Frustrated By Nearsightedness? LASIK May Be The Answer

Health & Medical Blog

Having to wear glasses for distance vision can be frustrating, because you can see perfectly fine to read or work on the computer, but yet you need glasses for driving or watching movies. Nearsightedness is a fairly common eye condition that affects around 30 percent of the population. It's often diagnosed during childhood, but it can also develop later in life, and that's when you may find it difficult to get used to wearing glasses. Besides glasses, nearsightedness can be treated with contact lenses and LASIK surgery. The surgery may be the best option if you truly hate wearing glasses or contacts. This is what you can expect when you have LASIK to correct your vision.

The Procedure

LASIK surgery is done in your eye surgeon's office under a local anesthetic. It's a fairly quick procedure that takes about 15 minutes per eye. Although you don't need general anesthesia, your doctor may give you medication to help you relax throughout the procedure. For this surgery, the doctor uses a laser to reshape your cornea. The laser is guided by a computer that maps the shape of your eye, so the laser can make precise adjustments. When you are nearsighted, your cornea has an abnormal curvature that causes blurry distant vision. During surgery, the doctor removes excess tissue as needed, so this curvature is brought into the normal range.

Recovery

You can expect to have some pain and blurry vision right after the procedure. Your doctor may send you home with pain relievers in the form of eye drops. It's possible the blurriness will be gone by the following day, but it's not unusual for it to take several days to clear. You should plan to rest for a few days after the surgery, since you won't be able to drive or work until the blurriness goes away. Plus, you should avoid strenuous physical activity and sports until your eye doctor says you can resume all normal activities. You'll have regular follow-up visits with your doctor until your vision stabilizes. Although you should see clearly within a couple of days, you may not notice a big improvement in your vision for a few weeks, since it takes time for your eyes to heal.

LASIK may be the perfect choice for dealing with your nearsightedness. However, not everyone is a good match for the procedure, so a consultation with a surgeon is the first step. In general, you should have stable vision and no eye conditions or medical problems that might complicate your recovery.

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16 February 2015