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Lasik Eye Surgery - And Vision After 40
By blogger | August 24, 2008
You see it all the time, and the advertisements are so plenty that they are sure to catch you at the right time. You know the ads, “free yourself from contact lenses and glasses” Lasik for only $299/eye” These ads are there to promote a vision of clean clear vision without the daily routine of contact lenses or eyeglasses.
There is some fine print that is not in those advertisements that most people should be aware of. Refractive surgery is very promising solutions for many, unfortunately there are facts about eye surgery that are not outlined very clearly for most.
I am not talking about possible risks and side effects. Those seam to be covered very well. By now, anybody who goes in for a Lasik or RK surgery consultation should be well briefed in the fact that dry eyes and night-time glare may be a side effect. People can choose to proceed or not based on the surgeon honest input.
There are also the small percentages of complications that leave people with poor vision for the rest of their lives. These are a small percentage, but they do occur and that is why any potential patient must sign a waiver.
The most common complaint and one that is not highly thought of is the fact that refractive surgery will correct someone’s eyes for distance vision and leave them lacking at near vision once they become presbyopic.
This condition, presbyopia is the inabilityloss of ability for eyes to change, or accommodate, between distance vision and near vision. It happens to absolutely everybody around the age of 40.
Regardless if someone has refractive surgery or not, some type of vision correction is going to be needed to address presbyopia. Most commonly, persbyopia is corrected with reading glasses. A big concern is that so many people who opt to have refractive surgery are under the belief that they will be free from glasses… forever.
The most disappointing situation is when a person is in their early to mid thirties and mildly nearsighted and decides to have refractive eye surgery. The nearsighted eye can see fabulously well up close with no correction. Once surgery is performed it loses that ability. Now, that person will need reading glasses to see up close for the rest of their lives. If they just left well enough alone, they could have adjusted their contact lens prescription for improved reading, or switched to progressive glasses.
Refractive eye surgery has come a very long way, and most patients can be extremely well screened. I just hope all patients are informed of the long term expectations of their surgeries and not just the immediate results.
Topics: Eye Care |
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