Laser eye surgery and the epithelium
by Ryan Fyfe
Often times called ophthalmic surgery, eye surgery, is a
surgical procedure that is preformed on the eye or eye region. This type of
surgery, due to it's nature, is typically performed by an ophthalmatolgist;
hence the original name ophthalmic surgery.
There is several different types of eye surgery. The most
common are described below:
PRK (PhotoRefractive Keratectomy):
PRK surgery
is when the most oustide layer of the cornea is scraped away manually and an
excimer laser is used to reshape the tissues located underneath the surface of
the cornea. After the
corrective eye
surgery is done the outer layer must be grown back, in order for the eye to
be protected again. Due to this, PRK is known for having a large recovery time.
There as some advanced methods avaiable today that use a different excimer
laser which vaporizes the epthithelium, however it is not widely used.
LASEK (Laser Assisted Sub-Epithelial
Keratomileusis)
LASEK is advanced form of PRK(see below) that uses an
alcholic solution on the epithelium which softens the surface before it is
removed. With this procedure the epithelium can be replaces once the surgery is
finished.
Epi-LASEK
Epi-LASEK is similar to LASEK however
it uses a type of barrier to preserve the epithelium layer, which is then
replaced after the surgery. The reason for this extra step is to try and help
cut down post surgery discomfort, and increase the amount of time required for
healing.
As you can see their is several different methods of laser
eye surgery; These aren't even all of them! If you think that eye surgery might
be right for you, or are interested in obtaining more information it is
recommended to consult with your local physician and eye doctor.
Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of
Cheap Laser
Eye Surgery -
http://www.cheap-laser-eye-surgery.com, which is the best
site on the internet for all laser eye surgery related information.
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