“I’m tired of putting contact lenses in every morning and taking them out every evening.” “I don’t want to depend on glasses to find my way to the bathroom.” “It annoys me when my glasses get fogged up each time I get on the bus in the winter.”

Do you recognize yourself in these statements? If so, eye surgery could improve the quality of your life—under certain circumstances, that is.

Are You a Good Candidate?

Laser surgery is for correction of myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism (deformed vision). These are all problems related to the curvature of the cornea. Lasers cannot do anything for presbyopia (difficulty seeing short distances) because it is linked to the loss of elasticity in the crystalline lens.

A surgeon may refuse to operate if your myopia is too severe (-10.00 diopters or more), if your pupils dilate more than average in low light settings or if your cornea is too thin.

Ideally, your vision should have been stable for at least a year, which doesn’t often occur except in your mid-twenties.

Actually, laser surgery won’t keep your vision from changing. Apart from age, many factors can affect vision, including pregnancy, breastfeeding, diabetes and many prescription drugs, such as cortisone or antidepressants.

The Risks

The question that is asked most often by people considering laser surgery is: Is there a risk of becoming blind?
The risk of blindness is practically nil, but cannot be entirely excluded. According to documentation by one eye surgery clinic, it is about one in 40,000 cases.

According to certain studies, it seems that the incidence of “minor” problems, like dryness in the eyes and halos around lights at night, occurs at a rate of about 3 to 5%, while the risk of severe problems, leading to a loss in the quality of vision, is below 1%.

How to Choose the Clinic?

The first criterion should be the confidence you have in the surgeon. Ask for recommendations from your friends. Almost everyone knows someone who’s had an eye operation done.

The experience of the surgeon also makes a difference.

Studies have established that there is a learning curve in performing laser surgery, so opt for a professional who has performed at least 1,000 procedures. Don’t trust the price alone.

How Does the Operation Work?

You lie down on the operating table. The surgeon puts anesthetic drops in your eyes. After having installed a retractor to keep your eye open, he lifts a thin layer of the cornea with the help of a microkeratome. It is a difficult first moment to endure, because this apparatus emits the same vibrations and the same sounds as an electric razor.

Next, the surgeon guides the laser along the cornea that has just been exposed and burns away the cells necessary to correct your vision. At this point, it will smell like something is burning.

The surgeon cleans the eye with a saline solution and then puts the layer of cornea back in place. Voila! Nothing remains but to repeat the process with your other eye. Ten minutes later, everything is finished. You can go back home with protective patches over your eyes.

You will probably be able to return to work in a few days.