If you suffer from problems with your vision then you may already be thinking about using a surgical solution as a cure rather than simply relying on glasses and/or contact lenses to give you a temporary solution. This kind of laser based eye operation can help many people with a range of different vision problems.
So, for example, you could well find that this kind of operation can help you with long/far sightedness (hyeropia), short/near sightedness (myopia) or other vision problems such as astigmatism. Unlike using glasses or contacts this kind of solution could well end up giving you a permanent cure and usually improves vision so much that people can throw away their glasses and contacts once and for all.
A Lasik (Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) procedure involves a qualified eye surgeon who uses a laser to help cure the issue(s) that you may have. This usually involves the surgeon making a cut into your cornea with either a laser cutter or a special type of surgical scalpel. They will then use the laser in the procedure to work on areas of tissue on your cornea to address your problem.
The type of eye defect that you have will have a bearing on the work that is done during your Lasik procedure. The laser here will be used primarily to flatten out or to reshape your cornea so that it more closely resembles a standard cornea shape. Most of the treatable conditions here will come from some misshaping of the cornea which should be circular in shape.
So, for example, if you have myopia then your cornea may well curve too much and if you have hyperopia then it may not curve enough. If you have astigmatism then your cornea may be more oval shaped than round. The laser used in astigmatism surgery here, for example, is used to make it flatter and more evenly round shaped to solve the problem.
Your Lasik procedure will usually not last that long — most operations here won’t last more than half an hour or so. You’ll also not need to stay in hospital as these are day operations. You will also generally only need a local anesthetic rather than a general so you won’t have too many after effects on that score.
You can often find that your eye may water a lot and/or feel a bit scratchy or itchy and your vision may be blurred straight after your procedure. This shouldn’t last too long and you may even find that you can see a great improvement in your vision within a few hours/days of having the procedure.
It is important to make sure that you follow the post surgery instructions that you are given by your surgeon to make sure that your eye heals correctly and that you don’t suffer from any problems. In some cases, for example, you may be asked to wear a shield on your eye at nights to stop you from rubbing your eye(s) whilst you are asleep.