Eye surgery is safe and continues to become safer as more medical technology is developed. Many famous people had corrective eye surgery, to eliminate the need for glasses or contact lenses. Elton John, Barry Manalow, Tiger Woods, William Shatner, Cindy Crawford and Pat Musi, are just of few of those people. Wade Boggs and Jose Offerman, both Boston Red Sox players, had corrective eye surgery.



For clarification purposes, an optometrist, called an 'eye doctor', is a person who received a Doctorate of Optometry Degree and is licensed to examine patients' eyes for corrective lenses. An optometrist is not licensed to practice medicine. Most optometrists attend college for seven years. An ophthalmologist is a person with a medical degree who specialized in diseases of the eye. Most ophthalmologists receive twelve years of college and are highly skilled eye doctors with specialties in others areas as well as in eye diseases.



Some common areas that ophthalmologists specialize in are pediatrics and eye care; diabetics and eye care; and neurology and eye care. Another critical ophthalmology field of study is eye care in allergy patients.

There are many reasons for eye surgery and different ocular surgical procedures are used, depending on the reason for eye surgery. The most common eye operation is cataract surgery. Aging, disease and/or trauma can create cloudiness over the eye lens creating a cataract. In cataract surgery the eye lens is removed and is replaced with a plastic eye lens. Glaucoma is a group of diseases which can cause pressure on the optic nerve, causing vision loss. There are several surgery techniques available to lessen optic nerve pressure which restores lost vision. The term refractive surgery is the technical term used to describe different optical surgical techniques for correcting refraction flaws in the eyes which eliminate the need for glasses or contact lenses. These corrective surgeries use laser technology.

Laser in-situ keratomileusis, LASIK, is an eye surgery technique using laser technology for the treatment of nearsightedness which occurs when the eye's cornea is too steep. LASIK surgery works by the surgeon creating a flap on the top of the cornea with a laser to expose the tissue beneath. Structural changes are then made to the cornea in order to reduce the cornea's steepness. Afterwards, the flap is folded back into position and allowed to heal. Recovery time lasts from a few days to a week. LASIK surgery is the most popular corrective eye surgery for nearsightedness. In farsightedness, the eye is too short and, as a result, light that enters the eye focuses at a point behind the retina. A LASIK procedure is now available to correct farsightedness. An ophthalmologist surgeon reshapes the sides of the cornea in order to make the central region of the cornea steeper. This permits the light entering the eye to focus on the retina, correcting the vision problem.

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