LASIK stands for Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis. It is a surgery conducted to correct vision in people who suffer from Near-sightedness, farsightedness or have astigmatism.
During the surgery the cornea is reshaped, thereby refocussing light on the retina, which is in the back of your eye.
Lack of focus of light on the retina leads to blurry vision. This medically is known as refractive error. Like mentioned above there are three basic types of refractive errors:
Near-sightedness (Myopia) – You are unable to see things clearly that are farther away from you.
Farsightedness (Hyperopia) – You are unable to see things clearly that are closer to you, but farther vision is clear.
Astigmatism – Overall vision is blurry because of the basic shape of your eyes.
It is an elective surgery wherein vision is corrected to help you avoid wearing glasses or contact lens. LASIK surgery can improve the quality of your life by eliminating the need to wear glasses or contact lens. In addition to the obvious cosmetic benefit of avoiding glasses, LASIK also improves overall quality of vision by increasing field of vision, contrast sensitivity and also eliminates the minimization (apparent reduction in size of objects) caused by high powered minus glasses. LASIK provides an overall quality of vision similar to that of natural vision.
LASIK surgery is completely painless and recovery is almost immediate. Yes, patients do experience mild irritation & discomfort for a few hours immediately after the procedure is complete. Even though it doesn’t affect all patients, such discomforts can include:
All the above symptoms completely recover in the following day after surgery.
Your vision may change post Lasik surgery. As you grow older you might even need to use reading glasses. Research shows that even after several years less than 5% of people need a second Lasik procedure to correct minor power and restore the effects. Which means, 95% of patients have achieved their vision goals of 20/20 post Lasik Surgery and continue to remain so for decades together.