laser eye surgery on dogs

Major Risks of Lasik

Millions of other people in this country suffer – mildly or greatly – from nearsightedness, acute astigmatism or farsightedness. Many consider how nice it would be to wake up without having to put contact lenses on tired eyes, or to be able to work and play without dog-eared glasses.

Lasik surgery can be the perfect solution to your eye woes; but it’s surgery nonetheless, and your eyes are irreplaceable. There are very few “do-overs” in the world of eye surgery, so it’s important to know the major risks of Lasik.

The Risks Associated with Lasik

One of the major risks of Lasik is the origination or exacerbation of a dry eye problem. If one already suffers from this condition, or is worried about thelasikibility, the patient should consider alternatives to Lasik as it can make dry eye problems even worse, and permanent.

Another major risk with Lasik is having the surgery if one has thin corneas. Thin corneas can be a precursor or sign of keratoconus, a condition whereby the cornea becomes conical and turns into an irregular astigmatism. Other risks – for which statistics vary – include double vision, a fixed or rotating glare, rings of light (“halos”) or starbursts of light. In very rare instances, patients may be unable to see as well as they could before even with glasses or contact lenses. Double vision has been reported as a side effect of Lasik procedure.

Lasik Patients Who Should Exercise Caution

People who are being treated with steroids, other drugs or infections which may delay the body’s natural healing process should realize these are potential risks with having Lasik surgery, as success depends on the cornea and surrounding tissue healing quickly. Also, anyone with glaucoma or cataracts is at risk until and unless they have those conditions cleared up, and even then the candidate is at risk with Lasik.

Teenagers, and sometimes children who are younger, may be tempted to have Lasik performed to avoid the social embarrassment or athletic discomfort of lenses or glasses. This is a huge risk, since the eyeball is still forming. Also, women who are pregnant are subject to erroneous procedures, since the eye changes due to hormone fluctuations.

Find the Right Lasik Professional

One of the biggest risks of Lasik is not doing the research for an appropriate doctor to perform the procedure(s). There are hundreds, if not thousands, of eye centers who offer services at extremely low prices, but do your research to find a reputable care provider.

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A good Lasik provider will do thorough testing of your eyes and your medical history before recommending a course of action. He or she may need to perform a series of procedures to achieve the desired vision correction one is looking for. It’s extremely important that a certain percentage of the cornea remain intact after surgery, so a good doctor will need to do tests to make sure the cornea is not too thin or the pupil too big before laser eye surgery .

Last, one of the less scary but nonetheless one of the major risks of Lasik is that (particularly with regard to farsighted patients) is that the improved vision may diminish over time. The candidate will need to decide with the advice of a competent doctor whether further surgery is needed.

While reading my e-mails tonight I came across an interesting article about dogs and their sight.?

The article was about glasses for dogs with failing sight. All though I am a long time dog owner this is something I had never heard of mostly because my dogs(the exception being my first dog when I was a kid) have never had vision problems. Since this is one of those things that could easily happen to your dog as it gets older the article really sparked my interest. Now a few years ago I splurged and had laser corrective surgery done on my eyes, so I no longer have to visit the Optometrist every year. But I remember having the optometrist flicking back and forth through the lenses asking which is better a or b.

I am sure it is not worth the money! Plus I cannot see a dog keeping them on for over 30 seconds.

I appreciate good vision as my wife is slowly losing hers, but cannot see where this would be beneficial to a dog.

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