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LASIK--Basics & Overview
Articles with an overview of the LASIK procedure, good candidates, risks, etc.

Specialized LASIK Articles

by Cambria Reid

Not every kind of LASIK surgery is right for everyone.  Be sure that when and if you get laser eye surgery, you choose the surgery that will be ideal for your specific needs.

Likely-LASIK.com provides information about all the most popular options in LASIK.  Not all LASIK is created equal, and not all people are equally good candidates for all the different flavors of laser eye surgery.

Take the time to study your options and discuss them in consultation with your doctor before you decide which surgery would be best for you.

• Monovision LASIK: This surgery is primarily meant for people over 50, who are hoping that LASIK will reduce their presbyopia and need for reading glasses or bifocals.  In Monovision LASIK, your dominant eye is corrected for distance vision and your non-dominant eye is corrected for close vision.  Your brain has to learn to only use one eye at a time, whether you're looking near or far.
• Custom LASIK: Any LASIK surgery is at least somewhat customized to your specific needs, but when the term "custom LASIK" is used, people are generally referring to surgery that's done based on an enormously detailed computerized study of each of your eyes.
• Wavefront LASIK: Wavefront-guided LASIK is a brand-specific kind of custom LASIK that uses a special device called a "Wavefront" scanner to send a wave of light to the retina.  The Wavefront light creates a highly detailed chart--like a topographical map--of your eye.
• Epi-LASIK: Epi-LASIK is a fairly shallow kind of LASIK surgery, removing only the super thin epithelial level of your cornea.  Just like anything else, this method has its pluses and its minuses, all of which you should take the time to discover ahead of time.
• LASEK vs. LASIK: People sometimes think that references to "LASEK" surgery is simply a mistaken misspelling of the correct term, "LASIK."  However it's those people who are mistaken.  LASEK is different style of laser eye surgery, that has a lot in common with Epi-LASIK.
• Bladed Surgery: Many people assume that "laser eye surgery" such as LASIK involves only lasers, with no blades or other cutting instruments, but this isn't true.  Most LASIK involves using a blade of some kind to cut a flap in your eye. The laser  is used only to reshape the cornea that the flap has exposed.
• Bladeless Surgery:  In recent years, a truely bladeless LASIK laser eye surgery has become an option.  In this kind of surgery, lasers do all the cutting and shaping involved in the surgery.  No other cutting instrument is used.