What If You Are Not A Candidate For LASIK Surgery?

Some eye patients may not be good candidates for LASIK surgery but do they have an alternative?  Yes!  You have choices if you are not a candidate for LASIK surgery.  They are 30-day contact lenses and they are approved by the Federal Drug Administration to wear for 30 days without removing them for cleaning each day.  The FDA recommends that you take them out once a week for cleaning.  This will reduce the risk of eye infections.

They are trouble free; you can wear them continuously, wake up and see the alarm clock without fumbling around for your glasses.  They are fairly safe, effective, and the cost is reasonable.  The contacts are made from a new material called silicone hydrogel.  This new material allows more oxygen to flow through the lens and so keeps the cornea healthier. 

This 23-hour vision correction alternative could be a good choice for several reasons.  LASIK surgery sometimes results in complications after the procedure.  These complications include impaired nighttime vision, glares, and halos around bright lights.  These complications are being removed by new and improved methods of surgery including new lasers with eye trackers.  These eye trackers will adjust if the eye moves and are able to treat larger zones in the eye. 

Continuous wear lenses have an advantage in that as you grow older, you may need to have the prescription changed for your lenses.  You will have good, sharp vision immediately after you start using them.  If you need to, you can switch to bifocal contact lenses, or you can use reading glasses to better see objects closer to you. 

Laser surgery has improved, and perhaps the ways of deciding who is a good candidate has also improved so results are better than in the past.  The use of custom LASIK enables the surgeon to guide the laser beam because of new mapping technology.  LASIK may give an eye patient better than 20/20 vision, but contacts will do that too.

Cost is one item to consider when choosing between extended wear contacts and LASIK surgery.  The average cost of 30-day lenses is about $1 a day and reduces the lens care solution you need to buy.  These extended wear contacts cost about the same as any other soft contact lens.  The cost of LASIK surgery is around $2000 per eye but it does erase the need for vision care products for years.  Most surgeons will work out a monthly payment plan so it isn’t always necessary to come pay the full amount up-front.  Costs are not eliminated if you have LASIK surgery, you will still need to have yearly eye exams and for eye diseases and infections. 

Before making any final decision about extended wear contacts and LASIK surgery, look at the risks and costs.  As with any surgery, there is always a risk of infection and some bleeding anytime there is a surgery.  The cost may also be a factor.  Talk to your doctor about both procedures and see what correction is best for your vision problems.