Custom LASIK- All you need to Know About

What is Custom laser Correction or Custom LASIK?

Custom laser correction is a type of surgery that corrects the vision using a guided laser to reshape the cornea of the eye. As a result, it refracts light correctly back to the retina, creating a clear image of the world. Another name for this procedure is Lasik surgery, where LASIK stands for laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis.

This procedure has proved helpful to millions of around the globe in correcting common vision problems like short-sightedness, long-sightedness, and astigmatism.

Technology behind Custom LASIK

Wavefront Technology is used in custom LASIK to measure the way in which light travels through your eye. This technology performs a detailed scanning of your eye that studies the complete optical system.

The instrument used provides information about the special visual characteristics of your eye, allowing for an additional level of data about your vision. The data is then used to guide the laser during your Custom LASIK laser vision correction procedure for optimal results.

You have a refractory error when your eye doesn’t refract light correctly. The light rays must travel through the cornea and lens for an individual to see properly. It refracts the light, and lands on the retina.

The retina turns light into signals that proceed to the brain and become images. Due to the refractive errors, the shape of your cornea or lens prevents light from bending sufficiently. When light is not appropriately focused on the retina, your vision is blurry.

In LASIK, the ophthalmologist uses a laser to change the shape of your cornea. This procedure improves the way light rays are focused on the retina.

The goal of LASIK is to correct the above mentioned refractive error to improve vision. LASIK may reduce the need for contact lenses or eyeglasses. Though in some cases, it may even allow you to do without them completely.

How custom LASIK works?

The LASIK procedure is performed by highly qualified ophthalmologists. Here is the outline of the general process.

1. The Anesthetic eye drops are put into the eye.

2. A protective flap is then created by the LASIK surgeon to access the inner corneal tissue. When the flap is created, you can see the laser’s flashing fixation light and the bright lights that are used for this process. During this part of the procedure, the vision dims and becomes blurry for about a minute.

3. Next, computer-controlled pulses of cold laser light are received by the inner layers of the cornea. As the laser light gently reshapes the inner corneal layer, it makes a clicking sound. And, in order to ensure precise correction, an eye-tracking device tracks the eye movements.

4. Subsequent to the reshaping of the corneal tissue, the LASIK surgeon precisely repositions and places the flap to the position it originally was. Protective shields are then placed over the eye to forbid any accidental rubbing as the flap gets healed naturally and securely over in the next few hours.

5. After this LASIK eye surgery procedure, patients feel mild discomfort and irritation for a few hours, but most of them are comfortable after a nap and rest.

Types of LASIK

Since everyone’s eyes are different, so a good consultation before the doctor can help you determine the type of your and the surgery best suited for it.

BLADELESS LASIK

While performing bladeless LASIK, the LASIK surgeon uses a gentle laser to create a corneal flap. The Bladeless technology allows the LASIK surgeon to better customize the corneal flap for each patient, suiting their eye type. As the name goes by, no blades are used in this kind of laser eye surgery.

CUSTOM LASIK

LASIK is a perfect choice for many eye patients. It is a laser vision correction procedure that helps your LASIK surgeon further customize the correction to your eyes. LASIK surgeons are able to focus accurately on the quantity and the quality of your vision, resulting in vision clearer and sharper than ever before.

Advantages of Custom LASIK

1. There are several advantages of custom LASIK surgery over traditional LASIK surgery. Wavefront technology allows your eye customization where the lasers remove tissue from the cornea, taking your cornea’s individual shape and irregularities into account.

2. Custom LASIK not just improve vision problems, but it also improves contrast sensitivity and fine vision, thereby improving your vision quality.

3. In custom LASIK, the traditional side effects of surgery like irritation, blur vision, and many others are less likely to occur and are not permanent.

4. Custom LASIK significantly improves night vision problems.

5. In Custom LASIK, the wavefront device makes very detailed measurements of the curvature of the front surface of the eye, preserving the natural shape of the cornea, which reduces the risk of a higher-order aberration called spherical aberration.

Disadvantage of Custom LASIK

Every procedure has its positive and negative aspects. Here are some of the disadvantages of Custom LASIK.

1. Custom LASIK can be costlier in comparison to the traditional LASIK.

2. A perfect 20/20 vision cannot be secured in some cases.

3. There might be problems after the surgery, especially when the patient crosses the age of 40, as presbyopia becomes more likely.

4. Though after the surgery, the patients no longer have to wear glasses or contacts. However, in some cases, they may need corrective wear for reading or driving, depending on what the refractive error was before the procedure.