Laser eye surgeries are performed to repair any eye defects, so you no longer need to wear glasses or contact lenses.Laser eye surgery can eliminate or minimize many eye defects with great success.
It can cure many eye defects such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia.
The most widely used method of laser therapy in the world is LASIK therapy. Correct focus and clear vision are achieved by reshaping the cornea, which is the transparent layer of the eye, with the laser beam programmed by the computer according to the degree of visual impairment.
There are 3 main types of laser eye surgery: LASIK, SMILE and surface laser treatments.
LASIK – this is done with 2 lasers, one to open up a thin flap in the surface of the cornea, and another to reshape the cornea underneath. The protective flap is then smoothed back over and stays in place without stitches.
SMILE – the surgeon reshapes your cornea through a small, self-sealing hole.
Surface laser treatments (PRK, LASEK and TransPRK) – the clear skin covering the cornea is removed so the surgeon can reshape your cornea with a laser. The skin then grows back naturally.
All 3 types of laser eye surgery have similar results. Your surgeon will talk through your options with you and help you decide on the most beneficial treatment for you.
Trifocal intraocular lenses
Artificial lens implants have been part of modern eye surgery for many decades. Referred to by surgeons as intraocular lenses (IOLs), these tiny implants replace the natural lens of the eye, which is removed during cataract surgery.
However, these lenses are being used more frequently as a primary vision correction procedure for people in the 40+ age range, as they would not benefit from laser eye surgery to free them from glasses.
Designed to replace the natural focusing power of the eye, early artificial lenses were limited in their ability to adjust vision from one distance to another. Today, lens technology has improved to the point where over 40-year-olds can be virtually free from glasses.
These latest-generation lenses are called trifocals because they offer clear vision at middle distances, which is generally anything at arm’s length. This is in addition to providing near and far vision.
What’s more, trifocal lenses allow a person to switch effortlessly between all three distances – near (reading) distance, long distance, and everything in between. Vision is clear at all those points – something the previous multifocal IOLs couldn’t achieve.