27 Aug 7 common reasons why you might choose to get laser eye surgery
We humans are visual creatures. More than hearing, taste, touch or smell, we rely on our sight to make our way through the world. Few animals have vision that is as sensitive to a balance of colour, movement and detail as people.
However, this also means that any change in the quality of your vision has a huge effect on your quality of life. When your vision deteriorates with disease or injury – or simply with the passage of time – it can be concerning and debilitating.
Enter laser eye surgery. This seemingly simple procedure introduced in the 1980s has improved and restored vision function for millions of people around the world. Often these people have relied on glasses or contacts for years, and then, post-recovery, simply don’t need vision aids anymore.
Let’s look at some of the ways laser eye surgery changes the lives of people who decide to have it.
1. Convenience and simplicity
Anyone who has relied on glasses knows that they are a hassle. They’re a cumbersome and fragile personal accessory that requires constant adjustment and cleaning. Contact lenses offer their own challenges. Putting them in and taking them out while also keeping everything scrupulously clean during your morning weekday rush – it gets annoying fast.
2. Glasses and contacts don’t fix anything
When you wear glasses or contacts, your eyes are still impaired. It’s like if you sprained your ankle, got crutches and never stopped using them. Sure, you can get around but you can’t ‘walk’. Worse, over time your glasses get damaged and need replacement. It’s also common for people who used to be fine with contact lenses to find that they become increasingly irritating over time.
3. Lower ongoing cost
Yes, laser surgery is more of an investment upfront than glasses or contacts, but like all good investments it offers a better return over time. This is especially so as the ongoing costs are much less than constantly replacing and maintaining contact lenses and glasses.
4. Looking after the kids
When you rely on visual aids like glasses or lenses just to be a functional adult, it can make caring for your new baby or running around after the kids all the more difficult. A midnight search for the glasses you need to properly check the symptoms of your unwell child is a stress many people who, when they’ve been through it once, decide never to put up with again.
5. Looks matter
By and large, society is well beyond the days when glasses were unusual. When was the last time you heard someone being called ‘four eyes’? Nevertheless, many people do not like the way they look when wearing glasses – especially as the need for them can be a very clear sign of ageing. When you are in your late 20s and find out that the decline of your eyesight is due to ageing, it comes as a shock. Laser eye surgery can postpone the need for vision aids for many, many years.
6. Working environment
Many people who work in dynamic or physical environments, such as outdoors and in commercial kitchens, find prescription glasses impractical. A chef who continually cops a face full of cooking steam, a landscaper whose face gets flecked with mud, a model who must present a certain way as they navigate the dense, dark crowd at a fashion gala – there are so many kinds of jobs where glasses just don’t suit.
7. Being active
How many Olympians compete while wearing glasses? Yes, there are a scarce few, but in general sport and glasses just don’t match. (This goes double for contact sports). Wearing contact lenses for sport is, however, fairly common. And, just as common is losing a lens on the tennis court or cricket pitch. Laser eye surgery can help avoid all these problems.
If any of these reasons sounds like you, then perhaps it’s time to talk to a laser eye surgery specialist like the Binetter Eye Centre. Imagine seeing what you’re already missing out on.
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This article is not a substitute for a consultation with your surgeon. Before choosing to proceed with laser eye surgery your surgeon will have a detailed discussion with you about the right procedure and about the potential complications.
A unique mix of expertise, experience and international reputation, Dr Ron Binetter is the figure behind the Binetter Eye Centre. With more than two decades of hands-on experience in eye surgery, Dr Binetter is a specialist in cataract, lens implantation and laser eye surgery. Learn more about Dr Ron Binetter’s background and qualifications.