What is Laser Eye Surgery/ Laser Vision Correction?

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What is laser eye surgery?

The goal of laser eye surgery or laser vision correction surgery, as it is also known, is to reduce or eliminate refractive errors including nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, so you can rely less on glasses and contact lenses.

There are a number of types of laser eye surgery techniques to choose from. Your eye surgeon will carefully evaluate your eye health, history and refractive error, as well as your age, lifestyle and career considerations to help you decide which laser eye surgery type is best for you.

ReLEx SMILE®

ReLEx SMILE® is the lastest laser vision correction technique for the gentle correction of shortsightedness and astigmatism. Unlike conventional LASIK, this procedure creates no flap and involves the use of only one laser (the femtosecond laser). Instead of vaporising cornea tissue to correct the underlying refractive error, ReLEx SMILE® removes a small piece of corneal tissue called a lenticule through a small keyhole incision  of less than 4 mm. This opening is up to 80% smaller than those of the earlier LASIK treatment.  No flap means a smaller risk of infections and quicker healing, and because no switch of equipment is needed during the treatment, the overall time of the treatment is shorter.

**ReLEx® and  SMILE® are registered trademarks of Carl Zeiss Meditec.

Bladeless LASIK

Throughout assessment, we use Wavefront technology to create a personalised map of your unique refractive errors. This enables our surgeon to customise your treatment and provide you with accurate outcomes. Bladeless LASIK is performed at Laser Vision Clinic Central Coast (LVCCC) using a femtosecond VisuMax laser. It enables your eye surgeon to create a corneal flap without a blade ever touching the eye. Bladeless LASIK can correct the main types of refractive error: nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism with minimal recovery time.

ASLA (Advanced Surface Laser Ablation)

ASLA procedures provide patients who have thinner corneas and deemed unsuitable for SMILE® or Bladeless LASIK an option to have laser vision correction. It is a procedure where the protective layer of the cornea is gently removed. The laser is then applied to reshape the corneal surface to the desired requirements. Following the cool laser treatment a bandage contact lens is placed over the eye to protect it during the first few days of healing. Although the procedure is painless it is quite normal to feel some discomfort following treatment. The healing process for ASLA is longer than the other procedures we offer, as it is a more conservative approach. Recovery times and expectations will be discussed further during your obligation free consultation.