Question:
I'm eighteen, I have astigmatism and was wondering about laser surgery. My vision is pretty poor, I don't know the specifications, but I'm on my fourth pair. I have two questions.
First, if I undergo laser surgery, will my vision be completely corrected?
Second, what are the risks and side affects of such an operation? I hear a loss of night vision is very likely.
Answer:
Laser surgery is not a 100% promise to fix your vision. I went from 20/400 in each eye to 20/15 in the right and about 20/50 in the left. This means I very rarely require reading glasses since I can use on for distance and one for near vision. Their measure of success was 20/40, which is what is required to get a driver's license in Texas. Make sure your surgeon has a similar offer.
Glare and haloing around lights at night is a possible problem. I had some problems the first few weeks but they corrected. I also had some double vision when looking at numbers on screens and that also corrected.
I also had trouble with dry eyes, but used lots of artificial tears for a few weeks and that got better.
Don't rush into this. Ask around your area and find a highly recommended surgeon with lots of experience and a history of good outcomes. I choose my surgeon based on a history of only one bad corneal outcome, and that was a guy who rubbed his eye. He was the most expensive in town, but he was also the most experienced and came recommended by other eye surgeons.
