Corrective Surgery Comparison
If you are considering Refractive Surgery, please review this site carefully. The decision to have Corrective Surgery is an important one and is yours alone. Your decision needs to be based on facts and realistic expectations. Consider your own life style, expectations and visual needs and discuss them with your eye care professional or with us.
| Procedure: | What It Is: | Used For: | Pros: | Cons: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
LASIK | Surgery in which the eye surgeon lifts a thin flap of cornea and uses a low- temperature Excimer Laser to reshape the surface underneath. | Nearsightedness (-1.00 to -11.00 diopters), farsightedness (+1.00 to +2.50 diopters), astigmatism (1.00 to 6.00 diopters), and custom sculpting of the cornea. | Less pain and faster healing than any other refractive surgery procedure. | It permanently alters the shape of the cornea. It can rarely lead to glare, halos and light sensitivity. |
PRK | Laser used to reshape the cornea directly through the surface. | Nearsightedness (-1.00 to -11.00 diopters), farsightedness (+1.00 to +2.50 diopters), astigmatism (1.00 to 6.00 diopters), and custom sculpting of the cornea. Often used with Mitomycin-C 0.02% (MMC) to prevent corneal scarring. | Simple. No flap is lifted. | More pain and delayed healing. It permanently alters the shape of the cornea. It can lead to glare, halos and light sensitivity. Risk of scarring (now reduced with MMC). |
INTACS | Plastic crescent rings used to modify the shape of the cornea. | Corneal thinning: keratoconus and ectasia. | No tissue is removed. They are reversible, adjustable and removable. | Glare, halos and problems with night vision if the pupils dilate widely. |
Intraocular | Implantable corrective lenses placed either between the cornea and iris, or between the iris and the crystalline lens. | High nearsightedness and farsightedness. Now available with high astigmatic correction. | It is an extension of the current procedures to surgically correct cataracts. They are also reversible. | It is intraocular surgery, and thus complications such as cataract formation are a possibility. |
