Reasons to Have LASIK

Quality of vision and quality of life style are two big reasons to have LASIK.

Glasses and contacts have definitely served us well as vision aids, but at their very best they simply disguise the symptoms of poor vision - they don't solve eyesight issues at the source, and they clutter up our appearance and complicate our lives.

LASIK vs Glasses

Glasses have been helping us see better since they were invented in the Middle Ages. We've been scratching them, losing them, breaking them and fogging them up for the past 700 years. Unfortunately, no matter what name is on the frames they are still the same technology Ben Franklin used and they are just as much of an irritation and inconvenience.

LASIK gets you free of all the hassles of glasses by solving poor vision at the source. Can you throw away your glasses? The ones you're wearing today can definitely go into the museum. By the time you reach your 60s you may need reading glasses due to the effects of aging but you'll still be free of the need to solve astigmatism and nearsightedness.

LASIK vs Contacts

Losing, misplacing, forgetting, scratching, slipping, tearing, smearing, fogging, sore eyes, red eyes, itchy eyes, glued to your eyeballs, allergies, hay fever, cabin fever (because you can’t do water sports) and pocket book shrinkage…

After LASIK you can take all of these words, phrases and hassles out of your dictionary – and your life.

We’ve assembled this list of our patients’ most common gripes and delights in the LASIK Versus Contacts stakes:

• The alarm clock factor – It’s amazing how the little things can end up being so important. This is one of the most frequent delights: “I can wake up and actually SEE the alarm clock in the morning!” How much better would that be as a way to start – and continue – your day?
• The risks of long-term contacts use – Unfortunately, this is becoming a more frequent gripe. In the past six years the FDA has posted an increasing number of advisories concerning risks associated with contact lenses, and some researchers have reported the risk factor with contacts as 5X greater than with LASIK. This doesn’t mean contacts are dangerous, it just means taking a balanced view of both sides - and choosing LASIK! (Source: Mathers, W.D. Archives of Ophthalmology; vol 124: pp 1510-1511)
• Freedom to play Water Sports – Now this one is all delight. Glasses of course are impossible to wear in most active sports, but contacts can be hazardous or restrictive, especially with water sports. Splash, swim, frolic, canoe, dive and ski with complete freedom – after LASIK.
• Appearance – Some folks are too shy to list this under their delights and contacts do help a lot with appearance – if you’re willing to put up with the inconvenience and risks. With LASIK you can feel as good as you look.
• General Safety – “Nobody move!” are usually the words we cry just before we go on a lost contact hunt. The real gripe here is that for those minutes while we scramble around we’re virtually blind. That’s not an issue so much sitting in a coffee shop – but behind the wheel of the car? Oops. That could end up in a major gripe.
• Footloose – Maybe this delight only matters if you travel a lot. LASIK means you only have to pack what you want to take along, not what you have to take – like spare lenses, cleaning solutions, irrigating solutions, sterilizing solutions, etc. You can add here the freedom to work or party until late, grab a few zeds, and be up and at ‘em without worrying about the glued-to-the-eyeball factor.
• Seeing naturally – This delight sometimes takes a while to be appreciated although it’s really the major benefit of LASIK. One day you realize you don’t have any glass or plastic between you and the rest of the world and that your eyesight is functioning exactly as nature intended.
• Better vision than with contacts – Many of Dr. Wilson’s patients report improved vision than when using contacts and glasses. Soft contact lenses, due to their design and composition cannot provide the quality of vision achieved with Custom Lasik, and cannot fully correct astigmatism.  Custom LASIK solves the unique corneal irregularities that cause myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism so it’s no surprise that LASIK outcomes often exceed the results of contacts.

And here's one you probably didn't expect - Cost Savings

Our patients are often surprised to realize, after they do the math, that in the long run LASIK works out cheaper than contacts. In fact, one way to look at this is that if you’re wearing contacts you’re already paying for LASIK. Over the next 10 years you’ll probably outlay around $12,000 on visits to the optometrist, new prescriptions, new lenses, replacement lenses, cleaning and sterilizing preparations – and that’s a cost that keeps on keeping on. On the other hand LASIK is a one time expense with no-interest monthly payments taking the sting out of the transaction, so you end up having your cake and eating it too!

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