What is LASIK?

The eye and vision errors

The cornea is a part of the eye that helps focus light to create an image on the retina. It works in much the same way that the lens of a camera focuses light to create an image on film. The bending and focusing of light is also known as refraction. Usually the shape of the cornea and the eye are not perfect and the image on the retina is out-of-focus (blurred) or distorted. These imperfections in the focusing power of the eye are called refractive errors. There are three primary types of refractive errors: myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Persons with myopia, or nearsightedness, have more difficulty seeing distant objects as clearly as near objects.  Persons with hyperopia, or farsightedness,  have more difficulty seeing near objects as clearly as distant objects.  Astigmatism is a distortion of the image on the retina caused by irregularities in the cornea or lens of the eye. Combinations of myopia and astigmatism or hyperopia and astigmatism are common. Glasses or contact lenses are designed to compensate for the eye's imperfections. Surgical procedures aimed at improving the focusing power of the eye are called refractive surgery. In LASIK surgery, precise and controlled removal of corneal tissue by a special laser reshapes the cornea changing its focusing power 

LASIK is not a synonym for "laser eye surgery" — it is just one type of laser eye surgery. And at the moment, it happens to be the most popular type of eye surgery!

Here's how the FDA defines it: "LASIK is a surgical procedure intended to reduce a person's dependency on glasses or contact lenses." LASIK is actually an acronym (which is why it's usually capitalized) that stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis.

This is a medical way of saying that LASIK is a type of laser eye surgery that reshapes the cornea to improve the patient's vision. This latter definition of LASIK is one that you will see throughout this website, for the sake of simplicity and consistency.

Questions About LASIK

How do doctors use a laser to reshape the cornea? What is the typical recovery time for a LASIK surgery? How do you know if you're a candidate for such a procedure? These are just a few of the questions we seek to answer on this website.

Use the navigation menu to the left to learn more about laser eye surgery in general and LASIK in particular.