Improving My Eyesight

I got this very interesting article from the Rebuild Your Vision Newsletter today, and I wanted to share it with you guys…

The article relates some information about LASIK. It’s a bit to read, but quite interesting…

It seems so easy—you’re tired of wearing glasses or contacts; tired of waking up in the morning and not being able to see the alarm clock; tired of having to squint to see street signs or holding the menu at arm’s length just to order a meal. So you drive to the nearest of several Lasik centers near you, lured by the promise of “Personalized Vision Correction,” a “Lifetime Satisfaction Plan,” even “NO MONEY DOWN! No interest til 2010!!” You’re a little bit afraid to “go under the knife,” but you console yourself by imagining what it would be like to wake up and see clearly, painlessly, throughout the day—each day, every day.

It’s a seductive vision (pun intended), but the reality, as revealed at a hearing organized by the Food and Drug Administration this past April, is not just ugly, but literally painful and painfully complicated.

As in, complications from surgery. Horrible complications.

From the New York Times:
Patients harmed by Lasik eye surgery alternated between fury and despair Friday as they told federal health officials of suffering years of eye pain, blurred or double vision—even of people driven to suicide.

From the Washington Post:
“Since Lasik, I am visually handicapped,” patient David Shell told [the] panel … “My eyes never feel comfortable … 10 years have passed and I still suffer from this problem,” Shell said.

From eFlux Media:
“I have no night vision. I can’t drive at night. When I look across my living room, it’s like looking through used wax paper,” said Barbara Berney, who underwent the procedure in 2001 and now is president of the Vision Surgery Rehab Network, which helps patients who have experienced complications. “I deal with people every day who are miserable and depressed after Lasik surgery.”

Turns out that, of the estimated 700,000 Americans who undergo the procedure each year, many more are reporting post-Lasik problems than the industry’s self-proclaimed “95 percent satisfaction rate” would have us believe. Here is a partial list of complications:

* “Starbursts and halos that make it difficult to see” (Post)
* Poor vision even with glasses
* Complete lack of night vision
* Extreme blurriness, haze, glare
* “Dry eye … so severe that people suffer intense pain and need surgery to retain what little moisture their eyes form” (Times)
* Depression and other psychological problems

That a Lasik patient could still have 20/20 vision while experiencing these complications—and thus be claimed as a “success story” by the Lasik industry—is part of what Matt Kotsovolos describes as “a deceptive industry practice.” Kotsovolos underwent a so-called successful Lasik procedure, but testified at the FDA hearings that “For the last two years I have suffered debilitating and unremitting eye pain.” It seems pretty obvious that ongoing serious eye pain would trump any claim to “perfect” vision, but the industry statistics are, well, fuzzy, to say the least. Although the FDA convened the panel precisely to ascertain “the range of effects on patients’ quality of life,” which hitherto had been “a big unknown,” the panel ended up concluding that “Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is safe and well accepted,” according to MedPage Today.

Ah, but like those inadvertently hilarious TV commercials for miracle drugs with a list of side effects that take longer to announce than the benefits of the drugs themselves, the panel recommended these caveats to those seeking Lasik (from MedPage Today):

* The panel suggested labeling changes to more fully state what and how problems can occur, including extreme blurriness, haze, glare, halos, and starbursts. It also suggested that the label take note of possible depression or psychological problems.

* The panel also recommended that the FDA’s LASIK Web site should include photographic illustrations of visual disability, detailed statistics as to risk of side-effects or complications, and an expanded explanation of the benefits of LASIK, i.e., that improving distance vision will mean the need for reading glasses.

Caveat emptor, as they say: Buyer beware. When you consider not only Lasik’s potential horrific side effects but also that you’re paying anywhere from $2,000 to $2,500 an eye for the possibility of ruining your sight, squinting at street signs or holding the menu at arm’s length doesn’t sound so bad. Of course, there’s another option—with NO side effects and for a fraction of the cost—but it requires a little bit more work than just strolling into surgery. It’s called “Eye Exercises for Natural Vision Correction.” And no FDA panel has ever had to be convened for that!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!