Humans are essentially visual creatures. The thought of someone interfering with our eyes is difficult to bear for any of us. But millions of people every year have what, at first sight, seems like a highly invasive technique on their eyes. Why do they do it? For centuries we've struggled with spectacles for vision correction. Everyone knows that they're not really the answer. Then came along contact lenses. And when breathable, extended wear lenses came along, we thought they were the pinnacle of ocular technology. Not any more. Now we have LASIK - Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomilieusis - using a computer controlled micro laser to remove parts of the cornea and reshape it for a considerable improvement in vision.

But for something as valuable as our eyesight, it's clearly imperative to consider all the implications. Here are just a few to think about:

LASIK may not give you perfect vision. The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) reports that seven out of 10 patients achieve 20/20 vision, but 20/20 does not always mean perfect vision.

If you have LASIK to correct your distance vision, you'll still need reading glasses around age 45. You may need additional enhancement surgery to give you the best possible vision after LASIK.

You should be at least 18 years old (21 for some lasers), since the vision of people younger than 18 is usually still developing.

You may be a candidate for monovision (correcting one eye for distance vision and the other eye for near vision). If you can adjust to this correction, it may eliminate or reduce your need for reading glasses.

In some instances, surgery on only one eye is required.

You may experience a decrease in contrast sensitivity, "crispness," or sharpness. That means that even though you may have 20/20 vision, objects may appear fuzzy or grayish.

Your vision probably will be blurry the day of surgery, but it will improve considerably by the next day when you return for a follow-up exam.

If you wear bifocals or reading glasses you will need glasses for reading after LASIK. LASIK cannot restore the flexible (back and forth from distance to near) focus of youth.

It's possible, though unlikely, that you may have corneal scarring, irregular astigmatism and an inability to wear contact lenses.

Your optometrist will measure the curvature of your cornea and your pupils. You may be rejected if your pupils are too large. She'll also measure the topography of your eyes to make sure you don't have an irregular astigmatism or a cone-shaped cornea and the the pachymetry, or thickness, of your cornea. You need to have enough tissue left after your corneas have been cut and reshaped.

As you can see, there's a lot to think about, not least the cost, which currently is about $1700-2000 per eye. Talk it over with you optometrist and above all don't feel pressured by anyone into having LASIK, they are your eyes after all.

About The Author

Copyright 2006 Mike Thompson.

Mike Thompson writes on a wide range of subjects and runs www.lasik-laser.com he's been involved with laser eye surgery since it was developed.

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A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Lasik... LASIK Eye Surgery Demystified Have you thought about having LASIK eye surgery? May be you know someone who has gotten it done and they have told you what to expect. Are you still nervous about making the decision to have your eyes permanently reshaped? Knowing what will happen during the surgery will help to alleviate these fears that you have. The second reason for the first couple of visits to the doctor is to assess your personal health history, to see if you are a viable candidate for the procedure. The doctor will be looking for things such as a change in eyewear prescriptions with in the past year, a history of Glaucoma, thin corneas and previous eye injuries. These are a few of the possible issues that will keep you from becoming a good candidate for the operation. The surgeon will be using a large machine that is attached to a microscope, a computer and the laser. You will be given an eye drop that has a numbing agent in it and your eye will be cleaned. After the cleaning your eyelid...

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