Lasik Overview Services in Southeast Idaho
In Lasik Overview, we are concerned with the cornea, which is the central front surface of the eye. (A contact lens rests directly on the cornea.) The cornea plays an important role in focusing light rays from objects onto the retina. A cornea that is too steep focuses light in front of the retina, causing myopia or nearsightedness. A cornea that is too flat focuses light behind the retina, causing hyperopia or farsightedness. Astigmatism results from irregular degrees of corneal curvature. The bottom line is that an incorrectly shaped cornea creates an image that is not perfectly focused on the retina and has poor vision results. This is where Lasik comes in.
LASIK (Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis) is a procedure that uses an excimer laser to reshape the cornea with extreme accuracy by removing (“ablating”) microscopic layers of tissue. First, a circular flap is created on the front part of the cornea using either a femtosecond laser or a mechanical microkeratome. The creation of the flap allows the laser to access the middle layers of corneal tissue while preserving the integrity of the front surface of the cornea. The superficial flap is lifted, and the laser is used to remove a precise amount of underlying tissue to change the curvature. The flap is then repositioned and adheres without stitches within a couple of minutes. The corneal shape is thus changed while the integrity of the front surface is preserved.
Contact our office at
208-238-3377 to find out if you are a good candidate for this procedure.