LASIK: 20/20 and Still Unhappy?
Laser refractive surgery (LASIK) is enormously popular - over 2 million Americans undergo the procedure every year. Many ophthalmologists have re-engineered their practices to accommodate more of these patients - and for good reason:
Given all this happy news, some postop patients are unhappy. Yes, they can read the 20/20 line without glasses, perhaps the smaller 20/15 line. Even so, some complain that surgery changed their eyesight...they just have a hard time explaining it.
Vision scientists don't have trouble explaining the situation.
Although most LASIK patients are very satisfied with their 'new eyes' some individuals are bothered by what's called higher order aberrations.
Some people are sensitive to extraneous noises in restaurants, traffic noise, right? Most of us are oblivious to it and carry on with life's activities.
Higher order aberrations pester some 'uncomplicated' LASIK patients.
These aberrations have to do with changes to the outer clear cornea that result from creation of the delicate flap that's created right before the laser energy is applied. Watch WebMD's video demonstration of laser refractive surgery.
Secondary astigmatism, spherical aberration, and something we call coma (no, not that kind of coma!) can interfere with both optimum image resolution and night vision. They can also cause LASIK patients to see more halos around bright objects day or night. For some this can complicate driving in the dark. Compared to individuals who never underwent eye surgery, LASIK patients were more that twice as likely to encounter this the halo phenomenon.
So, what should you do if you are considering refractive surgery? You should get as much information as possible! Have a thorough conversation with your surgeon before consenting to any surgery. Know all of the potential risks and the real-world chances that they might happen to you.
REFERENCE: British Journal of Ophthalmology, Aug 2007, pages 1031-1037.
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Technorati Tags: LASIK
- Most LASIK patients pay cash
- No insurance pre-approvals
- Many patients apply for financing (doctor collects interest!)
- No insurance paperwork
- Candidates have healthy eyes, healthy bodies
- Very high success rate
- Prompt recovery
- Complications are few, yet manageable
Given all this happy news, some postop patients are unhappy. Yes, they can read the 20/20 line without glasses, perhaps the smaller 20/15 line. Even so, some complain that surgery changed their eyesight...they just have a hard time explaining it.
Vision scientists don't have trouble explaining the situation.Although most LASIK patients are very satisfied with their 'new eyes' some individuals are bothered by what's called higher order aberrations.
Some people are sensitive to extraneous noises in restaurants, traffic noise, right? Most of us are oblivious to it and carry on with life's activities.
Higher order aberrations pester some 'uncomplicated' LASIK patients.
These aberrations have to do with changes to the outer clear cornea that result from creation of the delicate flap that's created right before the laser energy is applied. Watch WebMD's video demonstration of laser refractive surgery.
Secondary astigmatism, spherical aberration, and something we call coma (no, not that kind of coma!) can interfere with both optimum image resolution and night vision. They can also cause LASIK patients to see more halos around bright objects day or night. For some this can complicate driving in the dark. Compared to individuals who never underwent eye surgery, LASIK patients were more that twice as likely to encounter this the halo phenomenon.
So, what should you do if you are considering refractive surgery? You should get as much information as possible! Have a thorough conversation with your surgeon before consenting to any surgery. Know all of the potential risks and the real-world chances that they might happen to you.
REFERENCE: British Journal of Ophthalmology, Aug 2007, pages 1031-1037.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: LASIK
4 Comments:
This article was next to worthless. I'd say it was totally worthless but someone probably was paid to write the article.
I agree with the previous review. I could have written that article. What options exist for those patients who have after surgery symptoms. Even if none, state it, Doc. Yeow!
What the Doc said is pretty true but when you gotta you gotta. I am not real satisfied with the results of mine, and the problem is that I have worn glasses almost all of my life and seen fairly good with them now cannot make out small print with or without present glasses. Due to go back Wens.
Oh good grief! I am three weeks post-op, and I see perfect. I can see this monitor perfect. I don't have halos. I don't have double vision. I double have all this stuff. I have come to an astonishing conclusion. There are actually people out there who get paid to support eye-glass shops and all sorts of places who suffer from your vision being corrected. That's right! Lawyers! Eye-glass shops with the exception of the sun-glasses shop. They get paid to scare you. They get paid to support the anti-LASIK campaign, while people across the entire world love their new eye-sight. I've also noticed that most of the people complaining are: lawyers, doctors, eye-glass store, 5% of the patients who were told they were 'high risk' yet now complain, patients with other eye problems before surgery and now have bad result, patients who had lame 'quack doctors' who weren't even M.D... That's the truth! I'm 3 weeks post-op: 20/15. Perfect!
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