Are you tired of fumbling around in the morning to find your glasses so you can see? Or not being able to see the newspaper without holding it at arms length, or squinting to see objects at a distance. The miracle answer is Lasik surgery, right? WRONG!! This article will help you make an informed decision about how to correct your vision.
What Is Lasik?
Lasik stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis, a procedure that permanently changes the shape of the cornea, the clear covering of the front of the eye. This surgery is widely advertised and promises miracles; being able to see clearly with 20/20 vision. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? Supposedly, 95% of the people who have it are totally satisfied. The industry is the ones making those claims, not the patients.
Lasik Eye Surgery – Success or Failure?
Some of the risks listed on the F.D.A.’s website are: loss of vision lines on a vision chart that can’t be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, or additional surgery, as a result of the procedure, debilitating visual symptoms such as, glare, halos, double vision, or having poorer night vision than before. You may require additional treatment that may not be possible. You still may need glasses or contact lenses.
You may develop severe dry eye syndrome which is not only uncomfortable but can reduce visual quality, and the condition may be permanent. Results are not as good for patients with large refractive errors. For patients who are farsighted, improvements may diminish with age, and last but not least, the long term safety and effectiveness of Lasik surgery is not known, because it is still a relatively new procedure.
The following was reported in the New York Times, March, 2008.
Some people have found that if they wear contacts for general vision and eyeglasses for reading, that they lose that option after surgery. It’s like reading through contact lenses and you can’t take them out because they’re not there.
Five to ten percent of patients need to have their vision fined-tuned after surgery because of under or over correction. Between 1998 and 2006 the F.D.A. received 140 negative reports relating to Lasik and suspected there were more that were not reported. After concluding that too few well-designed studies have examined the quality of life after Lasik, the F.D.A. put together a task force in 2006 to design a clinical trial to explore the subject.
A pilot study was then undertaken at the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Md. In spite of all the complaints, the panel concluded that Lasik surgery was safe and well accepted. This was reported in MedPage Today. (Reported by eFluxMedia in April of 2008)
Consider LASIK Eye Surgery Costs…
Some patients have claimed that after surgery it’s like looking through wax paper, or having Vaseline in your eye. One lady, who after undergoing the procedure in 2001 suffered from these particular side effects, is now the president of the Vision Surgery Rehab Network. She helps people everyday who have suffered from the not so desirable side effects of Lasik surgery.
If you’re still considering Lasik surgery, consider the cost. It can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $2,500 for one eye. Are you willing to pay that much money for the privilege of suffering from any or all of the LASIK eye surgery side effects mentioned in this article? If you ruin your sight from surgery, there’s no fix. Do you dare risk it when there is an alternative that carries no side effects or risks?
About Evgania Mehler
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