-- Frequently Asked Questions --
Question: What is lasik?
Answer: Lasik is a type of eye surgery in which a laser is used to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and/or astigmatism.
Question: How much does lasik cost?
Answer: There is a wide range in the prices of lasik surgery. The cheapest prices are usually below $700 or the prices can be over $2000. Note that the prices quoted to you will be per eye.
Question: Is lasik safe?
Answer: Lasik is a very safe procedure. There are only mild to moderate complications about 3 to 5% of the time. Severe complications happen in less than 1% of all cases.
Question: Can I go blind if something goes wrong?
Answer: While it is technically possible for this to happen anytime a delicate procedure is done on your eyes, there are no known cases of lasik causing blindness.
Question: Is lasik painful?
Answer: Lasik is a virtually painless procedure. You may feel pressure during the surgery. Also, you may have discomfort, such as scratchy eyes, after the surgery. Other than that, you can expect to have no pain.
Question: How long will I be in surgery?
Answer: The time the doctor will be working with the laser will be less than a minute. The whole procedure will take 15 minutes. If you are having both eyes done at the same time, double that.
Question: How long do I have to wait before I can drive?
Answer: If your vision is clear enough, you can drive the next day. You should not drive yourself to or from the surgery, though, because you will have taken oral medication. The numbing drops placed in your eyes will affect your vision for the first day as well.
Question: I′m needed at my job. How much work will I have to miss?
Answer: It′s possible for most people to return to work the very next day. The recommended time to rest is more like three days.
Question: What are the side effects?
Answer: There are a few mild side effects. About half of the people who have the surgery will have some problem with dry eyes. This will go away for most of them. Another type of side effects is visual ones. These include halos and haze. This, too, is usually a temporary situation.
Question: After my surgery, how well should I expect to see?
Answer: It′s extremely probable that you′ll see 20/40 or better without corrective lenses. There is also a very good chance that you′ll see 20/20 or better.