How does Lasik Eye Surgery Work?

LASIK is an acronym for Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis. I guess the people who invented it didn't like the sound of LAISK surgery so they switched the "I" with the "S". Despite the lack of acronym-making skills, their laser eye surgery procedure has been a godsend for hundreds of thousands around the world.

There's little argument that LASIK surgery is a wonderful vision correction procedure, but what exactly is it? What LASIK can and can't doLASIK can usually correct myopia , and can often correct vision problems stemming from astigmatism and hyperopia. It does little or no good in correcting presbyopia, however.

This is because LASIK surgery is used to reshape the cornea; While astigmatism, hyperopia and myopia are all problems with the shape of the eye (too long, too short, distorted), presbyopia occurs when a normal-shaped eye has lost its flexibility due to age - thus, there is no need to reshape the cornea. How LASIK worksFirst the surgeon uses an instrument called a microkeratome (or the new IntraLase laser) to create a thin, circular "flap" in the cornea. The LASIK doctor then folds the flap back and the laser pulses a beam of light onto the cornea, vaporizing a small portion of it.

The LASIK doctor can control how much and which part of the cornea is removed, thus reshaping it differently depending on what sort of vision correction is required - near-sighted, far-sighted, etc. The "flap" is then folded back down into place, covering the area where the tissue was removed for the cornea. The great thing about your cornea is that it heals quickly when the flap is placed over it, allowing the patient to utilize their new vision in a matter of days.Is LASIK Safe? No surgical procedure is perfectly safe, including LASIK.

For instance, the surgeon might take too much corneal tissue away, which is called "over correction". Or, conversely, he might not take enough of the tissue away, which is called "under correction".