If you are a long time sufferer from an eye condition - whether you are short-sighted, long-sighted or astigmatic - you will be pleased to know there is now a safe and permanent solution to treating these conditions - laser eye surgery.
Laser eye surgery can transform your life.
The procedure can significantly reduce the hassles of having to wear glasses or contact lenses and the costs associated with both.
Types of Laser Eye Surgery There are two types of laser eye surgery: LASIK (the most common) and PRK/LASEK.
Both of these forms of surgery use the same extremely precise laser to reshape the cornea.
The reshaping of the cornea is the key to correcting vision, because the shape of the cornea determines the way light enters your eye.
If your cornea is more curved than it should be, it refracts the light so that it focuses just in front of the cornea.
This is known as short-sightedness (myopia).
In the cases where the cornea is flatter than it should be, the light converges just behind the cornea, causing long-sightedness (hyperopia).
Both of these conditions are treatable with laser eye surgery.
Laser eye surgery can also be used to treat very high prescriptions and the effects of ageing eyes (presbyopia).
Let's look in detail at these treatable eye conditions to find out more about the ways laser surgery could really change your life.
A Breakdown of Eye Conditions Treatable by Laser Eye Surgery Presbyopia: Round about the time when we reach the age of 40, our eyesight begins to deteriorate.
The lens of the eye begins to stiffen while the muscles that allow you to change your focus from close to near become weaker.
This naturally ageing eye condition is called presbyopia (literally meaning "old eye") - this is the dreaded moment when most consider bifocal reading glasses or contact lenses.
However, this condition can be treated with a laser eye treatment known as Laser Blended Vision.
Short-sightedness: Also known as myopia, this is an eye condition where the eyeball is slightly longer and rounder than it should be.
As a result, the light that enters your eye converges just in front of the retina, creating a blurred, out of focus image at a distance.
There are various forms of myopia, with the most common being physiological myopia, pathological myopia and acquired myopia.
For patients with this condition, myopia contact lenses or glasses were the preferred method of treatment for many years.
Fortunately, myopia is also an ideal condition for laser eye surgery treatment.
Long-sightedness: Also known as hyperopia, this eye condition affects near vision first and, later in life, both distance and near vision.
Often, if you're long-sighted, you can focus on near objects with a conscious effort, which tends to cause headaches.
Long-sightedness is relatively common, affecting about one in four people.
Usually, it's an inherited condition and in fact, nearly all babies start life hyperopic - their hyperopia tends to reduce as they get older.
Those whose hyperopia remains and develops, will probably be wearing glasses or contact lenses by their mid-twenties - or at least considering it.
Long-sightedness can be successfully and permanently treated with LASIK or PRK/LASEK surgery.
Astigmatism: An astigmatic cornea is shaped more like a rugby ball than the normal sphere.
Light enters at different angles through this cone, creating two points of focus and therefore a blurred image.
This is what causes classic astigmatism symptoms such as blurred small print, difficulty reading, inability to see both near and far without squinting, constant headaches and fatigue.
Although treating astigmatism is more complex than standard myopia or hyperopia, virtually all astigmatism symptoms are treatable by laser eye surgery using the right technology.
What to Consider Before Having Laser Eye Surgery Your eyesight is one of your most precious gifts so you owe it to yourself to check every option thoroughly before making a decision.
Every eye is unique and that's why your laser eye surgery treatment should be tailored exactly to your eye's specific needs.
Before the procedure, your laser eye surgeon should calibrate the laser according to a personal treatment plan, based on a rigorous and detailed screening process and a customised set of treatment profiles programmed just for you.