Laser Eye Surgery for Myopia (short sight)

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Myopia or short sightedness is a condition where objects that are far away are not seen clearly. Objects that are close are not affected.

When light travelling from objects at a distance enters our eye, it does so in a horizontal plane. In a normal eye, these rays are bent (refracted) sufficiently so that the image is focussed onto the retina. However in a myopic eye, these rays are bent too much and the image is focussed in front of the retina. This causes the image to become blurry and sometimes cloudy.

This condition can be caused by two main factors. Either, the refractive power of the eye can be too great, i.e. the cornea is too thick, or the eye itself can be too long. It would be highly impractical to try and shorten the eye, so instead ophthalmologists use a laser to re-shape the cornea. The laser vaporises the corneal tissue, thinning it out. This reduces the refractive power of the eye and by removing a certain amount of the cornea, the laser eye surgeon can ensure that the image becomes focussed onto the retina, thus restoring vision. laser eye surgery is often used to correct short sightedness.

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