What is Laser Eye Surgery?

Laser eye surgery is a life changing procedure which can correct the eyesight of people who are longsighted , short sighted or who have astigmatism. The reason your vision is blurred is because the light entering your eye is not focussed precisely on to your retina which is what is required for perfect vision.

Why is your vision blurred?

The prescription of your eye is derived from the power of your cornea (outer clear part of your eye) and the power of your lens inside your eye. In order for you to have perfect vision these 2 parts of your eye must work together to focus light perfectly on to your retina. If you are long sighted, short sighted or have astigmatism this is not the case. Put simply, your cornea and lens power combined do not add up to the power required to give you perfect vision. During laser eye treatment, the aim of the procedure is to alter the shape (and therefore power) of your cornea to ensure the light entering your eye is focussed perfectly on to your retina. When this occurs your vision will be perfect and you will no longer need spectacles or contact lenses!

Types of Laser eye surgery:

There have been many developments in laser eye surgery over the past few years and it is now safer and more accurate than ever before. There are currently 2 main types of laser eye surgery: Lasik and Lasek. The main difference between the 2 procedures is the fact that a flap is created during Lasik eye surgery but no flap is created during Lasek eye surgery. Read more about the differences between these 2 procedures in our Lasik vs Lasek guide

Latest developments in Laser eye surgery:

Recent developments in laser vision correction have seen the procedure becoming safer and the visual results more impressive. Intralase is a new development and describes a revolutionary way of creating the flap during Lasik, using a laser instead of a surgical blade. The main advantages of Intralase are fewer complications and better visual results. Wavefront laser eye surgery describes the way in which the laser reshapes your cornea and is considered the gold standard in laser eye surgery. Wavefront technology takes many precise measurements right across the surface of your eye compared with only one point of your eye in standard laser eye treatment, giving a more accurate correction of your vision. The main advantage of wavefront is that it produces better visual results.

Laser eye surgery for reading vision:

Up until recently, Laser eye surgery has only been capable of correcting peoples distance vision. Presbyopia describes the natural deterioration of your reading vision as you get older and laser eye surgery has previously struggled to correct this vision. Recent developments in eye laser surgery have seen new techniques emerging, namely CK treatment, monovision, and multifocal Lasik. These are all examples of laser eye surgery for near vision.

There's nothing stopping you

As both laser eye surgery risks and laser eye surgery cost reduce, more and more people are making the decision to go ahead and have the treatment. Laser eye surgery results are improving all the time with a very high percentage of people achieving 20:20 vision following surgery. The combination of low risk of complications and high chance of achieving perfect vision mean laser eye surgery is now a more attractive option than ever before.

If there is still anything you are uncertain of why not ask a question in our laser eye surgery forum.