Laser eye treatment information and guides

Laser eye articles

• Laser eye surgery procedure: what happens?
• Are you suitable for laser eye surgery?
• For and against laser eye treatment
• What happens if laser eye surgery does not work?
• Recovery after laser eye surgery
• The laser eye surgery healing process
• Laser eye surgery effects
• PRK vs. LASIK
• LASIK eye surgery
• PRK eye surgery
• Short sighted PRK surgery
• LASEK eye surgery
• Wavefront LASIK surgery
• Zyoptix LASIK surgery
• EpiLASIK surgery
• IntraLASIK surgery
• How does the eye work?
• Common vision problems
• Laser surgery for short sightedness
• Laser surgery for long sightedness
• Laser surgery for astigmatism
• Laser surgery for presbyopia
• How does laser eye treatment work?
• Laser eye clinic
• Corrective eye surgery
• Laser eye surgeon

LASIK eye surgery

LASIK surgery, or laser in-situ keratomileusis, is performed on the eye when a patient is short sighted, long sighted, or has astigmatism. LASIK surgery is the most commonly used laser eye treatment and is preferred over PRK eye surgery because the recovery time is quicker, and the patient suffers less discomfort than with other treatments. Read PRK vs. LASIK for an in-depth comparison between these techniques. There are two forms of LASIK eye surgery, one of which is performed with a blade and one without.

For the blade version of LASIK the surgeon uses a microkeratome, or cutting instrument, that cuts a small flap on the surface of the cornea. This flap is then lifted to allow the surgeon to work on reshaping the cornea underneath. Unlike PRK where the flap is removed, with LASIK it is replaced after the cornea is reshaped, which enables faster recovery after LASIK surgery for the patient.

The bladeless method of LASIK surgery uses high energy lasers and is often referred to in promotional materials as Wavefront and Intralase. The two types of high energy lasers are known as excimer and femtosecond. The bladeless type of LASIK uses more recent technology, and is more expensive than the blade version.

LASIK is the most common form of refractive eye surgery and will minimise the recipient’s need for glasses or contact lenses. The treatment changes the shape of the eye’s cornea to bend light so that it focuses accurately on the retina.

When LASIK is used to treat short sightedness, the front part of the eye is flattened by the laser. When treating long sightedness, some cornea tissue is removed to make the cornea steeper. In cases of astigmatism, the steepest part of the cornea is reshaped to make its shape more spherical.

LASIK eye surgery procedure

It takes about an hour to complete LASIK surgery, usually in the outpatients’ department. You will be given a local anaesthetic to reduce the pain, and the eyelids are held open with a special instrument. A cut is made in the outer layer of the cornea, and then the flap is folded back to allow the surgeon to work on the cornea underneath. Once the cornea has been reshaped by the laser the outer flap is replaced. You will need to see the doctor over the following six months to ensure that the healing is going well.

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