I was considering getting lasik… but now I’m not sure. I have astigmatism (I think high), but my glasses prescription is relatively low. (I don’t know the exact number, I’ve just been told I don’t need a whole lot of correction.)
After talking to a doc (salesman?) about lasik (and researching online), I learned lasik mainly improves your distance vision. The doc said, I’ll probably still need glasses for up-close work.
But. Don’t we constantly do up close work? Read a message on my phone -> close up work. Read a menu -> close up work. Read a price tag -> close up work. Type on my computer -> close up work. Having to constantly put on and take off my glasses based on the task seems like a huge step backwards compared to today where I just have my glasses on all the time and don’t think about them. (Or lose them.) I heard I could get some glasses that let me see far and close… and I could wear them all day…
So… what’s the point of lasik in that case?
I’ve heard after lasik, my overall un-assisted vision would improve. I would only need minor corrective lenses. But. Why does major vs minor correction matter?
If I still need glasses (with minor correction), what’s the point of lasik?
Am I missing something here?
Why do tons of people online seem extremely happy with their lasik experience?
Eye surgeries always come with risk. When they go wrong, you can even end up with worse vision than before.
If life is comfortable for you, I wouldn’t change anything.
I’m not sure why the surgery wouldn’t help with near-sightedness. It modifies the shape of the lens in your eye, essentially applying correction directly to your body.
How much can be done and in which direction, depends on the individual. As you’re essentially working with a subtractive tool (using a laser to remove stuff) to modify the optical material in your eye. You’re limited by the shape and amount of material in each persons eye in the first place, and you can’t make changes that would require adding material. As such, there is a maximum amount of correction that can be applied before you run out of usable material, and it varies from person to person.
If more is neded beyond that limit, you will still need glasses.
I was at a conference last summer in a facility shared by an Opthalmology conference. Most opthalmologists were wearing glasses.
In the 80s-90s radial keratonomy was big, and those people are going blind late in life. The major concern of Lasik is the flap of cornea they cut doesn’t always heal.
I have myopia, but that means I do not need reading glasses until in my late 60s. There are two different technologies that do not require laser ablation: refractive lens exchange and electromechanical lense reshaping. Both can be updated later in life. But we are just now starting to see the long term implications of Lasik surgery.