Medical term for far or long-sightedness is hyperopia and people who have this condition can see objects that are distant but they have difficulty in distinguishing objects that are relatively close to them. The problem of far-sightedness can be solved with surgery. Nowadays, more and more people decide on laser surgery, mostly because it is one of the most precise surgery techniques with very little risk involved. In this procedure, the curve of the cornea is increased so that focusing power is improved. The bright side of laser surgery is that it is not invasive, in a sense that instruments don’t enter the eye, which is why eye infections are not common in this type of surgery.
Three types of laser surgery
Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is the first type, and in this process, a small part of cornea is taken out, while the tissue is removed with the laser help. The final thing is changing of cornea and leaving it to heal from the surgery. Another laser type that is called Laser epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK), and it is similar to the previous one with a slight difference. In this procedure, a small amount of alcohol is used in order to lose the external part of cornea. The rest of laser surgery is the same as the PRK. At the end, the cornea is returned to its previous place. The third type of laser surgery is yet similar to the second and is called laser in situ keratectomy (LASIK). In this type a small flap of cornea is involved.
The good thing about laser surgery is that it doesn’t require much of your time. An overnight in the hospital isn’t necessary and the process takes only 30 minutes to one hour of your time. But, you can not solve the problem with one visit to the clinic; more appointments are necessary if you want to get rid of far-sightedness. The most frequently used method of laser surgery is LASIK, because it is very effective and painless, but a period of one month must pass before you can see the full benefit of LASIK surgery. Not everyone can undergo LASIK surgery; only patients whose cornea it tick can do this surgery. Others can do LASEK or PRK laser surgery, but they have to have in mind that the healing time is longer than in the case of LASIK surgery.
Laser surgery is not recommended for everybody. There are some who can not have laser surgery. Young people who are under 21 are not advised to have laser surgery as their vision is still changing. People who are over 21 must also consult their doctor if their vision is still changing. Other conditions that can make you an undesirable candidate for laser surgery are diabetes, pregnancy or breastfeeding and other eye problems.
Complications due to laser surgery are very rare, but just in case we will mention one of them - wrong surgeon’s estimation of the amount of cornea tissue that is removed resulting in infection.
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