Is LASIK Eye Surgery Safe?

Health Wellness

Vision is the most important of our 5 senses, at least to most of us, but it’s one that many take for granted by not taking proper actions to protect one’s vision. Additionally, many believe that whatever happens to them and their vision, they can turn to wearing glasses or contact lenses.

However, for many, they don’t like having to hassle with wearing glasses or contacts and opt to have a surgery on their eyes to improve their vision to the point of not needing glasses or contacts, at least for a number of years.

The first popular surgery to correct vision was called radial keratotomy (RK). It was developed in 1974 by a Russian ophthalmologist by the name of Svyatoslav Fyodorov. The procedure was made by using a diamond knife to make incisions in specific places on the outer surface of the cornea. This resulted in the cornea changing shape enough to change the vision.

Millions underwent RK and I have to confess that I was one of them. After the surgery, my vision went from well over 20/200 to 20/20 and I went nearly 7 years without needing to wear glasses. Working outside in the hot Arizona sun, it was always difficult to keep my glasses on while I was sweating and doing anything. Not having to wear glasses was great. Gradually, and with age, my eyes changed enough to require me to once again begin to wear glasses.

Then LASIK was developed. The concept was the same as RK, but instead of using a diamond knife to reshape the cornea, LASIK uses surgery or a microkeratome (a precision surgical instrument used to create a flap in the cornea).

LASIK was approved by the FDA in 1999 and since then, it is estimated that at least 10 million Americans have had LASIK to correct their vision. In 2000, there were about 1.4 million LASIK procedures, while today, the number of people having LASIK each year runs about 700,000.

How well does it work?

According to Dr. Erik Donnenfeld, who has performed about 85,000 LASIK surgeries in his long career, says that 96% to 98% of people getting LASIK end up with 20/20 vision. More remarkably, between 40% to 50% actually end up with better than 20/20 vision.

With that kind of success rate, who wouldn’t want to have LASIK and get rid of your glasses or contacts?

The financial cost of LASIK varies widely, but is reported to be between $2,000 to $5,000. Some places have reported costs as low as $200, but remember that you get what you pay for and when it comes to your eyes, are you willing to take the chance?

Besides the financial cost, there is another possible cost of LASIK that many doctors are NOT required to tell you about.

About 95% of all LASIK patients report dry eyes after the surgery, but that is usually a temporary thing that soon goes away, but can persist to become a permanent condition and source of eye irritation for many years.

Many other LASIK patients experience halos or starbursts when looking at bright lights, especially at night. This can have a negative impact on driving at night with oncoming traffic and headlights.

Other complications that have resulted from LASIK are (many only occur in a very small percentage):

Flap complications; slipped flap; corneal scarring (could make it impossible to ever wear contacts if needed); epithelial ingrowth; choroidal neovascularization; infection; diffuse lamellar keratitis (inflammation resulting in accumulation of white blood cells inside the LASIK flap); flap interface particles (tiny particles in the flap – about a third of cases); retinal detachment, subconjunctival hemorrhage; post-LASIK corneal ectasia (cornea starts to bulge); floaters. uveitis and potential vision loss.

Just like any form of surgery, LASIK does have its risks and you are the only one that can decide if those risks are small enough to undergo the procedure. It’s your eyes and your vision. Chances are, you will be happy you had it done, but remember there are those who will regret it for the rest of their lives.

eyesight LASIK

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