Pros and Cons of LASIK Surgery

There was a time about five years ago when I was seriously considering getting LASIK surgery. I've never felt comfortable wearing glasses and I was getting sick and tired of putting contacts in my eyes every day. However, I couldn't afford to get the procedure done at the time. By the time I'd saved up enough money to get the work done, I had met several people who had gotten LASIK surgery. Although they said that they were ultimately happy with the results of the procedure, the drawbacks that I saw them encounter didn't seem worth it to me. In the end, I decided not to go ahead and get this type of laser eye surgery despite the fact that these people said they'd recommend it.

Problems Associated with LASIK Surgery

Two of the people that I have met in the past few years have had strikingly similar problems with LASIK surgery. For one thing, the sun is painful to their eyes. They have to wear sunglasses any time that they go outside or their eyes will hurt. Another problem that they both have is that their eyes are often dry; one of them carries eye drops at all times. Both of these people got LASIK surgery done within the past five years; one of them has already started to lose enough vision to require needing to wear glasses again. These are reportedly side effects of LASIK surgery that are only moderately common but since I saw it happen to two people that I know, I decided that LASIK wasn't the right vision solution for me.

In addition to these problems, there are other risks of getting LASIK surgery (as there would be with any type of surgery). Some of the common problems (in addition to those experience by the people I know) include seeing floaters and spots in the vision, seeing halos around lights at night, and experiencing problems with the flap of the eye which can included trapped debris and wrinkles. These are also more serious risks that affect a limited number of people and include a slipped eye flap during surgery, hemorrhaging in the eye, and infection.

Benefits of LASIK Surgery

Despite all of these problems, there are a large number of people who opt to get LASIK surgery to correct their vision. Even the people that I know who have had minor complications say that they would get LASIK surgery again given the choice. In fact, the one person who is starting to experience poor vision again is looking in to options for doing more LASIK. The reason for this is that some people do feel that the benefits of the surgery outweigh the problems.

The main benefit of LASIK surgery is that the vision is corrected. This means that it is possible to see with approximately 20/20 vision without requiring corrective lenses. For some people, this is great just for the purpose of convenience. For other people, this is important to their jobs. Many people in the military, for example, have gotten LASIK surgery in order to be able to qualify for certain jobs or to do their jobs more effectively. This is considered to be a safe procedure with minimal risks and tolerable side effects that reportedly has a ninety percent or greater level of patient satisfaction.

Cost of LASIK surgery

The actual cost of LASIK surgery varies depending on the doctor that you go to, the specific needs that your eyes have and the location in which you live. The only way to get an accurate picture of the cost of LASIK is to have a consultation with a doctor in your area. On average it is said that the cost of LASIK is less than $1000 per eye (the eyes are almost always charged separately). However, the use of newer technologies and procedures done in high-demand areas may be significantly more expensive. When considering the costs, factor in the costs that you are going to save since you won't have to buy disposable contacts and new glasses frames anymore.