Astigmatism Laser eye surgery
Astigmatism surgery options
1. Laser-assisted In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)
LASIK eye surgery is the most popular choice of eye surgery for those who have astigmatism. The operation will involve having a thin flap created on your eye and then the ophthalmologist will fold it in order to be able to remodel the tissue beneath the flap with a laser. The flap is then repositioned and your eye will have time to heal during your post-operation.
2. Photo Refractive Keratectomy (PRK)
The main purpose of PRK is to reduce the patient’s dependency on glasses and/or contacts. PRK permanently changes the shape of your cornea by using a laser, much like LASIK surgery. This particular type of surgery has a limited healing time and there will be no loss of clarity between your operation and during your post-operation.
3. Laser Epithelial Keratomileusis (LASEK)
LASEK surgery and PRK are almost the exact same surgery due to the fact that the astigmatism correction is done by using the same technique. Although they are almost identical, there are still minor differences between them. During PRK surgery, the epithelium layer is removed but during LASEK it isn’t, instead they use an alcoholic solution to cause the cells in the epithelium to deteriorate and then the surgeon will fold it back by hand instead of using a laser.
4. Laser Thermo Keratoplasty (LTK)
LTK is commonly known as a laser refractive surgery that uses absolutely no contact. They use a laser to place a ring of laser burns on your cornea and they make the cornea steepen so that the eye can focus better. Over time, the procedure may deteriorate and so you may slowly be brought back to your original astigmatism vision.