Laser eye surgery is becoming increasingly common in the UK as an affordable alternative to buying and wearing spectacles or contact lenses, and is normally used to treat common problems such as short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism.

Clinics are opening up all over the UK as laser eye surgery is offered as an alternative to traditional eyewear solutions. There are two major types of laser eye surgery currently available in the UK - LASIK and LASEK - but other advanced treatments such as Advanced CustomVue Wavefront and IntraLase also on offer.

As well as being useful for people going about their everyday business, laser eye surgery is particularly useful for those who love sports. Instead of having to buy specialist sports eyewear, surgery restores sight to levels where corrective lenses are no longer required, making sport easier and more enjoyable.

Indeed, laser eye surgery can also be used to correct ocular afflictions and indeed it certainly provided the cure that British Olympic hopeful and bobsleigh world champion Nicola Minichiello needs to keep alive her hopes of competing in the Vancouver Winter Olympics. After suddenly losing 80% of her right eye vision shortly before Christmas 2009, 31-year-old Minichiello was concerned that her place in the British bobsleigh team may be in jeopardy. Diagnosed with a condition known as retinitis the Olympic hopeful's vision was severely affected and only a decade ago it would have almost certainly meant the end of her career as a bobsleigh athlete.

However, following two sessions of laser eye surgery in London Minichiello successfully competed in the two-man bobsleigh Olympic qualification event, and she is hoping that a third operation will cure the problem once and for all.

For most people corrective laser eye surgery can only be determined following an assessment by a qualified optometrists. If suffering from a very high degree of short or long sightedness, or astigmatism then the chances are that surgery would help improve your eyesight. Since being introduced as a mainstream procedure over 22million laser eye surgery operations have been carried out worldwide. The procedure itself is carried out with the help of anaesthetic drops, takes up only half a day and the length of aftercare is determined by the provider.

As Nicola Minichiello has discovered laser eye surgery can really change lives and hopefully as a result of hers she will be lifting a gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics in February.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com