Aspects of LASIK surgery

LASIK has become a popular laser eye surgery for vision correction. Currently, there are a great number of individuals who have nearsightedness or farsightedness and choose to receive a LASIK procedure in order to get the claimed permanent vision correction. In general, patients with mild to moderate refractive errors are candidates for LASIK, whereas those severely vision-impaired patients may quite probably be excluded. This article provides basic information of regular aspects of the surgery.

Details of pre-surgery examination

However, an LASIK surgeon always gives an eye exam in order to make sure that whether a patient is eligible for laser eye surgery. This candidate evaluation includes a measurement of the needed degree of vision correction and the examination of the patient’s general health. These two aspects are critical for a successful LASIK surgery. In detail, the surgeon will use a corneal topographer to create a map of the cornea. From this map, the exact degree of corneal reshaping can be assessed. More specifically, the degree of surgical vision correction determines directly the removal of corneal tissues controlled by a computer.

Benefits of LASIK surgery

LASIK offers some benefits, such as permanent vision correction, fast recovery, and little pain and so on. Statistics show that LASIK patients can get recovered within two days after the surgery. With this benefit, patients only need to take a few days off from the work. This outpatient surgery enables patients to avoid applying for a long-term sick leave. In addition, LASIK procedure brings very little pain, because the eyes will be applied with an anesthetic prior to real surgical treatment. All these basic benefits have significantly promoted the prevalence of LASIK surgery.

What the surgeon does during the procedure

LASIK surgery has been approved by the FDA and it is safe and effective in general. The surgeon will always be monitoring the LASIK procedure and decides whether the procedure should be stopped if a mishap occurs. The procedure is actually controlled by a computer, which guides a cool beam of laser applying the cornea. This procedure takes only a few minutes. In fact, more tasks are needed during the pre-surgery examination. The precise amount of corneal tissue removal has been pre-determined.

About LASIK success rate

Even with a high success rate, LASIK still involves some risks such as dry eye and glare, which happen at a rate of approximately 3-5%. Other similar risks of the surgery include under-treatment and over-treatment. In addition, the risk of developing serious side effects such as vision loss is less than 1%. Note that no LASIK surgery can ensure 100% safe. Surgical and postoperative risks do exist and they deserve patients’ cautious consideration.

How to evaluate LASIK prices

Price is another commonly concerned factor of LASIK surgery. It is necessary for a patient to “shop around” for a fair price. But those discount surgeons should be skipped. Eye safety is the most important thing, rather than a low price. It is well-proven that surgeons advocating very low prices are just playing tricks. Patients are highly encouraged to avoid these surgeons.