What You Need To Know Before Getting LASIK Eye Surgery

Have you ever wanted to wake up in the morning with a pair of eyes that would rival those of a pilot?
Lasik eye surgery can make this a reality. 

A relatively novel practice, Lasik eye surgery entails meticulously reshaping your cornea to rectify some of the most common eye conditions, including as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. Patients frequently report restored vision within 24 hours.

As with any surgery, Lasik may pose complications and is far from a universal solution. Although the procedure is generally safe, taking proper care of your eyes means acknowledging all risks that may affect them. 

Contact Specs in the City  

How Lasik Eye Surgery Works  

If you are tired of wearing glasses or contact lenses to correct astigmatism, myopia, and hyperopia, you may want to consider one of the most innovative eye surgeries developed in the past 20 years: Lasik. 

Lasik restores your sight by reshaping the cornea in your eye. Flattening it addresses myopia, steepening it treats hyperopia, and carefully curving it solves astigmatism. This long-term solution takes less than 10 minutes to complete, is absolutely painless, and requires a relatively short recovery time. No wonder that thousands of Canadians turn to Lasik to correct their sight problems every year! 

However, this elective surgery does come with caveats. It is not for everybody, and the procedure itself carries a small chance of complications. Information is key before committing to the surgery. 

Our eye surgeons at Specs in the City are fully committed to meet your vision needs. If you are curious to know whether Lasik could be the answer to your vision problems, our specialists would be happy to tell you everything you need to know about this procedure. Call 1-403-252-2020 or fill out the online contact form below to get started. 

Risks of Lasik Eye Surgery 

While 95% of Canadians are satisfied with the results of their Lasik eye surgery, medical complications arising from the procedure do exist: 

• Dry eyes: Ocular discomfort stemming from dry eyes is quite common for Lasik patients. Though this condition eventually subsides in most cases, up to 40% of patients still struggle with it 6 months after the procedure. Thankfully, most cases of chronic eyes can be easily managed with artificial tear drops. 
   
• Poor night vision: Lasik eye surgery may cause your cornea to swell for a time. When this happens, your visual acuity at night is reduced. If this problem persists past the recovery period, you can address it with anti-reflective coated eyeglasses, special contact lenses, pupil-shrinking eye drops, and even a Lasik “enhancement” surgery.
   
• Corneal ectasia: By far the most severe postoperative complication, this condition entails the weakening and bulging of the cornea. If left untreated, corneal ectasia can severely impair your vision. 
  
  Special contact lenses, implants, and corneal surgery can help with the visual rehabilitation of ecstatic corneas. 
  
  The incidence of post-Lasik ectasia is between 0.04% to 0.6%. 

Notably, contrary to what you may have heard, not a single case of blindness has been attributed to Lasik since its inception in medical practice 20 years ago. 

Minimizing Risks 

Reducing the chances of postoperative complications mostly involves making sure that you are fit for surgery. You should steer clear of Lasik if you have:

• Certain medical conditions: Diseases and conditions that weakens your immune system or impairs your natural healing process can make Lasik eye surgeries unpredictable. Having diabetes, lupus, HIV, and rheumatoid arthritis can increase the chance of post-surgery infections. 
   
• Pre-existing eye conditions: Lasik can be dangerous to people who have glaucoma, chronic dry eyes, and chronic eye infections. Corrective eye surgery is not necessarily impossible with these conditions, but safer alternatives may exist. 

Other considerations

Even if you are healthy, you should still think carefully before committing to Lasik. An eye injury, for example, could be devastating. That is why most athletes opt for contact lenses instead of Lasik to correct their vision problems. 

Finally, the results of Lasik, while long-lasting, are not permanent. Your vision may continue to deteriorate as part of aging. You may still have to wear glasses or contact lenses in the future (or undergo another Lasik surgery). 

Is Lasik Eye Surgery For You? 

Lasik is extremely popular for good reasons. That a painless, 10-minute procedure can restore your vision to near perfect acuity overnight sounds too good to be true. 

But there is nothing bewildering about Lasik. Over the past 20 years, this procedure has proven its mettle plenty of times, and surgeons have gained a good idea about the risks that it entails. The consensus is that Lasik is generally safe. After all, 95% of Canadians who have received this surgery are happy with its results. 

As such, you are very likely to be satisfied with this procedure. However, we at Specs in the City only provide this surgery to fully informed patients. We want our patients to be aware of the complications that Lasik may pose. We want our patients to be convinced for the right reasons that Lasik is really for them. Give Specs in the City a chance by calling 1-403-252-2020 or by filling out the online contact form below.

FAQs

Q: How long is the recovery period for Lasik?
A: While you may see immediate improvement to your vision in less than 24 hours, your eyes will not fully recover for at least a week or two. 

Q: Can Lasik cause blindness?
A: Blindness would be an extremely unlikely outcome. In fact, no blindness has been recorded in North America since surgeons began practising Lasik in 2001. 

Q: How much does Lasik cost?
A: In Canada, the typical range for Lasik eye surgery is from $1,800 to $2,000 per eye.