Lasik surgery

Posted on 17 September 2015

Once upon a time, the only way you could improve your vision was to wear specs or contact lenses. No more! Lasik surgery means excellent eyesight – and no more glasses.

Lasik (or Laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis) is used to permanently correct a number of eyesight defects. During the procedure, an ophthalmologist uses a highly specialised laser to reshape the cornea – the front surface – of the eye. With just a local anaesthetic, the painless procedure takes about 10 minutes per eye, and no aftercare is required.

Am I a suitable candidate for Lasik, and what other options are there if I’m not?
The first step is to have a thorough exam by an ophthalmologist, who will discuss which procedure will be the best treatment for your eye. Depending on family history, the type of visual correction needed and other factors, a decision will be made about whether you’re a suitable candidate. Not everyone qualifies for Lasik, perhaps due to thin corneas or exceptionally dry eyes, among other factors. Alternative laser options include PRK (photo-refractive keratectomy – the method originally used about 20 years ago), epi-lasik or trans PRK (in which no instruments or chemicals make direct contact with the eye).

With all these procedures, the end result is the same, but it might take a little longer to recover and you might experience some mild post-operative discomfort.

If you don’t qualify for any laser procedure, one option suggested by Dr Dylan Joseph, an ophthalmologist at Mediclinic Plettenberg Bay, is where the surgeon removes your own crystalline lens and replaces it with an acrylic one (depending on your age) or implants another lens on top of your existing lens, thus negating the error in your eye.

There is also the option of multifocality (for those of us who are over 50 years old and find our arms are too short for reading, and whose distance vision is also not great). Multifocal laser ablations or multifocal intraocular lenses are one of the solutions in helping people over 50 become independent of spectacles. Monovision (one eye used for distance and the other for reading) is also an alternative solution to the ‘short arm’ problem but patients need to discuss this thoroughly with their ophthalmologist.

The information provided in this article was correct at the time of publishing. At Mediclinic we endeavour to provide our patients and readers with accurate and reliable information, which is why we continually review and update our content. However, due to the dynamic nature of clinical information and medicine, some information may from time to time become outdated prior to revision.