Refractive Surgery

The refractive area of the eye consists of the cornea, the anterior chamber, the lens, and the vitreous. Refractive surgery is a treatment for correcting or improving your vision. Refractive eye surgeries are procedures that cure vision problems including hypermetropia, myopia, and astigmatism. There are several methods for refractive surgeries which are laser treatments, lens replacement, and lens implantation. Refractive methods are known to be non-essential as they only solve the problems of being dependent on glasses or contacts. Most people choose to undergo these procedures as they don’t want to use glasses or contacts. 

Types of Refractive Surgeries

There are three groups of refractive surgery procedures which are flap surface procedures, procedures, and corneal incision procedures.

• Flap procedures: Automated lamellar keratoplasty (ALK) and Laser-assisted in situ Keratomileusis (LASIK).

• Surface procedures: Photorefractive keratectomy, Transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy, Laser-Assisted Subepithelial Keratomileusis (LASEK) and EPI-LASIK

• Corneal incision procedures: Radial keratotomy, Arcuate keratotomy, and Limbal relaxing incisions 

All three methods are effective but you need to choose wisely. If you think you can get rid of your lens replacement after and choose this method instead of lasers because of this, it’s not an easy procedure to remove implanted lenses. If you want permanent results, refractive surgeries are great options for you. 

More Details on LASIK Refractive Surgery

Generally preferred procedures are LASEK and PRK but the most used procedure is LASIK among all of the alternative refractive surgeries. Here is more information on this procedure:

• LASIK is based on reshaping the cornea with a laser depending on the vision problem.

• LASIK technique can be used to fix all refractive errors which are myopia, hypermetropia, and astigmatism and the results are permanent.

• It generally takes half an hour or so and you can go back to your daily life after a couple of hours.

• After the LASIK procedure, you might have dry eyes and discomfort for the first day. So you should use your eye drops very carefully for a quicker healing process. After 24 hours, you’ll realize how much your vision is approved but still, you might have focusing problems or sensitivity to the light. 

• During the healing process, it’s always recommended to be in touch with your surgeon closely. 

Another thing about these surgeries is if you have any kind of vision problem in high numbers, the procedure might not completely fix your sight. So if you are using -6.00 or -7.00 glasses, after the procedure you might still need to use a reading glass. That’s why you need to decide carefully and consult with your eye doctor deeply. Your surgeon will create the best treatment plan with one of the methods above, so you can see much better without glasses or contacts.

Healing Periods Regarding Different Surgeries

It can be said that LASIK surgeries require a shorter amount of healing time when they are compared to PRK procedures. While PRK procedures generally require a month for healing, LASIK surgeries only take a few days. On the other hand, it can take several months for vision to fully stabilize after having a LASIK operation. 

Patients may experience a couple of side effects such as watering eyes, sensitivity to light, and blurry vision after both procedures. Other common side effects can be defined as itching, burning, and dryness. All of the side effects start to disappear as long as you take good care of your eyes and use your prescribed medications regularly. For more information about refractive treatments and to be referred to a doctor, you can contact Gotocure.