Costs...doctors...risks...
You've seen the commercials of Tiger Woods praising the surgeons that corrected his poor eyesight with laser eye surgery. "Now I see the ball 20/20," he beams in the ad. While millions like the golf guru have had the surgery, many with poor eyesight still don't know what it is or how it works. Having had the surgery, I can give you the basic nuts and bolts.
Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis, better known as LASIK, in a nutshell, is laser eye surgery that corrects your vision in a matter of minutes. To understand how LASIK works it is important to understand how the eye works. Sight is achieved through the cornea, which is the clear covering on the front of the eye. The cornea is a part of the eye that helps focus light to create an image on the retina, another important layer of the eye. When the cornea is misshapen, the light is out of focus, thus creating a distorted or blurry image. To correct this problem, a doctor can prescribe glasses or contacts.
LASIK is another way this problem can be corrected. According to the FDA, a knife, called a microkeratome, is used to cut a flap in the cornea. A hinge is left at one end of this flap. The flap is folded back revealing the stroma, the middlesection of the cornea. Pulses from a computer-controlled laser vaporize a portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced. Usually, the patient can see better almost immediately after the surgery. However, some may not achieve their best vision until days or weeks after the surgery. Contrary to popular belief, the surgery is not painful. Your eyes are numbed with numbing drops before the surgery.
One of the biggest issues for people considering LASIK is finding the right doctor. This decision should not be based on price. Some LASIK procedures will cost as low as $1,000, but as high as $10,000. By the way, most offices offer financing programs for LASIK or the patient can be reimbursed through their flexible spending account. It should also be noted that many LASIK centers now offer lifetime free enhancements to re-do the surgery if and when necessary. So, why the variation in price? In some cases, doctors with less experience may charge lower rates than doctors with more experience. While this isn't always the case, I recommend choosing a doctor based on experience, medical standing, and certification. Make sure the surgeon that has done several thousand LASIK surgeries, not a few hundred. Also, check with the state's medical board to make sure the surgeon has not been convicted of malpractice. Last, but certainly not least, because there are various types of LASIK procedures, make sure the surgeon is certified in the particular type of LASIK that you need.
Another big issue for people considering LASIK is the risks. As with every medical procedure, there are risks. Some patients are simply not good candidates for LASIK depending on the health of their eyes or other pre-existing medical conditions. Although patients are administered antibiotics before and after the surgery, some may still develop eye infections. Because you eyes age with the rest of your body as you get older, it is possible you may still have to wear glasses or contacts later on in life. One can also suffer a permanent loss of vision.
With so many risks, why are people still getting the surgery? I can't speak for everybody, but I can tell you that I got the surgery because I was tired of wearing glasses and contacts. An active person, my glasses were always getting broken during contact sports. And despite being a sterile contact lens user, I repeatedly developed eye infections. I originally had the surgery done in 2000. Within two-three years, some of my vision regressed back toward its original prescription. Because I was only in my early 20s when I had the surgery done, the surgeon said my vision was probably still changing. Vision, he said, doesn't usually stabilize until you have reached your 30s. In 2006, I had an enhancement procedure to correct my vision. The healing time, as the surgeon predicted, was longer (3 months), but so far I am seeing very well (20/20).