How Does Laser Eye Surgery Work?

If you have problems with your vision then I am sure you have considered Laser Eye Surgery. I am sure you have heard many great stories and testimonies but you may just be wondering….. How Does Laser Eye Surgery Work?

Before you can understand what the laser in this surgery is actually doing your should first understand why many eye disorders happen. Eye disorders such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism are caused by things known as refractive errors. Refractive errors occur when the cornea is miss shaped. If you need to know, the cornea is the outer transparent membrane of the eye, through which late enters the eye.

So the basic and quick answer to the question “how does laser eye surgery work?” is that it reshapes the abnormally shaped cornea to give you normal or nearer to normal vision.

The laser is known as an Eximer laser and applies your prescription to your cornea. The reshaping process is known as Photoablation. This process involves a highly accurate ultraviolet beam of light stimulating molecules of your cornea until the targeted tissue breaks up and vaporizes.

Obviously different eye disorders require different surgical treatments with tissue being removed from different areas of the cornea to create the correct shape. Nearsightedness surgety removes tissue from the center of the cornea. Farsightedness surgery removes tissue from the edges of the cornea. Astigmatism surgery targets the uneven area. These surgeries effective make your cornea more or less concaved to redirect the light in a correct manner.
These surgeries sound amazing high tech (which they are) and dangerous but the technology has moved on so far that most of the work is done automatically by the bundled laser software. The doctors and technicians simply enter your details such as refractive index into the software and everything is worked out to exact accuracy. Obviously a skilled surgeon will input their knowledge and make sure that the procedure will work in the most effective way for you.

Much of the computational work is actually done by the software that comes from the manufacturer of the laser device. Your surgeon (or, in some cases, a technician) enters your “refractive numbers” into the software, which in turn calculates the exact number of pulses required to achieve the desired level of correction. These calculations can be adjusted by the surgeon depending on the specific needs of the patient i.e. the thickness of his or her cornea, etc. These adjustment factors are called nomograms. What the surgeon DOES perform manually are the nomograms and the exact location on the cornea where the laser is to be directed. It is very important that you choose a surgeon that has performed hundreds, or even better, thousands of laser eye procedures.

Always make sure that you choose a highly experienced surgeon and very respected surgery. This is your eyesight and it is worth doing a lot if research prior to making the decision.

What this video to see a 3D Simulation of the surgery.

For further information I suggest you check out Eyes-and-Vision.com.