LASIK is the procedure of correcting vision using a laser to reshape the inner cornea. It is well known for changing people for the better by allowing them to live their lives without the inconvenience of eyeglasses and contact lenses. iLASIK is considered by many to be the most advanced of all the LASIK systems due to its highly customizable nature; it’s the only laser eye surgery procedure that is approved by NASA and all branches of the US military.
Here are the Top 10 Reasons Why iLASIK is Better than Wearing Glasses
Improved Quality of Vision
The most important benefit of iLASIK is the superior quality of your vision after the procedure. Though the results of each patient may vary, the vast majority of iLASIK patients achieve 20/20 vision or better, which is usually not the case with glasses or contacts. To accomplish this, iLASIK creates a unique image of your eye, which creates a fully-customized procedure that allows specialists to cater to a patient’s specific anatomy and medical needs.
Lower Costs
There are a large number of people that believe laser procedures are overly expensive compared to traditional eyewear; however, that is certainly not the case when looking at the overall costs during a person’s lifetime. North Americans spend billions of dollars on corrective eyewear each year. For example, the average cost of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses are within the range of $263 and $325, respectively, while contacts can cost on average $240 in addition to more than $145 dollars in lens solution and other supplies each year. Those fees can certainly add up to thousands of dollars over the years, as prescriptions constantly change and children grow. A one-time iLASIK procedure averages between $2000 and $3000 per eye, which translate up to tens of thousands of dollars in savings.
Improved Social Life
People who don’t grow up with eye glasses and then receive a prescription later in life often find it very hard to adjust. For example, most of these people prefer to socialize without wearing them, as it feels very awkward when talking to people face-to-face, even if it’s just going out for lunch with a few friends. Some people simply just don’t like how they look when they wear glasses. As a result, they spend a lot of time without wearing them and thus not being able to see. In addition, if you have a relatively strong prescription, the edges of lenses tend to be very thick and might make your eyes appear unnaturally minified or magnified. This can certainly affect their social life to a certain degree. iLASIK completely eliminates this social anxiety and inconvenience.
Remove Irritation and Discomfort
Many people experience unnecessary annoyances when wearing glasses, including bruises caused by pinching as well as irritation around the nose during hot and humid weather. Some frames even cause constant pressure on your nose and behind your ears, which can lead to headaches and general discomfort.
In addition, eyes can become irritated when environmental allergens such as dust or dander stick to the surface of lenses while long days at work can tire your eyes making contact lenses very uncomfortable and straining. Your first response is to remove your contact lenses or glasses, even though your vision will be impaired. With iLASIK laser surgery, you will only feel temporary discomfort, which will completely go away soon after your eyes have healed. For many, this benefit alone is important enough to go the iLASIK route.
No Issues with Field of Vision
Because they sit roughly a half inch from your eyes, glasses can also affect your field of view, distorting peripheral vision. Additionally, people often complain about struggling to focus on objects indicating that their vision is somewhat blurry when they begin wearing glasses or when they change prescriptions.
Gain Back Your Everyday Life Luxuries
Laser eye surgery procedures like iLASIK allow their patients to enjoy some non-monetary benefits that eyeglass and contact wearers won’t. For example, people who chose iLASIK are able to lie down, read or watch TV without eye glasses getting in the way, go to bed without having to remove contacts, and play sports without worrying about vision equipment fogging up or getting in the way.
Being able to simply wake up and see at any time during the night or in the morning is a major advantage that can’t be overlooked. Though these might not seem as a big advantage to some, but to those struggling with their vision it is a luxury.
Wearing Contact Lenses Can Be Potentially Harmful
Many people who wear contact lenses argue that, they are virtually the same as people who have had laser eye surgery and thus believe think they do not need the procedure. Because for them, wearing contact lenses either for long or short term has potential to cause serious and permanent vision damage. In other terms, you are inserting a foreign piece of plastic on top of your eye. This can cause things such as infections, bacterial irritation, altered corneal thickness, corneal ulcers and micro-cysts if you aren’t careful. Research has proven that 1 in 2000 people who regularly use contact lenses are susceptible to vision-threatening infections, while just 1 in 10,000 LASIK recipients experience complications.
Zero Upkeep
Contacts require proper lens care and lens case cleaning each day to avoid potentially serious eye infections. If you can’t commit to the care and recommended replacement cycle of your contacts, consider daily disposables. Patients who choose iLASIK procedures only have to worry about being careful during the healing process, which only last roughly two weeks. After that, you are ready to enjoy your life without having to worry about the inconvenience of wearing contact lenses in addition to their long list of upkeep tasks.
No Dry Eyes
As a consequence to the upkeep section above, many contact lens users often suffer from dry eyes due to its inherent restriction of tears and lubrication. The only way to potentially prevent this is to strictly follow the already mentioned maintenance and replacement schedule, which can cause quite a bit of annoyance. If they are not followed closely, the dry eyes phenomena will likely occur, which can create serious issues with vision, comfort and other safety concerns. iLASIK procedures completely eliminates this threat.
No Risk of Chronic Fatigue and Other Long-Term Effects
Fatigue is yet another issue for contact lens wearers; specifically corneal exhaustion syndrome (or CES), which is caused by longtime chronic depletion of oxygen to the cornea. This can occur due to the long-term use of both non-oxygen permeable and soft contact lenses mainly due to being poorly sized for their patients. This can also lead to long-term wearers suddenly becoming intolerant to contact lenses. In addition, wearers sometimes forget to remove their lenses before they go to sleep, which is essentially the same thing as smothering your cornea. This will also limit oxygen and fluid flow around the eye, resulting in sometimes irreparable damage after long-term use. The only effective way to mend corneal fatigue is to completely discontinue usage of contact lenses and wait until the corneal topography stabilizes.
There are a lot of myths and misunderstandings about iLASIK technology and others like it, so it’s good to be knowledgeable about the procedure if you are thinking about improving your quality of life and ultimately your vision.