LASIK Eye Surgery Astigmatism

LASIK eye surgery is used for several types of vision correction including nearsightedness and farsightedness. LASIK eye surgery can even correct astigmatism, though many patients don’t realize it. Fortunately for you, living in Pennsylvania means that you can have the expert surgeons at Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania as your personal doctors.

Bladeless Custom LASIK

Bladeless custom LASIK is a state-of-the-art procedure that uses the most advanced technology in eye surgery today. This procedure is widely regarded as the best form of LASIK vision correction — so much so, that both NASA and the Air Force trust only this procedure for their astronauts and pilots. Our expert surgeons prefer this state-of-the-art technique over older techniques that use a metal surgical blade.

Most astigmatism can be corrected with this LASIK procedure. When a person has astigmatism, the cornea has both flat and steep areas that create the refractive error. This means that you may experience blurry vision at both near and far distances.

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved LASIK surgery, the agency did so first for astigmatism. Then as now, LASIK for astigmatism remains a safe and effective procedure. While some patients may have astigmatism that is too severe for LASIK correction, the majority of patients can achieve vast vision improvement with the procedure.

Bladeless custom LASIK is a highly regarded surgery for many reasons. Surgeons can operate on both eyes at the same time and can achieve a very high level of vision correction. With LASIK, surgeons can create a much thinner flap on the cornea and thereby achieve much more precise vision correction. Finally, because all-laser LASIK does not use a metal blade, the surgical risk is greatly lowered.

What can I expect from the procedure?

Most patients are surprised to learn that LASIK is a fast procedure rather than a long, complicated procedure. Custom bladeless LASIK has three simple steps. The surgery uses two different types of lasers. Surgeons first use a femtosecond laser to create a flap in the cornea. The surgeon will gently fold the flap back to expose the cornea, then use an excimer laser to reshape the corneal surface to correct the astigmatism.

Every patient’s eye is unique, so we create a custom map of the surface of your cornea. The excimer laser is used to correct both steepness and flatness of the cornea, thereby correcting the asymmetry and irregular shapes in the cornea to improve your vision focus. After the refractive error is corrected, the corneal flap is put back into its natural position to heal on its own without stitches.

If you have been considering LASIK eye surgery for astigmatism, know that bladeless custom LASIK is very safe and effective. Come into one of our many convenient Pennsylvania locations and talk to the LASIK specialists at Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania. We are ready to answer your questions and give you a thorough evaluation to determine whether you are a good candidate for surgery.