Lasik Laser Eye Surgery

Types of Eye Surgery

Eye surgery, also referred to as ophthalmic or ocular surgery, is a type of surgical procedure that is performed on the eye or the surrounding tissues. There are a number of different types of eye surgeries including refractive surgery, corneal surgery, glaucoma surgery, cataract surgery, and oculoplastic (cosmetic) surgery.

Refractive surgery

The goal of refractive surgery is to improve a patient’s vision. An individual who is either nearsighted or farsighted has a refractive error in the interior of their eye. Light entering the eye does not properly focus on the retina, instead focusing in front of the retina in nearsighted individuals or behind the retina in farsighted individuals. The result is that viewed images appear blurry and out of focus. Refractive surgery corrects this error, allowing light to focus directly on the retina, thereby improving vision and eliminating the need for corrective lenses.

There are numerous methods of refractive surgery, the most popular of which are LASIK (laser assisted in-situ keratomileusis), LASEK (laser assisted sub-epithelial keratomileusis) as known as Epi-LASIK, PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy), CK (conductive keratoplasty), and ICRs or Intacs (Intracorneal rings).

Corneal surgery

Corneal surgery is any surgery that involves manipulation of the cornea of the eye. This encompasses nearly all types of refractive surgeries since the cornea is modified in order to improve the individual’s vision. It also includes corneal transplant surgery, a procedure by which a damaged or diseased cornea is removed and replaced with a clear cornea from an organ donor. Other types of corneal surgery are PK (penetrating keratoplasty), PTK (phototherapeutic keratectomy), and Pterygium excession.

Glaucoma surgery

Glaucoma is a disease that attacks the optic nerve, resulting in loss of vision and a rise in intraocular pressure. Glaucoma surgeries assist in combating the disease by lowering intraocular pressure. This may be accomplished by decreasing the amount of aqueous produced in the eye or by encouraging the release of excess aqueous humor from the eye.

Cataract surgery

Cataract extraction is the most common eye surgery performed. Age, illness, or trauma to the eye can sometimes cause the crystalline lens of the eye to become cloudy and opaque. This cloudiness, called a cataract, interferes with the eye’s ability to focus a clear image on the retina, resulting in loss of vision. The presence of significant cataracts requires the removal and replacement of the lens through cataract surgery. Although there are a number of different types of cataract extraction, the two most popular procedures are called ICCE (intracapsular cataract extraction) and ECCE (extracapsular cataract extraction).

Oculoplastic surgery

Oculoplastic surgery is a type of eye surgery that concerns the reconstruction of the eye and its surrounding structures. Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, removes excessive fat, muscle and skin from the eyelid to correct sagging or puffy eyes. Browplasty, often referred to as a brow lift, is the reconstruction of the forehead and brow bone. Oculoplastic surgery can also involve the removal of the eye itself. Enucleation involves the removal of the eye itself, leaving the muscles surrounding the eye and all orbital contents in place. Evisceration occurs when the eye and all of its contents are removed, leaving just the shell of the sclera in place. Finally, exenteration involves the removal of the entire orbital content. This includes the removal of the eye itself, any extraocular muscles, surrounding fat, and all connective tissues.

Gray Rollins is a featured writer for MyEyeSurgery.com. To learn more about the types of eye surgery, visit us.

Article courtesy of Lasik Laser Eye Surgery  and Lasik Eye Surgery

Often times called ophthalmic surgery, eye surgery, is a surgical procedure that is preformed on the eye or eye region. This type of surgery, due to it’s nature, is typically performed by an ophthalmatolgist; hence the original name ophthalmic surgery.

There is several different types of eye surgery. The most common are described below:

PRK (PhotoRefractive Keratectomy):
PRK surgery is when the most oustide layer of the cornea is scraped away manually and an excimer laser is used to reshape the tissues located underneath the surface of the cornea. After the corrective eye surgery is done the outer layer must be grown back, in order for the eye to be protected again. Due to this, PRK is known for having a large recovery time. There as some advanced methods avaiable today that use a different excimer laser which vaporizes the epthithelium, however it is not widely used.

LASEK (Laser Assisted Sub-Epithelial Keratomileusis)
LASEK is advanced form of PRK(see below) that uses an alcholic solution on the epithelium which softens the surface before it is removed. With this procedure the epithelium can be replaces once the surgery is finished.

Epi-LASEK
Epi-LASEK is similar to LASEK however it uses a type of barrier to preserve the epithelium layer, which is then replaced after the surgery. The reason for this extra step is to try and help cut down post surgery discomfort, and increase the amount of time required for healing.

As you can see their is several different methods of laser eye surgery; These aren’t even all of them! If you think that eye surgery might be right for you, or are interested in obtaining more information it is recommended to consult with your local physician and eye doctor.

Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of Cheap Laser Eye Surgery - http://www.cheap-laser-eye-surgery.com, which is the best site on the internet for all laser eye surgery related information.

Article courtesy of Lasik Laser Eye Surgery  and Lasik Eye Surgery

Refractive eye surgery is a type of eye surgery that is used to rectify refractive errors of the eye and decrease dependency on corrective lenses such as eyeglasses and contact lenses. Successful refractive procedures can reduce myopia or nearsightedness, hyperopia or farsightedness, and astigmatism or elongated corneas. A number of different procedures exist for refractive eye surgery depending upon the type and severity of the refractive error.

There are four main types of refractive eye surgery procedures: flap and photoablation procedures; corneal incision procedures; thermal procedures; and implants. Currently, the most common refractive eye surgeries involve the use of lasers to reshape the cornea.

Flap procedures involve cutting a small flap in the cornea so that the tissue underneath can be reshaped to correct the refractive error. LASIK, short for Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis, is the most popular refractive surgery and is used to correct myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. The LASIK procedure involves using a microkeratome or IntraLase to cut a flap into the stroma, moving the flap out of the way, removing excess corneal tissue with an excimer laser, then replacing and smoothing out the flap. LASEK is best suited for individuals with thin or flat corneas. The LASEK procedure uses a small trephine blade to cut into the shallow epithelium, after which the eye is bathed in a mild alcohol solution to soften the edges of the epithelium. The flap is gently moved out of the way so that an excimer laser can remove excess corneal tissue, after which the flap is replaced and smoothed out. Epi-LASIK, like LASEK, involves a shallow cut into the epithelium, but makes use of epikeratome to create a thin epithelium sheet for removal instead of the harsher blade and alcohol.

Photoablation, the second stage in flap procedures, makes use of ultraviolet radiation to remove excess corneal tissue. PRK, or photorefractive keratectomy, was the original laser eye surgery procedure. PRK involves numbing the eye with local anesthetic eye drops, and reshaping the cornea by destroying miniscule amounts of tissue from the surface of the eye. The laser used, an excimer laser, is a computer-controlled ultraviolet beam of light. It burns cool so as not to heat up and damage the surrounding eye tissue.

Corneal incision procedures such as radial keratotomy and arcuate keratotomy use miniscule incisions in the cornea to alter its surface and correct refractive errors. Radial keratotomy, or RK, uses a diamond tipped knife to make a number of spoke-shaped incisions in the cornea. The result of the incisions is that the cornea flattens out, minimizing the effects of myopia. Arcuate keratotomy, or AK, is very similar to RK. The diamond knife is used to cut incisions that are parallel to the edge of the cornea, as opposed to the spoke-shaped incisions of the RK procedure. These procedures have been much less common with the emergence of laser-assisted refractive eye surgeries.

Thermal procedures use heat to correct temporarily hyperopic refractive errors, or farsightedness. The thermal keratoplasty procedure involves putting a ring of 8 or 16 small burns on the eye immediately surrounding the pupil. The application of the heat increases the slope of the cornea, making it steeper, through thermal contractions. There are two main types of thermal keratoplasty. Laser Thermal Keratoplasty, or LTK, is a no-touch procedure that uses a holmium laser. Conductive Keratoplasty, or CK, uses a high-frequency electric probe.

The final type of refractive eye surgery involves the use of implants. Implantable contact lenses, or ICL, can be used to correct severe levels of myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. The implants are actually tiny contact lenses that are inserted through a small incision in the side of the cornea. Implants are seated so they sit immediately in front of the eye’s natural lens just behind the cornea. ICL works in conjunction with the eye’s natural lens to refocus light on the retina and produce a crystal clear image.

Each of these procedures has its advantages and disadvantages, and not all individuals are suitable candidates for refractive eye surgery. Individuals who are interested in learning more about surgical options should contact their ophthalmologist for more information about these procedures, as well as inquire about other new cutting-edge procedures. Since ophthalmologic surgery is constantly growing and changing with emergence of new technologies and methods, there are always new techniques in development. As new equipment is developed and methods refined that can improve the success and minimize the side effects of refractive eye surgery, new procedures will emerge to replace outdated techniques.There are many reasons why you can be losing your hair. There are many causes of hair loss that include stress, poor diet, ALOPECIA or genetically related. Male pattern baldness is a popular term used where you can see a man’s hairline go back. Often experts state that this is an inherited state. How this begins is often with a receding hairline and thinning on the top of the head. Depending on the severity of hair loss, there are definitely treatments out there.

Gray Rollins is a writer for MyEyeSurgery.com. To learn more refractive eye surgery and finding a lasik eye surgeon, visit us.

Article courtesy of Lasik Laser Eye Surgery  and Lasik Eye Surgery

Types Of Laser Eye Surgery: Before you pick your Lasik Laser Eye Surgery Newark location, you should look at the different types of procedures. Three type of surgery you may want to consider include:

• LASIK or Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis is the most well known. This surgery cuts a flap in the cornea and reshapes it by removing tissue. It is a fast procedure with healing in a day or 2 and immediate improvement in eyesight.

• PRK or Photo Refractive Keratectomy is the procedure that has been around the longest. Cells are removed from the cornea to reshape it and improve vision. It has a healing time of a month and vision improvement is not immediate but gradual over time.

• CK or Conductive Keratoplasty is a fairly new procedure. Uses radio frequency energy applied with a hair thin device to reshape the cornea. It is an extremely quick procedure with very quick healing.

Risks

Although most people are good candidates for corrective eye surgery, some should not undergo the treatment or it may seriously impair their vision. For this reason, you should discuss having the surgery at length with your doctor who should advise you of any risks and evaluate your situation to insure the surgery is safe for you. In rare cases your vision could become severely impaired, so it is important to get a thorough evaluation and disclose all health issues to your doctor. Other risks include fuzzy vision, irritation of dry eye syndrome and loss of clearness of vision.

Benefits

Being about to see without the aid of contacts or glasses is wonderful! Imagine waking up and being able to see beyond the end of your bed? There are many everyday benefits to having your vision restored. Without having glasses or contacts in the way, it is much easier to be active and play sports. Plus you’ll never have to worry about breaking or misplacing your glasses or contacts or incur the yearly expense for new prescriptions.

When most people think of laser eye surgery, they automatically think of LASIK. While it is true that LASIK is a type of laser eye surgery, there are a number of other laser procedures that can produce equally successful results for individuals suffering from myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism. In fact, there are actually four different types of laser eye surgery:

PRK, LASIK, Customized LASIK, and LASEK.  PRK, or photorefractive keratectomy, makes use of a specialized cool laser beam, called an excimer laser, to remove excess corneal tissue. The removal of this tissue corrects the shape of the eye so that light entering the eye can be properly focused on the retina. The outer surface layer called the epithelium, is removed to expose the underlying corneal tissue. Once this tissue is revealed, the excimer laser is used to reshape the cornea. The main distinction between PRK and LASIK is that PRK does not make use of a corneal flap. Instead, the epithelium is allowed to gradually heal through the body’s natural healing process. To protect the exposed cornea, surgeons fit patients with a lightweight contact lens to serve as a bandage for the eye. The contact lens also reduces discomfort. The lens is usually only worn for a few days, two to three days post-operative, at which time the eye is allowed to heal as normal with no bandage.
LASIK is the most widely known and performed type of laser eye surgery in the United States. LASIK stands for Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis, which literally means to “reshape the cornea from within using a laser.”

LASIK differs from PRK in that a small flap is made in the stroma of the eye. This flap, made by either a microkeratome or IntraLase, is then peeled back to expose the underlying corneal tissue. An excimer laser is then used to reshape the cornea to correct any refractive errors. Once the cornea has been reshaped, the cornea flap is put back into place and smoothed out. The flap acts as a natural bandage to help the eye heal and protect the delicate cornea. The benefit of LASIK is that the use of the flap helps the cornea heals more quickly than it would using the PRK technique, and reduces much of the discomfort felt during the healing process.

Many ophthalmologic surgeons are now offered the next evolution in LASIK surgery, which they called Customized LASIK. The general procedure used to correct refractive errors is the same as is used for traditional LASIK procedures, with the addition of wavefront devices used to map the unique surface of the patient’s eye. The wavefront device passes a narrow ray of light through the systems and into the eye, measuring any optical distortions that result as the light exits back out the eye. Any irregularities identified are then fed back into the system so that the laser can automatically correct for aberrations on the surface of the eye. Proponents of Customized LASIK claim that the use of wavefront technology enables surgeons to treat higher order aberrations that can contribute to low-light visual disturbances such as halos and glare not corrected by traditional LASIK, eyeglasses, or contact lenses. Customized LASIK can provide patients who suffer from higher order aberrations with an increase in visual clarity.

The final type of laser eye surgery is LASEK, or Laser Assisted Sub-Epithelial Keratectomy. LASEK is especially helpful for patients who have a thin or flat cornea, making them questionable candidates for LASIK and Customized LASIK procedures. During LASEK, a small trephine blade is used to cut into the outer skin of the eye, called the epithelium. Once the cut has been made, the eye is bathed in a mild alcohol solution to allow the edges of the epithelium to soften. This permits the surgeon to gently tease the epithelium flap out of the way to expose the underlying tissue. An excimer layer reshapes the eye under the flap to correct any refractive errors, after which the flap is replaced over the treated cornea. As with LASIK, the replacement of the flap in LASEK speeds up the natural healing process and serves to minimize discomfort resulting from the procedure.

The LASIK Directory is a resource for people interested in LASIK surgery. This consumer-friendly website is intended to be used as a central resource to answer common questions about LASIK and to point you in the right direction. The hundreds of LASIK doctors in our directory were handpicked to reflect the most experienced, caring providers with the latest LASIK technology. When you choose to visit a LASIK doctor on our list, you are choosing high quality eye care. All of our providers also offer custom LASIK, meaning the procedure is completely tailored to your unique eye care needs. The LASIK RSS feed also offers up to the minute LASIK news in XML format.

Intraocular Lens Implant - In essence, this surgery is the same as cataract extraction with placement of a clear intraocular lens. The natural lens, the one having a refractive error, is extracted and replaced with a clear lens that provides clearer vision. This procedure is especially beneficial if the patient is suffering from hypermetropia (farsightedness) and that too with a high refractive error.

Spectacles or Contact Lenses - Glasses and contact lenses have been a popular choice for many years now. They are an affordable alternative to LASIK surgery. Spectacles or contact lenses are certainly a much safer proposition, since any sort of surgery has a potential for side effects and complications. There can be nothing as simple as wearing spectacles or contact lenses. With an elaborate series of new designs and makes, your spectacles can be strong fashion statement as well.

Don’t hastily jump on a conclusion. It is advised that you carefully examine all the above alternatives prior to going in for a surgery. Do your best to avoid any surgical treatment. If you suffer from a minor refractive error, one that can be easily corrected by wearing glasses or contact lenses, there is no point going in for a LASIK surgery.