Refractive Surgery
It's more than LASIK
I believe people today are less familiar with refractive surgery than they are with the term LASIK.
Heh, I, for one, thought that LASIK was it. Wrong!
Based on what I've gathered, there seems to be quite a few different refractive procedures available.
Now, all these vision correction techniques are performed to help people reduce the need for eyeglasses or contact lenses, where the most common methods involve reshaping of the cornea with lasers.
Here's a quick breakdown of the different refractive techniques:
Flap Procedures
Photoablation Procedures
- Common known as Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), this technique involves using an excimer laser to change the shape of the cornea by removing microscopic amounts of tissue on the outer surface. Local anaesthetic eye drops are used in this outpatient procedure.
Corneal Incision Procedures
- Radial keratotomy (RK)
- Arcuate keratotomy (AK)
These two tecniques that involve altering the shape of the cornea using spoke-shaped incisions, are rarely performed due to the succession of newer, better techniques.
Other Procedures
- Thermal Keratoplasty
- Laser Thermal Keratoplasty (LTK)
- Conductive Keratoplasty (CK)
- Lens implants
What to expect
According to The Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance, the national norms are met if 90% of patients achieve 20/40 or better and 50% achieve 20/20 or better with limited complication rates. So be sure that your surgeon is certified and has met these criteria!
Certain risks you should know about
As with any type of eye surgery, I'd strongly recommend that you take a full eye examination with your eye care professional or ophthalmologist before going for it. Because eye surgery is not for everyone, you need to make sure you are a good candidate beforehand.
There are several risk factors you need to know of. These include infection and delayed healing, undercorrection/overcorrection, decrease in best-corrected vision, excessive corneal haze, regression, halo effect, flap damage/loss and distorted flap (only in LASIK), dry eye, altitude effects and incomplete procedure.
With all these factors in mind, it is all the more important to speak to your surgeon and voice your concerns. As long as the eye examination shows that you are a good candidate, refractive surgery is indeed an affordable and progressively safe vision correction solution.
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