How safe & effective is laser vision correction?
The Excimer laser is used to correct myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. There are several thousand people in the United States who have had Excimer laser surgery through research studies that are authorized and reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration. The Excimer laser is now approved in the United States. In a process called photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), the Excimer laser precisely sculpts the surface of the cornea using invisible, high-energy light. No surgical blades are used. The surgery takes about 15 minutes using eye drops to anesthetize the cornea. Complications during the procedure itself are very rare. Following PRK for mild to moderate myopia, 95 percent of patients are 20/40 or better and can drive a car without corrective lenses. A common but temporary problem after PRK is hazy vision. It usually improves after several months and, based on current clinical trials, rarely results in a permanent scarring of the cornea. Over 70 percent of people report some haloes o
