LASIK eye surgery - Your Guide

Your 5-Minute Guide to LASIK eye surgery

Key features of the system are at the center of the cornea and lens of the eye. In order to clearly see one of these structures must work together to create a clear image on the retina.

Laser Eye Surgery creates a clear distance vision of reshaping the cornea. Common problems such as focus myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism can be treated. However, due to presbyopia, the aging process of the internal eye's focus, patients older than 40 years still need reading glasses for near vision.

For patients who want to reduce your need for reading glasses, mono vision is a viable alternative. With mono vision, the dominant eye is corrected for distance and non-dominant eye is vague in the distance, but more closely.

There has never been a better time to have laser eye surgery, such as advances in technology have made procedures safer and now more effective than those available just a few years back. The major technological improvements include:

Flight Laser seat now allows laser pulses to single target any position on the cornea, as opposed to older lasers, which can only vary by about the diameter of a central reference point.

Trackers: These camera-based systems to monitor eye movement during laser treatment. If motion is detected, the laser targeting makes credit arrangements.

Wavefront advice involves measuring the eye's unique fingerprint-like distortion with a wavefront analyzer and then use the card resulting wavefront to create a personalized plan or "custom" treatment.

Prior to Wavefront technology, all treatments based on measures of the familiar prescription of glasses "What is the best one or two?" Instrument. Several published studies have shown that treatment of wavefront guided by a better visual acuity and night vision quality.

Recording an automated way to ensure that each laser spot is delivered to the exact location of the cornea, from the data wavefront was obtained. This is to take a picture of the eye during the conquest of the map of wavefront and again just before the laser treatment. Static markers of each image is then referenced to adjust the laser.

LASIK is the procedure for vision correction more familiar, but not the only place frequently. In fact, many surgeons prefer alternatives such as IntraLASIK (all laser LASIK), PRK, LASEK and Epi-LASIK.

LASIK and IntraLASIK procedures are flaps, which means that a thin corneal flap tissue is removed from the layers below, and the laser treatment may have been exposed surfaces. Subsequently, the flap is put back in its place, home to the treated area.

LASIK and IntraLASIK differ only a tool to create a corneal flap. When the LASIK flap is created an instrument called a microkeratome. With IntraLASIK, the flap generated by the laser manufacturer IntraLase Inc.

PRK, LASEK and epi-LASIK is a flapless procedure. It is very subtle differences in surgical technique. Flapless procedures are useful because they eliminate any possibility of valve-related complications, but have the disadvantage of a longer recovery and uncomfortable.

Not everyone qualifies for laser eye surgery. Military personnel, pilots and others in need of a perfect view of the work must be careful, because it is impossible to guarantee a perfect result.

In addition, the FDA lists several medical conditions, against-indications for surgery. Cons-indications are the reasons why a person should definitely not be operated. They include:

Pregnancy and lactation
Immunodeficiency: HIV, etc.
Collagen vascular diseases: rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, etc.
Keratoconus: a degenerative disease of the cornea
Some drugs: Accutane, amiodarone, triptan migraine drugs and family

While the construction signs are almost always a "black and white", "yes or no" question, the warnings are more of a gray area and surgery is sometimes still possible common legal notice included.:

Diabetes
Herpetic keratitis: infection of herpes of the cornea
Severe dry eye disease
Severe allergies

Precautions are other issues that require special precautions. The precautions include:

Age: Patients must have at least 18-21 years, depending on the laser system.
Stability: vision correction laser should be avoided if the prescription of eyeglasses is always changing.
Corneal disease or abnormality before surgery
Thin corneas
Dilated
Glaucoma
Uveitis: inflammation of the eye
Blepharitis: Inflammation of the eyelid margin

In addition to the issues that affect your candidacy for surgery, laser vision patients for correction must be aware of possible side effects.

More common side effects include:

Delayed epithelial healing: slow healing of the surface of the eye (usually after a flapless surgery)
Diffuse lamellar keratitis: inflammation in a flap
Dry eyes
Epithelial invasion: migration of the surface epithelium under the flap
Flap striae, flap wrinkling
Glare and halos around lights at night
Haze Surface opacity of the cornea is almost exclusively with flapless procedures
More or undercorrection requiring a second treatment
The pain and photophobia: a joint of the first 3-5 days after the procedure without flap

Less common side effects include:

The loss of best corrected visual acuity: vision glasses after the operation is not as clear as preoperative vision with glasses
Decentralization and laser therapy
Dislocated Flaps
Ectasia: area of ​​the cornea, which becomes progressively more distorted
Bad parts: the creation of an irregularly shaped valve that causes abortion of the procedure
Infection

When choosing a surgeon, reputation, board certification and experience are often cited as precedent. But even if the background of a surgeon is a good starting point, there is no substitute for a consultation in person.

Consultation, try a clean, well-organized office with a friendly, efficient staff of detail. The surgeon should be available, ready to speak openly about the potential complications and be able to offer its statistical performance.

When you consider the cost of laser eye surgery, it is first necessary to define clearly what belongs to quote, as some centers offer all-inclusive prices, quotes, etc. prior to the examination surgery, procedures, medications, post-operative reprocessing and coverage separately.

When comparing apples to apples, price of laser vision correction varies as much as most people believe. This becomes more clear that we learned that the price of factors of influence. The features include a higher price provided health care, details of preoperative testing of the high plateau of the instruments, and a custom wavefront guided Intralase laser flap treatment.

As LASIK increased rapidly in popularity in the 1990s, a number of companies entering the market with ads for bargain prices. Several reliable sources have verified that the advertised prices are almost impossible to achieve, which has led many consumer advocates criticize the ads a little more like a classic bait and switch.

The real reason for "teaser price" ads is that they make the phone ring in the center. When patients call, they are told they must come to the Center of the measurements to see if they qualify for the lowest price. Only after reaching the center of most patients learn that the real price is much higher - usually much or more than the other costs of local suppliers. Despite the higher price, many patients capitulate sales tactics and high pressure undergoing surgery with the center, rather than face the disappointment of a home and the entire surface.

In the decade since its introduction, the vision correction laser has been deleted from the vision of millions of people. In fact, LASIK eye surgery is currently the most common procedure performed surgical procedures worldwide. The next step in your quest for freedom is to learn visually from a local supplier.