Eye surgery

What is that saying about not knowing what you have until it's gone? Eyesight is a physical faculty that is commonly taken for granted. So what types of eye surgery are there? And who needs eye surgery procedures?

What are the most common types of eye surgery?

"Ocular" surgery, or eye surgery is when an "ophthalmologist" carries out a surgical procedure on a part of the eye to;

• Remove a foreign object;
• Correct an abnormality; or
• Improve eyesight

The most common types of eye surgery procedures include;

• Laser eye surgery;
• Cataract surgery;
• Eye muscle surgery;
• Eye removal;
• Eyelid surgery;
• Corneal reconstructive surgery;
• Corneal replacement surgery; and
• Glaucoma surgery

These types of eye surgery are likely to take place for a number of different reasons, but commonly, eye surgery patients are those whose quality of life is significantly affected by an eye problem which is unable to be treated or corrected by non-surgical procedures.

Who is a typical eye surgery candidate?

This can vary greatly. For example, laser eye surgery candidates are those people who require glasses or contact lenses to see properly. A laser eye surgery patient will need to have a corneal layer that is thick enough to withstand the surgical procedure, and be cleared of some other medical conditions.

The eye specialist will assess the patient for their individual appropriateness before carrying out any type of eye surgery, and as a rule, eye surgery will only be considered when all non-surgical treatments such as;

• A vision aid;
• Eye drops;
• Medication;
• Exercises; and
• Non-invasive techniques have been thoroughly exhausted.

What type of eye surgery is right for me?

Do you feel like you have constant grit in your eyes? Do you wish you could actually see the television without having to scramble in the darkness for your glasses? Is your day-to-day living obscured by problems with your vision caused by a cataract or glaucoma?

If you answered Yes to any of the questions above, it is time you visited a doctor to find out which step you should next take. Eye surgery may not be the treatment you need to fix your particular eyesight problem, but your vision is one of the most important things you have - so look after it.