Vision Correction-LASIK Is Not the Only Option
Tired
of needing your glasses to find your contact lens case? Before you think about LASIK,
you should consider this: One in four patients are considered poor candidates
for LASIK surgery, so despite the judgment women who end up getting LASIK do
not get perfect vision, they are more likely to experience side effects like
dryness and glare. Fortunately, there are alternatives to laser surgery that
can improve vision.
LASIK
It
is best for women with healthy corneas who are mild to moderately nearsighted
or farsighted. Your vision should also be stable which means your prescription shouldn’t
be changed in the past year.
LASIK
surgery is done by cutting a small flap of tissue on the surface of the eye. The
cornea underneath the flap is then reshaped and the flap is repositioned.
Pros:
You
can see clearly within 24 hours after the surgery with little to no discomfort.
Cons:
Getting hit in the eye soon after Lasik could pose a problem as it can displace
the flap of tissue. Nerve receptors that signal the brain to produce tears can
get affected during the procedure and leave your eyes feeling dry.
Wave
Front-Guided PRK
The
other procedure for visual correctness is PRK which is best for women who have
thinner corneas or dry eyes, and athletes who don't wish to take a month off after
Lasik.
One
of the riskiest parts of Lasik surgery is the cut made on the eye’s surface. But
PRK requires no such cut. In it, a laser creates a 3-D map of your eye, and a
second laser reshapes the top part of the cornea.
Pros: As
there's no cutting involved, there's also no risk of you getting a dry eye and
you wouldn’t need to use artificial tears.
Cons: Your vision will not improve immediately and it will take four to six days for blurriness to go away. And because a part of the top layer of the eye is removed, the risk of infection increases as compared to Lasik. The number is 1 in 1,000 compared to 1 in 10,000.
Phakic
Intraocular Lens Implant
It
is best for women who are severely shortsighted or have thin and unusually shaped
corneas.
The
doctor inserts the soft plastic lens which is like a permanent contact, either
in front of or behind the iris. Once it is inserted in you cannot feel anything.
Pros:
You'll be able to see properly the next morning itself without the glasses and
if you want you can have the lenses removed.
Cons:
The
procedure has been around for a few years only, so if this has any long-term
side effects aren't known. Rare complications like infection or damage to the
iris.
Refractive
Lens Exchange
It
is best for patients who have vision problems like farsightedness or cataracts.
In
this procedure, the doctor replaces your eye's natural lens with a soft plastic
one.
Pros: This
procedure has been done on patients for years with cataracts, which affects a
majority of people.
Cons: It
does not work on severely nearsighted patients (who have a prescription worse
than -8), the procedure has an increased risk of the retina getting detached,
which will require a second surgery to fix, if it can be fixed at all.