Refractive Surgery
Offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Norman, Ada, Elk City, Muskogee and throughout Oklahoma
Refractive surgery refers to any surgical procedure performed to reduce or eliminate the need for glasses or contacts. Recently, LASIK has become the most popular refractive surgery, but there are many different types of refractive surgery procedures.
During laser vision correction, a laser is used to adjust the shape of your cornea so that light enters your eye correctly, and allows you to see clearly. One of the first forms of laser refractive surgery, or laser vision correction, is Photorefractive Keratectomy, or PRK.
During the PRK, and all laser vision correction procedures, your ophthalmologist will numb your eyes with anesthetizing eye drops so that you don't feel any pain or discomfort, and use a special device to hold your eyelids open.
For the PRK procedure, your ophthalmologist will use an excimer laser to remove very small amounts of corneal tissue from the front of the eye. Depending on the severity of your prescription, the PRK procedure may take shorter or longer, but on average, it only lasts a few minutes.
LASIK, as opposed to PRK, is a more modern version of laser refractive surgery. The difference between the LASIK and PRK refractive surgery procedures is that during the PRK procedure, the laser is used directly on the outer layer of cells on the cornea. In LASIK, a device called a "microkeratome" is used to create a small flap on the outside of the cornea, allowing the laser to correct the corneal tissue, and then covering the corrected cornea with the flap of tissue, creating a sort of natural band-aid.
The advantage of LASIK over procedures like PRK is that the recovery time is much less than that of PRK. Patients are usually able to see results from their LASIK procedure the very next day. Also, the LASIK procedure has very little post operative discomfort.
Since the rise and popularity growth of LASIK, newer refractive procedures have been developed that allow patients with even more severe refractive problems to improve their vision through laser vision correction.
Custom LASIK is a more advanced and individualized form of the LASIK procedure. During a Custom LASIK procedure, a computer mapping software, called Wavefront, measures your eye and produces a 3-D image of the shape of your cornea. This allows you ophthalmologist to make much more precise correction, and giving you the most individual improvements in your vision possible.
If you would like to learn more about PRK, LASIK, Custom LASIK, or any other refractive surgery, contact the experienced ophthalmologists at BVA to schedule your refractive evaluation.
See Better. Live Better.
(405) 752-2733
(888) 323-3937
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