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Laser Eye Surgery information

The term refractive surgery is sometimes used to mean laser surgery. These two terms are however different since laser surgery is sometimes used to correct eye problems that are non-refractive. There are also some surgeries such as the radial keratotomy that’s used to correct eye problems that are refractive which can be accomplished without the laser technology. Some of the eye surgeries that make use of the laser technology include: cataract surgery, glaucoma surgery, and canaloplasty among others. There are some eye problems that cannot be corrected by the laser surgery for the eyes like presbyopia.

Before deciding whether or not you should get laser eye surgery, one should weigh the pros and cons. Just like any other surgery, eye surgery has its risks and it is therefore advisable for one to use it as the last option to treating eye problems. Other less invasive methods such as medication and the use of glasses and contact lenses should be given a try first before one can turn to eye surgery that uses lasers. The Lasik method is more commonly used for laser eye correction surgery. It is important for one to understand the process of laser surgery before having his eyesight correcting procedure. The surgeon doing the procedure should explain the process to the patient including all of its benefits, side-effects and risks.

The process of laser eye surgery

The process of laser eye surgery involves the use of a laser to cut a portion of the eye open. A flap is created and the cornea’s inside is then vaporized. This procedure is carried out when the patient is awake or half-awake. The patient may experience the whole procedure consciously. A gel is then applied directly into the eye. This gel is a mild numbing agent and it is the only anesthetic used during the laser surgery. Since the procedure is carried out on the eye, the patient is not only able to experience everything but they can also see everything that is being done. This makes the procedure quite uncomfortable to the patient.

There are plenty of risks for this surgery just like every other surgery around. What makes the risks in this surgery more dangerous than in other surgeries is the fact that it is a relatively new procedure. The long term effects of laser eye surgery are unknown to doctors and scientists. It is a new technology—meant to be studied and examined closely for a number of years—and therefore not all the risks are known. Today, however, the procedure is known to have amazing results in correcting eyesight. Those people who are not willing to take the risk of the eye surgery using laser have the choice of wearing glasses or contacts for the rest of their lives.

 

One of the main benefits of laser eye surgery is the duration of time that the procedure takes. It takes about half an hour from the beginning of the procedure to the end. This is very impressive timing for a procedure that is as invasive and scary as eye surgery among other invasive procedures. This fact may be encouraging for patients who might be scared to be awake during the procedure. The fact that it takes such a short time makes it less scary. Another benefit of laser eye surgery is the cost. It is relatively cheap. Laser eye surgery costs between two thousand and four thousand dollars. Laser eye surgery should not, however, cost less than one thousand dollars.

Laser eye surgery can be done using different methods. There are two methods that are very common in the correction of eye problems. Lasik is the most common method of laser surgery for the correction of eye problems. It has good results as most of the patients end up with 20/20 vision after this surgery. Lasek is another popular method for corrective eye surgery. This procedure is less popular and perhaps even more dangerous than Lasik and most people who have it do so under a doctor’s instruction.

Laser eye surgery preparations & more useful laser eye surgery information

There are some preparations that should be done before laser eye surgery. Even though most of the procedures are at the moment elective, it is advisable to have the approval of a surgeon. In most hospitals, the patient is allowed to choose whether to be operated on by a consultant or if he wants to be operated on by a resident. The other vital preparation is anesthesia. Local anesthesia is used most of the time. General anesthesia is used for traumatic eye injuries, children, apprehensive patients and orbitotomies among others. It is necessary to monitor cardiovascular activity when using both local and general anesthesia. Precautions are also taken to make the operating area sterile. Antiseptics, sterile drapes, gloves and gowns are used to ensure this.

Some of the common eye surgeries include the surgery for the elimination of the cataract. This involves surgical removal of the lens in the most severe cases. Cataracts are very common. This actually makes cataract extraction a common surgery. Glaucoma is a disease affecting the optic nerve that is usually treated through surgery. Refractive surgery is done so as to correct refraction errors in the eye. This surgery eliminates the need for glasses and contact lenses.

Eye muscle surgery is also common with about 1.2 million procedures being carried out every year. Oculoplastic surgery involves the reconstruction of some structures found in the eye and in some cases the whole eye itself. Laser eye surgery is mostly done to correct problems of the eyes that have to do mainly with the cornea. It involves having the inner part of the cornea vaporized by the lasers. There are some alternatives to laser eye surgery. One of the alternative procedures is conductive keratoplasty. This procedure uses radio-frequency energy to bring back the right shape of the cornea and thus solve problems that are refractive. Another alternative to laser eye surgery is replacing the natural eye lens with an artificial one. This procedure is more commonly known as refractive lens exchange. One can also use implantable lenses so as to avoid the removal of tissue that is local to the cornea.

Eye surgeries that make use of the laser technology are relatively new and not all the long term effects are well known. One of the known long term effects is the occurrence of presbyopia. This is a condition that occurs from the age of 40 years. People with this condition have difficulty in focusing. It is known to occur even in people who had eye correction surgery such as Lasik or Lasek. It can be solved by wearing glasses or more recently through surgery developed to solve such a problem.

You should read our laser eye surgery articles to learn more about laser eye surgery.