If you are one of the millions of Americans like myself who have always had to wear glasses or contacts, you know that they can be a pain at times and you also know how nice it would be to be able to see clearly without them. This used to only be a dream, but now many people across the country are seeing clearly for the first time without glasses or contacts thanks to Lasik surgery which is helping many patients.
Lasik eye surgery has evolved into the most common type of refractive procedure performed today in the United States. This surgery is accomplished by creating a small circular flap in the cornea of the eye. The surgeon folds the hinged flap back out-of the way and then they remove some corneal tissue using an Excimer laser. The Excimer laser uses a cool ultraviolet light beam to precisely remove very tiny bits from the cornea to reshape it. When a cornea is reshaped in the right way, it will work better to focus light into the eye and onto the retina and that will provide you with much clearer vision then you had before.
This surgery has become very popular because it has advantages over other forms of vision correction procedures such as not much pain afterward and usually better vision is achieved within 1 day of surgery.
Nearsighted and farsighted people can both benefit from the Lasik procedure. The goal for nearsighted people is to flatten the too-steep cornea and for farsighted people, it is the opposite where a steeper cornea is required. Astigmatism can also be helped by this surgery as the irregular cornea is smoothed into a more normal shaped one.
One of the discouraging aspects of this procedure is that it can cost you a lot of money to have this surgery done. The average price for each eye is somewhere around $1,700 depending on who and where you choose to have the surgery done as it may be higher or lower. I guess the question that you have to ask yourself is, “How much is it worth to you to have your vision restored”?
Once the surgery is completed, you will have remain in the office for a while and once you are allowed to go home you will be instructed to get plenty of rest. It is very important that you do not touch or attempt to rub your eye because this can result in the flap being dislodged and this can cause you many complications.
You may start feeling much better within a few hours, but you should still get plenty of rest as your vision may still be blurry. Your doctor will also advise you to take it easy the first week after your surgery because your eyes play a critical part in your balance and if you try to rush things, you may end up with more complications which you do not need.
There are some people who will still have to wear glasses after their surgery, but their prescription will not be as strong. You can experience some complications later on after the surgery has been done and you may require what the doctors call a “touch up”. Some of the complications include dry eye, infection, irritated eyes, scratchy eyes, irregular flap and over/under correction.
If you choose to have this eye procedure, make sure that you choose a qualified eye surgeon to do it as this will put your worries to rest and reduce your chances for complications after the surgery.
I hope that you found this information useful and if you would like more information on ways to live healthy, then please visit my eating healthy web site where you will find great information to help you live a long and healthy life.
I am a 54 year old retired mill worker from Maine. I am happily married with 3 wonderful boys. My main interests are my family and God. I own a eating healthy web site with great tips and information designed to help you live a long healthy life.