Wearing glasses in the rain and you can’t see where you are going. Shoving amidst huge crowds while still being careful that your glasses don’t fall, the list of inconveniences of glasses goes on…
Then you assumed that contact lens was a better option but, you permanently need to carry your lens’ solution with you and
probably your pair of glasses too. You also need to be extra careful that dust or other foreign particles do not enter your eye. Further, you cannot wear the lens all the time and not all can afford the constant use of lens.
So you are back to square one. The biggest relief would be freedom from this nuisance. All of us, who have refraction errors in our eyes, crave for a normal vision so that we can rid ourselves of the hindrance of having to wear glasses or contact lens. Then we all began to hear of the technological option of Lasik. Many have probably even benefitted from it already.
Let us get into a detailed study of the same.
What is Lasik?
LASIK or Lasik (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) is a type of refractive surgery for correcting myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism. Lasik is performed by ophthalmologists using a laser. Used to correct refractive errors, Lasik eye surgery is a treatment that reshapes the cornea in order to produce clear vision. Because refractive errors impede the focusing ability of the eye, patients who suffer from these conditions experience blurred vision. LASIK eye surgery provides these individuals with an effective treatment option, where a predetermined amount of corneal tissue is removed. This reshaping of the cornea improves the eye’s focusing power and enhances patients’ visual acuity.
Lasik provides benefits such as faster patient recovery compared to other laser eye operations. It is generally the preferred option among ophthalmologists because of the faster post-operative recovery of vision, less follow-up, and because it allows the patient to be comfortable faster. Thus is a viable alternative to wearing corrective eyeglasses or contact lenses for many patients.
Who can get Lasik done?
There are certain requisites for those who want to get Lasik done:
- You should be at least 18 years old (certain exceptional cases do exist)
- Your refractive power shouldn’t have changed in one year
- The other conditions are determined by consulted eye surgeon or ophthalmologist like cornea thickness, etc.
Pre-tests\ conditions
Patients wearing soft contact lenses are usually instructed to stop wearing them 5 to 21 days before surgery. Some doctors
recommend that patients wearing hard contact lenses stop wearing them for a minimum of six weeks
Before the surgery, the patient's corneas are examined with a pachymeter, a medical device used to measure the thickness of the eye's cornea, to determine their thickness. Using low-power lasers, a topographer creates a topographic map of the cornea. This process also detects astigmatism and other irregularities in the shape of the cornea.
Using this information, the surgeon decides whether the candidate can get LASIK done and if he can, then calculates the amount and the locations of corneal tissue to be removed during the operation. The patient is prescribed an antibiotic beforehand to minimize the risk of infection after the procedure.
Procedure
LASIK surgery is performed with the patient awake and mobile; however, the patient is sometimes given a mild sedative (such as Valium).
The entire vision correction procedure takes less than 30 minutes and both eyes are done the same day. The procedure is performed using topical anesthesia (eye drops). Some patients report a slight, post-operative discomfort that can usually be alleviated with medications. Patients see a dramatic improvement in their vision within the first day. Most patients return to their normal activities within a day or two.
The LASIK procedure takes a few minutes to complete, and the procedure is relatively painless. Patients are always amazed at the ease of this procedure and because of its speed and comfort.
