All surgical procedures carry a potential risk. Laser Vision Correction, in the hands of an experienced eye surgeon, is very low in risk. This risk is extremely small (ex: less than the risk associated with extended wear contact lenses). Therefore the FDA has released its approval as 'safe and effective'. Nonetheless, all patients should be well informed of the risks of treatment and follow their pre-operative and post-operative instructions carefully.

Early work in PRK began in 1983 in New York City. Since the late 1980's large scale US, Canadian, and European studies have demonstrated its high safety and effectiveness. LASIK, as a refined variation of PRK, has been available since the late 1980's.

Patients who qualify by meeting the doctor's selection criteria have a 98.5% likelihood of achieving 20/40 or better natural vision. 20/50 is the level of distance vision required to pass a driver's test without restriction.

Myopia and nearsightedness mean the same thing. A myopic patient only sees clearly in the distance with the help of corrective lenses. This is because the cornea, in myopia, is curved too much. This causes the light rays entering the eye to be focused too much, such that the light rays come to a focus before they reach the retina. The reason this condition is called 'nearsightedness' is because light from near objects requires more focusing and thus myopic patients can see these near objects better.

Astigmatism is a condition that occurs when the cornea has more than one curvature. These multiple curvatures bend light differently, and blurred vision is the result. Excimer lasers reduce astigmatism by flattening the steep areas. The word astigmatism means 'a' without, and stigma point of focus, indicating that the multiple curves of the cornea do not permit the light rays to be focused at a single point.

Hyperopia occurs when the cornea is too flat. Light rays are not focused enough by the relaxed eye, so distance objects may be blurred. Many farsighted patients can change the focus of the lens within the eye to provide the extra focusing power needed to make distance objects sharper. Since this focusing power is normally reserved for reading, farsighted patients may experience reading difficulty (presbyopia) at an earlier age than the rest of the population.

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Patients qualify if they are over 18 years of age and have a stable prescription for one year. Pregnant or nursing patients must wait 3 months to receive correction. You may schedule a no-charge LASIK consultation to see if you are a good candidate.

This means that at the distance of 20 feet, the smallest letter that you can see can be seen by a normal eye 200 feet away.

The goal of laser vision correction is to decrease your total dependence on corrective lenses by giving you vision between 20/20 to 20/40. With this vision, people generally perform their daily activities without corrective lenses.

During the LASIK procedure topical anesthetic drops are used to anesthetize the cornea. A speculum is inserted to hold open the eyelids for you. A suction ring is applied to the eye to keep it steady. A microkeratome is then applied to the suction ring to create a flap of corneal tissue. The flap is lifted out of the path of the laser beam in order for laser to reshape the tissue below. After the laser treatment, the flap is repositioned permitting rapid improvement in the comfort, healing, and vision. There are modifications of the LASIK technique which may not require flap creation. Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) may be appropriate for patients with thinner corneal tissue. Corneal tissue measurements are taken prior to surgery.

In PRK the laser is used to reshape the surface. No flap is created. Just the surface epithelial cells are removed and the laser beam is applied. After, a bandage soft contact lens is inserted. This enhances healing of the cornea by protecting the epithelium (surface layer). As the epithelium heals the corneal surface begins to become smoother and vision becomes sharper. Because the surface must become smooth for vision to improve, the initial healing period for PRK is about 4 days which differs from the initial LASIK healing period which is 1 day.