Most of us make decisions by weighing pros and cons. That’s what makes the decision to try LASIK vision correction so straightforward — there simply aren’t very many downsides to consider.
Your decision will depend mostly on your own personal preferences, as there are few limiting factors that would make LASIK impractical for the average adult. Here, experienced Toronto area ophthalmologist Dr. Raymond Stein offers his perspective on the key benefits of LASIK, and whether this remarkable technology is right for you.
New Freedom
If you’ve ever imagined life without lenses, you are probably a good candidate for LASIK. Laser vision correction gives you freedom from the bulky frames that may have limited your choices of sporting activities and lowered your confidence in social situations. It also frees up the time you spent on the care, disinfection and replacement of contact lenses; and eliminates the discomfort you may have occasionally felt with them.
LASIK works by reshaping your cornea, and thereby adjusting the way light focuses on your retina. Over time your cornea can change shape, or you may have been born with a corneal imperfection. This can result in nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. By restoring optimal contours to your cornea, the advanced LASIK instrument refocuses your eyesight, adding new sharpness, vibrancy and detail to the world around you.
Making the Choice
Although any time is a great time for clear vision, the best outcomes can be expected in patients whose eyes have fully matured. This usually happens some time before our late 20s. Choosing LASIK at this point will help ensure that your results are permanent and your surgery will never need to be redone.
Apart from age, there are very few factors that could rule out LASIK for most patients. If you were born with corneas that are very thin, you may not be a good candidate for LASIK. That is because there may not be enough corneal surface for a surgeon to work with when cutting and reshaping the cornea with the surgical laser. Patients in this specific group may still achieve wonderful results with PRK, a similar vision correction procedure. PRK may also be the better choice for patients who had earlier eye surgeries, including cataract removal, refractive lens exchange (RLE) or radial keratotomy.
To schedule an appointment to discuss LASIK with premier Toronto area ophthalmologist Dr. Raymond Stein, please call or email Bochner Eye Institute today.