need for eyeglasses and lenses. Most of the people are satisfied with its result and so LASIK eye surgery has a very good track. But some people may not be the right candidate for it. Also, there is some risk associated with it due to which it may not be the appropriate option of vision -correction. Thus, it is very important to know whether this refractive surgery is the right choice for you or not.

Who are Appropriate Candidates for LASIK Eye Surgery

The appropriate candidates for this surgery are followed:

Who are appropriate candidates for LASIK eye surgery

1. Individuals are suffering from a moderate degree of nearsightedness also known as myopia, where the sight of the distant objects is blurred, but the person can see near objects.
2. Individuals with hyperopia or farsightedness, where sight of the nearby objects is blurred, and the far object is clear.
3. Astigmatism- It is a very common imperfection in the curvature of the eyes that causes blurred vision.

In all the above three conditions the eye surgeon carefully evaluates your condition to get a satisfying outcome. There is one more eye condition known as presbyopia. This occurs in people above 40 years, and they lose their ability to read close tags and small prints as they are unable to focus on near objects. In this case, LASIK may further worsen your ability to see objects that are nearby. LASIK eye surgery is a poor choice in the cases of severe nearsightedness and if you actively participate in sports such as boxing and martial arts where you to receive blows on face and eyes regularly.

What Happens in LASIK Eye Surgery

Your ophthalmologist examines your eyes, evaluates your eye history and conducts test such as corneal mapping, thickness, refraction, pupil dilation and air pressure to determine whether you are you the correct candidate for LASIK eye surgery, and the appointment is given.

You are not required to wear rigid gas permeable contact lenses three weeks before evaluation and other types of contact lenses three days before the evaluation. You must carry the eyeglasses so that the surgeon can review your prescription.

Have a light meal along with prescribed medicines before surgery and do not wear eye makeup.

LASIK is conducted by reclining the patient under excimer laser. It is a procedure where femtosecond laser or microkeratome laser is used to make a flap in the cornea.

At first, a few drops of a topical anesthetic are poured into the eyes to make it numb. To keep the eyelids open an eyelid holder is kept between them. Now with the help of a suction ring that is placed, the eye is lifted, and the cornea is flattened. This helps the eye to keep from moving.

During all this procedure the vision gets dim, or it goes black. After the cornea gets flattened, with the help of automated microsurgical devices such as a blade or a laser, a hinged corneal flap is made which is folded back and lifted. Now excimer laser is preprogrammed according to the patient’s eye measurements and is centred above the eye.

The position of the laser is checked by the surgeon. The patient is asked to look at a target light that is a unique pinpoint light the corneal tissue is sculpted by the excimer laser. Once this procedure is done, the flap is placed back into the position which is followed by smoothing the edges. Within five minutes the corneal flap gets stuck to the underlying corneal tissue. Thus, there is no need of the stitches. A shield is placed by the surgeon over the eyes, which is transparent and protects the cornea from accidents and helps it to heal. This shield is needed to be worn only while sleeping. Eye drops are also given to prevent dryness and quick the healing.

It is better that after the procedure is done the patient is driven back home by a relative or friend. It is advised to take a rest.

After LASIK eye surgery, it takes 3months to 6 months for individuals’ vision to stabilize fully.

After acknowledging the LASIK eye surgery procedure, let us now discuss the benefits and disadvantages of it.

Benefits of LASIK Eye Surgery

• It is a painless eye surgery that takes around 10 minutes and in 96 percent of cases have proofed to be
• Successful in providing the desired vision.
• No stitches and bandages are required.
• The patient’s vision is corrected either immediately or by the other day.
• LASIK reduces the dependency to contact lenses and glasses.

Disadvantages of LASIK Eye Surgery

• There is a risk that if too much or too less tissue is removed by LASIK the clear vision won’t be achieved. Uneven tissue removal may lead to astigmatism.
• There may be difficulty in seeing at night. Halos, double vision, notice glare, and fluctuating vision may occur.
  As the is tear production is decreased temporarily your eyes may feel dry.
• In rare cases when your ophthalmologists create a rare flap problem may occur that may affect the vision permanently.

Besides the proper eye evaluation, benefits and disadvantages of LASIK eye surgery one more factor that decides whether you should proceed with the surgery or not is the cost. Do note that most of the insurance plans do not cover the vision- correction surgery cost. We hope you find this article helpful. Still, if you have any query let us know or meet your ophthalmologist.

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