LASIK Surgery

LASIK is an abbreviation for Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis or Laser In Situ Keratomileusis. In Situ is Greek for in the place or in its original location. While Kerato means cornea and mileusis means to shape, to carve or to sculpt.  So, LASIK means to reshape the cornea without disturbing the adjoining tissue.

LASIK eye surgery is a surgical procedure that is most commonly performed to correct vision refractive errors (a condition when an image gets focused not on retina but beyond the retina. It can be in front of or on the back of retina, that caused a blurry vision). It uses laser to permanently change the shape of the cornea in order to focus the image sharply on retina, as an effort to correct blurry vision.

However, not all refrative errors are treated with LASIK. LASIK eye surgery is for patients with mild to moderate nearsightedness (myopia) and farsightedness (hyperopia), with or without astigmatism. LASIK will flatten the too-steep cornea in nearsighted eye and make the cornea steeper in farsighted eye and also smoothen an irregular cornea into a more normal shape in people with astigmatism.

LASIK eye surgery uses a special blade called microkeratome to cut a incomplete circular flap (hinged) in the cornea. In some case, laser is used to cut the flap. The hinged flap is folded back revealing the stroma, which is the thickest layer of cornea in the middle section of cornea. Then, using an excimer laser, preprogrammed with patient’s eye specific measurements to sculpt and reshape the underneath corneal tissue precisely. Once the cornea has been reshaped, the flap is replaced into its original position. No need to stitch the flap as it sticks to the underlying cornea on its own.

There have been many people who benefit from LASIK to gain back their visual acuity, either 20/40, 20/20 or even better and reduce the dependence on glasses or contact lenses. But in some cases, patients that has had LASIK eye surgery still need the help of glasses or contact lenses to see perfectly. However, LASIK eye surgery is not for everyone. If you are interested in correcting your blurry vision with LASIK, visit a professional ophthalmologist (eye doctor) for consultation, eye exam and some questions to qualify you as a good candidate for LASIK. If you are qualified, your eye doctor will proceed to next steps and arrange a LASIK eye surgery. If you are not qualified, make sure you ask your eye doctor the reasons and consult whether it is possible to gain a better vision by one of the refractive eye surgeries available that suits your eye and health conditions.