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You may be considering having your vision corrected through LASIKbut you may be worried about the risks with this surgery. Then you will be glad to know that complications from LASIK are rare, and permanent vision loss is virtually unheard of. For those minor complications that can occur, retreatment or eye enhancements can solve the problem. LASIK actually stands for Laser Assisted in situ Keratomileusis; LASIK reshapes the cornea to increase clarity of vision.

The most important step in undergoing LASIK is to choose a highly qualified eye surgeon. Your surgeon should have performed hundreds, if not thousands, of LASIK procedures before you commit. Competent eye surgeons will carry out proper screening before performing LASIK surgery to ensure the health of your eyes today and in the future.

In the United States, LASIK is a popular procedure with a solid success rate that has been performed millions of times. Increasingly sophisticated technology provides very favorable outcomes for all patients. In fact, the U.S. military uses LASIK to help soldiers decrease dependence on eyeglasses and contact lenses. Overall, serious rates of complication are below one percent. This is due in large part to experienced LASIK surgeons who carefully screen and select patients based on best suitability for specific refractive procedures. Some patients are not good candidates for LASIK due to health problems, eye problems, age, pregnancy and nursing. This highlights the importance of speaking frankly with your eye surgeon during your vision consultation.

Most rare LASIK complications are associated with the creation of the corneal flap, an integral part of LASIK eye surgery. The April 2006 issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology indicates flap complications occur in .3 percent to 5.7 percent of all LASIK procedures.

Still, no surgical procedure is risk free. LASIK complications may include:

Since LASIK was approved in the 1990’s, it has continually improved. Many people who could not have LASIK in the past are now good candidates as the procedure has evolved so much. The original LASIK procedure is now referred to as Traditional LASIK and has been supplanted in popularity by the more sophisticated Wavefront-Guided LASIK.

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It’s been a little over a year since Joseph Schnell, an elevator construction worker from Philadelphia, had LASIK eye surgery to correct his nearsighted vision. Rather than becoming clearer and sharper, though, Schnell’s vision soon was plagued by near-constant glare, halos, starbursts, and double images. The results, he says, have affected his mood–he became depressed shortly after–and he rarely sleeps through the night because of eye pain.

In response to a Food and Drug Administration public forum on LASIK last week, where Schnell and other people shared their experiences with life-altering complications following the procedure, an FDA advisory panel has recommended ways to make warnings of the risks more clear. The panel suggests that photos depicting what people with visual impairment actually see be made available to those considering the surgery, as well as information on conditions such as large pupils and severe nearsightedness, which would disqualify a person from the procedure, and statistics on side effects. The FDA and a number of organizations, including the National Eye Institute and the American Academy of Ophthalmology, have formed a task force to study quality of life post-LASIK and figure out how to minimize problems.

Experts emphasize that serious complication rates are quite rare. Patient satisfaction hovers around 95 percent, according to a worldwide analysis released in March by another task-force member, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Among those remaining, many are simply dissatisfied that LASIK didn’t measure up to their expectations–their vision isn’t quite 20/20, and they still need reading glasses, for example. According to the FDA, only about 1 percent of patients report worse vision and have permanent side effects like eye pain, dry eye, and poor night vision. (Lots of people experience temporary effects like dry eye, glare, and halos.)

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