LASIK eye surgery is a laser vision correction method that reshapes the cornea to improve vision. It can help correct near and far-sightedness as well as astigmatism, eliminating the need for glasses or contacts. The procedure usually only takes 15 minutes for each eye, and your doctor will administer anesthetic eye drops beforehand to prevent pain.   To better understand how LASIK eye surgery could improve vision problems, its helpful to know how the eye is supposed to function. The eye actually works much like a camera in that it reads information by letting in certain amounts of light. The cornea is the front part of your eye that lets in light and passes it through the lens, and then focuses this light onto the retina (back of the eye). The retina then absorbs the light rays and sends them in the form of electrical impulses to your brain. Since the corneas job is to transmit and focus light, common vision problems like nearsightedness are caused when the curvature of the cornea is irregular and changes the way light passes through. This results in blurry or distorted vision.   When the cornea focuses light onto the retina properly, youll see more clearly and sharply. Below are the three most common vision problems and how LASIK corrects them:

• Nearsightedness: The laser will flatten out the cornea by removing microscopic pieces of tissue.
• Farsightedness: The laser will steepen the cornea.
• Astigmatism: The laser will smooth out any irregularities in the cornea.