One of the big selling points of laser eye surgery is the fact that it’s ‘bladeless’. So, instead of using a knife, the surgeon carries out a vision correction procedure with an ultra-precise laser beam. But did you know that there is more than one type of laser eye surgery available to patients – and that some are more ‘bladeless’ than others? Here, we’ll take a look at both blade and bladeless laser eye surgery and explore the pros and cons of each technique.
Laser eye surgery involves using a laser to adjust the patient’s vision by reshaping the cornea. There are several different procedures – and while all of these employ a laser, they do so in different ways. These include LASIK, LASEK and PRK as well as advanced surface ablation and Z-Lenticle Extraction laser correction.
When it originally appeared as a treatment option, LASIK wasn’t completely bladeless. Traditional, or ‘blade’ LASIK does make use of a laser to reshape the cornea – but the initial step of creating a corneal flap is done manually, with a small, microkeratome blade.
Today, bladeless LASIK involves using one laser (known as a femtosecond laser) to create the flap, before carrying out the main part of the surgery with the excimer laser.
Bladeless laser eye surgery has advantages over the old method:
However, when considering blade or bladeless laser eye surgery, you might also want to consider the following:
OCL offers bladeless laser eye surgery procedures using the very latest in laser technology. The laser currently used for flap creation is the state-of-the-art Zeimer LDV Crystalline Femtosecond Laser, while the Wavelight Allegretto Excimer Laser is skilfully employed to reshape the cornea.
If you would like to discuss your suitability for bladeless LASIK, or if you have any questions about the procedure, contact us to book a consultation.
If you suffer from blurred or cloudy vision and would like to discuss potential laser eye surgery options, make an enquiry or call on 0808 133 2020
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