Laser Eye Surgery – Myopia

Myopia or nearsightedness is a disorder of the eye (refractive error of the cornea). A myopic eye does not focus well when objects are far away. A myopic eye focuses objects in front of the retina, rather than focusing them directly on the retina.

It is commonly believed that the causes of myopia are hereditary. The main cause of myopia is an eye which is bigger or longer than normal (the eye is more oval).  As a result of this, the formation of the images takes place in front of the retina instead of forming directly on the retina. This is the opposite of hyperopia, where the eye is too small.

With laser eye surgery, the doctor (ophthalmologist) remodels the cornea of the eye with a laser beam.  This procedure allows the eye to focus objects directly on the retina rather than focusing them in front of the retina.

A special case of myopia is that, depending on the degree of myopia that the patient has, it may not be too beneficial for the patient to get laser eye surgery.   A patient who has myopia, may never need reading glasses, since whenever he or she suffers from presbyopia at an older age, one refractive problem will compensate with the other.  This is especially true when myopia is not very severe.  In this case and depending on how old the patient is (presbyopia usually appears when a person reaches 40-45 years of age), the patient should decide what she or he prefers.  Without laser surgery, he or she will need eyeglasses to see distant objects but might not need them to read.  With laser eye surgery, she or he will get rid of glasses to see distant objects, but might need them to read, once they develop presbyopia.