Sunday, September 30, 2007

The trouble with eye surgery

Ever since the good people at Bausch&Lomb stopped making the brand of contacts I've been using since 1995, i.e. since late last Fall, I haven't enjoyed the full use and functionality of contacts that I'm used to. First, I tried the "wear-these-lenses-24-hours-a-day-for-one-full-month" scam, which resulted in me getting extremely dry eyes and tearing a small piece of my right cornea in the process of trying to get the damn contact out. I then proceeded to try several brands, none of which fit me as well as my original lenses. After a while, I settled for a mix of mostly) one-day contacts and glasses.

However, in the process of reaching this decision, I seriously considered getting eye surgery, and consequently read up on the different versions of laser procedures. I ended up deciding against it, mostly because I was extremely sceptical about the initial step in all of the procedures - making an incision in and temporarily removing the cornea. As it happens, I know people who are very happy with the procedure, and also someone who got extremely unlucky. Still; some of the effects and risks of the procedure are hard to ignore, such as dryness and loss of detail and nightvision. The final nail in the coffin for eye surgery was for me that you find few ophthalmologists who wear contacts, and effectively none who have had lasik themselves...

5 comments:

Anders said...

I have to admit that I'm really scared about damaging my eyes, and for that reason alone, I've never consider eye surgery. Granted, there is a risk with any procedure, so one should always carefully consider the benefits of an operation (which you obvious have done). But I know a few people that have had corrective eye surgery, and they've all been very pleased with the result. Besides, wearing glasses makes me look intelligent in a sexy kind of way (in the same way my HTML-skills and computer knowledge is the safe way to charm the ladies!).

PS: I could never been an ophthalmologists. I need to be able to spell my work title...

Wilhelm said...

You're right; most people are satisfied with the procedure. But things like dry eyes and severely reduced night vision are very, very common. Typically, though, using contacts for a long time might have screwed up your eyes a bit (with respect to dryness) anyways.

Unknown said...

and drinking beer will damage your liver so no more beer for you !!!

Wilhelm said...

What in the hell are you talking about, vulture boi?

Anders said...

Who cares about the liver. You got two of those, right? ;-)