Myopia
The eye is like a camera and the inside back surface of the eye is the thin membrane of the photoreceptive retina, which is like the film in the camera. With nearsightedness (or myopia),the cornea's curvature is too steep for shape of the eye, causing light to be focused in front of the retina. This results in distant images appearing blurry.

 

 

Hyperopia
In farsightedness (or hyperopia), the shape of the cornea is flatter than normal. The flatness causes light to be focused behind the retina. This, in turn, causes near (and occasionally far) images to appear blurry.

 

 

Astigmatism
With astigmatism, the front of the eye is oval-shaped, like a football. This causes light to be focused at multiple points instead of one point on the retina. This results in a certain degree of visual distortion or blurriness at distance and near. Many times, astigmatism makes it difficult or impossible for people to wear contact lenses. astigmatis

How Does Laser Vision Correction Improve Nearsightedness, Farsightedness, And Astigmatism?
Simply, a cool beam of light from the laser gently reshapes the surface of the cornea, making it more like a normal eye. Light can then come into sharp focus at the back of the eye, on the retina, making images clear. First approved by the FDA was photo-refractive keratectomy (PRK), in which the laser acts on the surface of the eye. More recently, LASIK has become popular, where the same laser reshapes the cornea from under a protective corneal flap.

LASIK is currently the preferred method of laser vision correction in the United States today. First, a natural hinged corneal flap is created and folded back, then the computerized laser removes a precise amount of corneal tissue (the amount of tissue removed is less than one half the thickness of a human hair) [maybe this is the caption for the following graphic] [insert etched hair graphic] to reshape the surface of the eye (the cornea), after which the protective flap is returned to its original position, acting like a natural band-aid. It's simply like opening a book, taking out a few pages, and then closing the book.

Since the laser treatment is performed within the cornea and not on the surface, the visual recovery is extremely fast (in most cases literally overnight) and there is minimal discomfort. Most people can return to work and even safely drive themselves to the doctor's office for a routine check-up the very next day.

LASIK can treat near-sightedness, far-sightedness and astigmatism. The results are more predictable for lower and moderate amounts of refractive error. In cases of occasional over- or under-correction, a subsequent enhancement procedure may be performed at which time the flap is folded back again and the laser treatment 'fine tunes' the cornea, typically taking less than ten seconds. Again, substantial visual recovery occurs overnight.

Benefits of LASIK

Continual progress is being made in the field of refractive vision correction. If you should read anything of interest in a newspaper or magazine, or see something on this subject on television, we invite you to call us with any questions. It is desire and commitment to stay informed on any new developments that will improve our ability to help you care for your eyes or improve your vision.

If you would like to find out if you are a candidate for LASIK or learn more about laser vision correction, please contact us to schedule a private complimentary consultation.