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One of the most significant developments in the world of eye care in the last few years has been the introduction of surgical procedures to eliminate shortsightedness, and in some cases long sightedness and astigmatism. These procedures are now becoming more widely available throughout the UK.
Laser Surgery vs Contact Lenses
We are often asked about laser surgery and with all the recent publicity the biggest question is "is it safe?"
If you want perfect vision 24 hours a day you really only have two choices - laser surgery or continuous wear contact lenses. Approximately 160,000 people had a laser surgery consultation in the UK in 2002 and about 50% of those were put forward for surgery. The other 50% did not go ahead because of the risks involved - no-one can give you absolute guarantees of success. After surgery about 1 in 64 people lose two lines of vision from the test chart which cannot be improved on, even with glasses. Others have long term problems with halos around lights and night driving. Some people are prepared to accept these risks, while many others are disappointed that they still need to wear glasses after surgery.
Our opinion is that continuous wear contact lenses offer all the benefits of laser eye surgery without having to undergo intrusive and non-reversible surgery. The risk of serious loss of vision is about 1 in 28,000, ie in comparison to laser surgery it is 400 times safer and every bit as effective.