Avoiding Laser Eye Surgery risks starts with your initial inquiry into the procedure. In other words, get educated about the procedure and find out as much as you can about it.

There seems to be an air of safety with laser eye surgery and in the main that’s true but because it’s classed as surgery the element of risk still exists. Do not be “blinded” and accepting that it’s simply a matter of turning up for surgery and that nothing will go wrong.

Can you suffer serious risks from Laser eye surgery. Yes, but in reality, it’s extremely uncommon. The rate of success is very high and while there may be some minor inconveniences following surgery these are usually only temporary.

You should get to know as much about your surgeon as possible. When you have your initial pre screening session this is the time to really ask lots of questions. The pre screening is held to ensure you have no obstacles preventing you from receiving treatment

Laser Eye Surgery risks

Let’s take a look at some of the more serious laser eye surgery risks:

1. The obvious biggest risk is you could suffer loss of eye sight. Now while this is a worse case scenario, it’s not common but be aware that if you hold any information back at your pre-screening you will be putting yourself in jeopardy.

2. Your surgeon can determine several things during pre-screening but it’s important to be honest and declare anything that you are suffering from or have suffered from in the past. For example, if you are pregnant then it’s important to let your surgeon know.

3. Loss of perception and acuteness of vision are two risks which many patients may not know before looking into laser eye surgery. Again, it’s all relative to the overall complication stats with laser eye surgery which are low but you should be aware of them nevertheless.

4. Vision haze can result from surgery along with contrast issues. Blurry shapes which resemble ghost images may hamper one’s vision but these may just be temporary.

To lessen Laser Eye Surgery risks and complications give considerable time and energy in researching well-known clinics as well as doctors. While there are numerous surgeons who are both competent as well as experts at their jobs, there are also those who do not have the proper kind of education or practice in laser eye surgery. Any doctor can execute this operation just a week after he has received the training.

Also, there is no surgical specialization for LASIK eye surgery. Success rates differ from clinic to clinic. Always ask your surgeon many questions to determine his expertise, his qualifications and the number of successful operations he has executed.

It is also sensible to verify if the surgical equipment at the clinic has been approved of by the FDA because all clinics might not be using the latest and possibly safest tools.

With so many baby boomers having reached the stage of 45 to 65 years of age, it is inevitable that there would be an increased interest in health issues. The Lasik Vision Institute is a burgeoning business because it addresses one of those health issues; namely failing eyesight.

Often people will overlook the aches and the pains, and even the graying hair and wrinkles that accompany the aging process. However, when vision is affected, people tend to quickly seek out solutions to the problem. laser eye surgery is becoming an increasingly popular solution that can correct problems with astigmatisms, as well as near-sighted and far-sighted conditions. The Lasik Vision Institute specializes in this very thing with a team of highly trained laser eye surgeons who are considered to be some of the top Lasik eye doctors in their field.

The Lasik Vision Institute has opened a number of eye clinics across the US in an effort to satisfy the demand for laser eye surgery. There is such a high demand because The Institute uses the latest and most advanced laser eye surgery techniques available. While not yet in all major metropolitan areas, the company is constantly working to expand their reach to bring these vision solutions to more people.

The Lasik Vision Institute has developed a very strong and positive reputation over the years in which they have provided laser eye surgery in the US. They have performed more than 650,000 corrective eye surgery procedures and have developed a high level of trust from their patients because they only employ skilled laser eye surgeons. In addition, they only use laser technology that has been approved by the FDA in order to help assure the best quality results.

Another aspect of the Lasik Vision Institute that is noteworthy is their attention and dedication to providing personalized care. In addition to the professionalism of the doctors, there is also a complete team, also highly-trained and skilled who work with the patients step by step, from the stage of gathering information, planning and preparing for the procedure, to making sure that they receive proper after-care.

The Lasik Vision Institute also prides itself on offering low-cost Lasik procedures by striving to reduce pricing wherever possible to make this important approach to corrective eye surgery affordable to as many people as possible. In addition to working hard to keep the cost of laser eye surgery as inexpensive as possible, they also offer various financing plans to make the needed vision correction an option for more people.

About the time that people hit middle age, they start noticing a number of changes in their bodies and one of the changes that will often motivate people to see a doctor is when their vision is compromised. Considering that the baby-boomer generation has hit middle age and beyond, it is no wonder why Lasik laser eye surgery has become increasingly popular in recent years, as a way to counter the effects of vision deterioration.

Lasik vision surgery is a specialized procedure that provides vision correction for certain types of vision problems and conditions. Lasik is the term that is used as a “shortcut” for the full name of the operation, which is otherwise known as “Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis.” Other commonly heard terms for corrective eye surgery that is accomplished through the use of lasers instead of scalpels are: PRK, LASEK, custom Lasik, and Epi-Lasik.

Lasik laser eye surgery is best for those who are dealing with farsightedness or nearsightedness, or for people who have some form of astigmatism. The Lasik vision procedure allows people with these very common vision problems to be able to get rid of their eyeglasses or their contact lenses, and be free from those ongoing costs and hassles.

A qualified and professional Lasik eye doctor will always make sure that a patient has a full and complete understanding of the process, before it is done. This gives them an advantage of not only being a patient but of being an informed consumer who has made a decision regarding their eye health and care. While the risks of laser eye surgery are minimal, especially when compared to older methods of corrective eye surgery, it is in the best interest of the person considering such surgery to fully understand the possible complications and potential risks, as well as the cost of Lasik surgery.

The greatest advantage of a laser eye surgery procedure is that it is minimally invasive and does not involve the cutting of the covering of the eye, or cornea, with any type of surgical instrument. Instead, a thin layer of the cornea is cut with a laser beam and then gently pulled back, giving the laser eye surgeon the ability to then “sculpt” the corneal tissue to improve the vision. The thin flap is then replaced and the procedure is over.

When the Lasik laser eye surgery is over, the patient, in almost all cases, will discover an improvement in their vision that is immediate and in short order they can get back to their daily lives and routines with very little disruption. The patient will not have any stitches and, in fact, they will walk out of the laser eye surgeon’s office without even a bandage over the eyes. Because of the quick improvement and rapid recovery, some patients have even called the whole process a futuristic, medical marvel.

Picture the scene, you wake up in the middle of the night and reach over to get your glasses, knock them on the floor and then struggle to find them. Or you go shopping but forget to take your glasses so you can’t read the labels properly.

This sort of thing is happening to millions of people around the country every day. Good as contact lenses have become not every one like the thought of having foreign objects inserted into their eyes on a daily basis, and some people just can’t get on with them.

But why be trapped with the inconvenience of glasses or the ongoing costs of contact lenses (check how much you spend every year) when you could get rid on your reliance on lenses of any description with simple eye surgery procedures.

Corrective eye surgery is much cheaper and more reliable than ever before and in many cases is fairly quick in-out procedure.

If you haven’t investigated corrective eye surgery for a while it may now be the time to have another look see (excuse the pun).

LASIK - laser vision correction, is a procedure for the correction of moderate to high degrees of myopia (nearsightedness). LASIK will also correct low to moderate degrees of hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism associated with myopia.

In order to really understand the LASIK procedure, the patient must have a working knowledge of the Cornea. The Cornea is a clear window to the eye and is transparent tissue. Generally, the cornea is 11.5mm in horizontal diameter, which is roughly ½ inch. The center most portion of the cornea is about 500 microns thick.

The day of the procedure begins with the arrival at the center of choice. Of course, the first matter at hand is collection of payment and consent forms. Oral Valium, in most cases, is dispensed to relax the patient. Pre-operative topical antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and anesthetic drops are given.

The patient will be escorted into the surgery suite. The surgeon will then examine the eye under the slit lamp and will apply a gentian violet dye to the pupil. These markings give orientation for astigmatism, when patients lie down their eyes tend to roll slightly; therefore, these marks allow for a perfect line up. Also in the case of a “free flap”, the mark would allow proper orientation of the cap back on the eye.

The patient is now ready to be placed in position in a reclining surgical chair. Eyelashes are covered with a plastic drape and a speculum, lid holder, is inserted to hold your eyelids open. The opposing eye is patched closed. LASIK is most commonly performed bilaterally (both eyes on the same day). Patients remain awake during the procedure, and the eye is numbed with drops. There is no discomfort during the procedure.

The patient will be asked to focus on a light, most surgeons provide a coach or hand holder to assist the patient through the process. The coach’s job is to tell the patient everything that is going to happen before it happens. Patients will also be reminded to focus on the light, keep still, and breathe normally.

The surgeon will begin the placement of the suction ring (the microkeratome blade will attach to this), once good positioning is obtained, suction is applied. The patient will generally feel pressure and vision will go dark; however, there is no pain involved. The microkeratome will be placed on its track, after an adequate amount of pressure is fulfilled. The surgeon will then start the microkeratome blade across the cornea creating the flap. The flap is left attached to the cornea by a hinge, which is made by having the microkeratome stop before it fully traverses the diameter of the cornea, leaving an uncut portion. The flap is 160-180 (about 4 human hairs) of the 500 microns. The patient will hear a buzzing sound and feel a mild vibration. Once the flap is complete, the suction ring and the microkeratome are removed.

The flap is then lifted by the surgeon, and folded back out of the way. Then the excimer laser is used to reshape the remaining surface of the cornea. The laser treatment typically lasts less than one minute. During the laser treatment, the patient will hear the click sound of the laser and might also smell a slight burning odor. The treatment will last from 30 to 90 seconds. One diopter of correction will take approximately 8 seconds. The surgeon has control of the treatment at all times. Should the eye move off center, the surgeon could stop and then restart the laser treatment. The amount of laser treatment necessary is based on the patient’s particular prescription. This information was programmed into the laser prior to arrival for surgery.

Once the laser treatment is complete, the surgeon will irrigate the treated area and lay the flap back into its original place where it will adhere to the eye without the need for sutures. Topical drops will be applied and the area will be smoothed. Most surgeons wait 1 to 3 minutes to insure the corneal flap has fully re-adhered. At this point, patients can blink normally and the corneal flap remains secured in position by the natural suction within the cornea. While it is possible to dislodge the corneal flap during the first day or two by physically rubbing the eye, this event is actually quite rare. Before the patient leaves, the surgeon will examine both eyes to insure that the flap is still in position.

Since the protective layer remains intact with LASIK, patients are only placed on an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drop for about a week. Preservative Free artificial tears are used initially for dryness. Vision is usually quite good the following day with LASIK.

LASIK patients are instructed to wear protective eye shields while sleeping the first night to prevent accidental trauma to the cornea flap during the early healing period. The excimer laser is an ultraviolet laser, which utilizes Argon and Fluorine gas to create a non-thermal, or cool beam, of laser light, which can break molecular bonds in a process commonly, referred to as “photoablation”. A simple way to imagine how the laser works is to think of it as placing the curvature from your glasses or contact lenses onto the front surface of your eye, allowing you to see without corrective eyewear.