“Is LASIK better than contacts?” This Patient Says Yes

Eye Exam Machine | Florida Eye Specialists

With the advent of LASIK eye surgery and technological advancements that have put LASIK on the map, you have to wonder: Is LASIK better than contacts?

LASIK is a safe vision correction alternative to contact lenses; the safety of the procedure has been well documented, dating back to a 10-year study by the AAO (American Academy of Ophthalmology) conducted in 2006 before the annual meeting.

 

Anonymous patient answers, “Is LASIK better than contacts?”

is lasik better than contacts patient in eye exam

“I wish I had gotten LASIK sooner, and for many reasons. It interrupted my lifestyle, cost me a fortune over time, and caused me indescribable discomfort over the years. I struggled with contact lenses for so long that I am at a loss as to why I waited to undergo LASIK eye surgery.

“My contact lens problems began right from the start. In 8th grade, I was prescribed contact lenses, and immediately became frustrated with struggling to put them in every day, only to be faced with discomfort once I had them in. Something always seemed uncomfortable; it felt like my upper lid was being scraped, and I had no choice in the 8th grade but to wear them for sports. Once, during a high school basketball game, one of my contact lenses suddenly became dislodged and fell out – playing with one contact lens was impossible, so I had to remove the other one and play the remainder of the game with bad vision. Situations like this only made the resentment I held towards my contacts lenses worse.

“As high school progressed, I got so sick of wearing my contact lenses that I began to wear them exclusively for sports and special occasions. Looking back, I am quite surprised that I chose glasses over contacts—I looked like a complete dork in my 1990 John Lennon style circle glasses. Wearing my lenses for sports was still frustrating. I lost my contact lenses several times during baseball games, and when I played catcher in baseball, dirt would constantly get in my face and dry up my contacts. As anyone who has played baseball knows, your vision is one of your most important tools in both catching and hitting.

“About three years before I decided to get LASIK, I switched from buying my contacts at my local optometry office to buying them online. I decided to give 1-800-CONTACTS a try. Although the service was decent, the quality of the contacts really created some problems. I get it—not all contacts are created equal, but in 15 long years of wearing contact lenses, I had never had them break into pieces under my eyelid. Can you imagine the feeling of a broken, cracked edge of plastic poking into your eyelid? It was unpleasant and painful… I remember lying on my bathroom floor one night while my roommate lifted my lid and tried to fish out the contacts. (Coincidentally, during my LASIK pre-operative exam, the optometrist was finding fragments of contact lenses still under my eyelids). No longer would I ever trust the quality of 1-800-CONTACTS. After all that hassle I found myself thinking, “could LASIK really be any worse?”

“I decided to undergo LASIK eye surgery in 2003 and have been happy ever since. LASIK technology has only improved since my surgery, so I can only imagine the results for those that have had surgery in the past few years. After my LASIK surgery, I could immediately see the clock on the wall very clearly. I had a lot of eye drops in my eye, so it was a little cloudy for a few hours. The valium made me a little groggy, but I was still able to go out to eat that same night just fine. I went home and went to bed very early, and when I woke up the next day, a sunny Saturday morning, I was wowed! I could see the fine print on movie posters, I could see details on the leaves on the trees. I went in for my one-day post-operative exam, and the rest was clear sailing. I was a happy 20/15!”

 

Anonymous patient addresses the dangers of contact lenses

“A common question people ask is ‘Why are contact lenses dangerous over a long period of time?’ Contacts were uncomfortable for me, but they were also dangerous. In fact, there are many dangers related to contacts that people should know—dangers that I had never considered.

  1. “It is widely documented that contact lens wearers are more at risk for diseases and eye conditions, from sight debilitating diseases to corneal ulcers. The primary reason for this spike in eye disease is related to the fact that most contact lenses wearers do not use proper hygiene. These eye infections can be serious. Some cases include inflammation of the cornea, called keratitis, or even microbial keratitis.
  2. “Many people actually try to clean their contact lenses with water. This sounds crazy to me because this was something I never did. In an interview with Yahoo Health, Vivian Phan, O.D. of UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute states, “A lot of people are not aware that you’re not able to wash contact lenses in water.” Water can cause the contact lens to change shape, swell, or even stick to the eye.
  3. “Many people actually try to clean their contact lenses with water. This sounds crazy to me because this was something I never did. In an interview with Yahoo Health, Vivian Phan, O.D. of UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute states, “A lot of people are not aware that you’re not able to wash contact lenses in water.” Water can cause the contact lens to change shape, swell, or even stick to the eye.
  4. “The dangers of color contacts are also well documented. You are advised to not buy color contact lenses from a retailer that does not ask for a prescription; you are taking a risk with these types of lenses. Contact lenses that are not fitted properly can cause many problems from scratches to the cornea to oxygen restriction.”

 

Anonymous patient discusses the cost of contact lenses vs LASIK

Is LASIK less expensive than contact lenses?

“I was initially surprised when I heard that LASIK is less expensive over the course of time than buying contact lenses. It will typically take over ten years of contact use for the expenses to be comparable, but over a decade, a contact lens wearer will generally spend anywhere between $3,000 and $6,000 on lenses and associated expenses.

“The national average cost of LASIK ranges from only $1,644 per eye to $1850 per eye, according to Marketscope Eye Research. Any person that would consider themselves a long-term contact lens wearer should seriously consider LASIK eye surgery or even laser vision correction with PRK.

“Making the decision to have LASIK surgery changed my life. I was able to wake up in the morning and see clearly, effortlessly. I never had to worry about my lifestyle impacting my vision after LASIK, which allowed me to live actively without damaging my eyes. I decreased my risk for eye infections and diseases, and, at this point, getting LASIK surgery has actually saved me money in long-term expenses. When it really comes down to it, what do you have to lose?”

 


 

The Jacksonville LASIK surgeons at Florida Eye Specialists are LASIK eye surgery professionals that offer a combination of the best technology and some of Florida’s most credible ophthalmology experience. This practice offers FREE LASIK consultations and a thorough overview of the LASIK eye surgery process. During the consultation you will have the chance to review the costs of LASIK and learn about financing options so you can see immediately and pay later.

Dr. S. Akbar Hasan and Dr. Amit Chokshi are Jacksonville LASIK surgeons of choice and are committed to excellence in patient care and vision correction success. Hasan served as the former Director of Laser Vision Correction at the Mayo Clinic for over ten years, and Dr. Chokshi worked at both University of Miami and Vanderbilt Medical Center, where he started performing LASIK and refractive surgery cases. Additionally, Dr. Chokshi did a laser and cornea fellowship at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. Aside from the vast experience of the LASIK surgeon duo, Florida Eye Specialists are also fortunate to operate with the best LASIK technology available. During the FREE LASIK consultation you will be able to see all of the state-of-art technology. This LASIK practice currently performs bladeless LASIK with the intralase femtosecond laser and also has deployed the new ZYOPTIX Advanced Control Eye Tracking (ACE) Technology.

 


 

Laser eye surgery can help you if you suffer from…

  1. Nearsightedness. If you see close objects clearly but find yourself squinting to see objects in the distance, you are nearsighted. According to Mayo Clinic, this can occur when your eyeball is slightly longer than average or when the cornea bends too sharply, causing light rays to to focus in front of the retina and blur distant vision.
  2. Farsightedness. The opposite of nearsightedness—you are able to see objects in the distance but your vision is blurred when viewing objects up close. In this case, your eyeball is shorter than normal or your cornea is too flat, which causes light rays to focus behind the retina instead of on top of it.
  3. Astigmatism. This condition combines both of the above, causing overall blurry vision. This results from the cornea curving or flattening unevenly which disrupts the focus of both near and distant vision.

Your Florida Eye Specialists doctor will assess your vision during preliminary appointments to optimize your LASIK surgery results to the best of their abilities.

 

*This post was updated on July 27, 2020 to include the section titled, “Laser eye surgery can help you is you suffer from…” The original post was published on October 15, 2015.

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