The surprising benefits of Laser Eye Surgery
It’s always surprising to hear what people respond with when asked what they’ve got out of having Laser Eye Surgery.
The obvious advantages like being able to see 20:20 or 20:16 and go swimming are always on the list, but they’re normally not first.
What you find at the top is infinitely more personal and touching.
The parent says it’s being able to play and roll around with his kids without worrying about being poked in the eye or breaking a lens. The sportsperson says it’s getting up at the crack of dawn and heading straight out for a run without waking her husband while trying to put in her contacts. The student says its spending all-night in the library without getting headaches and eye strain and then leaving their glasses on the bus home.
It always comes down to something that may seem small and insignificant to the next person but is the most important thing in the world to them. Of course, I can’t tell you what that will be for you. However, I can share with you some of the most common yet unexpected benefits of Laser Eye Surgery that never fail to surprise people.
Your new vision is yours, forever
Contact lenses are one of those things that appear perfectly safe until something goes wrong. And as a visual aid that sits directly on your eye, transmitting foreign particles and blocking the free flow of oxygen, it’s inevitable that something eventually will.
Contact lenses are so problematic that many people are ‘contact lens intolerant’, i.e. when wearing them, they suffer from symptoms like swelling, irritation, and blurred vision. Most worryingly of all, however, is their tendency to cause severe infections.
According to the scientific studies, the risk of sight compromising infection is 1 in 500 for extended wear contact lenses, which is actually higher than the risk of undergoing laser eye surgery; this risk goes down by a factor of five to 1 in 2,500 for daily disposable lenses (The British Contact Lens Association). In comparison, the risk of infection with laser eye surgery is about 1 in 10,000.”
For the good of your health
Some say you can’t fully appreciate clear, unrestricted vision unless you’ve lived for years without it. And it’s true, not least because of dealing with all the stresses and inconveniences of glasses and contact lenses.
There are so many drawbacks to typical vision correction equipment that they seem normal: visiting the opticians, foggy vision when cooking, scratching and breaking glasses, losing lenses, dry eyes, trouble working out. But this way of living is far from normal. And beyond the day-to-day impact they have on your time, they also have long-standing consequences on your health.
Our time and health are our two most precious resources. We usually push them aside in place of work and money, failing to realise until we have grandkids or something bad happens and it’s too late. But put them at the centre of your life and make them a priority now, and you’ll for sure be thanking yourself later.
A real savvy investment
Perhaps the most surprising benefit of Laser Eye Surgery is that it can save you a fortune. Instead of shelling out small sums of money every day or week for replacing glasses and contacts, you eliminate all recurring costs and pay for your eyesight in one, large up-front investment.
Like buying instead of renting a house, this works out much cheaper over the long term. In fact, let’s say if you regularly wear contact lenses but decide to have Laser Eye Surgery at the age of 35, and you don’t need further vision correction until you’re 65, you could save as much as £5000 — even if you opt for the highest-quality treatment.
