Vision Conditions

• Any condition of visual impairment involves the cornea and the retina of the eye. For perfect, 20/20 vision, light must focus on the eye's retina, which occurs because of a "normal" cornea (the clear window at the front of the eye that is responsible for its focusing). When light does not reach the retina in the way that it is supposed to, it causes objects, either distant or near, to appear unclear, and even hazy, depending on the intensity of the problem. Focus can be corrected by adjusting the corneal front window so that light focuses on the retina in the way that it should.
  
  

How Laser Eye Treatments Work

• No matter the type of laser eye procedure, the most important function is reshaping the cornea and or removing some of its tissue. For nearsightedness, the cornea must be flattened to achieve vision correction, and some of the cornea tissue must be removed. Farsightedness involves the opposite--the cornea must be steepened, and the tissue must be reshaped, rather than removed. Asitgmatisms are simply an irregularity in the cornea, and laser eye surgery simply reshapes and adjusts the cornea tissue as needed to correct this condition.
  
  

Types

• LASIK, short for laser in-situ keratomileus, is the preferred option for 85 percent of eye surgery patients, according to the Guardian UK's "Consumer test: Laser eye surgery," by Ed Ewing. LASIK laser eye treatment involves slicing a front flap of the cornea, and peeling it up, in order to work with the tissue beneath it. There are sub-types of LASIK surgery, which differ in how that cornea flap is created, either by a micro-blade, or a laser.
  
  LASEK, or laser epithelial keratomileusis, is an alternative to LASIK, and is usually for patients who have extremely thin corneas who cannot endure a flap, so this surgery is performed right on the cornea, without working beneath an outer flap. PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy) is the original laser eye surgery, and works like LASEK, except that PRK removes the ultra-thin outer layer of the eye.
  
  

Effectiveness

• Laser eye surgery is highly effective. AllAboutVision.com offers summaries of worldwide reports on laser eye surgery, and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery's 2008 study of laser surgery customer satisfaction shows a success rate of 95.4 percent. WebMD's report on LASIK eye surgery says that 80 percent of patients obtain their desired vision after laser eye surgery.
  
  

Benefits

• In addition to laser eye surgery's effectiveness, the laser procedures also offer other benefits. The procedure is fast and painless, and results are almost immediate. Recovery time is also fast, and although there is some discomfort of the eyes after surgery, this goes away within a few days. For patients who did not achieve desired vision abilities after laser surgery, they may simply opt to have another procedure performed to reach their objective. Patients also consider it a relief to not need contacts or glasses after laser surgery.
  
  

Risks and Complications

• As with any form of surgery, laser eye procedures are not totally risk free. The cornea changes that occur can never be reversed, and only a repeat of the same type of procedure can be performed for additional enhancement. For LASIK surgery, any mistake made in cutting the front corneal flap can result in permanent vision damage. Additionally, although it is uncommon, laser eye surgery can ruin a patient's "best" vision a year after the surgery is performed, according to WebMD's LASIK report. A patient's "best" vision is the vision achieved by the once-worn corrective eyewear of the patient.