Laser Eye Surgery Abroad
The cornea is a part of the eye that helps to concentrate light rays so that an acute and focused image is created on the retina (innermost layer at the back of the eyeball). This works very much the same way as a compact camera’s lens, which concentrates the entering light rays to create an image on film. The bending and the concentration of light are called refraction.
In case of normal vision light should bend in the eye exactly so that it concentrates on the right spot on the retina, but for many people either the shape of the cornea or the eye is not perfect. Thus, the image appearing on the retina is out of focus (blurry) or distorted. These shortcomings arising from the eye’s inability to focus are called refraction errors.
Primary refraction errors can be divided into three types: myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism. People with myopia or shortsightedness have it harder to see clearly objects in the distance than objects close by. People with hypermetropia or farsightedness experience difficulties with seeing correctly objects closer than observing them from afar. Astigmatism is the distortion of the image appearing on the retina, which is caused by inaccuracies in the shape of the cornea or the lens. People with vision problems have usually combinations of myopia and astigmatism or hypermetropia and astigmatism.
Glasses or contact lenses are created to compensate for the eye’s defective work, but the eye’s ability to focus can also be improved through a laser procedure. This field of surgery is called refractive surgery and The Health Clinic uses the following operational techniques: LASIK and Epi-K. During these procedures a small amount of tissue is removed from the eye’s cornea with a special laser and the shape of the cornea is altered in order to achieve better focusing by the eye.
TECHNIQUES IN LASER SURGERY
What is LASIK?
LASIK is a laser procedure, which permanently changes the shape of the cornea in the frontal part of the eye’s transparent structure with an excimer laser. A special device called microkeratome is used to cut out a flap of the cornea, which is left attached to the cornea from one side. The flap is rolled aside and the corneal bed, stroma, is revealed underneath. Computer controlled impulses coming from the laser remove a part of the stroma and then the flap is pushed back to its place.
What is PRK?
Photorefractive keratectomy or PRK is the first surgical procedure developed to alter the shape of the cornea with a laser. The same laser is used to perform both LASIK and PRK, but the difference between the two is that in the case of LASIK only the middle layer of the cornea or stroma is altered. During a PRK procedure the cornea is not cut open, but instead the upper epithelia layer is scratched off to get to the stroma. Since LASIK procedure enables quicker recovery and more accuracy, the PRK technique is considered out of date and The Health Clinic does not use it to correct eye sight.
What is Epi-K?
Epi-K is basically the same as more frequently used term LASEK, and it is a relatively recent modification of the PRK technique. LASEK uses alcohol based solution to release the upper layer of the cornea, epithelia, which is set aside for the course of the procedure. With the newest form of LASEK, which is sometimes called also Epi-LASIK, a special microkeratome is used to detach the epithelia from the layers underneath. After the laser treatment the epithelia is put back to its original place.
Eye surgery is not suitable for everybody, who wants to get rid of glasses. Please write to us at clinic@thehealthclinic.eu so we can send you a „Patient Form“, which will give an overview of who qualifies for the surgery.
