Don’t Be Afraid — LASIK Fears Are Unfounded
LASIK vision correction has become commonplace in American society. Around 700,000 LASIK surgeries will be done in 2019. You probably know at least a few people who have had the procedure. LASIK actually is an acronym for laser in-situ keratomileusis, which sounds far scarier. Maybe that’s why the procedure is always referred to simply as LASIK.
As with any surgical procedure (even though this one takes only a few seconds!), people can become anxious about it. Some people come to us at Central Valley Eye Medical Group with total misperceptions about the LASIK procedure. Sometimes the bad information comes from a friend or relative, or from an urban legend, or sometimes it is simply the result of the patient thinking too much about the procedure.
Let’s take three of the fears we hear most often about LASIK at Central Valley and we’ll address each of them.
Fear of going blind
Lasers and eyes — they don’t seem to go together. Most people perceive laser technology as dangerous and frightening due to the portrayal of lasers in movies. The reality of lasers used in eye surgery is nothing like the zapping lasers of Star Wars. In fact, the risk of going blind after having laser eye surgery is 1 in 5 million!
Fear of being awake during the procedure
Numbing eye drops and a mild sedative will be administered before surgery; these will help you relax and feel as little discomfort as possible. Some patients are also afraid that they can’t control the urge to blink during surgery. This shouldn’t be a cause for concern because a specially designed instrument will keep your eyes open during the procedure. Plus, the laser system is designed to shut off in case you blink.
Fear of complications
As with all types of surgery, laser eye surgery has its own risks and complications such as infection, double vision, night vision difficulties, and presence of glares or halos. However, choosing a highly experienced and reputable team of LASIK surgeons, such as the team we have at Central Valley Eye Medical Group, reduces such risks exponentially. Plus, we offer blade-free LASIK procedures with our IntraLase Method for corneal flap creation without the use of the microkeratome blade, for even more safety.
During your pre-surgery consultation, discuss your fears about the procedure and we’ll walk you through the reality. As leading provider of successful long-term vision improvement with LASIK, we look forward to helping you at Central Valley Eye Medical Group. Call us for a LASIK consultation, (800) 244-9907.
Posted in: LASIK
