Types of Lasik Eye Surgery

Wavefront Lasik

2009-09-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

One of the newest of the Lasik procedures is wavefront Lasik. When it comes to precision and accuracy, there is absolutely no other eye surgery procedure that can compare to it. In this procedure, the laser directs light into the patient’s eyes and uses the reflecting light to create a three dimension map of the patient’s eyes. As a result, every single irregularity is clearly identified for the surgeon. At that point, the surgeon inputs some data and the machine does the rest of the work. Keep in mind though; since you are getting the most precise and individualized vision correction, you are going to have to pay for it. As a result, waverfront Lasik is the most expensive refractive surgery procedure today.

Epi-Lasik

2009-09-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

Epi-Lasik is another useful eye surgery to know about. Epi-Lasik is very similar to the Lasek surgery we discussed earlier. The main difference between these two procedures is that Epi-Lasik does not use alcohol to remove the epithelium cells. In place of alcohol, this procedure uses a plastic blade to remove the epithelium cells. As a result, Epi-Lasek has not been reported to cause eye irritation. Additionally, since the epithelium surface cells are removed from the patient’s cornea, the surgeon is able to reshape the eye. On a concluding note, since this procedure is less harsh on a patient’s eyes than other refractive methods, a patient is usually able to remove their specialized contact lenses three days after the surgery.

Lasek Eye Surgery

2009-09-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

Lasek Surgery, not to be confused with Lasik, is another refractive procedure that is good to know about. During this procedure, an eye surgeon uses alcohol to remove the epithelium cells from the cornea. As a result of using alcohol and not a mechanical blade, this procedure can also be used on people who have very thin corneas. Many surgeons will use this procedure in lieu of PRK. The only real issue with Lasek is that the alcohol used during the procedure has been known to cause severe eye irritation and eye inflammation. On a positive note, the recovery time is less than with PRK.

Photorefractive Keratectomy

2009-09-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) is the forerunner of Lasik and is still used as an alternative today. If a potential patient has thin or damaged corneas or too large pupils, this procedure may be the only way to proceed.

During this procedure, the eye surgeon actually removes layers of the cornea’s surface cells (called epithelium cells) to help reshape the eye. Additionally, this procedure uses a laser to gain access to the stoma via the cornea. Unlike traditional Lasik, this procedure does not create a flap in the cornea.

As a result, PRK normally has a longer recovery time when compared to Lasik.

Lasik Explained

2009-09-05T22:05:00.000-07:00

During Lasik Eye Surgery, an eye surgeon uses a microkeratome blade to make a small incision on the patient’s eye. The portion of the eye where the flap is created is called the cornea. Once the incision has been made, the surgeon folds it back to expose the inner portion of the eye, which is called the stoma. Then, the surgeon uses the laser to vaporize a small portion of the stoma, resulting in the eye being reshaped. This reshaping enables the patient to have significantly improved vision. Also, unlike the stoma, the cornea will then heal itself.

Welcome

2009-09-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Types of Lasik Blog. Since there seem to be so many variations of Lasik, we thought we would briefly cover a few of these variations.