Jones Eye Institute physicians determine if a patient is a good candidate for refractive eye surgery by performing a brief, free screening to check the person's vision and glasses or contacts. Refractive eye surgery is an outpatient procedure that employs anesthetic eyedrops and takes about 15 minutes per eye. Then, lifting this flap and using the Nidek laser, we gently remove microscopic amounts of corneal tissue to reshape the cornea so that it focuses light directly onto the retina. Afterward, we return the flap to its original position, and it self-adheres to the underlying cornea. This procedure requires no stitches, and the edge around the flap heals quickly.
Patients experience blurry vision during the first day after surgery.
However, even with additional surgery, some patients still have to wear weak glasses or contacts. Just as rare is loss of vision in which postoperative vision is better than preoperative vision without glasses or contacts, but is not as good as preoperative vision with glasses or contacts. Treatment of this condition depends on the specific cause of each patient's loss of vision.