LASIK Eye Surgery
...ing devises we get rid of every day annoyances. We eliminate the hassle of putting on glasses in the morning; there is less of a chance someone might get hurt by walking into something that they cannot see. Now the person may also go swimming or play contact sport with out having to worry about their vision. According to Mr. Ciccone, everyone should be glad to get the procedure done right away. We should take into consideration that Mr. Ciccone does work for The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery so his opinion and survey’s might not be as credible as a person who does not get benefit from selling the surgery. One would think that the surgeon who corrects his patient vision by LASIK would have nothing but good things to say about the procedure. A study done by doctor of medicine Dr. Zaidman suggested that the surgery might have a great out come, but it’s all in the hands of the surgeon. She clearly states that there is dire need for a different blade each time the procedure is done. “I demand a new blade for each case.” There is also a need to figure out the right suction to make the procedure more precise. The suction is needed in order to make the cut of the cornea. The machine that is used in the LASIK procedure first creates a vacuum to the eye in order to keep the eye steady while it cuts the flap and does the rest of the procedure. The doctor is the one who decides what the suction and the size and thickness of cut must be. The surgery also weights deeply on how the surgeon feels that day. They could either “Mark, mark, mark before the microkeratome passes” or they could just be lazy that day and just let the laser do it’s part. Even though Dr. Zaidman writes that he is ”furious about interface debris…debris does not disappear with time.” We see the importance of the debris and conclude that to achieve better results the doctor must remove it. Well what if the doctor had a bad day and just used his ”better judgment to lift or not to lift, depending on the patient, the debris and … mood.” This can also happen with the doctor puts the flap back in place. Because “flap folds don’t disappear with time; iron them immediately” that is if the doctor is in the “mood” to do so. This could mean that it might not be the machines fault if the surgery doesn’t reach its desired results. It could all be the doctor’s fault. The debris could be what causes “halos, starbursts and glare surrounding lights” (Ohio State University) that people often complain about. Ohio State did a study of 605 LASIK patients and concluded that after six month after the surgery they reported vision problems. The average age of the patient was 42. The research states that the symptoms “halos starbursts and glare surrounding lights” mostly occurred in the “patients for had undergone the procedure again.” The people, who had to undergo the surgery again, were “the older patients.” Because the older patients have flatter cornea it is harder for the doctor to calculate how far the flap should be cut, thus needing to go back and re correct the under done procedure. Research also concludes that patients with flatter corneas “were more likely to see starbursts surrounding lights” and the patients with flatter corneas are mostly elder people. Obviously “age seems to predict who would and wouldn’t be happy” with the surgery. It is unfair to claim that the surgery does not work; maybe it should only be done on younger people who do not have “flat corneas.” Among the people in the study “97 percent...said they would recommend LASIK to a friend” or a coworker. If a person is willing to recommend their friend to get the surgery, than maybe the side effects are not as bad as they claim to be. Even though this study is un biased, the problem could be that the study on the patients done could be incorrect because of the short period of time that went by after the surgery. Because “it takes six month for a patient’s prescription to stabilize” it might not be enough time to conclude is the vision problems that patients experience now would last years down the line. If someone had liposuction for instance, the pain and the swelling that they experience shortly after the surgery, does not stick around forever. The kind of side effects a person experiences also depends on type of LASIK a person gets. As I mentioned before LASIK can cure nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. When treated for nearsightedness the laser removes a certain amount of stroma. When getting treated for farsightedness the eye has to be enhanced. In a study done by Dr. Maguire suggests that commonly reported side effects could not only come from the elderly people who had the surgery done, but also the people who have been treated for farsightedness. As he declares, a condition called “sands of Sahara” is when the patient has incredibly dry eyes, occurs with patients who “had an enhancement.” He also says that the patients “had hazy vision”, but after a few adjustments “the patient is now happy.” Maybe the main problem is not with the procedure or the doctors. The problem could be with the advertisement. USA Today declares that the risks of the surgery “are under stated.” According to the paper the number of patients having LASIK has increased dramatically over the past couple of years. The reason for such increase could be the result of false advertisement. People are being misled by the ads saying that the surgery is only $499.99 and that you will walk out of the office like nothing has happened. The problem is that most people don’t realize that ...