For those with vision problems, Lasik eye surgery can seem like a bit of a magic trick, but it’s really not that mysterious! The truth is, while the actual changes carried out during the Lasik procedure vary from patient to patient, the treatment isn’t too difficult to understand.
Keep reading to learn about how Lasik works to improve your vision, and come see us at Gelman Vision to learn if this powerful treatment is right for you!
What To Expect From Lasik: The Procedure
Prior to your procedure, your ophthalmologist will review the process and discuss the expected results with you to ensure that the treatment is right for you. You may need to stop wearing contact lenses up to a week before treatment, and you should avoid wearing makeup on the day of the procedure.
The actual Lasik procedure is relatively straightforward:
- Your eyes will be numbed with drops
- Your eyelids will be held open
- Your eye will be carefully examined and measured
- Your doctor will use a WaveLight Refractive Suite laser to cut and fold away your corneal flap
- The middle layer of your cornea is revealed
- Your cornea is reshaped using the WaveLight Refractive Suite
- The corneal flap is unfolded back into place
Immediately following the Lasik procedure, you can expect some blurriness and other minor side effects, but these should clear up within the first 24 hours.
The WaveLight Refractive Suite
The WaveLight Refractive Suite offers highly accurate and patient-specific outcomes thanks to its state-of-the-art systems and data capture. First, the system accumulates precise data about your eye. After your eye doctor makes careful final adjustments, this diagnostic data is used by the WaveLight Refractive Suite to carry out a variety of vision correction procedures. This approach allows the WaveLight to offer highly customized procedures.
How Lasik Works
There are three primary types of treatment offered by Lasik eye surgery: treatment for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. The actual changes made to the cornea vary depending on the issue being treated:
- Treating Astigmatism — astigmatism is a deformity in the spherical shape of the cornea. It’s treated by targeting the laser at specific areas causing the deformity.
- Addressing Nearsightedness — to treat nearsightedness, the cornea is flattened by removing more tissue from the center of the cornea than the edges.
- Correcting Farsightedness — farsightedness is treated by increasing the curvature or steepness of the cornea by removing more tissue from the edges of the cornea than the center.
Get Care From the Only Corneal Transplant Surgeon in the RGV: Gelman Vision
Whether you’re nearsighted, farsighted, or suffer from astigmatism, Lasik eye surgery might just be the treatment you’ve been waiting for. Using state-of-the-art technology, Gelman Vision offers highly-customized, powerful treatment to patients throughout the Rio Grande Valley.
Come visit us at Gelman Vision to learn more about the vision correction treatment we offer, and be sure to ask if Lasik eye surgery is right for you!