Is Lasik in your future?

Millions of Americans turn to Lasik Surgery when their vision is less than perfect and they're tired of being tied down to wearing glasses or contacts. What part of the eye is it that may be causing all your vision trouble? Your cornea! When the shape of your cornea is irregular, the image on your retina is blurry and out-of-focus. The cornea is a part of your eye that works to focus light and projects an image on the retina. This focusing of light is called refraction. The 3 main types of refractive errors are myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism. If you are nearsighted, you have trouble seeing distant objects. If you are farsighted, you have trouble seeing things close up. Astigmatism is caused by irregularities in the surface of the cornea or lens and causes the image on the retina to be distorted. It's not uncommon for a person to have a combination of all 3 refractive errors, myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Before Lasik Surgery, glasses and contact lenses were the main ways to compensate for your eye's imperfections.

What exactly is Lasik?

Lasik stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis. Keratomileusis is the carving of the cornea in order to reshape it. As the laser reshapes the cornea, it changes the angle at which you see images and therefore strengthens your vision significantly. This reshaping adjusts and strengthens the power of your cornea to focus on objects near and far. If you are nearsighted, your doctor uses the laser to flatten your cornea that is too-steep. If you are farsighted, your doctor uses the laser to make your cornea steeper because it is too flat. For astigmatism, the laser can be used to smooth an irregular cornea into a more smooth shape. There are few other procedures like Lasik Eye Surgery that can give you these amazing results and permanently change the shape of your cornea in just minutes.

OK, I'm convinced, now what?

Start by talking to family, friends and co-workers. Who do you know that has had Lasik Surgery? Did they have a good outcome? How long were they out of work? How much did they pay? Did they have to pay the total price prior to the surgery? Would they recommend their surgeon to you? Then armed with this information, begin researching what surgeon you would like to schedule an initial consultation with. Ask lots of questions and keep a notebook of all the details that you learn. You've taken your first step toward better vision with Lasik Surgery!