If you’ve been struggling with your poor vision for a while and would like to better your eyesight, you may find that you are a perfect candidate for Howerton Eye’s LASIK eye treatment. Since this procedure is technically eye surgery, anyone who is considering this form of eye treatment will undoubtedly have concerns regarding risks, possible outcomes, and the likelihood of negative side effects like vision loss. Here at Howerton Eye, we can assure you that with a nearly 100% patient satisfaction rate, LASIK is a procedure that has been found to have less than 1% error rate! If you’re still uneasy about scheduling this eye treatment for yourself though, we have a group of eye experts ready to answer your questions and alleviate your concerns.
Is LASIK Safe for My Eyes?
Like any surgical procedure, there are always risks involved. The LASIK surgical process involves a medical-grade laser that carefully cuts and creates a thin circular flap in the cornea. This flap will then be folded back and one of our ophthalmologists will remove microscopic corneal tissue in order to reshape the cornea. Although complications are possible, in this highly sophisticated and perfected procedure, they are not probable. Another factor that minimalizes complications is the fact that every LASIK eye surgery is uniquely tailored to each patient. Our ophthalmologists will perform a pre-operative discovery evaluation of your eyes wherein they measure the unique mapping of your eye and vision in extreme detail. The data gathered during this process is utilized by your eye surgeon to customize your LASIK eye surgery.
How Long Do the Effects of LASIK Last?
There is an ongoing myth that the improvement in vision following LASIK eye surgery only lasts a few years. This is not true. The changes that are applied during the LASIK procedure (reshaping the cornea and getting rid of imperfections) are permanent. The effects of age, however, are not something that can be stopped with LASIK. As human beings get older, the elasticity of their eye lenses will decrease and therefore won’t be able to focus as well as when they were younger, thereby causing nearsightedness (myopia) or farsightedness (hyperopia). As a result, at some point, the use of corrective eyeglasses is inevitable, but this won’t be because the improvements of LASIK have worn off, it will be due to age.
Can LASIK Eye Treatment Cause Blindness?
LASIK has an extremely low risk of complications derived from the surgery, including loss of vision. As previously stated, it’s estimated that issues that arise during LASIK have been found to occur at a rate of less than 1%. You’ll find that most reported complications associated with LASIK actually occur after the surgery.
Because this eye surgery involves one or both of your eyes, a symptom that you’ll experience right away is temporary eyesight changes that result in poorer vision than before LASIK surgery. This experience can make some post-operative patients believe that the surgery didn’t work; however this is not the case. Recovery may feel like a slow process but by following your ophthalmologist’s orders to the letter, as the days pass, patients will find that their vision improving greatly.
When gathering data from those who have experienced blindness following LASIK eye surgery, the culprit most commonly found that caused this was the onset of an infection after the procedure that occurred as a result of not following the eye doctor’s after-surgery care instructions. So if patients follow their ophthalmologists’ instructions and thus avoid contamination of their eyes, they shouldn’t have anything to worry about.
Find Out if You’re a Candidate for LASIK, Today!
If you still have LASIK questions, you’ll find that some commonly asked questions are answered on our site and may prove useful to you. If you’re considering LASIK eye surgery, be sure to talk with your Austin, Southwest Austin, or Kyle, TX ophthalmologist to determine if you’re a good candidate for this eye treatment. You may schedule a consultation online and our friendly and knowledgeable staff will help you set up your next appointment with one of our LASIK specialists: Dr. Hawthorne, Dr. Kelly, or Dr. Berkowitz. We hope to see you in one of our offices soon!
