Our team of eyecare professionals have the experience necessary to perform pre-operative refractive surgery evaluations, as well as complete post-operative care. Please call the location nearest you for a LASIK evaluation.


THE MAIN LENS OF YOUR EYE IS INSIDE THE EYE?
NOT QUITE.
Some textbooks assume that the small lens found deep within the eyeball is the eye's main lens, and the cornea of the eye is simply a protective window. The textbook diagrams even depict light rays passing into the eye and only bending as they pass through this internal lens. But in the human eye, the small lens found within the eyeball is not the main imaging lens.

The cornea is actually the main lens; it is the strongly curved transparent front surface of the eye. Most of the bending of the light occurs at the place where the light enters the surface of the cornea. When you look at your eye in the mirror, you are looking directly at the eye's main lens. When you want to change the focusing power of your eye, you apply "contact lenses" to the cornea surface, or you undergo surgery which re-sculpts the cornea's curvature. The smaller lens inside the eye acts only to alter the focus of the eye as a whole. Muscles change its shape in order to correct the focus for near and far viewing. Without this small internal lens, human vision would be blurry, and vision would be unable to accommodate for near and far views. But without the cornea lens, [the human eye would be blind]

Without the cornea-lens, human vision would rely upon the pinhole-camera effect of the eye's pupil, and vision would be incredibly blurry. Open your eyes underwater in dimly-lit conditions to see what vision would be like without a cornea.


1. The LASIK technique involves surgically lifting up the first layer of the cornea with a special instrument, then sculpting the exposed inner corneal layer with the laser, and finally closing the corneal flap.

2. Lasik is a complicated surgical technique that requires a high degree of surgical skill and experience. However, it will probably become the technique of choice for patients with high degrees of refractive error.

3. Advantages:
• Eye drops are used as the anesthetic.
• Can correct for high amounts and unusual types of refractive errors.
• Does not appear to weaken the corneal structure in regard to possible future trauma.
• Lower risk of loss of central corneal transparency because the laser does not alter the outer corneal layer.
• Yields stable results over an extended time period.
• Little postoperative pain.
• Recovery time is shorter in comparison with traditional excimer laser surgery.

4. Disadvantages:
• Requires high surgical skill and experience.
• Can cause, especially initially after surgery, problems with night vision.
• Surgically involves the central cornea, or visual axis. Thus this technique should generally only be utilized when a moderate to high amount of refractive error exists.