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Difference between LASIK and Laser Eye Surgery. What is best for me?

Feb 2

Posted by samir in Are you a candidate for LASIK?, LASIK Alternatives | 9 Comments

There are several types of laser eye surgery; The most common are listed below:

a) Laser Photocoagulation for Retinal Treatment

b) Yag Laser Capsulotomy for After Cataract treatment

c) Laser Treatment for Glaucoma

d) Laser Vision Correction

LASIK is a type of Laser Vision Correction Surgery. Obviously a) through c) are not alternatives for LASIK. So I suppose that was not really your question.

There are different types of laser vision correction surgery. One is LASIK, the other is PRK, a third (similar to PRK) is LASEK or Epi-LASIK. While this is confusing, LASIK is the most popular, and over 90% of all laser vision correction surgery is LASIK. PRK and Epi-LASIK have more post-operative pain, and a longer visual recovery. Generally, they should be done when the cornea is thin, or there is some surface corneal disorder. Otherwise, LASIK is perhaps the best alternative.

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Refractive errors and Alternative Medicine

Aug 20

Posted by samir in LASIK Alternatives, Miscellaneous | No Comments

Someone asked me if there was some easy way, like having fish oil and vitamin E can improve eye sight. Are there other alternatives than LASIK to get rid of refractive errors?

There are two parts to the answer.

The first is whether your general ocular health can be improved by some form of alternative or conventional therapy. The other is whether the refractive error can be reduced by some form of alternative or conventional therapy other than LASIK.

To answer the first part, generally speaking, vitamins (especially vitamin A), and other anti-oxidants like zinc, would go some way towards improving your general ocular health. A healthy diet would similarly help. Similarly, exercise, some form of yoga, and so on should help. Generally, some therapy which improves your tear film stability and ocular surface, also goes a long way to giving you good vision. Improvement in the tear film can happen through many food sources, flax seed oil (or omega-3 fatty acid containing oils) is a good example.

The refractive error, which is the reason you need spectacles, is another issue. This is a physical thing, relating to the length of the eye, and the curvature of your cornea. This needs corneal flattening to correct, and is unlikely to be amenable to alternative cures. However, LASIK is only one way to flatten the cornea. Others include PRK (which is also done with a laser), and an older technique known as RK. It also includes Conductive Keratoplasty (for certain types of errors), or or orthokeratology or intra corneal implants, and changing the natural lens with an artificial one.

Having said all this, for the normal range of refractive errors, LASIK is the safest, most common, and most effective treatment.

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Which Procedure is Better-LASIK or PRK?

Jul 8

Posted by samir in LASIK Alternatives | No Comments

PRK was introduced several years before LASIK, but today LASIK is more popular than PRK. There are several reasons for this:

a) PRK is more painful than LASIK, especially on the first day after surgery. This pain can be excruciating sometimes.

b) Vision Recovery after LASIK is much faster than with PRK. With LASIK, one can be back to work or studies or whatever within a day, which is not possible with PRK. Vision after PRK returns to normal only over several weeks.

c) LASIK requires fewer post-operative visits to the eye doctor than PRK. This is also more convenient.

d) Especially for higher refractive errors, PRK can sometimes lead to a severe inflammatory reaction characterized by corneal haze and a regression of the eye correction acheived.

Because of all these reasons, LASIK is far more popular than PRK.

However, there are certain times when PRK is preferred over LASIK – a) when one has a thin cornea, a situation in which LASIK has more risk than PRK b) when one has moderate to severe dry eye, because LASIK causes more dry eye than PRK, c) when one has a corneal epithelial disorder, because PRK will also correct the epithelial disorder, and d) when one wants to leave no trace of surgery, because lasik can leave faint marks on the cornea which are visible under high magnification.

Some of these debates have become superficial as thin flap LASIK or SBK becomes more like PRK in terms of dry eye and corneal thickness, and techniques like Advanced Surface Ablation make PRK become more like LASIK in terms of pain and visual recovery.

I think it is important to choose your laser vision correction provider well-not someone who is dogmatic over the procedure to do, but someone who chooses the procedure (PRK or LASIK) which is right for you.

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