Incidence of visual impairments have been growing globally and the only thing that can minimize if not totally eradicate this is using laser eye surgery. This method involves the use of laser beams in correcting the visual injury of a patient. It is best suited for individuals who do not want to be dependent in using glasses and contact lenses.

PRK vs. LASIK
The operation would only take less than one hour and will not necessarily require complete anaesthetic injections. However there are factors that have to be considered before you can undergo the operations. That is why you ought to have consulted you physician before deciding to pursue with the surgery. Among other surgeries, if you are experiencing, nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism then you can choose either to undertake laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) or photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). These two surgical operations are one of the most preferred among others due to its proven benefit and gains. The major difference of the two lies in the way the stroma is reached and exposed before cauterized with the laser beam. In PRK, the corneal epithelium is chafed away and expose the stromal layer below while in LASIK, the flap is cut and flap is folded back. This just implies that LASIK triggers more damage to the integrity of the cornea as compared to PRK.

Laser Eye Treatment
The progress of advancement of laser technology in eye surgery was made possible by a Spanish ophthalmologist around 1950’s. It was then developed in Russia during 1970’s until Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to test the use of excimer laser in reshaping the cornea of a patient suffering from visual impairment. The test was successful but more results were gathered and more experiments were done until in 1998, FDA approved the use of PRK for correcting low visual acuity and blindness.

Since then and up to this very moment, laser eye surgery has been of great help in the field of medicine. However controversies and arguments have been thrown towards this new technology. According to the study, laser eye surgery can result to high order aberrations or visual problems like starbursts, halos, double vision and arrays of post-operative complications. It can also cause dry eyes, ghost images, erosion of epithelium, striae in flap, and light sensitivity among others.

Whether or not this operation is good, it will be up to each of you to weigh the advantage and disadvantage of using it. It will be best to be knowledgeable about this subject matter in order to fully grasp the whole scenario and decide for yourself.

Above everything else, it is still best to avoid any harm done to your eyes and prevent acceding to diseases that may result to visual impairment and worst, permanent blindness.