“By 12 to 15 months after the treatment, the dry eye feeling had morphed into throbbing agony,” a patient reports. “I had the distinct impression that someone was poking knives into my eye and all the way through my mind.” Only after he fell sleeping did the discomfort subside.
John consulted a specialist two years after his treatment, who diagnosed him with ocular neuralgia — discomfort caused by damaged nerves in the cornea. It’s an uncommon but devastating adverse effect that has been connected in a tiny number of instances to LASIK treatment.
He is now receiving a battery of therapies, including eye drops manufactured from his own blood, steroid drops, and painkillers. “My daily pain level decreased from 9 to 2 on a good day to 6 to 7 on a poor day.”
Despite his perfect eyesight, he responds, “Never.”
“Certainly, my attitude on risk-reward has shifted.”
Hearing experiences like John’s from individuals who have been harmed by the procedure motivated Waxler to advocate for more explicit warnings about the hazards of LASIK, which he has been doing for over 12 years. Jessica Starr, a Detroit meteorologist who died by suicide in December 2018 at the age of 35, after discussing her experience with LASIK problems with her audience, was one of the most prominent of these examples. (It is unclear if her suicide was caused directly by her operation.)
Another disadvantage of LASIK is its high cost — around $2,200 per eye. “With few exceptions, insurance does not cover it,” Manche explains. You may pay for the procedure using a flexible spending account (FSA) or a health savings account (HSA). Get more detail about LASIK eye surgery cost on https://www.personaleyes.com.au/costs/lasiklaser-eye-surgery-cost
Obtaining the Best Possible Outcome
LASIK is not suitable for everyone. “The most critical thing is to ensure that you are a qualified applicant,” Manche explains. “Some persons may have issues not as a result of the operation, but as a result of their ineligibility.”
“Every individual should have a comprehensive one-on-one examination and consultation with their doctor to ensure that LASIK is a good fit,” Ling advises. Prior to your operation, the doctor should do a complete eye exam, assessing the shape of your cornea and searching for abnormalities such as dryness or other undiscovered eye disorders.
Certain individuals are not candidates for LASIK. If your cornea is excessively thin or uneven, you may need to avoid this surgery; if you have cataracts or glaucoma; if you have uncontrolled diabetes or an inflammatory condition such as Sjögren’s syndrome or rheumatoid arthritis; if you are pregnant; or if you are under the age of 18
Finding an experienced physician is one of the keys to a good result. You may seek recommendations from friends and family members who have had LASIK, or you can contact the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Manche recommends that you seek a second opinion. “That way, you’ll feel more secure if two physicians agree.”
The doctor should take their time and thoroughly explain the operation, including any potential dangers. “You do not want a physician who promises, ‘This is 100% sure to work.’ ‘You’re going to adore it,’ Ling declares. “That is a really large red flag.” Choosing a university medical facility over a private practice, she argues, may be a safer decision.
Additionally, you must enter LASIK with reasonable expectations. Around 90% of patients will attain 20/20 uncorrected vision or better, while 10% will not, and up to 40% will have negative effects. “Generally speaking, the higher the prescription, the greater the danger of adverse effects,” Ling explains.
“I feel that a large number of individuals assume that LASIK is completely assured. It is a very effective operation for the great majority of patients. However, nothing in medicine is 100 percent certain,” she explains. “If someone enters LASIK believing they will be assured 20/20 vision with no dangers, they have been misinformed and may be disappointed.”
The following are the most common eye conditions that may be addressed by LASIK laser surgery:
Nearsightedness is referred to as myopia.
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is caused by an abnormally long eye shape and/or an abnormally steep cornea. As a consequence, light entering your eyes does not concentrate on the retina as it should, but on pictures in front of the retina. Nearsightedness causes distant items to look fuzzy, while close ones appear distinct.
Hyperopia, or hyperopia, is a condition in which one is farsighted.
If you have hyperopia, or farsightedness, it is due to either an abnormally small eye shape or an abnormally flat cornea. Farsightedness occurs when light entering the eye focuses on pictures beyond the retina. Farsightedness causes close items to look fuzzy, while far ones appear clear. In rare circumstances, hyperopia may result in blurriness both at a distance and up close.
Astigmatism
Astigmatism occurs when the cornea of your eye is not spherical or basketball-shaped, as it is in a normal eye. Instead, your cornea is often shaped more like a football. Astigmatism causes the items you are observing to be distorted or hazy because they are not focused into a single picture. Astigmatism may occur alone or in conjunction with near- or farsightedness.
Presbyopia
If you have presbyopia, you lack the capacity to concentrate on near things. This is a natural process of aging and often becomes noticeable in adults in their forties. Presbyopia occurs when the internal lens of the eye loses its capacity to focus on close-up things. While laser vision correction significantly improves distant vision, the majority of individuals will continue to need glasses for close-up tasks, especially as they age.
Presbyopia may be treated using reading glasses or multifocal lenses. For appropriate applicants, surgical treatments for presbyopia such as monovision LASIK are available. Consult one of our surgeons about repairing presbyopia during your eye checkup.
Cornea Remodeling
If you use glasses or contacts, they will bend the light to suit your prescription. The LASIK Vision Institute’s experts perform a laser vision correction surgery in which they rebuild the cornea to appropriately refract light for corrected vision. The laser shoots cold, invisible ultraviolet light to precisely reshape the cornea without causing damage to surrounding eye tissue. After that, the cornea correctly refracts light, allowing you to see normally. These are the most modern FDA-approved lasers available, ensuring the most accurate eye correction possible.