Laser eye treatment and laser eye surgery had been the answer to the long standing problem of people towards increasing incidence and prevalence of visual loss and blindness. Eye disorders are just one of the major diseases of main concern by the majority of medical workforce worldwide. Generally, there are a lot of parameters used to define the standards of having low visual acuity to being blind. With a visual acuity lesser than 20/60 in the better eye but 20/400 or better then it is considered as low vision. While if visual acuity is less than 20/400 or less then it is considered blindness. By this definition, there are estimated 124 million people globally who have low vision and 37 million all-inclusive are blind. With the progressive increase of eye disorders conventional method have become rather superseded so that new technology have to be employed in order to minimized if not totally eradicate such problem.

In the advent of laser technology, laser eye surgery can now be legally use as ratified in 1998 by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent visual impairment and blindness in eye diseases such as cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, trachoma, and uncorrected refractive error.

PRK vs. LASIK
Conventional methods such as glasses and contact lenses are most often used in the precedent years for correcting refractive errors however reports have shown that an individual having contact lens wear is at high risks for bacterial, amebic, or fungal corneal infection, potentially a blinding condition. In lieu of this, various surgical techniques had been developed and are now available for correction of visual impairment. The prominent among laser eye treatments are laser assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). These two surgical procedures involve almost same process except that each differs according to how access to the stroma is achieved. LASIK reshapes the cornea using laser beam light and a tiny blade while PRK only uses laser light. Nevertheless, LASIK is most commonly chosen and performed for most eye-disorders because postoperative visual recovery is quick and there is little postoperative discomfort, but is contraindicated if the cornea is relatively thin. Visual outcomes are impressive and many individuals seek treatment.

The usage of laser eye surgery had been increasing since then. In United States, more than 1 million people undergo LASIK each year. However, outcomes for individual cases are not completely predictable. It is best then to seek ophthalmologic care if one is willing to undergo laser eye surgery or any other laser eye treatment for proper counseling and recommendation.

Above everything else it is still best to take care of our eyes and prevent any damages or harm done to it. It is imperative that we learn things like these in order to best prepare ourselves from anything concerning one of the most vital parts of our body, our eyes.