Gailey Eye Clinic

Medical lasers are astonishingly precise and the LASIK laser is no exception. LASIK works by using an excimer laser to ablate or vaporize microscopically tiny pieces of tissue from the eye’s front surface – the cornea. This is done according to your pre-determined treatment plan, different for each eye.

We offer Custom LASIK, which is even more precise than the original LASIK procedures that began in the mid-1990s. That is because it uses Wavefront technology to make a far more precise diagnosis of your eye’s refractive errors. Each human eye is unique. Your Custom LASIK treatment will be different from every other LASIK treatment ever done, because it is based on Wavefront data gathered from each of your two different eyes.

LASIK Alternatives
Not everybody is a good candidate for LASIK. Some people have corneas that are too thin or steep, or pupils that are too large, for a safe LASIK surgery. However, an eye surgeon can still give them laser vision correction by using ASA (Advanced Surface Ablation) – a name for the improved version of PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy).

ASA uses the same excimer laser for vision correction but does not prepare your eyes in the same way.

• LASIK first creates a protective covering in the corneal surface, folding it back for treatment and then replacing it to act as a bandage during recovery.
• ASA gently removes the top layer of corneal cells (the epithelium) to give the laser access to the middle layer, the stroma. Both LASIK and ASA correct corneal curvature on the stromal layer, but ASA does not penetrate as deeply. During your ASA recovery period, the surface cells regrow and while that happens you have a therapeutic contact lens as a bandage.

Whether it is done using LASIK or ASA, laser vision correction gives outstanding results. Most people are able to discard their glasses or contact lenses. To learn more about your own vision and how it might best be improved, please contact our LASIK office today for a personal consultation.