LASIK Eye Surgery Horrors

LASIK seems to be a fairly safe surgery. About three percent of patients have lingering problems. Only one half of one percent are left with traumatic problems. As LASIK has been in common use for less than a decade, it is still in the experimental phase, and long-term results are still unknown.

If you look around online, it seems that there are two kinds of LASIK websites. There are promotional, commercial sites trying to sell you the services of an eye surgery center, and there are scary sites showing you all the terrible things that can go wrong in LASIK eye surgery. There are other websites out there, though, that show the whole story in a balanced, rational manner.

What has gone wrong in LASIK? Let me tell you, some patients' eye charts have been inadvertently switched with the charts of other patients and their eyes have been corrected to the wrong levels. There have been equipment failures, such as jamming of the microkeratome blade, which then completely severed the corneal flap. There has been slippage of the flap, poor healing of the flap, and infections.

Medical ethics are always a concern, because surgery has become such big business. There will always be weak people who will try to provide an unnecessary service in order to make more money. LASIK eye surgery has become such big business that some say that articles in professional journals criticizing LASIK are rare. Some medical professionals even say that they have been threatened for criticizing the surgery. It is possible that this has happened. If you don't feel you can trust your surgeon, don't have the surgery.So many people have had LASIK eye surgery in the past decade that even with a three percent failure rate, there are over 180,000 people whose vision is worse off than when they started. That is a lot of people. Even one person who is blind now because of the surgery is too many people. But, as surgeons gain more experience in these endeavors, the incidence of catastrophic complications is reducing. One surgeon stated on an Internet bulletin board that those numbers are down to 0.5%. He said, ".refractive surgery is surgery and it is not perfect." He's right.

You should remember that LASIK eye surgery should still be considered experimental and elective. Because it is elective, LASIK eye surgery can be compared to plastic surgery, in that insurance typically does not cover LASIK. You should read all you can, consider your own lifestyle and needs, ask questions of your surgeon and really think about it before you commit. Make sure that you are a good candidate for the surgery. Your health is your own responsibility and these are the only two eyes you will ever have.

Even though all these terrible things could happen to you, it is also more than likely that you could have great results. LASIK surgeons self-report that about 3% of LASIK subjects have complications resulting in poorer vision than that with which they started. About 0.5% of patients have tragic results.
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