Seeing like new again…..It’s almost like having a new set of eyes when you have LASIK done.
Now with the price for LASIK dropping in cost more and more people may elect to have this procedure done. You can now get LASIK done for as low as $299.00 per eye. First you need to make an appointment to see if you are a candidate for the procedure and if so your Doctor will discuss the different forms of laser with you to see what is best for you. Some people have different problems with their eyes that do not allow them to have the procedure or they may some other problem that will allow the procedure to be done but at a heftier price then normally. One of those situations is with people who may have a severe astigmatism then the cost would be higher somewhere in the $799.00 per eye price range. This is where the Doctor has to use the Visix laser due to the astigmatism. The Visix laser is more accurate and therefore more expensive to have done.
When having this done on the day of your surgery a nurse will have you sign all of the disclosure papers this will explain to you what could everything bad that could happen. For the most part though, hardly anything at all goes bad. Most Doctors have performed this surgery routinely. So any anxiety should be lessen.
How the procedure will be done is that the Doctor will use a computer to make a topographical picture of each eye and then calculate the exact shape of the lens that would give you perfect vision.
Once the computer is done doing that, the Doctor then cuts a small flap in the cornea of the eye and lays the flap back. Then the laser procedure is next. You will be surprise to know that the laser portion of the surgury only takes but a couple of minutes. And in all including recovery time the entire procedure will take about 45 minutes.
Usually right after the surgury the patient can already experience better vision. But it’s important to note that you must keep your eyes close for about 3 to 4 hours so that the flap can heal. The next day the Doctor will have you come in so that he or she can check how everything is healing and to test the vision of the eyes.
In most cases the patient will experience 20/20 vision the very next day. The only drawback to this is that sometimes you may want to rub the eyes when they itch but you must not touch the eyes for no reason for at least a week or so. Most patients will take that drawback to have 20/20 vision again.
A good advice if you are going to have the procedure done would be to pay the extra money and get the 1 year guarantee. If you don’t get the insurance you will have to pay the entire amount again.
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Ulises Tarmet is a retired ophthalmologist who has 36 years of experience working for in the San Francisco LASIK community helping people to improve their vision.