I've put a lot of time into researching laser eye treatment and the modern treatments fall into two main categories. LASIK and Surface ablation.
Lasik surgery is where a flap is cut in the cornea 100 - 180 microns thick to allow access to the corneal tissue for laser ablation. (Ablation - the removal of tissue by vaporization)
Surface ablation, same concept as Lasik but with a different method for getting acces to the corneal tissue. There are 3 main ways. PRK, Lasek and Epi Lasik
PRK: a circular dam is placed on the front of the numbed eyeball and a 20% alcohol solution is applied for approx 30 seconds. This softens the connecting material on the epithelial layer of cells allowing them to be scaped away and discarded. Surface ablation is then performed and a bandage lens is applied and the cells grow back in about 4 days.
Lasek: The eye is prepared in the same way but the layer if folded back before ablation and replaced after. The bandage lens is still needed.
Epi Lasik: Instead of using alcohol to lift the epithelial layer, an oscillating plastic blade is used to separate the layer. this is replaced after ablation. By not using the alcohol, there is less cell damage.
Other treatments:
Wavefront, this is where the laser is programmed to remove a little more of the cornea in specific areas to improve astigmatism and other sight aberrations, some you may not even realise that you have!
Femtosecond laser, this is a new technique for accurately cutting a flap. Used only for Lasik.
Saturday, 31 January 2009
One in the eye for me!
Hi.
My name's Andy I'm middle aged and I'm short sighted.
Finally I've got it out in the open.
I've been considering having laser eye surgery for a couple of years but basically couldn't work out which treatment was the best or the safest.
After years of research and Googling I now think that I've got a fairly good idea about how my eyes work, what's wrong with them and how it can be corrected.
For starters a bit about me.
I'm a 45 year old bloke. I'm married and I live in the north west of England.
I've been wearing glasses since I was 13, I was first prescribed glasses in Bahrain when I thought that I couldn't see the yellow chalk on the green blackboard in the dimly lit history class. After that my prescription has steadily become worse and worse finally levelling out at approximately -4.5 in both eyes with astigmatism in both.
In the 80's I tried hard lenses which were a nightmare, guess I wasn't too good at the cleaning regime.
In the 90's I tried soft non disposable lenses, which were expensive. I also tried monthly disposables and overnighters (wear for a week and clean) before finally settling on daily disposables which I've been wearing for the last 8 years. They're pretty good, no messy cleaning, not too expensive and easy to change. However they're a bit of a problem if I was working late as my eyes would dry up. My job involves site work so lenses can also be a pain if there's dust around. (Sorry!)
My hobbies revolve around outdoors pursuits - mountaineering, scuba diving, skiing and sailing (occasionally) None of these are particularly suited to glasses or contacts.
So, why? I hear you ask.
Why spend a lot of money having two perfectly good eyes operated on?
Good question.
In logical terms there is no answer. there is no reason that I have to justify this procedure. I just want to.
I want to get rid of the lenses which should be taken out after 8 - 10 hours and if I leave them in too long make me grumpy so that I growl at my wife and kids. I want to get rid of the glasses which I have hated since the first day I had them. The glasses which steam up when I most need them, the glasses which bend doorframes, the glasses which get covered in dust or rain or both and need constant cleaning and the glasses that I need to see the clock if I wake up at night.
My name's Andy I'm middle aged and I'm short sighted.
Finally I've got it out in the open.
I've been considering having laser eye surgery for a couple of years but basically couldn't work out which treatment was the best or the safest.
After years of research and Googling I now think that I've got a fairly good idea about how my eyes work, what's wrong with them and how it can be corrected.
For starters a bit about me.
I'm a 45 year old bloke. I'm married and I live in the north west of England.
I've been wearing glasses since I was 13, I was first prescribed glasses in Bahrain when I thought that I couldn't see the yellow chalk on the green blackboard in the dimly lit history class. After that my prescription has steadily become worse and worse finally levelling out at approximately -4.5 in both eyes with astigmatism in both.
In the 80's I tried hard lenses which were a nightmare, guess I wasn't too good at the cleaning regime.
In the 90's I tried soft non disposable lenses, which were expensive. I also tried monthly disposables and overnighters (wear for a week and clean) before finally settling on daily disposables which I've been wearing for the last 8 years. They're pretty good, no messy cleaning, not too expensive and easy to change. However they're a bit of a problem if I was working late as my eyes would dry up. My job involves site work so lenses can also be a pain if there's dust around. (Sorry!)
My hobbies revolve around outdoors pursuits - mountaineering, scuba diving, skiing and sailing (occasionally) None of these are particularly suited to glasses or contacts.
So, why? I hear you ask.
Why spend a lot of money having two perfectly good eyes operated on?
Good question.
In logical terms there is no answer. there is no reason that I have to justify this procedure. I just want to.
I want to get rid of the lenses which should be taken out after 8 - 10 hours and if I leave them in too long make me grumpy so that I growl at my wife and kids. I want to get rid of the glasses which I have hated since the first day I had them. The glasses which steam up when I most need them, the glasses which bend doorframes, the glasses which get covered in dust or rain or both and need constant cleaning and the glasses that I need to see the clock if I wake up at night.
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