Eye Surgery in Greece
General information
Traveling abroad for medical services is becoming more and more popular, especially for treatments that are considered voluntary and are not covered by the national health systems' funding or private medical insurances.
During the past years, more and more people choose to travel abroad for Eye Surgery, since these procedures can be extremely expensive in their countries. Moreover, since recovery from laser eye surgery generally takes between 24 – 48 hours, eye surgery abroad is a good excuse to combine surgery with holidays.
Eye Surgery in Greece
Medical tourism in Greece is gradually picking pace, as more and more people realize that Greece combines extremely high levels of medical services and much lower cost comparatively to other countries.
What make Greece a preferred destination for Eye Surgery, apart from the high level of medicine, are the modern accommodation infrastructures providing comfort, convenience and security to the foreign visitor, at a low cost. In addition, many budget airlines fly to Greece making travel easy and cheap.
Greece is a trustworthy overseas destination for Eye Surgery and there are accredited clinics and surgeons that perform the operations. Language and communication is not an issue, since clinics have multilingual medical staff and doctors, providing to the visitors thorough explanation of the techniques and procedures applied.
Operation of Private Practices
The majority of Greek eye have a private practice where consultations take place, but the operations are being performed in fully equipped private clinics. It is most likely that the first appointment will be done at the surgeon's private practice, in order to meet you in person, discuss about the procedure and answer any of your questions.
Eye Surgeons' Accreditations
Eye surgery in Greece is strictly controlled and therefore surgeons are highly qualified, having many years of training and experience. After six years of university studies and three years of practice, the doctors go through four years of further training and practice in order to take their ophthalmologist expertise. Finally, in order to be licensed by the Greek state, they need to pass examinations.
When seeking for an eye surgeon, always bear in mind whether the surgeon is accredited or member of international medical societies. The most common are:
ESCRS / European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons: is Europe's leading organization for 
cataract and refractive surgeons and is at the forefront of developments in anterior segment surgery. The society has over 5,000 members from almost 100 countries worldwide. The ESCRS offers a unique forum for discussion and learning which ensures that international expertise is shared by ophthalmologists all over Europe.
American Academy of Ophthalmology: is the largest national membership association of Eye M.D.s 
having more than 7,000 international members. Academy members are committed to responding compassionately to their patients' individual needs and to advancing the highest standards of comprehensive eye care. To enable its members to meet these goals, the Academy provides a wide variety of programs, products and services to Eye M.D.s and the patients they serve.
Hellenic Society of Intraocular and Refractive Surgery: is the Official Society of the Hellenic 
Ophthalmic Surgeons that are interested in the field of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. The aim of HSIOIRS is the spread of knowledge in the field of interest, with organization of scientific meetings, instruction courses, wet labs, scientific publications and with collaboration with other Hellenic and foreign ophthalmological societies. HSIOIRS is an active member of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ESCRS).
Hellenic Ophthalmological Society
Operation of Clinics and Certification
The surgery itself should take place in the hospital / clinic, as it is a safe, sterile environment where any possible complication can be dealt. In Greece, the hospitals follow international healthcare standards and are certificated or accredited by ISO, JCI or Temos.
JCI (Joint Commission International): The JCI standards provide meaningful metrics to improve the quality and patient safety in all clinical and managerial functions of acute care hospitals, as well as embrace continuous performance improvement.
Temos: The aim of this certification program is to validate and optimize the hospital's medical and non-clinical services for medical tourists including the complete patients' care cycle before travelling abroad, within the hospital and for the post-treatment and post-discharge procedures including the follow-up.
Eye Surgery Procedures
Laser Vision Correction
LASIK: (laser eye surgery or laser vision correction) is a type of refractive surgery for the correction of myopia, hypermetropia, and astigmatism. For most patients, LASIK provides a permanent alternative to eyeglasses or contact lenses.
LASEK: is a laser eye surgery procedure intended to correct a person's vision, reducing dependency on glasses or contact lenses.
Cataract
Cataract removal and lens implant (IOL): is a lens implanted in the eye used to treat cataracts or myopia
Cataract surgery: is the removal of the natural lens of the eye that has developed an opacification, which is referred to as a cataract.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma surgery: Glaucoma is a group of diseases affecting the optic nerve that results in vision loss and is frequently characterized by raised intraocular pressure (IOP). There are many glaucoma surgeries, and variations or combinations of those surgeries, that facilitate the escape of excess aqueous humor from the eye to lower intraocular pressure, and a few that lower IOP by decreasing the production of aqueous.
Other Surgeries
Cornea transplant: is a surgical procedure where a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by donated corneal tissue (the graft) in its entirety (penetrating keratoplasty) or in part (lamellar keratoplasty).
Squint correction: is a surgery that is used to improve the alignment of the eyes (and therefore their appearance) and help the eyes work together.
Surgical correction of ptosis: is surgical procedure to correct the drooping or falling of the upper or lower eyelid