Laser eye surgery, AKA refractive surgery, includes any procedure that treats conditions such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. The most popular procedures currently performed are LASIK surgery and LASEK. Both of these procedures treat the cornea by reshaping it in order to give the patient better overall vision. During LASIK, the surgeon reshapes the cornea by removing a designated amount of corneal tissue to correct the individual amount of refractive error. LASEK is when a thin epithelial flap is detached using an alcohol solution and is then replaced. This procedure allows the surgeon to save more of the corneal tissue.