The laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, or LASIK, was one of the first treatments to treat vision problems using a laser for eye treatment. It intends to do away with typical visual issues like farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatism.
After the operation, you might suffer some side effects, but they will often go away after a few days to a few weeks, just like they do after any other procedure. Dry eyes and glare are two of the most common of them. The result will be determined by a number of factors, including your refractive error.
What the LASIK Eye Surgery Entails
Images come into sharp focus at the back of the eye, on the retina, in an eye that is healthy. On the other hand, this is not the case for people who suffer from myopia or hyperopia. The images end up coming into focus either in front of or behind the retina, resulting in blurred vision in both directions.
The typical treatment for blurry vision involves the use of contact lenses or eyeglasses to enable the eye to focus light in the appropriate location on the retina. However, the same refraction and vision correction is attainable by reshaping the cornea, which is what eye surgery LASIK does. LASIK stands for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis.
Eye drops that numb the eye as well as a little sedative will be administered by the LASIK surgeon before the process begins. After that, a customised femtosecond laser will be utilised in order to restructure the cornea.
Flattening or steepening the corneal curvature requires our LASIK eye doctors in Personal Eyes to make precise flaps that are extremely thin. The flap will be reattached, and within one to two days, it will recover on its own without any additional treatment.
About Epi-LASIK
The traditional method of eye surgery with LASIK involves using lasers to create a flap in the cornea. In some other procedures, such as LASEK, an alcoholic solution is used to detach a flap of epithelium so that laser ablation can take place.
Epi-LASIK, on the other hand, is a more contemporary technique that employs a method that is comparable to that of LASIK surgery but slightly different.
Both LASIK eye surgery and Epi-LASIK surgery involve creating a flap in the epithelial layer of the eye, however the two procedures produce very different flaps. Your eye doctor will use a device called a separator to detach the corneal flap from the eye during the Epi-LASIK eye operation.
After carefully generating the ultrathin epithelial flap, the next step is to fold it back in place so that the excimer laser may be used to ablate the tissue. Following the reshaping of the cornea, your LASIK eye surgeon will replace the flap in its previous location. The application of a contact lens bandage may be necessary in certain cases in order to facilitate the healing process.
About SMILE
To further the goal of flapless, minimally invasive laser correction, SMILE (Small incision lenticule extraction) was developed as an alternative to the eye surgery of LASIK. To achieve its goal of minimally invasive refractive correction, SMILE integrates cutting-edge femtosecond technology with high-precision lenticule extraction.
No ablation or flap is necessary to form a refractive lenticule in the cornea, which is then removed by a tiny incision. The treatment has grown much simpler and quicker since SMILE was developed. The idea itself is ground-breaking. The cornea is not folded back as with previous procedures like in LASIK eye surgery.
The outer corneal layers are preserved, as there is no flap incision and the extent of the incision is minimised. A method of treatment that is at once sensitive, accurate, and easy to use makes this achievable.
SMILE’s Advantages Over LASIK
Because the Corneal Biomechanics are retained in SMILE, the strongest region of the cornea—the anterior segment—is left unaltered, making the procedure safer and more stable than the eye surgery with LASIK.
Unlike LASIK eye surgery, recovery time from PRK is much shorter; patients can return to normal activities such as swimming and sports within a week.
- In SMILE operations, corneal sensitivity is not compromised.
- Because there is no flap with SMILE, LASIK-treated eyes do not weaken as the thickness of the flap increases.
- It’s a safer alternative to LASIK surgery for patients with powers greater than -6.00D.
- It lessens the likelihood of corneal ectasia, a major drawback of LASIK eye surgery.
- Since SMILE has several benefits for the patient, it may be the start of a new era in refractive surgery.
- Furthermore, it allows people who would have been considered poor candidates for eye surgery to receive the care they need to improve their vision.
Which One of These Are You Qualified to Do?
If your cornea is significantly thinner than average, you may be a suitable candidate for eye surgery with Epi-LASIK. If you have a thin cornea, you won’t be a good candidate for the eye surgery with standard LASIK procedure.
It is also appropriate for those who have dry eyes or who spend a lot of time on the computer. If, on the other hand, you have a significant refractive error or suffer from severe myopia, you are not a good candidate for either of these surgical procedures.
There is a slightly higher learning curve associated with SMILE than with femtosecond LASIK surgery. However, once mastered, the process of smiling takes significantly less time and effort. There is no flap cutting, which is a big benefit of SMILE.
Patients treated with the SMILE approach have an increased chance of seeing better than those treated with an excimer laser eye treatment due to the absence of spherical aberration. Those with severe myopia will benefit from this the most.
Compared to procedures involving flap development, SMILE may provide more biomechanical stability, less postoperative discomfort, and a reduced risk of dry eye. Involvement in contact sports is best served by the grin operation since there is little risk of flap displacement, even after trauma.
You are also a strong candidate if you have:
- At least a year has passed since you last required vision correction.
- Your eyes are in good condition (free of cataracts or glaucoma)
- At the very least, you are 18 years old.
Lastly
If you are having any question or inquiry about how to have a correct vision, Laser eye surgery, Corneal tissue problems, Lasik surgery, laser beam in healing process, excimer laser usage, refractive eye surgery, laser treatment, laser suite, contact sports, the surgical procedure for refractive surgery or Lasik laser eye surgery – you should get in touch with us via our Personal Eyes website to book your free assessment today.
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