What To Expect After Lasik Surgery.

Most people describe the feeling after lasik surgery as having sand in their eyes. Your eyes may even burn or itch quite a bit. In some cases the discomfort may require a mild pain reliever. It’s very important you don’t rub your eyes, even though they may be begging you to do so, because you may dislodge the cornea flap. Remember no stitches are there to hold it in place. You also may notice your eyes are very sensitive to bright lights.

The good news is, most of these symptoms go away relatively quickly. You’ll notice considerable improvement within a few days. If you don’t, make sure you call your doctor just in case something isn’t healing correctly. If things seem to get worse, call your doctor immediately. Regardless of how you’re feeling, plan on taking off a few days from work.

Plan on seeing your doctor a few times over the course of the first six months after your surgery. As a matter of fact, you’ll probably see him or her within the first five days. Your doctor is going to want to make sure you’re healing correctly and there’s no sign of infection. These are your eyes, so every precaution possible should be taken.

Eye make-up and skin creams are best kept away from your eyes for the first 2 weeks. Most doctors will advice you to take a few weeks off from the beach or pool as well. So, if you have a big swim meet or a weekend at the lake planned, schedule your lasik surgery for another time. Make sure your doctor talks to you about eye drops as well. They can really help.

During the 1st month after surgery you’re going to want to keep all of your sports activity as mild as possible. That doesn’t mean you have to give up working out, just don’t engage in anything that might be considered a contact sport. At least for the first 4 weeks. You can typically begin non-contact activity after the first week.

Don’t be surprised if it takes a good 90 to 180 days for your eyes to return to their normal feeling. You’ll notice right away an improvement in your vision but your eyes will feel a little “off” until they’ve completely healed. Be careful with driving after the sun has gone down, as some patients experience a glaring from the lights. This can produce a hazard for you and other drivers around you.

There is always a risk of some sort of infection, so never hesitate to contact your doctor at the first sign of complications or worsening conditions. Don’t brush safety aside and your healing process will go smoothly.

How Safe Is Lasik Vision Surgery?

Every medical process is going to involve some sort of risk, but still, lasik vision surgery is about as safe as they come. This is one of many reasons for it’s popularity across the country. It’s also extremely quick, has a quick recovery time and is painless for most people. Most of the time patients end up with perfect vision after one process. In a few cases a doctor may have to go back and peform a follow-up enhancement operation.

Take some time to talk over the risks and potential complications that may folllow your surgery with your doctor. If you’re not completely comfortable, dont’ go forward. It is an elective procedure and for most people it’s not something compeltely necessary. These are some of the more common side effects patients will experience.

Strong or weak correction – When there is an over or under correction of your vision you may have to go in for a follow-up enhancement surgery.

Dry Eyes – One of the most common symptoms. Don’t be alarmed if you have dry eyes for 3 to 6 months after surgery. The best option is to use some sort of lubricating eye drops.

Eye Sensitivity – This is usually a sensitivity to strong glares. Even though these symptoms may go away with time, you should let your doctor know.

Blurriness – This may be alarming to you, but it’s not something to worry about too much. Tell your doctor and follow any treatments he or she may suggest. You should get through this fairly quickly.

Infection – If this happens, your doctor will notice it right away and put you on a good dose of antibiotics. This happens about 1 out of every 4000 procedures, so your risk is low.

Scaring – This will typically occur on the surface of the eyes and following an infection. Your doctor can treat this fairly easily, but it’s not something to be ignored.

Cornea Thinning – Most doctors will anticipate some level of cornea thinning and calculate it into the procedure. Of course, there are chances your eyes will react outside of the norm and this could be the result. There is a very small 1:10000 chance of this happening to you.

Even though there are some risk factors involved in lasik vision correction, it remains one of the quickest and safest procedures you can choose to have. The vast majority of the time the results are very good and patients walk away raving about the experience.

Questions You Should Ask Your Lasik Surgeon

Even though lasik vision correction is a fairly quick and common procedure, it should still be treated as any other delicate surgery. You’re having a very delicate process done to your eyes, it things will go wrong sometimes. Admittedly it’s extremely rare, but it does happen.

Here are some questions you should ask your prospective lasik surgeon before you sign any sort of contract or agreement. You may even want to print these out and bring them to your first office visit.

Should I have lasik done and will it work? Just because lasik worked well on your spouse or co-worker, doesn’t mean it will work for you. Have you ever had any type of eye surgery in the past? Have you ever had medical issues with your eyes? Are you pregnant? What types of drugs are you currently taking or have taken in the recent past? These are all items that could impact the success of your lasik surgery. Disclose everything.

Does the cost of the surgery cover the entire procedure? This is an extremely important question to ask if you’re dealing with any sort of discount. Some lasik doctors will leave items off of the price and then charge you separately for them after you’re done. Watch for extra like post surgery exams, facility fees and eye drops.

Tell me how lasik surgery is performed. You obviously don’t need to know all the details of what happens but it is important to know what to expect from your perspective. You’ll most likely be wide awake while everything is going on and you’ll want to know what should and shouldn’t happen.

What happens to me and my eyes after the surgery? This is a tough question to answer with much accuracy, so give your doctor a little slack. But, make sure you know what you SHOULDN’T expect. That way you’ll know right away if something isn’t normal. That’s what could cause a problem for you.

How long will I be unable to drive or go to work? Most of the time it’s a few days at the most, but you want to make sure this all very clear. If you are home alone during the day, make arrangements for transportation in the event of an emergency. Also make sure your employer knows your situation in case you’re not ready to go back to work right away.

Your doctor is more than happy to give you all the answers you need, but they don’t know all of your questions. Make sure you ask all of these and more if you have them. Most importantly, don’t sign anything without you being completely comfortable with all of the answers.

What You Need To Know About Lasik Vision Surgery Costs.

One of the first questions people will ask before deciding on lasik vision correction is “how much does lasik eye surgery cost?” The good news is, while medical costs have sky-rocketed over the past 10 years, lasik vision correction has stayed relatively stable. Considering the advances in the technology, the costs have proven to be very reasonable. Much of this has to do with the fact that insurance typically won’t cover the cost of lasik surgery. When insurance covers your medical costs you tend to concern yourself less with the actual cost. That’s not the case with lasik. Everyone is shopping for the best deal available.

The average cost for lasik vision surgery over the past 2 years has remained right around $2100 to $2300 for each eye. That’s a very important distinction to make. Just about every lasik surgeon quotes the cost of laser surgery per eye. Always make sure you consider this when you’re price shopping. Also remember, some doctors have taken extensive additional training or have specific pieces of equipment which can greatly improve your experience.

In the larger metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, Dallas and others, doctors are always trying to outdo the competition with new technologies, nicer office space and other items that contribute to the end cost. Because there are more doctors in these large areas, surgeons must spend more money on advertising. This will show up in the final cost to you. Of course, because there are more doctors, there is more competition over price as well. Overall, there is a slightly higher cost in the bigger cities, but you’ll typically get the latest and greatest technological advances. If you can, it’s worth going a bit of distance to get the most value for your dollars.

There have been some advances in lasik technology that could affect the cost of your laser eye correction. One of the biggest changes is something called “bladeless” lasik or IntraLase. Typically, a sharp blade or scalpel will be used to open the cornea. This is then folded over and a laser is used to remove or “shave” off the correct amount in order to properly correct your vision. With bladeless lasik, a laser is also used to precisely remove the cornea rather than a scalpel. This will add to the cost of your laser vision correction.

It’s true; you can usually save a bit of money by shopping around for the best deal, but be careful when you see supposed “bargain” prices for your lasik surgery. There have been some lawsuits filed and won over the past few years based on this practice. When you see those extremely low prices, make sure you find out if there are ANY additional costs that COULD show up on your bill. Be extremely wary if you’re being asked to pay a non-refundable deposit on your surgery. Most experts recommend not engaging in any contract that would require this.

Because lasik is an outpatient process that seems relatively fast and painless, many people wonder why it costs over $2000 per eye. There are a lot of costs that factor into these prices. Right off the bat, there actually is a royalty paid to the laser company that invented this procedure. Lasik surgery is a very competitive business, which helps keep the cost down overall, but it also means doctors will have to spend a good portion of their budget on advertising. This cost is obviously passed on to you. Also, even though lasik is safe and quick, there’s still a liability the doctor takes on and must be insured for. Those premiums are added into the cost of your surgery too. The more fancy the office the most cost to you as well.

Most doctors will offer some sort of financing to help make the cost of your surgery more affordable. Make sure you ask about this since many of them will have no down and no interest if paid off in a given time. This is basically free money for you, if you can afford it, but read the fine print. If you slip up and miss a payment you may suddenly incur a retroactive interest fee that you didn’t expect.

This is no place to get frugal. After all, this is your vision you’re talking about. Ask around for referrals and look for an experienced doctor who treats you as an important patient, not just another number to run through the “lasik mill.” This can be a very positive experience if you do your research and don’t rush into it.

How Much Does Lasik Vision Surgery Cost

One of the first questions people will ask before deciding on lasik vision correction is “how much does lasik eye surgery cost?” The good news is, while medical costs have sky-rocketed over the past 10 years, lasik vision correction has stayed relatively stable. Considering the advances in the technology, the costs have proven to be very reasonable. Much of this has to do with the fact that insurance typically won’t cover the cost of lasik surgery. When insurance covers your medical costs you tend to concern yourself less with the actual cost. That’s not the case with lasik. Everyone is shopping for the best deal available.

Remember, lasik surgery prices are quoted per eye. Even if you’re having both eyes worked on, it’s still a per eye charge. Most of the studies you find will show an average cost in 2008 and 2009 of $2100 per eye. Still, you’ll find some lasik surgeons charging a little more based on office expenses as well as equipment costs. If you shop around you should be able to find a very qualified doctor at or new $2000 per eye.

If you live in a more rural area, you may find prices slightly lower than these averages. At the same time, you may not have the latest equipment available to you. This may not matter in your decision; after all, 5 year old equipment worked just fine 5 years ago when it was cutting edge. If you do want to get the latest advances at the most affordable cost, it may be advantageous for you to look at the closest metropolitan area for your surgery. Because the recovery time is so mild and relatively quick, some people will make a semi-vacation out of the surgery. A Friday surgery, weekend recovery and then a few days to explore the city with your new set of eyes.

One of the changes in lasik surgery over the past few years that will contribute to the cost is something called IntraLase or bladeless lasik surgery. With this procedure, a laser, rather than a blade, is used to open up the corneal flap. It’s become rather common place with most laser eye surgeons, but it’s still an optional item at an additional cost of about $250 per eye. Most agree its well worth it.

It’s true; you can usually save a bit of money by shopping around for the best deal, but be careful when you see supposed “bargain” prices for your lasik surgery. There have been some lawsuits filed and won over the past few years based on this practice. When you see those extremely low prices, make sure you find out if there are ANY additional costs that COULD show up on your bill. Be extremely wary if you’re being asked to pay a non-refundable deposit on your surgery. Most experts recommend not engaging in any contract that would require this.

There are a lot of factors that contribute to the cost of your lasik vision correction. Office space and equipment are a large part of those costs as is the staff you see around the office. Another big factor in the cost is advertising. You most likely see ads for lasik vision in the newspaper or coupon mailers every week. That costs money and it’s passed on to you, the patient. With any medical procedure, there is going to be a high cost of insurance for the surgeon. Believe it or not, there’s even a royalty paid to the company that invented the lasik surgery technology. They license that technology to each doctor who pays a little over $100 each time they perform the procedure.

Many of the larger laser eye surgery centers will offer very affordable payment plans. These will often include no money down and even no interest charges. Be sure you shop around for the best deal. Remember, you’re borrowing money, so remember to look at costs if your decide to pay off the loan early or late fees which can quickly add in additional charges and may even suddenly introduce a very high interest rate.

When it comes to your eyes, going the budget route is rarely a good idea. Be smart with your money but don’t let it force you into using an inferior process by a doctor you’re not completely comfortable with. There are plenty of ways to work high quality lasik vision correction into your family budget; cutting corners shouldn’t be one of them.