For those who have eye problems there is the possibility of a safe laser eye surgery procedure. With the increasing effectiveness of medical lasers and less invasive surgical techniques you can find a safe laser eye surgery procedure. There are three forms of laser eye surgery that you can choose from to determine which is the safest course of treatment for your eyes.

PRK

This is also known as Photo Refractive Keratectomy treatment, it has been practiced since the early eighties. Although it wasn’t officially approved by the FDA until 1995. A laser is used to perform the entire procedure and reshaping occurs by removing the surface cells of the cornea. However, there is a longer healing time that takes about a month which means your improved vision will be gradual. During this operation most patient don’t feel much pain.

LASIK

The full term for this procedure is a mouthful, it is known as Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis. Of all the safe laser eye surgery options available this is the most popular because of its fast healing and operation time, it often takes place in a day or two and the improvement to your eyesight is immediate. This method was approved by the FDA in 1998 which makes it relatively new in the medical industry but the data of this method is showing promise. With this method the surgeon creates a flap under the cornea and reshapes the eye by cutting out corneal tissue.

CK

This stands for Conductive Keratoplasty in which the surgeon uses a probe that is less than the diameter of a human hair strand. The probe has radiofrequency or RF energy which is applied in circular patterns to the outer cornea in order to shrink small areas of the corneal tissue. A constrictive band is created from the circular shrinking pattern which will then increase the overall curvature of the cornea. There is no knives, lasers or other surgical instruments used for this procedure. As a result, healing time is faster and there is fewer complications. This procedure was approved by the FDA in 2002 and they are still waiting for more medical data on the procedure. However, current information shows that patients don’t have any regression and the operation is completed in about fifteen minutes. So this is clearly a safe laser eye surgery option that you should consider even though it doesn’t involve lasers.

This is just a brief description of the safe laser eye surgery options, you should look into the procedures in depth before considering which is best for your needs. You should carefully consider both the benefits and the risks involved before deciding which procedure is best for you.