The Facts About Laser Eye Surgery Clinics - Why They're Springing Up All Over

Everybody's probably familiar with the concept of laser eye surgery by now. It's been around for quite a while and has been successfully carried out on millions of patients worldwide. There are hundreds of thousands of laser eye surgery clinics in business and there's a reason why this procedure has become so popular recently.

Eye surgery undertaken to improve the eyes' ability to focus refracted light is known as refractive eye surgery. When successful, which it almost always is, the patient is able to either reduce or completely eliminate the need for corrective lenses. This is possible through the use of a laser beam to reshape the eye's cornea. It's both hi-tech and highly efficient.

The cornea is the front, transparent part of the eye that covers and protects the pupil and the iris (which is the colored part). It works with the lens to focus images on the retina, which is the eye's viewing screen. With improper focusing you will have less than satisfactory viewing! That's blurry vision.

The lens can adjust itself to the distance of the object being viewed and fine-tune for the best clarity. It's much like the lens in a camera. The cornea, on the other hand, is a 'fixed-focus' unit, incapable of making adjustments. That's what the laser eye surgery is meant to do.

As people age, the shape of their corneas change, sometimes significantly. It's common for those who reach their 40s or 50s to start having a little trouble reading fine print, for example. Their first step may be to go to the drugstore to buy a pair of 'cheaters', those magnifying reading glasses that seem to be available almost everywhere. They're inexpensive to buy, easy to find and give immediate results when you put them on. They've become very popular among the 50+ age group.

There are a few problems with this 'reading glasses' solution, however, that could be alleviated with simple laser surgery. Wearing these magnifiers help you see better, yes, but they also make your eyes lazy because the added lenses are doing all the work for your eyes. Soon, a 1.25 pair of magnifiers will have to be traded in for 1.50 or 1.75. You'll end up continually swapping for stronger lenses.

Another big problem for some is the necessity of having a pair of glasses EVERYWHERE. If you're depending on the aid of magnifying eyeglasses as a habit and you've left yours somewhere else, you're effectively blind in any close-up work like reading, sewing, looking at a tire pressure gauge or even your watch. Luckily, it's a habit that can easily be given up.

Laser eye surgery clinics are everywhere to be found and there's a reason there are so many of them springing up. People are getting this treatment in huge numbers every day. It's safe, fast and effective. And, the change to your life from being able to see clearly without mechanical aids will be significant. Anything that makes a person's life so much easier has to be a serious consideration. Look into it. It's a good thing.