Posted: March 14, 2023
Over time, LASIK has become a household term. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who is completely unfamiliar with this frequently-performed method of eye surgery. Chances are you even know a few glasses and contact lens wearers who ditched their corrective lenses after gaining clear vision.
However, while most people have heard of LASIK, many of them don’t know what visual issues it can treat. LASIK is a safe and effective procedure that can help many patients improve their vision, but it doesn’t address every eye condition. Keep reading to discover what specific vision disorders blade-free, all-laser LASIK can correct.
Visual Issues That LASIK Can Correct
LASIK is a type of refractive surgery, and as such it is performed to treat refractive vision errors. If the shape of your eye prevents light from focusing on your retina properly, you have a refractive vision error. When light can’t focus directly on your retina, you may experience visual issues such as blurriness and double vision.
LASIK can treat these common refractive vision errors:
Myopia: Also known as nearsightedness, myopia is a common visual issue. People who are nearsighted have trouble seeing far-away objects clearly and find it easier to focus on things that are nearby.
- Hyperopia: This visual error is commonly known as farsightedness. If you are farsighted, it means that you can see distant objects clearly, but you have trouble seeing things that are close to you.
- Astigmatism: Astigmatism can cause you to experience blurry vision at any distance. Like other refractive vision errors, uncorrected astigmatism may also lead to headaches, eye strain, and excessive squinting.
Glasses and contacts fix these errors by bending light rays so they reach your retina properly. However, corrective lenses are not a permanent solution. Many people find that relying on prescription lenses to see can be a hassle.
LASIK effectively corrects these issues by changing the shape of your cornea, allowing light to focus on your retina optimally. Patients often decrease their reliance on lenses after their procedure. However, LASIK does not treat other common visual errors -- such as cataracts -- that are unrelated to the shape of your eye.
Vision Correction for Age-Related Vision Loss
Presbyopia is another refractive vision error, but it is unique because it is caused by the natural aging process. Age-related vision loss happens to everyone. You may start to notice a change in your near vision as early as age 40. Monovision LASIK is the procedures that can address presbyopia.
LASIK can also address this refractive error, though it is done through a specific procedure known as monovision LASIK. This approach can be very effective for the right candidates. During your evaluation, our laser eye surgeons will discuss your candidacy for LASIK to address presbyopia. This procedure is slightly different from traditional LASIK, and we will happily discuss the additional considerations with you.
Arrange a Complimentary Evaluation to See if LASIK is Right for You
At Griffin & Reed Eye Care, we proudly offer 20/20 Vision From Your LASIK Surgery Or Your Money Back to qualified patients.
Call 916-485-2020 today to schedule your complimentary LASIK consultation. We have two convenient locations in Sacramento and Roseville to help us meet the needs of our patients in Northern California.
