Sometimes I wake up in the morning in terror. Everything is blurry. I mistake my notebook for a piece of toast. I call my roommate the wrong name twice because I can’t distinguish her face from a distance. When I finally find my glasses, I realize I have been talking to a chair the entire time. I have terrible eye sight; without my corrective lenses, my face is pressed so close to a computer monitor, I can see the tiny squares that make up the screen. Without my 5-inch thick glasses, I never mosey out at night or enter public bathrooms. The world is a scarier place when everything looks like a blob.
For the visually impaired, like me, there are three options to improve your vision. One, some choose to swap in their eyes for a new pair. Tom Cruise, for instance, went through this particular procedure in the movie “Minority Report,” but for normal people who make less than a million dollars per year, this isn’t probable (I would also look really weird with blue or green eyes). Second, there are your standard prescription eye glasses or contacts. This option is perfectly acceptable if one is willing to endure the small annoyances: glasses can give headaches, smudge and leave an annoying mark on the nose, while contacts can dry out, tear or — my personal favorite — be washed down the sink by accident. The third option is to throw down big bucks and undergo LASIK surgery. Although it’s pricey, this last option is growing more popular throughout the United States.
LASIK stands for Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis, or in plain English, a procedure that reshapes the cornea (the clear covering of the front of the eye) with an excimer laser. The cornea is a part of the eye that focuses light to create an image on the retina, much like how a camera lens works. Vision problems arise when the shape of the cornea and the eye are imperfect, which makes the image on the retina seem unfocused or blurry. Problems with the eye focusing are called refractive errors, which include three primary vision errors: myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Myopia, or nearsightedness, makes seeing distant objects difficult whereas hyperopia, or farsightedness, makes seeing near objects difficult. Astigmatism is a distortion of the image on the retina caused by irregularities in the cornea, which makes it difficult to focus on fine detail.
While glasses and contacts simply compensate for these imperfections, LASIK surgery removes corneal tissue with a laser to reshape the cornea and improve its focusing power. Although I’ve never given LASIK a try, the procedure sounds relatively straightforward. A flap of the cornea is cut by a hand-held microkeratome blade or a laser keratome. A hinge is left at one end of the flap, which is then folded back to reveal the stroma (the middle section of the cornea). A laser then vaporizes part of the stroma and the flap is replaced. Although LASIK may sound like some complex and time-consuming procedure from “Star Wars,” it only takes about 30 minutes. Post-operation procedures include checkups with the doctor, antibiotic eye drops, “artificial” tear drops and an eye shield to protect the corneal flap during healing. Overall, about 90 percent of nearsighted and 82 percent of farsighted LASIK patients report improved vision. Some people’s vision improves immediately, while others gradually improve within several weeks or months. It is also important to remember that LASIK has both benefits and risks, just like any other surgical procedure. LASIK is not particularly recommended for pregnant women, minors and people with health problems. Patients may risk losing their vision completely, and others may experience problems with light glares or severe dry eye symptoms. LASIK does not guarantee 20/20 vision, especially for people with very poor vision, and those who receive LASIK surgery may still need to wear contacts and glasses after surgery. For farsighted individuals, the results may decline with age. About 1 to 2 percent of patients have complications from surgery, 6 percent of patients develop complications within the first three months and between 5 to 10 percent return for a second procedure.
Although LASIK is becoming more affordable, its cost mostly depends on the equipment, doctor and procedure. According to USAEyes.org, the average cost for LASIK is about $1,350 per eye. Be wary of bargain deals that promise LASIK for only a few hundred dollars.
Health insurances and Medicare usually do not cover the surgery. Though the LASIK procedure certainly can sound appealing, doctors recommend that people who have health problems or severely dry eyes may want to reconsider the option. The same goes for those of us who are active in contact sports or employed in specific career fields.
Whatever vision correction option is the right one, the bottom line is that I want to one day see a stop sign without having to stand right in front of it. I hope to drive home on Interstate 64 without my contacts ripping or popping out. I want to be like those hipsters who wear nerdy thick-rimmed glasses just for style. Or, I want a couple thousand dollars to pay for LASIK.
Does anyone accept Cavalier Advantage?
Alex Truong is a fourth-year College student. He can be reached at a.truong@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
U.Va. students and physicians team up for another year of free kidney screenings
By Merrill Hart | November 5, 2024Saturday’s screening marked the first by KDSAP at Portico Church, near IX Art Park.
U.Va. Health sees a spike in COVID-19 cases
By Emily Horn | September 4, 2023U.Va. Health ended their vaccination requirements in August, and masks were made optional in most hospital areas in early April.
U.Va. Cancer Center harnesses $12 million grant to support opportunities for undergraduates, ongoing research and new center
By Ellen Wu | January 12, 2023The grant provides an opportunity to establish the Center for Systems Analysis of Stress-Adapted Cancer Organelles, which seeks to find the cause of cancer in individual organelles.
