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Laser vision correction: reviews
Unfortunately, poor eyesight is not uncommon today. This problem affects so many people, and everyone is struggling with it as best they can. Someone wears glasses or lenses, and someone decides on more radical measures. The Woman’s Day correspondent plucked up courage and underwent the Lasik vision restoration procedure.
Why I decided to undergo vision correction surgery
I had bad eyesight since school. For a long time I wore glasses, over time I switched to contact lenses, which made my life very easier. I began to think about the operation at the age of 18, but I was waiting for the moment when myopia would stop progressing.
In principle, it would be possible to continue using contact lenses, but I began to notice that they began to let me down during the allergy season. There was a slight fog in the eyes and dryness that made it difficult to see clearly. Outside of allergy season, everything was still good.
I also didn’t like to take a whole arsenal of accessories with me on trips: solution, container, lens tweezers, spare pair of lenses, glasses … The lens could fall out or deteriorate at any moment, and the glasses could break. It was necessary to swim in the sea with great care, it was impossible to dive.
At the age of 22, my vision stabilized, and at 27 I decided to undergo surgery (at that time my left eye was -7,5, right -8). But first it was necessary to find out all the nuances and undergo an examination.
You need to be ready for everything, so I began to study all the available information on the topic of vision restoration. I re-read many forums and reviews, interrogated friends who had gone through this procedure with passion, watched videos from operations. By the way, I strongly advise not to do this to especially impressionable ones.
Among my acquaintances, everything went well for everyone, no one regretted that they decided to restore their eyesight. For myself, I realized that the risks are minimal and the effect must surpass all possible consequences.
Before the operation, you will definitely need to undergo diagnostics, after which it will become clear whether you can do it or not. If you wear lenses, you will have to discard them at least a week before the examination.
On the day of diagnosis, you should not get behind the wheel, you will need to take sunglasses and an accompanying person with you, as drops that dilate your pupil will be dripped in. After these drops, many have photophobia, it becomes difficult to see up close. You will not be able to work at a computer that day, so it is worth planning diagnostics for your free time from work.
I constantly wore lenses, so the transition to glasses was extremely difficult for me. The view was narrowed, the quality of vision decreased significantly, and my head ached very badly. I advise you to warn your employer that you are preparing for the operation and your productivity may be temporarily reduced.
If the operation is approved for you, then you will need to pass tests, a list of which will be provided to you at the clinic. This can be done both locally and in any private laboratory.
I was operated on with the Lasik method. This method was advised to me by the doctor, since with it myopia can be corrected up to -15, and the healing process is quite painless. In addition, this method has been operated for more than 20 years, and we can talk about long-term consequences.
The operation is very fast. According to my feelings, it lasted about 5 minutes. It didn’t hurt at all. But here it is very important to listen to everything the doctor says and do everything he asks for. Fear must be left outside the operating room. This is the key to a successful and painless procedure.
On the day of the operation, you should also bring a companion, sunglasses and pain-relieving pills just in case (but this is not necessary at all). Many people mistakenly think that they will be injected into the eye, but no, you will only be given anesthetic drops. This is quite enough.
After the operation, painful sensations may occur, they looked like a burning sensation inside the eyeball. The next day everything went away. By the way, at your request, you can open a sick leave.
When I left the operating room, I saw everything right away. There was a slight mist in the eyes, but no more. On the way home, I already read the signs on the street, it was amazing! The next day, there was the first postoperative examination, which showed that my vision was restored to 100%.
Each subsequent inspection confirmed that I now have a unit. But the final result should be talked about no earlier than 3 months later. As a side effect, I got a halo effect and a slight fog up close. It goes away with time.
Tip: keep all contracts and receipts as you can later make a tax deduction.
Stars who made vision correction
For some reason, there is a widespread opinion on the Internet that doctors and famous personalities themselves do not perform operations to restore vision. However, it is not. Many simply do not like to advertise this information, and some simply cannot do it for medical reasons.
As for the stars who have made laser vision correction, among them are Yulia Savicheva, Valdis Pelsh, Alexander Tsekalo, Alexey Kortnev, Irina Ortman, Lyanka Gryu, Mila Jovovich and many others. Interviews with them and posts on social networks can be easily found on the Internet.
Ophthalmologist Alexey Vasilievich Oksin (Eye Microsurgery Center, Ulyanovsk) answers questions. He has performed more than 2000 laser vision correction operations.
– The long-term consequences of laser surgery are primarily associated with age-related changes. All of us, without exception, expect a decrease in the supply of accommodation (the ability to clearly see objects located at different distances) and the associated reading glasses. Patients with myopia who have undergone laser vision correction, due to the peculiarities of myopia (and 90% of laser corrections are performed with myopia, that is, myopia), this fate overtakes 2-5 years earlier, at the onset of this phenomenon at 45 years old.
The second problem befalls older people if cataracts develop. The fact is that most of the formulas used to calculate intraocular lenses in cataract surgery use the data of the ratio of the curvature of the cornea to the length of the eye, and with laser vision correction, the curvature of the cornea changes. It is good that in our time there are a number of methods for taking into account these parameters, but certain flaws are nevertheless possible.
The third problem is related to the diagnosis of glaucoma: most polyclinics rely on intraocular pressure when diagnosing glaucoma, but we should not forget that in patients who have undergone laser vision correction, intraocular pressure is always measured lower than it actually is.
– If you do not consider the option “something went wrong” (this option is generally best avoided with all its might), then visual impairment is possible in the first 6 months, this is called regression. Unfortunately, no reliable reasons for this phenomenon have been identified, and many authors name different reasons. Rather, it is a combination of factors such as the structure and density of the cornea plus the influence of hormonal levels. But we can say that this phenomenon is more susceptible to patients with high degrees of myopia, people taking hormones, and people with a thin cornea. Less susceptible to patients over 30 years old with a mild degree of myopia, simple myopic astigmatism, thick cornea (the thickness of the cornea is measured by the doctor). Nevertheless, regression is not a reason to be upset, in the vast majority of cases additional correction is possible, after which there are practically no regressions.
Of course, the likelihood of developing complications after laser vision correction exists, but the probability of an irreversible decrease in vision is 1 in 5000 (this is the official data of the World Health Organization). Excimer laser vision correction is currently considered the safest type of surgery in medicine in general.
– First of all, one should think about the real need for laser vision correction in patients over 35 years old who lead a lifestyle associated with long-term work close and have myopia up to -3,5. Remember talking about presbyopia (age-related changes in vision) and 45 years old? It is worth considering what is more important – to see well into the distance or to be able to read without glasses, as well as to dye eyelashes for women, this is very important. But everything above -3,5 can be operated on, since such patients, unfortunately, are doomed to wear 2 pairs of glasses – for distance and for near.
– A contraindication to natural delivery is the presence of untreated peripheral retinal dystrophies, retinal detachment, keratoconus. Laser vision correction is not a contraindication to natural childbirth. However, a number of authors, including myself, follow their instructions and recommend planning a pregnancy no earlier than 6 months after the operation. Also, laser vision correction is carried out no earlier than 3 months after the end of the lactation period. This is due to the hormonal background of the woman.