There are many different types of LASIK surgery and you and your surgeon will decide what type of surgery best fits your vision needs. Your recommended LASIK surgery options are provided after an evaluation of your vision issues has been completed to identify what type of vision correction procedure will offer that best chances at regaining your vision. The following are the most common procedures:
Custom Wavefront LASIK
Custom Wavefront LASIK applies measurements of how your eye processes images and these measurements are used as a map guide to how the laser will re-shape the front part of the eye, known as the cornea. The map guides the laser in customizing the treatment to reshape your eye’s corneal surface so that the irregularities on how your eye focuses to light rays can be corrected. This approach offers a greater chance of returning towards 20/20 vision and the customize approach delivers outcomes that would be impossible to achieve with traditional LASIK surgery. FDA guidelines require an evaluation be conducted for your candidacy for this type of surgery. Your chances of candidacy approval are much higher if have mild to moderately high degrees of common vision defects such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Most refractive surgeons now use wavefront-guided LASIK in their practices.
Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK)
Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) was the most common refractive surgery procedure for vision correction before Custom Wavefront LASIK was developed that has shown to provide consistently better results. The PRK procedure is most commonly applied today when a surgeon prefers this route in circumstances where the patients have thin corneas and LASIK may increase the potential of complications. PRK is performed with an excimer laser, which uses a cool ultraviolet light beam to precisely remove bits of tissue from the corneal surface to reshape it and improve focus of light onto the retina. PRK complications can include infection and night glare.
LASEK
LASEK is a procedure where laser energy is applied directly to the eye’s outer surface for reshaping and vision correction. LASEK procedures involve preserving the thin epithelial layer by lifting it from the eye’s surface before laser energy is applied for reshaping. In LASIK, the thicker flap is created with a microkeratome cutting tool or a special laser. With LASEK, the ultra thin flap is created with a special cutting tool known as a trephine. LASEK surgery procedures are most common for people with corneas that are too thin or too steep for LASIK. The LASEK surgery procedure helps reduce the chance of complications that occur when the flap created during LASIK does not have the ideal thickness or diameter.
Epi-LASIK
Epi-LASIK is a laser eye surgery procedure that was developed to solve some of the potential problems and limitations with LASIK and LASEK. When performing the surgery, it is more difficult for the LASIK surgeon to create the epithelial flap in people with steeper corneas and higher amounts of myopia. Epi-LASIK is not for everyone, but many surgeons who perform Epi-LASIK consider it a better option than LASIK or LASEK for certain patients. These include people who have thin corneas, with insufficient tissue for a good LASIK flap. Epi-LASIK is also recommended for those participate in activities where physical contact with the eye has a higher likelihood, such as boxing, racquetball or jobs that have physical requirements.
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