A thin flap of cornea is created and folded back. The corneal flap is replaced over the treated cornea. Click here for animation . Vision is clear. Place Cursor Over Image.
Nearsightedness occurs when the cornea is too curved or the eye is too long.
This causes light to focus in front of the retina, rather than on the retina, resulting in blurry distance vision. The procedure is done using eye drop anesthesia, and while you may feel pressure, the technique is generally not painful. First, an instrument known as a microkeratome makes a protective flap in the outer layer of the cornea, at about twenty-five percent of its depth from the surface. Next, the Excimer laser sculpts the internal corneal tissue to the correct refractive power by flattening the curvature of the exposed corneal tissue. After a few minutes of drying, the corneal flap is laid back in its original position.