Types of Eye Surgery
Eye surgery, also referred to as ophthalmic or ocular surgery, is a type of surgical procedure that is performed on the eye or the surrounding tissues. There are a number of different types of eye surgeries including refractive surgery, corneal surgery, glaucoma surgery, cataract surgery, and oculoplastic (cosmetic) surgery.
Refractive surgery
The goal of refractive surgery is to improve a patients vision. An individual who is either nearsighted or farsighted has a refractive error in the interior of their eye. Light entering the eye does not properly focus on the retina, instead focusing in front of the retina in nearsighted individuals or behind the retina in farsighted individuals. The result is that viewed images appear blurry and out of focus. Refractive surgery corrects this error, allowing light to focus directly on the retina, thereby improving vision and eliminating the need for corrective lenses.
There are numerous methods of refractive surgery, the most popular of which are LASIK (laser assisted in-situ keratomileusis), LASEK (laser assisted sub-epithelial keratomileusis) as known as Epi-LASIK, PRK (Photorefractive...