If your vision is less than perfect, you may wear glasses or contact lenses to help you see more clearly. But for many people, vision correction (refractive) surgery is an option, too.
If you’ve considered eyesight laser surgery, refractive eye surgery might be able to improve your eyesight and decrease your dependence on glasses or contacts.
Refractive surgery adjusts where light focuses in the back of your eye, so it more precisely hits your retina. This surgery sharpens your vision so you can depend less on glasses or contact lenses.
There are many types of refractive surgery. Some involve reshaping the cornea — the clear dome in the front of the eye. Other methods involve implanting a lens (much like a contact lens) in the eye.
Refractive surgery can help improve your vision permanently. But you may still need to wear corrective lenses at certain times. You might need them when driving at night or reading small print (if over the age of 40).
Refractive surgery can help correct:
Refractive surgery is suitable for people who:
Only your eye doctor can tell you if refractive surgery is right for you.
To start, you'll need a baseline eye exam. Be sure to tell your eye doctor about any past and present health issues and any medicines you take.
After this exam, your doctor can suggest the best type of refractive surgery — if any — for your sight issue. They can also explain the pros and cons of each technique.
Vision correction surgery can help many people, but it's not for everyone.
You might be a good candidate for refractive surgery if you want to decrease your dependence on glasses or contacts.
Other factors that might make you a suitable candidate include if you:
To learn more or schedule an appointment, call us at 412-642-5421 or fill out the form below.
UPMC Vision Institute offers vision laser treatment for people who want to end their dependence on glasses or contacts to see clearly.
Your eye doctor can discuss what type of eye surgery is best to correct your vision. They may suggest a form of laser or non-laser surgery.
The types of laser eye surgeries include:
LASIK is not only the most common laser eye surgery, but it is also the world’s most popular elective procedure, with more than 28 million surgeries performed worldwide.
The primary aim of LASIK is to correct refractive errors to improve vision. This surgery can potentially reduce or even eliminate the need for eyeglasses or contact lenses.
LASIK eye surgery changes the way light rays focus on the retina. Doctors use a laser to create a flap in the front of the cornea. They then lift the flap and sculpt the underlying cornea to change its curvature.
It is used to treat conditions such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism.
When it first gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, PRK quickly became the preferred surgical treatment for refractive errors in the eye. It offered more predictable and stable outcomes compared to the prior treatment, incisional keratotomy. However, PRK’s popularity declined as LASIK gained traction.
Although LASIK is the most commonly performed visual refractive surgery, there are still specific situations where PRK may be the better option.
In PRK, doctors use eye drops to numb the eyes and then remove the surface layer of the cornea. This layer grows back after a few days. They use a laser to reshape the front of the cornea to correct mild to moderate nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.
Doctors sometimes advise PRK instead of LASIK if you have thin corneas.
SMILE is a newer but highly regarded laser refractive surgery to correct myopia and myopic astigmatism. Also known as refractive lenticule extraction (RLE), the procedure has gained popularity among refractive surgeons for its high patient satisfaction and reduced post-op dry eye.
In a SMILE procedure, the surgeon uses a femtosecond laser to precisely form a tiny disc of tissue — called a lenticule — inside the cornea. Then they make a small incision and remove the lenticule through this opening, reshaping the cornea to improve vision affected by nearsightedness or astigmatism.
Unlike LASIK eye surgery, SMILE doesn’t require a corneal flap. This makes it a bladeless, minimally invasive option that may reduce certain risks.
Ways to correct vision without using lasers include:
The surgeon will insert a very thin, flexible Collamer lens (like a contact lens) under the iris. The Collamer lens helps focus the light on the retina correctly to treat moderate to high degrees of nearsightedness and astigmatism. Surgeons prefer to use this technique in people with dry eyes and thin corneas.
Refractive surgery refers to a range of surgical procedures designed to correct vision issues. LASIK is a form of refractive surgery. While all LASIK procedures are refractive surgeries, not all refractive surgeries are LASIK.
LASIK uses a laser to address vision issues stemming from refractive errors that occur when the eye does not refract (bend) light correctly. During LASIK, an ophthalmologist uses a laser to reshape the cornea, enhancing the way light is focused on the retina.
Yes, refractive surgery — especially LASIK — is considered very safe. LASIK is one of the most thoroughly studied elective procedures, with more than 20 million surgeries performed in the U.S. and a patient satisfaction rate above 96%.
Sight-threatening complications are extremely rare, occurring in less than 1% of cases. Decades of research, including thousands of FDA trial participants and more than 7,000 peer-reviewed studies, have helped refine patient selection and improve techniques to minimize side effects.
Refractive surgery is an outpatient procedure, so you won't spend the night in the hospital.
Here are some of the things you can expect when you have vision correction surgery.
If you use contact lenses, stop wearing them two to three weeks before your baseline exam and a few days before surgery. Contact lenses can cause a reversible change in the shape of your cornea. That's why it's vital to keep them out.
The day before surgery, you should stop:
Your doctor will numb your eye, but you'll be awake during the treatment.
Doctors perform LASIK and PRK in the office, while they do ICL surgery in the operating room.
Post-op, as the eyes heal, you may:
After your laser eye surgery, you'll need to:
It's best to take a few days off work to help your eyes heal.
For at least six months after surgery, you'll have routine visits with your eye doctor. They will check your eyes and test your vision.
Like any surgery, refractive eye surgeries have post-operative risks and complications.
According to the National Institutes of Health, 99.5% of eyes surgically corrected with LASIK achieve 20/40 vision or better. While many people experience temporary side effects after the surgery, there is a small number of patients whose side effects are persistent after LASIK.
Side effects of LASIK may include:
Side effects after PRK may include:
Side effects of SMILE may include:
Chat Keywords List
