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Medical Forum / General / Vision / February 2005PRK laser eye surgery
I recently attended Focus Eye Centre in Kingston and was told I was a good candidate for PRK laser surgery. I wear glasses now, have astignatism, and they said they would do monovision on me. I am quite scared about having this done. Are people's vision really that much better and what are the complications, regression and or problems associated with this kind of risk. My husband thinks I should have it done, I however am very nervous about the whole thing, as you only have one pair of eyes. I have virtually now talked myself out of this. >I recently attended Focus Eye Centre in Kingston and was told I was a > good candidate for PRK laser surgery. I wear glasses now, have [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > done, I however am very nervous about the whole thing, as you only have > one pair of eyes. I have virtually now talked myself out of this. All surgery has risks. There are complications and problems associated with PRK and the surgical centre should have explained them to you and given you the percentage of patients who get them. Have you tried monovision in contact lenses? Do not have monovision surgery done without a month long trial with contact lenses to see if you can tolerate monovision. Finally, if you are scared or nervous and do not think the cost of the risk is worth the benefit of not wearing glasses, do not have the surgery. Continue to use glasses or contacts and tell your husband that you will make your own decisions and you have decided against surgery. If he wants surgery for himself, that is his decision but he should not be forcing you into something you don't want. Dr Judy > >I recently attended Focus Eye Centre in Kingston and was told I was a > > good candidate for PRK laser surgery. I wear glasses now, have [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Finally, if you are scared or nervous and do not think the cost of the risk > is worth the benefit of not wearing glasses, do not have the surgery. > Continue to use glasses or contacts and tell your husband that you will make > your own decisions and you have decided against surgery. If he wants > surgery for himself, that is his decision but he should not be forcing you > into something you don't want. > > Dr Judy AMEN. DrG > I recently attended Focus Eye Centre in Kingston and was told I was a > good candidate for PRK laser surgery. I wear glasses now, have > astignatism, and they said they would do monovision on me. I am quite > scared about having this done. Are people's vision really that much Even if I had been a good candidate, I would not have this surgery. Why? Because I'm not a risk taker. Having said that, I've had three much more serious eye surgeries and three laser eye surgeries. Why? Because my choice was between surgery or not being able to see. I'm assuming that your choice is good vision with glasses and good vision with no glasses. This is not the kind of surgery that you do unless you are 100% into it. Have you considered switching to contacts? They eliminate the glasses also. If you decide to go with the surgery, I second the advice about trying monovision with contacts for some time beforehand. Some people don't take well to monovision.  SignatureDan Abel Sonoma State University AIS dabel@sonic.net I had Lasik done 7 years ago for a -14 prescription. After 20+ years of contacts and/or really thick lenses, it was the right choice for me and I have never regretted it for one moment. Would I have it done for a modest i.e. -2 or -3 correction? (you don't mention yours) I don't think so... The risks are small but real and you have to be sure it is right for you. Scott >I recently attended Focus Eye Centre in Kingston and was told I was a > good candidate for PRK laser surgery. I wear glasses now, have [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > done, I however am very nervous about the whole thing, as you only have > one pair of eyes. I have virtually now talked myself out of this. Only you can decide if elective surgery is right for you. Not your husband. Not even your doctor. If this surgery worries you, then that is more than enough reason to not have surgery - even if your concerns are not clinically valid. You may find http://www.usaeyes.org/faq/know.htm interesting. Monovision may or may not be a good idea (I'm assuming you are over age 40), but you need to try it with contacts before even considering having it lasered into your eyes. Visit http://www.usaeyes.org/faq/subjects/monovision.htm for details. This is an elective surgery with relatively low risk, but risk is always relative. If it is outside your zone of comfort, then DO NOT do it. I suspect, however, that much of your fear is because you don't know all the facts. Do your research and if you are still uncomfortable, just say no. Glenn Hagele Executive Director Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org http://www.USAEyes.org http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org I am not a doctor. |
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