Vision Eyecare Lasik Health and Medical News/Updates

 

Over the past 10-15 years, there have been tremendous advances in vision correction technology. While LASIK surgery was once considered a scary and unknown procedure, it is now very commonplace and is clearly the “wave of the future” for vision correction.

 

Before deciding to undergo this procedure, it is important to arm yourself with the facts about LASIK. Every eye and every eye condition is somewhat unique, so you need to choose the procedure that works best for your individual situation.

 

All LASIK surgery is performed using an excimer laser, an ultraviolet laser that reshapes the surface of your cornea and alters your eye’s focal length.

 

Excimer lasers don’t generate heat. This helps prevent damage to your cornea. They are extremely precise – they get rid of 1/4000 mm of corneal tissue with each pulse of light. To give you a better picture of what this means, it would take about 200 pulses of the laser beam to cut through a typical piece of human hair.



Which Type of LASIK Works Best?

 

Different types of excimer lasers vary in size, shape, and nature. These variations determine how precise they are. The more precise the laser, the easier it will be for the surgeon to effectively reshape your cornea.

 

Everyone’s eyes have unique dimensions. Therefore, your choice of laser largely depends on which one is the best fit for your eyes.

 

It is important to make sure that the zone where the laser reshapes your eye is at least as large as your pupil gets in low light conditions. This will help you avoid night vision problems such as glare and halos.



Types of Excimer Lasers

 

The following are some of the most commonly used excimer lasers for LASIK surgery:

· Slit scanning lasers: These use small beams connected to a revolving machine containing slit holes that vary in size. The laser moves through these holes, creating a gradual and smooth correctional area.

· Spot scanning lasers: These are effective for creating customized reshapings. They use a laser with a very small diameter which gets scanned across the cornea.

· Wavefront-guided lasers: This is the next generation of LASIK technology. The entire procedure is done by laser.

 

Previously, surgeons would use a blade to cut a flap in the cornea. This flap would get folded back to allow the excimer laser to operate. Wavefront technology uses a computerized laser to track your eye’s abnormalities and then creates a 3D map of your cornea’s shape. This helps allow for greater precision during the rest of the procedure.



Advantages of Wavefront LASIK

· Reduces the risk involved with flap creation.

· Creates the flap quicker than with a manual blade.

· More versatile – can be used with people who have thin corneas, severe astigmatism, and other more unusual eye irregularities.

· Quicker healing process and shorter recovery time.

· Can correct halos, glare, and blurry vision as well as near-sightedness, far-sightedness, and astigmatism.

· A greater percentage of wavefront patients have their vision return to 20/20 than patients who don’t use this procedure.