Your Guide To Vision Correction Surgeries

You have decided that you want laser eye correction surgery. Your glasses and contacts get in the way of your lifestyle more than you’d like just to have clear vision. That’s why your first step should be right here. The Refractive Surgery Council is the leading resource of independent, unbiased, and evidence-based information about eye correction surgeries including LASIK, PRK, SMILE, cataract surgery options, and implantable contact lenses.

RSC has been answering your questions about LASIK and other laser eye surgeries for more than a decade. We pride ourselves on working with a team of experts including ophthalmologists, refractive surgeons, clinicians and researchers, to make sure you have accurate, up-to-date and relevant information at your disposal so you can make the best decision. To do that, the Refractive Surgery Council offers the most comprehensive library of information on laser vision correction procedures available to answer your questions. 

Weighing Your Laser Vision Correction Surgery Options

There’s a lot to consider when you’re thinking about laser eye correction surgery. There are questions to ask. Options to weigh. And doctors to find. Deciding upon eye correction surgery is a journey of many steps – leading you to where you want your vision to be: clear, crisp, comfortable, safe, and reliable.

Advancements in laser vision correction technologies have created more options than ever before. As a result, more people are eligible for a procedure that will allow them to see well without relying on glasses or contact lenses.  Today there is an entire category of laser eye surgery options and vision correction procedures – also called refractive surgery – people can take advantage of to see well and improve their quality of life. 

Laser Eye Surgery Options – Starting with LASIK

LASIK is the most familiar of the laser eye surgery procedures. Since more than 20 million procedures have been performed here in the U.S., most people know somebody who has had LASIK. Notably, LASIK is among the most studied medical procedures, supporting its excellent reputation for safety and vision outcomes.  However,  not everyone is a candidate for LASIK. Today, eye correction surgeries are available to those who aren’t good candidates for LASIK, or are interested in a different approach to the benefits of seeing clearly without relying on glasses and contact lenses. These include:

SMILE uses a femtosecond laser to reshape the cornea and improve its focusing power by creating and then removing a small disc of tissue from the inner layers of the cornea through a small incision. 

PRK uses an excimer laser to reshape the surface of the cornea to improve the eye’s ability to focus.

Implantable Lenses are surgically inserted into the eye to correct vision, much like a contact lens. Also known as ICLs, implantable lenses can treat those with very strong prescriptions.

Cataract surgery removes the clouded lens and replaces it with an artificial plastic lens that can correct for many common vision prescriptions.

These choices in eye correction surgery are the result of more than thirty years of clinical research and technological development, making today a very exciting time for those looking into their vision correction options beyond glasses and contacts. Importantly, if you’ve looked into laser eye surgery in the past, you should know a lot has changed. The technologies and techniques available today give more people more choices for vision correction, so it is time to get an update from your eye surgeon. 

Experts in Laser Eye Correction

Speaking of eye surgeons, we want to make sure you are working with highly specialized, trained, and expert doctors who will partner with you on your journey to better vision. Those who have dedicated their careers to helping people see clearly with the most advanced skills and technology available in the field today, many of whom you can find right here on this website. These eye surgeons are ophthalmologists with additional training in refractive surgery, many of whom also engage in clinical research to help expand the knowledge in the field of vision correction.

As a resource of evidence-based information, we are here to help you make sense of your options and make a decision that is right for you and your vision. The Refractive Surgery Council is made up of the country’s leading vision correction experts with a collective passion to help people experience the world with better vision. Together we distill the clinical research, latest news, and information to help you make sense of a complex and often confusing area of medicine. 

We know vision is invaluable and understand the struggles people with poor vision have in their life journey, which is why we have taken on this work.  When it comes to vision correction surgery, we are here to help make that decision an informed one so you can see the next steps in the journey ahead. Because everyone deserves to feel confident in their vision correction – whatever that choice may be.