Experience, LASIK, PRK, SMILE, Surgery
Have you considered LASIK but need more information before obtaining a consult? Then this is the post for you! I’ll discuss 10 Facts or Fictions about LASIK. By the end of the article, you’ll have all the answers you need to make an informed decision about your eyes.
1. LASIK can treat astigmatism.
FACT! LASIK can treat nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism with remarkable accuracy. 95% of patients see 20/20 or better after surgery.
2. LASIK can treat floaters.
FICTION! The age-related liquefaction of the vitreous jelly in the back of your eye causes floaters. As we age, the vitreous slowly becomes more liquid and forms small protein clumps. These clumps float through the vitreous jelly and can look like bugs flying in front of our faces. LASIK only changes the cornea – the front layer of the eye – so it neither causes nor treats floaters.
3. LASIK wears off over time.
FICTION! LASIK works by changing the shape of your cornea. This is a permanent change. Sometimes, your prescription can change after LASIK due to your eye elongating or the lens inside your eye changing shape. For such instances, patients can either resume contact- and glasses-wear or elect for enhancement surgery.
4. I should wait until I’m thirty to get LASIK.
FICTION! Thirty is a great age to get LASIK because your prescription is generally stable by then, and you are young enough to enjoy decades of glasses-free life. But if your prescription hasn’t changed significantly in the past six to twelve months, you can get LASIK as early as eighteen. On the other end of the spectrum, patients in their fifties and sixties can still get LASIK if their eyes are otherwise healthy and without cataracts.
5. I’ll never need to wear glasses again after LASIK.
FICTION! True, most patients don’t need distance glasses ever again after LASIK. But every patient will eventually need reading glasses, regardless of your distance vision. Read my earlier post on interpreting a glasses prescription to learn about presbyopia, the age-related loss of near vision.
6. LASIK is more expensive than contacts and glasses.
FICTION! LASIK can entail a greater up-front cost than the alternatives, but even this is not always the case, especially with interest-free financing at Corsini Laser Eye Center. Furthermore, the cost of LASIK is always cheaper in the long run, with the average patient spending between $500 and $1000 on expenses related to contacts and glasses each year. Try our LASIK Savings Calculator to see how much you can save with LASIK.
7. LASIK is painful.
FICTION! LASIK is a quick, pain-free procedure that takes 15 minutes for both eyes. Numbing drops keep your eyes comfortable during surgery, and most patients are feeling back to baseline within 24 hours after LASIK.
8. LASIK is the only option for laser vision correction.
FICTION! Although LASIK is the most common laser eye surgery, with over thirty million procedures performed, it is by no means the only choice. It’s not even the newest. That title belongs to SMILE (Small Incision Lenticular Extraction), which you can think of as flap-less LASIK. Corsini Laser Eye Center offers PRK, LASIK, and SMILE, and Dr. Corsini will personally recommend the best option for each patient’s individual needs. Read our earlier post – Which Procedure is Best for Me – to learn more about each surgery.
9. I can’t have LASIK when I’m pregnant.
FACT! Hormonal changes can affect your prescription during pregnancy and breastfeeding, so you must wait three months after cessation of breastfeeding to undergo surgery.
10. LASIK is the most studied surgery in the history of the world.
FACT! I discussed this reality in my post about LASIK’s quality of life benefits, but it is worth repeating. The abundance of LASIK literature is one of the reasons that the surgery is so successful. Every possible aspect of the procedure has been examined, from patient factors to surgical techniques to postoperative management. Still, more studies will come as our population changes and new technologies develop. This wealth of research has helped hone LASIK into the most precise and reproducible surgery available to humanity.
LASIK is a remarkable surgery that has improved the quality of life of tens of millions of patients worldwide. Like any surgery, it has limitations and risks. Potential LASIK candidates must share in a thorough discussion with their surgeon about the risks and benefits of laser eye surgery so they can make informed decisions on their eye health.
Ready to leap to clear vision? Schedule a free, no-hassle consultation at Corsini Laser Eye Center or call 484-580-2166 to learn your options for a clearer future.
Jonathan Corsini, MD