Thin Corneas
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Thin Corneas
If a LASIK surgeon has refused to perform LASIK on you because you have thin or flat corneas that are too thin to create the LASIK flap, LASEK eye surgery may be for you. Laser Epithelial Keratomileusis, or LASEK, is designed to correct corneal shape.
You may have resigned yourself to wearing glasses or contact lenses because you're not a candidate for the LASIK procedure. A LASEK vs. LASIK fact: LASEK surgery doesn't require the surgeon to cut the cornea with a microkeratome. LASEK ablates, or burns off, a small amount of tissue underneath the outer cornea or epithelium. The thin underneath cornea gets a remodel, becoming more spherical--you may not have as much cornea as a LASIK patient, but with LASEK, you can improve what you do have.
NOTE: If you have keratoconus, in which the cornea thins and becomes cone-shaped, you may not be a candidate for LASEK. And if you're a boxer with thin corneas, putting your eye at risk of injury, LASEK has fewer complications.
People with flat corneas, who are prone to farsightedness or hyperopia, can have the thin inner cornea tissue reshaped and rounded through LASEK surgery
LASEK eye surgery may require more healing time than LASIK, but if you have thin corneas, LASEK is better than struggling with your eyeglasses and contacts!
