Understanding lasik surgery in Eye disease

Facts to understand

• Lasik is a surgical procedure
• Your age should be above eighteen years
• Your number should not have changed in last one year
• Best for minus four to minus eight diopter of errors
• To be eligible your cornea should have sufficient thickness for removal of number in question
• Everybody is not eligible, you have to undergo corneal thickness evaluation, retina check up, refraction (to verify your current eye numbers), evaluation of overall health of eye surface including cornea and conjunctiva
• Lasik removes only your current numbers, it doesn't remove the underlying pathology
• In lasik procedure a thin slice of cornea is cut using an automatic knife(micro keratome) or laser(femto second),after raising the flap corneal bed is treated with the laser, which is a fully automatic procedure. After laser corneal flap is reposited, whole procedure takes few minutes only. It is a painless procedure, in which eyes are anaesthetized using eye drops before starting the procedure
• Treatment of both eyes is done in same sitting
• In certain situation we may require to abandon the procedure in the middle, especially in case of improper flap formation/flap related complication. Procedure can be repeated after an interval in most situations
• One should have reasonable expectations regarding the final results. There can be residual numbers after the procedure, which are of minor degree in most of the situations but can be higher also. If variation is higher in those cases a retreatment can be planned
• Being a surgical procedure it also carries a minor risk of infections also. These days due to availability of very good antibiotics, most of the time this is not a major issue and can be handled easily
• Dryness in eyes and difficulty in night driving are also reported by few patients
• Major complications are very rare
• Loss of vision is very rare, but can happen. But with newer developments and refinements in techniques, that possibility is almost negligible
• You can join your work after three days in most of the cases
• You will have slight grittiness, redness and watering from the eyes, especially during the first three days
• Your vision improves immediately after the procedure, but it will be hazy initially which clears over the days
• You should avoid rubbing the eyes after procedure
• Avoid swimming for one month
• In case of any retina surgery/eye surgery inform you doctor about this procedure
• In case of cataract surgery your doctor will have to apply a special formula for intra-ocular lens implant power calculation, hence it is important for him to know about your lasik procedure
• Regular eye check up are important even after the procedure, because lasik is not treating your myopia, it is only erasing your refractive error by changing the power of your natural lens i.e. cornea. Hence your retina continues to demand attention. Myopes have a weak retina, which has a tendency to develop holes and tears