Contact lenses are much more dangerous than LASIK due to potential risk of eye infections, dryness and possible outcome of long-term use of contacts - loss of vision. New technology makes LASIK safe, and just like any other operation complications might happen, but with an experienced surgeon chances are no more that 1-2%. As age-related farsightedness or cataract comes later in life, people who have LASIK need to keep all their medical data. But for those who lost their medical records, we can make special measurements with a machine that gives you data, on the basis of which you know how the lens sits.
Vision – Separating Fact from Fiction (3)
Many believe that Lasik is more dangerous than contact lenses.
It’s actually the opposite. Contacts are much more dangerous – they can cause eye infections and dryness, and sooner or later everyone who wears contacts will have these problems, which can potentially translate into a loss of vision. Lasik, on the other hand, is not just the safer option, but also the cheaper one. Contact lenses are a foreign body in the eye, which once again can attract bacteria.
“Lasik increases light diffusion or halo effect, reducing quality of vision.” Is this true?
Now that’s a myth. It was like that with the old lasers, where spherical aberration took place. With newer Lasik, the patient won’t experience this. The technology has been updating for 5 or 6 years now.
And after Lasik you might get dry eye syndrome? Is that a myth?
That’s true. All Lasik in some way causes dryness, but it’s temporary. If the candidate for Lasik has very dry eyes, the procedure cannot be done. When you plant new grass, it needs to be watered a few times a day until it takes root. After this happens, you can cut back to once a day. It’s the same thing here: you create a flap with the laser and cut the nerve endings, and until they grow back there will be some dryness. The younger the person, the faster the healing; a 20-year-old won’t have any dryness after a week or two. I was 40 years old, so I had to use drops for a couple of months.
Are there often complications after Lasik?
There are, just like with any operation, but with an experienced surgeon no more than 1-2%. And 99% of the complications are related to the flap, which can be done manually with a keratome device, or with a laser. Yes, it’s significantly more expensive, but complications are very rare and there’s less dryness. And there isn’t an age limit on Lasik.
After Lasik, sooner or later, comes age-related farsightedness and cataracts, and the operation needs to be done again. But this time it’s in difficult conditions…
It’s true. People who have Lasik need to keep all of their medical data. With cataracts, they do measurements that calculate how the lens sits. They are made with specific estimates, but if you’ve had Lasik before, it makes those calculations ineffective. For example, results might say that everything should be 20/20, but it turns out it’s +2, and the guy has become accustomed to getting along without glasses. So don’t forget that you’ve had Lasik and remember how your vision was up until then, because there’s no guarantee that your former doctor retained all that data (like we do here). Data should be kept for 7 years, but if the doctor retires, boards up the office, and no one knows where he is… in that case, we can make special measurements, and, by the grace of God, we have a machine that can scan the eye after cataract removal and give you data, on the basis of which you know how the lens sits. Clearly, this is reflected in our prices.
“Yoga treats myopia.” Indeed, one thing that I have not seen is people wearing glasses in yoga.
Yoga is very useful; it strengthens the body and soul. But it has no effect on vision.
“There are eye “gymnastics” that can prevent these problems.”
The muscles of the eye are the fastest in the body, and they don’t need exercises. The muscles exercise themselves; vision is a passive process. The ciliary body also doesn’t need to be inflated. The less you “exercise” it, the better. I would advise, rather, to develop the brain – puzzles, crosswords, and intelligent conversations.
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