In this series of articles, you can learn some of the facts that other LASIK surgeons don't want to discuss with their patients. Some of these facts will amaze you! Some may make you uncomfortable. All of them will give you more information, and an informed patient is a happy patient!!



LASIK Fact Number Six: Reading Glasses Can Be Reduced or Eliminated With Just ONE Surgery-Not Two

My last article, "LASIK Facts Every Patient Needs-Fact Five" talked about monovision surgery to help patients reduce or eliminate reading glasses. Look out for the surgeon who wants to perform more than one surgery on you to accomplish this goal!! They may be trying to make a little extra money, and may not be acting in your best interests. (For more on this topic, check out Fact Number Seven, in a separate article). You have to be careful.

Surgeons often recommend that patients who want to improve both distance and near vision have LASIK on both eyes to correct their problems with distance vision. Then they charge extra for another surgery, Conductive Keratoplasty, to reduce the need for reading glasses!

More credible surgeons will discuss monovision surgery, so that patients only need one surgery to accomplish their goals. This is less expensive, only requires one surgery, has better accuracy, and lasts longer!! Conductive Keratoplasty (CK surgery) is notorious for its inaccuracy, and the fact that it frequently wears off within 6 months to a year. A good monovision correction will last for decades!

Make sure you ask about monovision to maximize your independence from glasses. This is clearly one of the times when 'less is more'. Don't be tricked into spending more money than you want to for more surgeries than you need! Every surgeon knows about monovision, and if they don't at least broach the topic with you, then you need to find another surgeon.

Of course, most of the topic in this article really only applies to the 'over 40 crowd', who are beginning to realize the need for readers as a sad reality.

For more info, go to Dr. William Goldsteins website, http://www.2020vision.com, or find more articles at http://www.lasikarticles.org. LASIK surgery in Michigan, and Implantable Contact Lens info is also available.