How Safe is Lasik in the Long Term?

As with any operation, most people will often ask “How safe is the operation?” Luckily, from a long term perspective, Lasik is significantly less prone to result in eye infections than people who wear contact lenses. In fact, the WebMD website actually conducted a study that highlighted the fact that for those who wear contact lenses, there is a 1 in 100 chance of developing a serious eye infection over a thirty year period. Additionally, they have a 1 in 2000 chance of losing a portion of their vision. Compared with Lasik, the study estimated the chance of losing vision to be one in ten thousand. As you can see, over the long term, Lasik can be considered extremely safe.

Risks of Lasik

Unfortunately, as with any medical procedure, there are risks associated with having Lasik eye surgery. While the probability of them happening is very slight, you should still know about them. Of the possible complications, the most likely is dry eyes. This condition can last for a few hours up to 6 months. If you experience these symptoms, you should immediately contact your doctor for further guidance. In addition to dry eyes, other complications include double vision and seeing halos around object. Lastly, it is possible for the surgeon to either over or under correct your vision. If this situation happens, you can always undergo Lasik eye surgery again to fix this issue.

Low Cost Lasik

Many people often see those late night commercials offering very low cost Lasik, and wonder, are those unbelievably low prices for real? Most times, the simple answer is No. Those low price teaser commercials are often designed to reel people in so they can be up sold. Let’s give you an example. You may see Lasik advertised for $500. But when you call, you find out that the cost only covers a small portion of everything you will need. The operating facility fee isn’t included, the anesthesiologist’s fee isn’t covered, and the pre-operative diagnostic tests are covered. Once you add in all of these fees, the total cost often comes out to some absurd figure. Hence, you end up paying more in the long run for “Low Cost Lasik” then you would at a respectable surgeon’s office.

How Did Lasik Come To Be?

As popular as Lasik eye surgery is today, it is very difficult to imagine it not being around. But surprisingly, Lasik hasn’t been around very long. Just to give you a better point of reference, a Colombian surgeon named Dr. Jose Barraquer actually developed the microkeratome in 1960 (this is the tool used to cut the cornea). While other forms of eye surgery were developed beforehand (mainly PRK and RK), Lasik was not fully demonstrated until the late 1980s. Even then, the Food and Drug Administration did not conduct clinical trials of the excimer laser until late 1989. Luckily, as you can imagine, the FDA approved the use of the excimer laser and Lasik become a popular alternative to the more painful eye surgery procedures available at that time.

What is Lasik?

Lasik is a medical procedure which is used to correct vision problems in people who have to wear either glasses or contact lenses. Specifically, Lasik stands for Laser Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis. During this procedure, an eye surgeon uses an excimer laser to cut a very small flap into the interior of the cornea. This flap is then folded back and the interior portion of the cornea, which is called the stoma, is vaporized by a laser. Once enough of the stoma has been vaporized, the flap in the cornea is folded back into place, resulting in improved eye sight.