Lasik surgery has been steadily gaining popularity in recent years. It is a very safe surgical procedure, but there are many factors you should consider other than cost before deciding that this is for you. This eye surgery procedure uses lasers to reshape the cornea of the eye, allowing people with less-than-perfect vision to be able to get rid of their glasses or contact lenses. Recovery from this type of surgery is usually less than a day, but it is not for everyone. You should understand what the procedure is and what problems this procedure is designed to correct.
For example, if you currently wear contact lenses and need reading glasses to read or have bifocal glasses, you will still need reading glasses after this surgery in almost all cases. Repeat that sentence to yourself, because a majority of people do not understand that aspect of it. Many lasik surgeons will not consider you as a candidate for surgery if you have other severe medical problems, or if you have a severe astigmatism.
When considering Lasik eye surgery, also known as refractive surgery, one of the things that you will want to do is find a surgeon that you are comfortable with. This only makes sense, since this is your eyes that he is going to be pointing a surgical laser into! Although there is not evidence to support the theory that a lasik surgical center does better work than a lasik clinic next door to Hallmark at the local mall, it is still something you need to be comfortable with.
As far as the LASIK surgeon, I would suggest finding out how many surgeries he has done and for how long. Note that lasik surgery has been around for less than 10 years, so do not accept an answer of "25 to 30 years". It is not out of line for you to ask for references of previous patients where the surgeon has performed the same type of surgery with approximately your same level of vision deficiency. You can learn a lot if you contact these references and I encourage you to do so.
Find out how long the surgeon has been affiliated with the hospital or clinic where the surgery will be performed. Also find out the policy if enhancement surgery is needed within the first six months to a year. Enhancement surgery is sometimes necessary to make final corrections to the lasik surgical procedure, and if required, is normally done within the first year. Also find out what is recommended as far as follow-up visits, especially how many of them and how frequently, as well as whether or not these follow-up visits are included in the quoted cost.
It is also important to find out if your lasik surgeon candidate is part of any hospital organization or research organization. Frequently, doctors and surgeons will belong to and/or be affiliated with research organizations, which allows them to keep up to date on the latest findings and the latest techniques as more and more studies and research is done. Although you may not want to consider this type of affiliation a requirement in your lasik surgeon selection, it is certainly a point in the surgeon's favor if he does belong to one or more organizations such as this.
Once you have found the right clinic or hospital and are comfortable with the surgeon that you have interviewed and consulted with, then you can move on to the next steps of your lasik eye surgery planning and scheduling.
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