What is corrective eye surgery?

Corrective eye surgery is any type of surgery that improves eyesight, explains WebMD. Some types of corrective eye surgeries, such as LASIK and PRK, use lasers to reshape the eye. Other surgeries, such as RLE and PRELEX, involve cutting the eye open to insert corrective devices.

Each type of corrective eye surgery addresses specific eyesight ranges and issues. For example, RLE only treats extreme nearsightedness and farsightedness, whereas PRK is more suited to mild or moderate nearsightedness and farsightedness, explains WebMD. LASIK is the most popular type of corrective eye surgery, and it can improve cases of nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. However, LASIK is not suitable for extreme nearsightedness; phakic intraocular lens implants are often used instead.