Are You A Regular Contact Lens User? - Know This Prior to Going
for Lasik Doctor
If you are a regular user of contact lenses, you have to account
some things before deciding to undergo Lasik surgery.
Same features
Lasik surgery and contacts lenses can both treat myopia, hyperopia
and astigmatism to a certain degree. Minification and tangenial
deformation can be corrected by both Lasik and contact lenses. This
condition could be apparent if you are wearing eye glasses as these
two methods treat vision at the eye exterior.
Ease of use
Sometime in the 1970s, contact lenses that can be worn for a longer
time was introduced and it made wearing of contact lenses less cumbersome
than older models. However the extended wear contacts were not able
to make good on their promise of a 30-day continuous wear, without
problems occurring. The birth of the disposable contact lenses again
made contact lens wearing more convenient; yet, one still has a
daily concern. Recent times ushered in more in studies to improved
contact lens, thus the "30-Day Lenses" made a comeback.
We can only tell in time, if this is already convenient enough for
the contact lens users. For those who could have the Lasik procedure,
this could be the best in handiness as you do not to worry about
taking off your lenses every, barring of course, the possible side
effects.
Comfort
Without a doubt, in the comfort aspect, Lasik will win hands down
after the initial post-op healing stage, which in some severe condtions
can extend to half a year. For some people, wearing contacts are
more comfortable because of different tolerance level for discomfort
among individuals and the improvement of materials used in producing
the lenses have made the contacts more comfortable. Nevertheless,
according to studies, conducted by Contact
Lens Spectrum there is an approximately 2-3 million individuals
who have given up on wearing of contact lens citing discomfort and
inconvenience as their primary reasons. That is more or less 10%
of the total contact lens users.
Lifestyle issues
Lasik again wins in this aspect as one can go about their daily
routine without the discomfort and worries every time contact lenses
are misplaced or lost.
Safety and Risk
In any decision making, two major factors area always involved
– security and possibilities. The degree by which each factor
affects the individual differs. Some people love to take risks while
majority prefer to stay on the safe side of everything. The same
factors can be applied in making a choice between wearing contacts
forever or undergoing the Lasik surgery.
Normally, wearing contact lenses is not risky.
But sometimes, regardless of strictly following of directions for
use as instructed by the optometrist still could present some complications.
Not as serious as losing your vision or life but still discomfiting.
Some of the problems experienced by contact lens wearers are not
properly fitting lens and the "dry eye" syndrome and "giant
papillary conjunctivitis. Dry eye normally happens to contact lens
wearers whose natural eye lubrication is insufficient even before
they started using contact lenses. Complications of eye infection
occur to people who are regularly contact lens users for quite some
time and have not been zealously keeping their contact lens clean.
The good news is both conditions are easily treated.
As advised by the United
States Food and Drug Administration, the major safety
issue regarding contact lens use is associated with overnight use.
Overnight use of contact lenses regardless if they are rigid or
soft can give rise to corneal ulcers, eruptions caused by sores
on the cornea that could bring about blindness. Symptoms may include
changes in vision, eye redness, pain and discomfort in the eyes
and excessive production of tears.
Another contact lens complication and potentially vision threatening
is the eye infection caused by a parasite called Acanthamoeba Keratitis."
The infection is difficult to treat and its mainly brought about
by unhygienic practices regarding contacts and might become more
severe when you are fond of using the Jacuzzi or swimming.
Advertisements for lenses have invoked "convenience and risk-free"
in their advertisements but obviously, these can be subjective and
dependent on individual conditions.
While Lasik may prevail in the ease of use convenience, comfort
and improved way of life departments still it will involve possible
risks. All form of of operation come with some risks and while majority
of the millions of patients (96%-98%) who have undergone Lasik surgery
profess to its success with no complications even after years of
surgery, many, many individuals are not fully satisfied with the
result as they still have to use contacts and glasses after the
surgery. A small percent of the patients developed small vision
defects another smaller number had severe problems. This is the
reality of all forms of surgery. There are no 100% guarantees.
So you are left with a hard decision to make: contacts or Lasik
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