Alternatives to Lasik Eye Surgery

Lasik eye surgery involves using a laser to reshape the cornea to correct vision problems. According to USA Eyes, Lasik surgery has become the most frequently performed surgery in the United States. The basic procedure involves cutting a tiny flap in the corneal tissue so that the laser can burn away or reshape parts of the cornea in order to correct defects that cause nearsightedness or farsightedness. The flap then heals quickly on its own in most cases. However, before you decide to undergo this surgery, consider some of the alternatives.

Non-Surgical Alternatives

• USA Eyes cautions that although Lasik surgery is successful in a large number of patients, there can be complications--both with the flap cut in the corneal tissue and with the reshaping itself. Some patients experience pain, loss of vision, a halo effect, problems seeing at night or sensitivity to light. As USA Eyes points out, once you have Lasik surgery--or any eye surgery--you cannot go back and reverse it. Any change to your eye is, in most cases, permanent, and if that change is negative, you will have to live with it or have additional surgery to correct it.
  If you chose to avoid eye surgery, you can use contact lenses or eyeglasses to correct your vision. Some patients also attempt vision therapy to obtain a more permanent correction without contacts or glasses. This is a form of physical therapy that involves exercising the eyes in order to correct vision problems. Vision therapy should be done under the care of a vision healthcare professional who can customize an exercise plan to resolve your specific vision difficulties.

Other Types of Laser Surgery

• Although Lasik has become the "big name" in laser surgery, it is not the only option for laser surgery. There are actually three other types of laser surgery: Lasek, Epi-Lasik and PRK.
  PRK was actually the first type of laser eye surgery performed, and involves using an excimer laser to reshape the cornea by causing individual layers of the cornea to fall apart. PRK does not cut a flap in the cornea like Lasik does, and as a result the cornea may respond badly to this surgery and a side effect called "corneal haze" may develop. The benefit of not having a flap and flap-related complications is thus outweighed in most cases by the fact that the cornea tends to respond poorly to the damage inflicted by PRK, while in Lasik surgery the cornea is "unaware" that it has been damaged at all.
  Epi-Lasik and Lasek both use surface ablation--scraping the cornea--instead of a flap. Instead of cutting a flap in the top layer of the cornea (the epithelial layer), the layer is removed prior to performing the ablation (the scraping and reshaping of the cornea).

Lens Exchange

• Another alternative to laser eye surgeries involves implanting lenses. One procedure, called Clear Lens Exchange, or CLE, involves removing your own lens and implanting a plastic intraocular or silicone lens. The procedure is similar to the surgery done on cataracts patients, but is intended to correct refraction defects instead of cataracts. The cornea isn't harmed or altered in CLE, but the recovery period is usually much longer than with Lasik surgery since the procedure is more invasive.