March 19th, 2011
Before Considering Which Treatment To Opt For To Improve Your Eyesight Be Sure That You Look Into All Of The Options
After any trip to the optician, any eye problems will have been indentified and a range of treatment options will have been listed and described in some detail to enable the patient to take a decision on what to do next.
Obviously, in the case of serious complaints, the patient will be passed on to their GP or to an eye specialist depending on the nature of the complaint and how urgently it needs to be examined and treated.
In the case of the more common ailments, there are sometimes a number of options as to the next step and it is down to the patient, along with some guidance from the optician, to select what is best for them. Myopia and Hyperopia (short-sightedness and long-sightedness) are the most commonly diagnosed problems in younger people and there are three main options in this case. One is to wear prescription glasses, the second is to wear prescription contact lenses and the third is to choose Laser eye surgery.
Glasses are always a very popular option in particular for those who have with hyperopia (long-sightedness) as they usually only require better focus with very close work such as reading and using a computer. Glasses are also the only entirely external response to these vision problems.
Contact lenses are very popular as there is no longer a requirement to carry a pair of glasses everywhere ‘just in case’. However, there are minor health risks involved as they are placed right onto the film which covers the cornea (front of the eye). There are also risks involved if lenses are worn for longer than they should be. They can cause irritation as well, because they rely on the natural production of tears within the eye to keep them working properly, and a user with less tear production than normal (which can be the case with older patients) can experience problems with dry eyes. In a very few cases they can cause infection or ulcers, particularly for those people who regularly wear them for too many hours on a regular basis. And some patients simply can’t use them because they suffer from hypersensitive eyes.
The third option is Laser Eye treatment. This can be employed to correct vision for those who are diagnosed with short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism, but it should be recognised that it is not necessarily suitable for all patients. Despite the fact that the procedure for Laser eye surgery should be explained thoroughly at the outset, it is a sensible idea for the patient to research the subject too, so as to get as many details about the topic as possible. One thing to definitely bear in mind is that a lot of people expect to have perfect vision once they’ve had Laser Eye treatment. This is not necessarily the case, but vision will be better than it was prior to the operation. For example, someone who uses reading glasses prior to the operation, may still depend on them for very close work after the event (maybe for sewing or model making) but will probably not need them to read a newspaper in the café.
Numerous people who ask to have Laser eye surgery do so because having glasses or lenses disrupts their lifestyle. For example, those who pursue water sports of any description find it less easy to do so when their glasses are regularly being splashed or when water in both eyes causes irritation to contact lenses.
Naturally, like any kind of surgery, there will be risks with Laser Eye treatments, but the success rates are high. There will always be the risk of infection, but this is very low. More importantly though, if the operation doesn’t go to plan, then the patient is unfortunately stuck with the effects unless they are happy to face further Laser eye surgery to attempt to correct the problem – a risk they may wish not to take.
However, as long as there are no complications, after the treatment the eye should heal quickly with a little discomfort rather than a lot of pain. And although a few patients have some short-term vision problems after the operation, generally speaking this is a extremely effective solution for most patients.