LASIK, which stands for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, is an eye surgery that can correct refractive errors. It surgically reshapes the cornea to ensure the light that enters the eyes is correctly refracted to deliver a clear and sharp image to your brain.
LASIK eye surgery in Dubai is popular among medical tourists. If you plan to travel to the United Arab Emirates for this surgery, first ascertain if it’s right for you. While LASIK is a preferred surgical method for refractive errors, it’s not indicated for all of them.
What Is a Refractive Error?
What does it mean to have a refractive error? Answering this question requires understanding how vision works.
First, light must hit or bounce off that object. The reflected light rays (or waves) will enter your eyes, passing through the cornea and the lens, bending (i.e., refracting) along the way so that they are focused into a single point on the retina.
The retina is an eye tissue with photoreceptors, which convert the light information they receive into electrical signals that travel to the brain. The brain processes the signals into the cohesive, readily understandable image you see.
Types of Refractive Errors
A refraction error occurs when the light rays entering your eyes do not focus correctly on the retina. These are the different types of refractive errors:
1. Myopia
Myopia, also known as short-sightedness, occurs when the light rays are focused at a single point in front of the retina. Consequently, you can see nearby objects just fine, but faraway objects look blurry.
2. Hyperopia
Hyperopia, also known as farsightedness, happens when the light rays focus behind the retina instead of on it. Consequently, you can see faraway objects clearly, but nearby objects look blurry.
3. Astigmatism
Astigmatism is characterised by light rays concentrating on two separate focal points. It has five variants:
- Simple myopic astigmatism: One point is in front of the retina, while the other is on the retina.
- Simple hyperopic astigmatism: One point is behind the retina, while the other falls on the retina.
- Compound myopic astigmatism: Both focal points are in front of the retina but in two distinct places.
- Compound hyperopic astigmatism: Both focal points are behind the retina but in two separate places.
- Mixed astigmatism: One point falls in front of the retina, while the other is behind the retina.
How clearly you see nearby and faraway objects can vary depending on the type of astigmatism.
4. Presbyopia
Presbyopia is a refractive error that causes light rays reflected by nearby objects to focus behind the retina. Therefore, when you have presbyopia, you find it difficult to look at objects that are very close.
For instance, you may need to put your phone at arm’s length to read what’s on your screen.
What Causes Refractive Errors?
There are four possible causes of refractive errors.
- The shape of the cornea
- The length of the eyeballs
- The shape of the lens
- The flexibility of the lens
The cornea, the eyeball, and the lens all influence how sharply light is bent on its way to the retina.
- In short-sightedness, the cornea may be too curved, or the eyeball may be too long (i.e., the distance between the front and the back of the eyeball is longer than typical. The light is bent so sharply in the former that the focal point falls short of the retina. In the latter, the refracted light has farther to travel, so the focal point also doesn’t hit the retina.
- In farsightedness, the cornea may be too flat, or the eyeball may be too short. If the cornea is too flat, the light is not bent enough, so the focal point overshoots the retina. In the latter case, the bent light travels a shorter distance than usual, so its focal point is behind the retina.
- In astigmatism, the cornea or the lens are misshapen or have curve distortion. This makes the eye unable to maintain a single focus.
- In presbyopia, the lens is less flexible. When focusing on a very close object, the lens helps correctly refract the light by flexing and changing its shape. However, as you age, the lens becomes less flexible; thus, the light rays reflected by very near objects tend to focus behind the retina.
Can LASIK Help in Your Case?
If you have a refractive error, can LASIK help you gain better vision? The answer is yes, if it’s a refractive error that reshaping the cornea can resolve.
- In myopia, LASIK will reshape the cornea so it’s flatter and produces less sharp angles. Even if the issue lies with an elongated eyeball, flattening the curve of the cornea.
- In hyperopia, LASIK will reshape the cornea so it is steeper and produces a much sharper angle of refraction, moving the focal point to the retina instead of behind it. Reshaping the cornea can also compensate for a too-short eyeball.
- In astigmatism, changing the shape of the cornea to achieve even refraction and attain a single focal point can help if the issue lies with the unevenly curved cornea. How about if the astigmatism is due to a distorted lens? LASIK may not be a good fit for this case.
- In presbyopia, the lens is the problem, particularly its age-induced loss of flexibility, which can start in your 40s and plateau in your mid-60s. Operating on the cornea, therefore, may temporarily resolve presbyopia, but the problem can recur as the lens becomes progressively less flexible.
The Consensus
LASIK is a laser-assisted surgery that removes tissue from the cornea to reshape it. It is excellent for myopia and hyperopia and is a good option for astigmatism, but it is not the best procedure for presbyopia.
Your ophthalmologist in Dubai can tell you more. Be sure to talk to them and ask if you can get LASIK for your condition.
AUTHOR BIO
Jinky Elizan works as a content specialist for SEO Sherpa. She has 18 years of experience crafting long-form content on various topics, including LASIK and refractive eye errors. She also develops WordPress websites in her spare time, enhancing her ability to optimize website copy for reader engagement and action.
Headshot: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vUB1dnod_CcruPFRvf5Z6h5ODojDRoxc/view
