LASIK Eye Surgery
Since LASIK received approval by the FDA in the early 1990′s, the procedure has grown to become the most widely-performed eye surgery in the united states. LASIK is a surgical process performed on the eye to correct an individual’s vision and reduce dependency on glasses or contact lenses. LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis, which literally meaning to’reshape the cornea from inside using a laser’. The process has broad applications to treating refractive errors of the eye and can be employed to treat myopia ( nearsightedness ), hyperopia ( farsightedness ), and astigmatism ( an elongated cornea ).
LASIK works by enhancing the ability of the eye to correctly focus light. In a completely formed eye, light entering the eye bends and directly hits retina, allowing the eye to produce a clear image. The majority of folks, though, have imperfectly formed corneas. Imperfectly formed corneas don’t correctly refract the light on the retina, with the result the viewed image is blurry and deformed. LASIK can correct these refractive mistakes by permanently changing the form of the cornea. Once reshaped, the cornea is in a position to better focus light, eliminating the need for glasses or contacts.
LASIK patients will be given a detailed set of instructions to follow, beginning a couple of weeks before the procedure is to occur. It’s vital that these instructions are followed if the surgery is to be a success . Patients wearing contact lenses will be suggested to stop wearing their lenses anywhere from 2-4 weeks before the process, to give their eyes a change to restart their natural shape. Particular foods, vitamins, beauty products, and medication can also affect the health of your eyes and may want to be evaded prior to LASIK. Failure to follow pre-operative instructions may result in an unsuccessful LASIK process, or the need to fully redo the surgery.
Patients remain awake and alert during surgery, though your health practitioner may give you a mild sedative to help to keep you relaxed and chilled. Numbing eye drops will be applied to the eye to be a local anesthetic. Since the eye’s natural bent is to blink when it has contact with foreign items, it is necessary to secure the eyelids to keep them out of the way of the laser. This is doing using an instrument called a lid speculum. Once the speculum is in place and the eye is cleaned, a tiny ring is placed on your cornea to apply a strong suction to the cornea. This part of the process could be a bit uncomfortable, but the strong suction ensures that you eyes remain immobile thru the remainder of the surgery.
Next a flap is cut into the cornea, leaving a small hinge to keep it attached to the eye. This flap might be made using a tiny, incredibly sharp knife called a microkeratome, or by employing a laser – also called IntraLase. The suction ring serves as a exact guide for the microkeratome to ensure that the flap is formed cleanly and exactly. After the cut has been made, the suction ring is removed and the flap is delicately teased away from the cornea and peeled back ( towards the hinge ) to bare the underlying stroma.
Your doctor will then dry your eye and suggest that you stare at a fixed light, without moving, until the end of the process. Once your eye is in the right position, the excimer laser will be activated. The surgeon will have recently programmed the laser to get rid of the actual quantity of tissue from the exact location ( s ) on your eye prior to the start of the procedure. More severe refractive blunders will require a longer laser treatment, since more corneal tissue will need to be removed. As the laser pulses a beam of light into your eye to get rid of the excess tissue from your eye, you may hear a ticking or zapping sound and may smell an odour similar to that of burning hair. Once the laser has ceased pulsing, your surgeon will replace the corneal flap on your eye and smooth it out to guarantee no surface wrinkles develop.
Since your eye is vulnerable after LASIK, it is critical to take additional cares to protect your eye during the process of healing. Your doctor will give you an eye shield to wear straight after the LASIK process. This shield should be worn while sleeping to hinder you from rubbing your eye and dislodging the flap. The eye shield also stops you from accidentally putting any pressure on your eye. Antibiotic lotion should be used to prevent infection from forming, while eye drops might be used to keep dry and scratchy eye well-lubricated as they heal.
Your doctor will make a follow-up appointment to evaluate your eye within 24-48 hours from the time of your surgery. This will allow him to monitor the healing process, evaluate your eye for any potential problems, and begin accessing the success of the LASIK procedure. After the initial follow-up appointment, you will be asked to return for regular visits every few weeks, then every few months, until such time that your surgeon is confident that the procedure was successful.
Keep in mind that LASIK is not a risk-free procedure and that not all individuals are good candidates for LASIK. If you are interested in finding more about this procedure and if you are a candidate for LASIK, you should contact your ophthalmologist and request an appointment.
