One of the main developments in the world of eye care in recent decades has been the advent of surgical techniques which are able to permanently alter the way the eyes work. This has meant that people who have previously faced a lifetime wearing glasses or contact lenses have been able to have a procedure to correct their vision. The corrective surgery is quick and pain free and does not require a stay in hospital in most cases.

Options for surgery

There are a few different options for corrective surgery for eyes, and depending on the specific eye problem, one may be more appropriate than another. When considering having any type of corrective eye surgery it is important to take advice from a medical professional rather than a salesperson as they will be best placed to advise and counsel you about which course of action is the best in your circumstances. One of the best known ways of correcting vision is by using lasers. Laser eye surgery is the most common type of corrective eye surgery in the world, and over 22 million of these types of procedures have been carried out worldwide. Laser eye surgery can eliminate the need to wear glasses or contact lenses completely, and it can be used successfully in patients who are long sighted, short sighted or whose eyes have a degree of astigmatism, meaning they are oval shaped rather than rounded. Laser procedures are performed under local anaesthetic and are very quick, typically taking just 10 minutes per eye. Many people object to laser surgery on their eyes on the basis that the surgery is expensive, but when you take into account the cost of glasses or contact lenses over the years, laser eye treatment can work out far cheaper in the long run. Many of the largest optician chains are offering laser surgery consultations and it is certainly something to be considered for people who are over the age of 18 and have a stable prescription.

Lens replacement

However, laser surgery is not appropriate for every person. Quite often as we get older our eyes begin to deteriorate and people typically start to have difficulty with reading small print and have to start to wear glasses for driving or reading. As many of these people have no issues with their distance vision, it is not appropriate to permanently alter the cornea of the eye to correct the near vision as the distance vision would be adversely affected. There are also many people who wear bifocal or varifocal glasses and although laser treatment is not appropriate for them, there is another procedure which is. This new procedure is called refractive lens exchange, and it involves replacing the natural lens of the eye with an artificial one which will work far better. This method allows specific lenses to cope with bifocal or varifocal requirements to be placed directly into the eye. Again, this procedure is quick and pain free, although many patients find that their sight is slightly blurred for a few days after the surgery. For this reason, patients typically have their eyes done separately over a period of a few weeks to minimise sight loss after the procedure is completed. Once the surgery has been carried out, you will no longer need to spend money on glasses or contact lenses and this considerable saving should be taken into account when thinking about lens replacement.

Cataracts

Cataracts are a common eye condition in people aged over 55, and are a cloudiness which forms in the lens of the eye. Cataracts are sometimes managed with glasses or lenses, but in severe cases surgery is needed on the eye. Having corrective eye surgery where you have your natural eye lenses replaced with artificial ones means that cataracts will never have the chance to develop and when there is a strong family history of cataracts, this factor should be carefully considered. The cost of a cataract operation can be upwards of £1,500 per eye, and this can be easily upgraded in many situations into full lens replacement surgery which will correct your vision and will remove your cataracts as well. In all UK hospitals cataract surgery aftercare is of an extremely high standard.