Ophthalmology is the medical specialty dedicated
to the study of the eye's structure and function, and to the
diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting them.
In a normal eye, the cornea and the lens focus the light rays
entering the eye to a single point close to the retina. The retina,
or the light sensitive tissue in the back of the eye, converts light
impulses into nerve impulses. The nerve impulses move along the
optic nerve to the brain, which interprets the impulses allowing the
person to "SEE". Three primary refractive errors might occur. These
are Myopia (near sightedness), Hyperopia (far sightedness) and
Astigma.
Lasik is an acronym for Laser in-situ Keratomileusis, which simply
means "to shape the cornea within using a laser." It corrects vision
by reshaping the cornea (outer window of the eye) so that rays focus
more precisely on the retina, thereby reducing or eliminating
refractive errors.
It is done by using an instrument known as a microkeratome which
cuts a thin flap of corneal tissue, then the laser is fired to
remove predetermined amount o tissue& the corneal flap is placed
back in its position without any stitch. This is done by use of
topical anaesthesia. As it is done under topical anaesthesia,
patient mobilisation is early & there is no post-operative pain,
less corneal scarring & haze.
Management of eye ailments, both anterior and posterior segments are
provided at the centre.
Refractive surgery is gaining popularity in India
both among the public as well as among ophthalmologists. Till a few
years ago only a few centers performed high volume radial
keratotomy. Today, the highest international quality of eye care for
cornea, cataract, squint and glaucoma is available in various
centers all over India. When it comes to reliability, India has the
best ophthalmic surgeons with clinico-academic expertise honed to
perfection in the best possible institutions. Visual aid Center in
Delhi, Manipal Hospital in Bangalore are some of the more popular
eye care hospitals.
The No Stitch Cataract Surgery with the most
modern way of removing cataract through the use of
Phacoemulsification procedure can be performed in India for as
little as US$ 480 for both the eyes, whereas the same surgery costs
$ 45,000 in the USA.
Hyperopics and LASIK are available and even supra
hard cataracts are treated using just 1 mm incision instead of the 3
mm incision size. Photorefractive keratectomy or PRK treats the
surface of the cornea with the Excimer laser while LASIK treats the
inner tissue of the cornea. For this reason, with LASIK there is
less area to heal, less risk of scarring, less risk of corneal haze,
less post-operative pain and vision often returns very rapidly. |