by Ernestine Clagge

LASIK eye surgery has become much more popular over the past decade. It’s a common practice that brings relief to patients suffering from astigmatism, farsightedness and nearsightedness. If you’ve heard of LASIK, you’ve probably considered having the procedure done. The important thing is to understand the LASIK procedure before making your decision.

LASIK is an acronym for “Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis”. This procedure uses a laser to permanently change the shape of the clear covering of the front of the eye, called the cornea. This reshaping can alleviate or even cure pre-existing conditions.

Part of the reason that LASIK eye surgery is so popular is the relative speed and ease of the procedure. The entire LASIK surgical procedure should take no more than thirty minutes to complete.

To begin the LASIK procedure, you’ll lie on your back on a reclining chair in the examination room. The room will also hold a large machine containing a microscope, a computer screen and the laser itself.

Once you’ve settled in to your reclining chair, your doctor will clean the area around your eye and administer eye drops. An instrument called a lid speculum will be used to securely hold your eyelids open. Once the speculum is in place, the doctor will place a special ring on your eye, and high pressures will be applied to create suction to the cornea. Your vision will become dim while the suction ring is on, and you may feel pressure or a little discomfort during this part of LASIK eye surgery procedure.

The suction ring holds a cutting instrument called a microkeratome. Your doctor will use this instrument to gently cut a flap in your cornea. The suction ring and microkeratome are then removed. During this entire process you’ll be able to see, but will experience fluctuating degrees of blurred vision. Next, the doctor will lift the flap and fold it back to dry the exposed tissue.

The next step of the procedure will bring the laser into play. A light is positioned over your eye, and your doctor will ask you to stare directly at this light. This is not the laser used to remove tissue from the cornea, but is a light used to help you keep your eye fixed on one spot once the laser comes on. If you’re not able to stare at a fixed object for at least 60 seconds, then you may not be a good candidate for this surgery.

Once your eye is in the correct position, your doctor will start the laser and begin removing corneal tissue. At this point in the LASIK surgical procedure, some people have reported smelling an odor similar to burning hair.

Your doctor has control over the laser, but a computer controls the amount of laser energy delivered to your eye. Your personal data, taken at your initial consultation and entered into the computer, is used to determine these settings. Using your unique data, the computerized laser vaporizes a predetermined amount of tissue.

When the pulses of laser energy have finished vaporizing the corneal tissue, the flap is put back into position. As the final step, a shield is placed in position over your eye, providing necessary protection for the surgical area.

It is truly amazing that your poor eyesight can likely be forever corrected is just 30 minutes. That’s why the LASIK surgical procedure is so popular today.

Columnist Ernestine Clagge enjoys writing articles for numerous Internet sites, on healthy lifestyle and healthy care topics. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.

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