LASIK Surgery in 2021

Thirty years of innovation and experience make LASIK surgery a smart choice today.

In 1991, LASIK surgeons performed the first laser-assisted in situ keratomileuses (LASIK surgery) in the United States. Since then, LASIK’s history of treatment success, precision technology, and patient satisfaction make it an even wiser choice for vision correction for 2021. 

LASIK Surgery: History and Popularity

Forty million people around the globe have had LASIK surgery. In the United States, over ten million Americans have chosen to improve their vision and their quality of life with this treatment. In 2020, 718,000 people in the U.S. opted for LASIK surgery so that they could ditch their eyeglasses or contacts.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology shares that over 150 million Americans wear glasses or contacts, and they spend over $15 billion every year on those items. Not only are glasses or contacts a significant inconvenience in everyday life, but they are also a considerable expense over time.

Fortunately, LASIK can address the vision needs of people who are nearsighted and farsighted or who have astigmatism. All of these conditions create blurry vision. Called refractive errors, they happen when the eye is elongated or too short or when the cornea is curved differently on one side than it is on the other. LASIK surgery can solve these vision issues that might otherwise interfere with daily life.

Innovations in Precision LASIK Surgery Technology

As LASIK technology has advanced over the last thirty years, it has become more personalized, safe and precise. 

Personalization 

The adaptation of wavefront technology into LASIK, which was first developed and used by NASA, enables surgeons to map and treat the unique imperfections in each patient’s eye structure and optics. 

LASIK is truly a customizable treatment. Laser mapping of the eye make each treatment 100% specific to the patient’s unique eye shape and corneal curvature, among other variations. The laster mapping is done using Wavescan, which is a 3D mapping technology that’s 25x more precise than the measurements that are currently used for making glasses and contact lenses. 

Safety

In its earlier incarnations, LASIK was performed using a blade. (Some centers still use  the older blade treatment to avoid adding to their business expenses and to keep their patient costs down.) Most surgeons performing LASIK in 2021 use a separate laser to create the required flap. The laser flaps technology provides benefits to the patient, since the procedure is faster, more accurate and safer. Patients also recover faster after a laser flap, versus a blade procedure. Laser vision correction is completely bladeless. 

Precision 

Current LASIK surgery technology allows for 3D tracking and iris registration. The laser system can perfectly center and align the laser treatment, tracking the patient’s slightest eye movements during the procedure and making micro-adjustments as needed. This solves the common patient concern, “what if I move my eye?” This 3D tracking ensures a precise treatment and better outcomes. 

SMILE Vision Correction

There is also a relatively new procedure, called SMILE (Small Incision Lenticule Extraction), which treats both myopia (nearsightedness) and astigmatism. It delivers LASIK-like outcomes with a safer, less-invasive procedure. A laser is used to create a thin contact-lens-shape layer just beneath the eye’s surface, which is then removed, correcting the patient’s vision.

Experienced LASIK Professionals 

With 30 years of history, innovation, and patient satisfaction behind it, LASIK surgery is a vision-correction option with a demonstrated high level of success. This long-term history also means that many doctors now have decades of LASIK experience under their belts. 

One of those physicians with decades of experience is Daniel Haddad, M.D. In 1987, he founded the Laser Eye Institute with a mission to improve the life and vision of each patient and an unwavering commitment to advance laser technology and the LASIK procedure for all surgeons. He has trained LASIK doctors worldwide and treated patients from all over the US. 

Beyond our experience and innovative technology, our entire team provides a patient-focused approach to care in 2021 and beyond. If you’d like to hear more about LASIK and how it could work for you, schedule your free consultation here.