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The Risks and Benefits of LASIK Eye Surgery
If it were ineffective, LASIK wouldn’t be so popular. But it does, in fact, provide many patients with perfect or near-perfect vision. For patients who don’t want to bother with glasses or contact lenses, LASIK offers a hassle-free alternative.
Additionally, because of its popularity and the sheer number of surgeries that have been carried out, LASIK has become a relatively safe procedure. Patients are carefully examined beforehand, and the surgery itself is quick and mostly painless. Recovery time is short, and the most common complications are temporary ones: dry eyes and blurred vision.
People often choose LASIK as a way to get a new lease on life. Sometimes they get the procedure to celebrate a marriage or another milestone. Additionally, people with very active lifestyles find LASIK to be a compatible solution, as it can be difficult or downright hazardous to wear glasses or contact lenses during many competitive sports. Swimmers, fighters, and pilots are just some of the individuals who benefit from laser vision correction.
However, as will all surgeries, LASIK does carry some potential risks. Patients often report fuzzy vision and dry, scratchy eyes for up to a month following surgery. Those ailments aren’t life-threatening, but they can be very irritating.
Additionally, LASIK causes permanent vision problems in a very small number of patients (less than 1 percent). These complications range from permanently distorted night vision to LASIK flap displacement. Some patients have persistently dry eyes following the procedure. Others report double vision. These effects are very rare, but when they do occur, they typically cannot be corrected by glasses or contact lenses.
Those ads on the radio and television make LASIK sound like a harmless outpatient procedure. For the most part, this is true. Before you decide to undergo laser vision correction, make sure you understand all aspects of the procedure.
