Vision correction surgery is becoming increasingly popular as a way to get rid of the discomfort of lenses, but you need to be careful about the process, side effects, and the hospital you choose. There are many different options, including LASIK, LASEK, and intraocular lens implants, and it’s important to understand the pros, cons, and side effects of each procedure so you can choose the right one for you.
“Lenses are like cigarettes, not ramen noodles!” is what my doctor told me when my cornea swelled and my eyes hurt from wearing lenses for a long time. He told me to stop wearing lenses because they were harmful to my eyes. I wore glasses for two weeks while I was in the hospital. I had been wearing lenses for so long that they felt uncomfortable. While I was living with glasses, I thought about having vision correction surgery. I did a lot of research online and talked to people around me. Most of the people I knew who had the surgery had no major side effects and recommended it to me. Despite the many recommendations, I was hesitant to have the surgery. The reason was the serious side effects I read about online. After reading these stories, my fear of surgery increased, and I had a lot of concerns about choosing a hospital. If you’re planning to have vision correction surgery, you’re probably thinking the same thing. There are many different types of vision correction procedures available today, but many people don’t know what the differences are. In this article, we’ll take a look at the three most common types of vision correction surgery – LASIK, LASEK, and intraocular lens implantation – and talk about what you need to know about them.
Vision correction surgery methods and procedures
There are two main types of vision correction surgery, depending on whether or not a laser is used. LASIK and LASEK use lasers, while intraocular lens implantation does not. Lasers are used to reshape the cornea to control how light is refracted. For nearsightedness, the laser flattens the center of the cornea to reduce the amount of refraction, and for farsightedness, the laser shaves the periphery of the cornea to convexify the cornea to increase the amount of refraction.
LASIK was developed in the 1980s to address the shortcomings of conventional refractive laser keratectomy. Conventional excimer laser surgery removes the epithelial layer from the surface of the cornea and directly irradiates the corneal parenchyma, which is painful and requires a long recovery period of about four weeks. LASIK surgery overcomes these drawbacks by creating a flap using a laser or microkeratome, flattening the cornea, irradiating the surgical site with a laser, and then covering the flap again. No sutures are needed to close the flap, thanks to the eye’s natural suction. Compared to excimer laser surgery, LASIK has a faster recovery, less clouding, and less pain.
While LASIK has complemented traditional excimer laser surgery, complications associated with corneal flaps can occur. To address this, LASEK surgery was created to combine the benefits of excimer laser surgery and LASIK surgery. LASEK surgery is similar to LASIK, but the difference is the use of alcohol. The corneal epithelium is thinned and wet with diluted alcohol, the exposed area is irradiated with a laser, and then covered again to complete the procedure.
Intraocular lens implantation involves the insertion of a lens into the eye, leaving the lens in place, and includes two types: implantable contact lens (ICL) implantation and intraocular lens implantation. The lenses used in these surgeries differ depending on where the lens is inserted. ICL implantation places the lens in front of the lens, while IOL implantation places the lens on the iris. The surgery is completed by making an incision in the cornea, inserting the lens, and then suturing the cornea.
Side effects and risks of vision correction surgery
According to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, about 200,000 people in Korea undergo vision correction surgery every year. This means that many people believe that vision correction surgery is safe. As technology has improved, so have the surgical instruments, and the side effects have decreased significantly. According to a study by the Korea Healthcare Research Institute, less than 1% of LASIK and LASEK patients suffered serious side effects. While many doctors believe that the surgery itself is safe, side effects can still occur if the preoperative examination is inadequate.
Before surgery, you can’t be sure what will happen. After surgery, you may experience mild side effects such as dry eyes, blurry vision, corneal clouding, decreased vision, glare, and in severe cases, blindness. However, while serious side effects like blindness are difficult to treat, minor side effects can be treated. For example, postoperative dry eye will gradually disappear after three to six months, and blurred vision will resolve naturally as the corneal epithelial cells grow out. Corneal cloudiness can be treated with steroid eye drops or corneal irrigation, and any bumpiness or wrinkling of the corneal flap that causes vision loss will usually resolve over time. Glare when looking at light will also disappear as the corneal flap settles back into place. Excessive or deficient vision can be corrected with refractive surgery.
However, the fact that most of these side effects are mild is not reassuring. Not long ago, a Facebook post by a father of a 21-year-old daughter caused a stir: after LASEK surgery, her inability to distinguish objects and blurred vision led her to commit suicide out of despair. This case is a warning of the risks of vision correction surgery and a reminder that it should be approached with caution.
Considerations before vision correction surgery
The first priority before undergoing vision correction is the choice of hospital and doctor. While it would be great if all hospitals were staffed with experienced and skilled doctors, this is not the case. This is evidenced by the adverse event rate of less than 1%. The CRSQA (Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance) has a list of things to look for in a surgeon before undergoing refractive surgery. Make sure the surgeon has at least three years of experience in refractive surgery and has performed at least 400 surgeries in the past year. You should also make sure that the surgeon has more than 50 percent of his or her patients achieve a visual acuity of 1.0 or better, uses FDA-approved lasers, and doesn’t use exaggerated advertising. Be suspicious of any clinic that offers too low a price.
Once you’ve chosen a clinic and doctor, it’s time to choose the surgery that’s right for you. LASIK offers stable vision and a quick recovery, but you can”t have it if you have a thin cornea. In this case, you’ll need to have LASEK surgery, as well as if you have small eyes or have been wearing contact lenses for a long time. Patients with severe myopia who are not candidates for both LASIK and LASEK can opt for intraocular lens implantation. Intraocular lens implantation has the advantage of less pain and the ability to remove the lens if the results are not favorable, but it is more expensive.
Vision correction surgery and quality of life
Another reason people choose LASIK over glasses or contact lenses is to improve their quality of life. According to one study, myopic patients who underwent LASIK surgery had a higher quality of life than those who did not. The study used the QIRC questionnaire, developed by Bradford University Optometry in the UK in 2004, to measure quality of life. Glasses are safe for eye health, but they come with a number of inconveniences. Contact lenses solve these inconveniences, but they’re not good for eye health. For this reason, many people choose to have vision correction surgery, which requires careful judgment to achieve satisfactory results.
