I was booked in for corrective eye surgery (LASIK) on the 16th of this month, as late as early this morning I was on the phone discussing payment options with the company that was to perform the surgery. However, having done a bit of further research on the risks and complications, I’m not going through with it.
Basically, the LASIK surgery means that a small “flap” is cut in your cornea, under which the laser is applied to reshape your eye for better vision. There are certain risks involved with this, that most companies will inform you about. However there is one little problem that no company will inform you about (and hardly acknowledge): even though the flap in your cornea heals, it will never heal completely.
According to several sources I came across (among others, this one), the corneas strength/integrity will only heal to about 2.4% of its previous integrity (or able to withstand pressure of 0.8g/mm compared to 30g/mm). This means that the corneal flap made through surgery can be moved out of place years and years after surgery, when it is supposedly “fully healed”.
Would you feel comfortable doing something to an arm or leg, if its bone would only have 2.4% of its previous strength afterwards? Don’t think so. Why would I take the same risk with my vision? Not a chance. It’s funny how the surgery companies go through great lengths to explain all intra- and postsurgery complications, but do not mention a word about the fact that the corneal flap never heals fully, at least not to me (and I didn’t find anything on the website about it, it implies that all should be ok after 3 months). Maybe it is because it is not considered a risk or complication, but just a definite consequence?
Also, when I called and cancelled, I have to admit, they where not pushy, but the phone person (who no doubt is not a surgeon) tried to ease my worry by saying I had chosen the “intralase” option, which means the flap is made with a laser, rather than microcheratome. This lessens risk of complications during surgery, and hastens healing. But a flap is a flap is a flap: they still lift the flap, and I don’t see how the laser would bring any superhealing powers with it concerning the permanent integrity of the flap.
Anyway, even though I would love nothing more than having perfect vision, I am not prepared to do an “all or nothing” gamble on never ever being poked in the eye, getting a football or tennis ball in my face, or be jumped by an overeager dog. I think in the future if I ever have kids, I’d rather worry about a few broken glasses or dropped contacts, than be afraid my child will make me blind when I play with him/her.
August 8, 2007 at 3:09 am
I have worked in the Refractive Surgery field for 11 years and I really do understand you fear.
First-have you considered PRK? No flap—-same laser treatment to cornea to correct vision, just the tissue is rubbed away so to speak—no cutting, no flap—the epithelium grows back. The downside is, slow vision recovery—same ultimate result as LASIK but recovery is not the same as instant gratification LASIK. I had it 11 years ago and I am still 20/15.
In 11 years, I have heard of one patient who moved his flap seriously years after his surgery. His toddler who was sitting on his lap, threw back the book she was holding and it caught him in the eye. The injury would have done damage even if he hadn’t had LASIK, but since he had, the flap had to be smoothed out. A person does run a risk of not seeing as well if a wrinkle could not be smoothed out perfectly but this complication is rare. I tell the patients I counsel that the flap is healed well enough after two weeks that they could go swimming and the flap is healed well enough that they would not get an infection—but that if manipulated hard enough or injuried–the flap could be moved a year later. We recommend that a patient always wear protective eyeware when participating in possible contact sports.
If I worked at the center where you had been scheduled and you called to cancel–I would encourage you to come back in to see the surgeon again and let him tell you the statistics of post-flap complications. We value your questions and your concerns.
Check into PRK—great option!
If in doubt—-you are doing the right thing!
Best wishes!
August 8, 2007 at 3:45 am
Great blog! Thanks. I recently had lasik surgery and by accident I stumbled upon http://www.thepatientsadvantage.com. I used them when looking for a lasik surgeon.
What I liked the most was that my profile remained anynomyous until I was ready to decide what to do. I received replies from four surgeons that met all the things I was looking for. I liked having that complete control without the sales pressure that some of these places can be known for.
If you are going to go down the cosmetic surgery road…better to be safe than sorry. Check them out.
August 8, 2007 at 10:13 am
Thank you for your very comprehensive comment.
No, I haven’t considered PRK, I was under the impression that it was “outdated”, the clinic I went to did not even provide it or mention it..
Also, what annoys me slightly is that your comment provides better information about potential flap complications than what the clinic I went to did, all they mentioned was the remote possibility of post operative infections during the initial healing period..
For now, I’m opting out of surgery, I might reconsider in a few years if I see considerable proof that techniques have improved.
June 6, 2009 at 4:27 am
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