SOYOUWANNA GET LASER EYE SURGERY?

2. KNOW THE RISKS

So you've checked it out, and you've found out that you are a viable candidate for laser eye surgery. Now you have to be fully responsible for any risks that might happen. Look, you are going to have a LASER shoot LASER BEAMS into your EYEBALL. This is not a process that happens in nature. Ancient humans did not get struck by lightning in the eye, and come away with better vision. So at least be aware of the following risks. But right off the bat, let us assure you that severe complications are extremely rare. There are a few highly publicized cases which involve the surgery completely screwing up a patient's vision so that they have to wear sunglasses to go outside, or create blurriness that can't ever be corrected, even by glasses. But this is very rare. You're probably more likely to be hit by a car driven by a penguin than have crazy-severe complications.

The main risk that you have to incur is that you are undergoing surgery. There are never any guarantees in surgery, and never trust a doctor that does give you a 100% guarantee.

Second, understand that this procedure is relatively new. No tests have been conducted on the long-term effects of laser eye surgery, so no one can tell you what's gonna happen to your vision in 10 or 20 years.

Also, accept that your vision will probably not reach 20/20. Don't get us wrong, it'll probably be very good; In fact, it'll get close to perfect. But don't expect it. Only half of the candidates have 20/20 vision after 6 months (though 93% have 20/40 vision after 6 months).

It's also important to realize that people in their 40s and up will probably need reading glasses after the surgery. This is because almost all 40+-year-olds need reading glasses. Why can't laser eye surgery fix this? Because geezers' need for reading glasses stems from the fact that the lenses in their eyes become thicker, and present laser surgery can't fix this. So if you are over 40 and only wear contacts, you'll have to buy a pair of reading glasses post-surgery.

Finally, there are side effects that can take place. The most serious would be that the procedure either does not correct, or actively worsens your vision. Fortunately, if this occurs, you can usually try again. Just go to a different doctor. Other potential side effects are glares, seeing halos around lights, dry eyes, or difficulty seeing at night or in dim light. But these effects are also often temporary.

It's especially important to consider these risks if your career highly depends on your vision. If you're a pilot, for instance, or an Olympic archer or a surgeon. (Why you're reading this if you're a surgeon, we have no idea.) In such cases, if you see fine with glasses, just suck it up and stick with them. The surgery isn't worth it. Still worried? Read the top 5 laser eye surgery risks you need to consider before the procedure.