Dreaming of laser vision correction? A short guide for the undecided
What is really holding you back from laser vision correction? Fear of pain ? Fear that the surgery will fail and you will see worse instead of better ? Or are you terrified by the very vision of having someone operate with a laser ? And then there’s the money – you probably think the procedure is so expensive that you’ll have to borrow and be stuck in debt for the rest of your life. Enough! It seems that your knowledge of laser vision correction is slightly overdue….
Qualification for the procedure
Qualification for laser vision correction surgery involves a medical history and a really long list of tests. No one will undertake the surgery without being 100% sure that you qualify for it! You can find everything about qualifying for the procedure here.
Remember, too, that if your doctor has determined that there are relative contraindications, that is, for example, those related to your autoimmune disease, it means that you need to stabilize the symptoms of the disease, make it go into remission, and then surgery may be possible!
Course of laser vision correction
No matter which method your doctor decides on in your case, you need to know that none of the laser vision correction methods require inpatient treatment. You simply take one day off, come to the clinic and – after brief preparations – undergo the procedure in an outpatient setting under local anesthesia only.
The procedure takes a dozen to twenty minutes. After that, you rest for a while in the post-surgery room, receive all the guidelines for what to do with further eye care and follow-up appointments, and… you go home. Immediately after vision correction, it is not advisable to drive a car, so if you are facing a further journey, it is good for someone to bring and drive you from the clinic.
Safety of laser vision correction procedures
The rapid development of ophthalmic techniques makes laser eye surgery a maximum-safety procedure. The number of complications is less than 1% of cases. For any medical procedure, the term “guarantee” is not used, but “effectiveness of the procedure.” The laser vision correction procedure is effective in approx. 95%. Statistics on laser vision correction report that about 95 percent of those operated on achieve a quality of vision safe for driving after the procedure.
Is it possible to lose this vision during laser vision correction? As British sources read: Realistically, the chance of losing vision as a result of laser vision correction performed by an experienced surgeon is too small to measure – it is close to 1 in 5 million.
Ability to correct two or more eye defects in one procedure
The latest surgical technologies make it possible to combine short/farsightedness/dystopia surgery with the simultaneous removal of other visual defects, such as astigmatism. So if your concerns were also related to the fact that your visual situation is complicated, realize that this is not an obstacle either!
Lasting effects of laser vision correction
If laser vision correction is, according to the gold medical standard, performed on a stabilized defect, it will be permanent and there will be no need to repeat the operation in the future. In other words: you will get rid of your vision defect once and for all.
However, always keep in mind that the tissue is alive – this means that changes are possible. If necessary, also years later, doocorrection (laser corrections after the first surgery) or an intraocular implant can be added. Previous laser vision correction is not a contraindication to cataract surgery, if needed.
And the price?
The procedures are not cheap, but laser vision correction is a one-time expense and offsets all other expenses related to glasses and/or contact lenses for the rest of your life. In addition, it can be financed through an installment system. Check price list of laser vision correction of our clinic.
The National Health Service does not reimburse laser vision correction procedures, considering them to be… cosmetic procedures.
