There are many conditions that can affect the quality of ones eye sight but, for almost all of them, there is an effective treatment to hand. Certainly, the most modern treatment available today is laser eye surgery, a procedure that is neither as painful nor as expensive as one might think. And, the fact that it can be used for many of the conditions we are subject to, means it has the enviable reputation of being the procedure of choice. The LASIK surgical option is used to treat a wide a range of refractive defects in the eye, amongst the most common of which are myopia and hyperopia, or nearsightedness and farsightedness as they are more commonly called. Another common condition treated by laser surgery is glaucoma, where the optic nerve is damaged. However, a very common fourth condition is astigmatism, which is a defect that affects the ability of the eye to properly focus and often leaves sufferers with blurred vision. This too is a refractive error in the eye, which means that LASIK laser surgery can be highly effective. The other form of laser procedure, LASEK surgery, is generally reserved for people whose corneas at thinner than normal and so a less intense laser is necessary. For those who are unfamiliar with the name, astigmatic eye conditions exist in eyes that have an unusual curvature in either the cornea or lens, which can be caused by a number of different things. A person with the condition will have particular difficulty in seeing the finer details of objects, while vertical lines in particular often appearing fuzzy when looked at. When driving, for example, a no parking sign may be easily recognised, but the illustration on it will seem unclear against the yellow or white background. There are basically two different types of the condition, regular and irregular, with the difference between them coming down to the fact that the irregular version cannot be countered by glasses, though it can with contact lenses. This can be for one of two reasons, with either the cornea scarred or the crystalline lens in the eye having a scattering that prevents accurate natural focusing. Regular astigmatic eye conditions, meanwhile, can be effectively treated with the use of a toric lens, which can be applied to the eye within a contact lens or simple used as the lenses in glasses. Glasses provide no solution in the case of the irregular type, which means that laser surgery the most effective method of dealing with the condition. It is highly unusual that this form of treatment is unable to achieve positive results, because the extent of the condition is commonly around 3 dioptres while the laser can penetrate double that figure. A dioptre, incidently, is the unit of measure used in prescription lenses. The advantage of using lasers is that they are extremely precise in their direction and can, therefore, carry out procedures on delicate areas with the highest level of accuracy. The LASIK procedure does not take long, with the whole procedure involving just five steps. The surgeon first applies a local anaesthetic via eye drops, then a thin flap is created, which is moved aside to allow access to the cornea. Once that is done, the laser can reshape the cornea to correct the refractive defect, before the flap is placed in its original position again. The flap then heals naturally over a short period of time, leaving no scars and no ill effects. Another common eye condition treated by laser surgery is glaucoma. The condition relates to damage to the optic nerve, which is caused chiefly, though not exclusively, by an increase in pressure in fluid in the eye. The result is severely blurred vision, but it could lead to total blindness if it is not treated. Though some cases are so mild that a course of eye drops is effective, laser eye surgery is a very effective treatment for the condition. All that a doctor needs to accomplish is a reduction in the pressure in the eye, and he can do this by unblocking the draining system of the eye. This can be done quickly and painlessly under local anaesthetic. The rapid improvements in modern eye care, specifically the continuing development of laser procedures means that every eye condition, from cataracts to astigmatism, can be dealt with quickly, efficiently and painlessly. So everyone can enjoy healthy eyes for longer in life, and the gradual natural decline in eye sight can be slowed down significantly.
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