Lasik: What Contact Lens Wearers Should Know
Safety and Risk. The two most important factors in any decision you make in life are safety and risk. This varies by individual; some people enjoy living their life “on the edge” while others (probably the majority) prefer to keep a “safety barrier” of some sort around them. Such is the choice between continuing to wear contacts and electing Lasik surgery.
Wearing contact lenses, in spite of convenience, comfort and lifestyle issues, is not normally ‘risky business’ . . . not normally! Even when used as directed by your optometrist, some complications can arise — nothing normally sight-threatening or remotely life-threatening but still problematic. Some contact lens wearers have contact lens “fit” problems and some develop ‘dry eye’ or ‘giant papillary conjunctivitis.’ Dry eye usually occurs in contact lens wearers who had dry eye (insufficient natural eye lubrication) before wearing contacts. The conjunctivitis problem usually occurs in patients who have been wearing lenses for some number of years and who have not been as careful as they possibly can to keep their contacts clean. Both conditions are fairly easily treated.
According to the United States Food and Drug Administration (see http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1998/298_lens.html), “The most serious safety concern with any contact lens is related to overnight use. Extended-wear (overnight) contact lenses–rigid or soft–increase the risk of corneal ulcers, infection-caused eruptions on the cornea that can lead to blindness. Symptoms include vision changes, eye redness, eye discomfort or pain, and excessive tearing.”
Another contact lens concern that is potentially sight threatening is the chance of a parasitic eye infection called “Acanthamoeba Keratitis.” This difficult to treat infection is primarily caused by not taking proper care of your contacts and may be complicated by using hot tubs or by swimming.
Contact lenses have been marketed as “care free, trouble free and risk free,” you can clearly see that these claims are subjective.
Lasik while it may win under the headings of convenience, comfort and lifestyle requires some risk taking. Any type of surgery presents a risk and while an estimated 96% to 98% of the many millions of Lasik patients have no serious concerns, even years after surgery, there are a great number of them who have found that Lasik did not fully meet their expectations (they still needed glasses or contacts after surgery). Some small percent of Lasik patients are left with minor vision problems and a very small percent have had catastrophic problems. Such is the nature of any surgical procedure.
The choice is yours but it’s not an easy one: contacts or Lasik?
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