| Lasik Surgery - taking the mystery out of | | | | and may need to wear bifocals to read. |
| nearsightedness | | | | For those with moderate to high myopia who elect |
| Nearsightedness, known as myopia, can be caused | | | | to have Lasik surgery, they may find that Lasik |
| by one of two conditions. The cornea or crystalline | | | | surgery corrects their distance vision but they may |
| lens is too powerful or the eyeball is too long and | | | | still need bifocals for reading. Many patients find that |
| shaped more like an oval than a sphere. Both of | | | | this is a good trade off because it eliminates the |
| these conditions cause the image you are viewing to | | | | need for wearing glasses or contacts when they |
| be projected in front of the retina instead of on the | | | | drive, go sight seeing on vacation and participate in |
| retina, where it belongs for clear vision. Young | | | | sports. They only need to wear glasses when they |
| children with myopia may need stronger and stronger | | | | read or do close up work. For most, this is a |
| glasses because the length of their eyeball continues | | | | compromise they are happy to make. |
| to grow as they grow and the images become | | | | A well shaped cornea allows light to focus through |
| farther out of focus. Myopia for some adults | | | | the pupil evenly and the light rays display on the |
| stabilizes in their late 20s. | | | | retina in an even pattern. With a normal, but less |
| People with myopia cannot see objects clearly in the | | | | perfect cornea, the light focuses through the pupil |
| distance and their crystalline lens is not able to adjust | | | | unevenly at varying angles. To correct myopia, the |
| their focus automatically for them. They are able to | | | | surgeon uses a laser to flatten the corneal curve of |
| see near objects clearly which is where the term | | | | the eye to reduce its focusing strength. The laser |
| nearsighted came from. There are 3 categories of | | | | thins the center of the cornea by vaporizing a small |
| myopia; low myopia, moderate myopia and high | | | | amount of tissue (less than the thickness of a human |
| myopia. As myopic persons age, those with low | | | | hair). This change to the cornea, allows the image to |
| myopia may find it easier to read by removing their | | | | be projected on the retina where it belongs. With |
| glasses. But in contrast, those with moderate to high | | | | Lasik surgery, your nearsightedness can be a 'thing of |
| myopia, find their near vision is limited as they age | | | | the past'. |
