LASIK

What is LASIK?

Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) is an FDA-approved surgical procedure intended to reduce dependency on eyeglasses or contact lenses. The most commonly performed vision correction procedure, LASIK is performed on nearly 1 million patients each year to correct myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism by permanently altering the shape of the cornea, the eye's thin, transparent covering. Corneal reshaping increases the eye's focusing power and improves vision.

There is a reason why so many people are opting for refractive laser eye surgery: it really can improve eyesight, and in many cases drastically. Refractive laser eye surgery is a comfortable, safe and effective outpatient procedure that corrects a wide range of vision problems, including;

• nearsightedness
• farsightedness
• astigmatism

Refractive surgery provides a number of very important advantages. There is typically little or no post-operative discomfort. Recovery is fast and complications are extremely rare. Vision returns quickly, usually without the need for glasses or contacts.

How LASIK Works

Here at Coastal Bend Eye, our team of Ophthalmologists has been performing successful LASIK surgery for many years. The first step of the LASIK procedure is to apply anesthetic eye drops after the eyes have been relaxed the creation of the corneal flap begins. To do so our LASIK surgeon uses the WaveLight F2S00 Femtosecond laser to create a flap in the cornea to access the inner corneal tissue. During the creation of the corneal flap, which only takes a couple of minutes, your vision dims and will be blurry for about a minute. Once the flap is created you will be able to see the flashing fixation light and the bright lights that will be used for the procedure.

After the corneal flap is created the surgeon will then apply computer-controlled pulses of cool laser light from the WaveLight EX500 Excimer laser to the inner layers of the cornea. The laser is actually reshaping your inner corneal layer to improve your vision. During the reshaping of the cornea, an eye-tracking device tracks the movements of your eyes to ensure precise correction of the cornea during your LASIK procedure. Once the inner tissue of the cornea is reshaped our LASIK surgeon carefully repositions the corneal flap into its original position. After the flap has been repositioned a protective shield is placed over your eye to prevent any movement of the corneal flap as it is healing.

To learn more about LASIK surgery, contact us today!