Corrective Eye Surgery

Surgical vision correction options

As convenient as contact lenses can be, many people would like to be independent of any prescription eyewear in order to see properly. You may simply be fed up with the care, maintenance and ongoing costs of eyewear, or you may have other reasons for wanting to be free of contact lenses and glasses. Regardless, if you’re a good candidate for corrective eye surgery then you could have the option to shed your eyewear permanently.

The most common form of refractive eye surgery - a surgical operation that changes the way in which your eye interacts with light - is LASIK [LASIK Eye Surgery], which stands for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis. LASIK has taken over the position of PRK (photorefractive keratectomy), the former leader in eye surgery. The main difference between the two lies in the way the surgery reshapes the eye; more specifically, whether a thin layer is removed from the cornea (PRK) or a flap is cut back and replaced (LASIK).

Variations on the LASIK procedure are also available. These include custom or wavefront LASIK operations and bladeless LASIK, which uses a high energy laser instead of a blade to cut into the cornea. There are other refractive procedures as well, such as LASEK, which involves a shallower cut into the cornea than LASIK, and Epi-LASIK, which combines elements of LASIK and LASEK, with a few differences.

In addition to laser and laser-assisted vision correction, there are non-laser surgical treatments for certain eye conditions. One such procedure is conductive keratoplasty, or CK. The range of non-laser surgical treatments also includes implantable lenses (called phakic IOLs or intraocular lenses) and RLE, or refractive lens exchange.

Traditionally, vision surgery has only been used to correct near-sightedness, far-sightedness and astigmatism. More recently, surgical procedures have also been used to treat presbyopia, some of which provide similar results as monovision contact lenses. Research into other surgical treatments for presbyopia is also underway.

Deciding whether you’re a good candidate for LASIK - and if so, where to go to have the operation performed - depends upon a number of factors. The choice will be easier if you take the time to learn as much as possible, but it’s still important to consult with your optometrist or opthamologist before making a decision about any kind of refractive surgery. As an eye care professional, he or she will be able to give you the best advice about whether corrective eye surgery is the right choice for you.