I have worn glasses since I was in preschool, and as I got older I began to get comfortable wearing contacts; however, they become dry and uncomfortable at times so I have been thinking about LASIK surgery. LASIK surgery has always been a controversial thing, many admit to having good experiences with it, while other disagree. This is similar to the example in class when the professor spoke about this friend who had to decide if she should have the brain operation or not based on the risks and it turned out she had a high risk of dying, but had less of a risk of dying by getting the operation done. In my case, since I don’t like contacts, I can either deal with them, or improve my circumstances depending on the risk and get it done! So is LASIK surgery good or bad? Worth it or a waste of money?
LASIK surgery is the process of a laser used to permanently change the shape of the cornea, the clear covering of the front of the eye (Public Citizen). Some patients report they were happy with the results of the LASIK surgery but others are disappointed they still have to wear glasses even after getting the procedure done. In 2009, the Consumer Reports National Research Center surveyed almost 800 adults who had undergone laser vision-correcting surgery over the prior eight years. While most patients were satisfied with their results overall, nearly two-thirds said they still had to wear glasses or contact lenses at least occasionally (Public Citizen).
Therefore the next question to ask is, how could LASIK eye surgery be completely safe if many people are reporting bad outcomes, and if someone had a bad experience, how well would he/she be able to personally adjust?
According to statistics from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), over 90 percent of people who went through the procedure achieved 20/20 to 20/40 vision. However the AAO also warns that although many achieve 20/20 after the surgery, many people have reported that their vision was improved by leaps and bounds, but their sight still wasn’t as sharp as it was when visual aids were worn (News Tribune).
The following risks of this surgical procedure include: visual acuity worse than before surgery, inability to drive at night due to blinding halos, inability to correct visual acuity even with glasses, inability to wear contacts, overccorrection, undercorrection, ocular infection and subsequent damage and finally death; none have been reported as a direct consequence but you could be the first (USA Eyes).
There is less than 0.5% probability of serious long-term complications after LASIK surgery. There are no guarantees, but there is also no perfect surgery and doctors. Based on my research and many studies/articles, there has not been a definite given answer of whether LASIK surgery is good or bad, the risk seems small, but will a person feel comfortable risking their eye sight, or ability to see. It depends or would be considered indistinguishable from chance since there is such a small effect we can’t really say its completely bad.
Citations:
http://www.usaeyes.org/lasik/lasik-risk.htm
http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=5964
http://lasikcomplications.com/12_things_you_should_know_before_LASIK.pdf
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1334246/Tempted-laser-eye-surgery-Its-risks.html
http://www.newstribune.com/news/2013/jan/01/lasik-surgery-have-risks-been-properly-communicate/
http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/lasik-eye-surgery/basics/risks/prc-20019041
This post is really interesting. I never knew much about Lasik surgery, but you provide really good data and statistics on this possible benefits and risks that may result from this surgery. I guess deciding whether or not to get this surgery is based on personal preference, but the evidence you give could definitely help someone shape their decision. I’m curious to know how much the surgery typically costs because you ask if it’s worth the money. Additionally that is probably determined by personal preference, whether someone is willing to spend the money on the surgery or not.
Lasik surgery always interested me. Lasers shaving the eye doesn’t come off as safe when I first heard it. But technology is improving rapidly and it is a huge industry. There is sill room for plenty of improvement especially with the data in your post. But we are moving in the right direction I think with this. If we can perfect this we can eliminate glasses and contacts as a whole but those industries wouldn’t like that very much but thats a topic for another post.
I found this article really interesting! Particularly because I have a friend who has gotten Lasik in the past and has received amazing results, and secondly because of what we’ve been talking about in class regarding chance and outcome. A 0.5% probability is probably worth the risk, considering nearly nothing in the medical world goes without risk.