Understanding Refractive Surgery and Vision Impairment Allows for Informed Decisions
At Eye Care Associates in Minneapolis, we strongly believe in patient education before they undergo any treatment or surgery. This involves open discussions, receiving written materials and having ample opportunities to ask questions and receive answers that assist patients in their decision making regarding refractive surgery. We feel it is very important that patients understand the basic structure of the eye, and the types of eye conditions (or refractive errors). Having a fundamental understanding of the eye and the types of refractive procedures that are utilized to address vision errors, allows the individual patient to make an informed decision regarding laser vision correction.
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Anatomy of the Eye
Understanding the basic elements of the eye can provide you with greater insight into the function and purpose of your vision impairment treatment. The eye is made up of several basic elements: the cornea, the lens, the iris, and the retina. Refractive procedures utilize a laser to reshape the cornea, as the cornea provides 60 percent of the light-bending power, and thus focusing power, of the eye. By modifying the shape of the cornea, the light entering the eye can be manipulated in such a way that clarity of vision is improved. We invite you to reference our page on the Anatomy of the Eye for more detailed information.
Refractive Surgery
Vision impairment treatment can be accomplished with corrective lenses or with refractive surgery. Though corrective lenses are a simple and effective solution to impaired vision, many patients opt for surgical procedures because the results are long-term and eliminate or reduce the need for glasses and contact lenses. This is possible because refractive surgery permanently reshapes the cornea through the use of an excimer laser. First tested in 1983, the excimer laser can vaporize corneal tissue without heat or scarring, and so is uniquely able to modify the cornea without damaging the eye. LASIK surgery and PRK surgery are the two most common methods of refractive surgery, but we focus on PRK procedures as Dr. Sher recognizes that the many benefits of PRK surgery make it the right option for the majority of our patients.
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