There is no doubt that contact lenses and LASIK surgery are the two most popular choices today when it comes to vision correction. While they are not in direct competition with each other, they each have their own unique features.
Choosing between contacts lenses and eye surgery can be difficult sometimes, especially if you are new to both concepts. Having experienced both, first hand, I hope to make the selection process easier for you to understand.
Contact Lenses – My Experience
I started off with prescription glasses but eventually switched to contact lenses and I liked them a lot. I noticed the following improvements.
· It improved my work performance. Part of my job requires me to work outdoors in the sweltering heat. Things get extremely rough in the summer. Not having to worry about my glasses burning or irritating my skin and being able to work without interruption was a relief.
· Gave a big boost to my social life. I look like a completely different person without my glasses and my friends noticed that. Needless to say, I’m out every Friday and Saturday night!
· It’s cost effective. Aside from being near-sighted, my eye exam didn’t reveal anything of concern. Therefore I got standard contact lenses that didn’t require any specific material or parameters like patients suffering from astigmatism do.
However there were a few things I didn’t like though.
· Requires high maintenance. I had to clean my contacts every morning and replace the lens cleansing solution every night. This was bearable at first but after a month or so, it became more of a drag.
· The cleaning supplies for contact lenses cost money. I used to buy three months supply in advance so I won’t have to make monthly trips to my doctor. This taxed my wallet quite a bit.
· It’s time consuming. As a first time user, it took me ten minutes to put mine on. I eventually narrowed it down to one minute but sometimes even that feels like too much. There were times when I opted to just put on my glasses and head out because I was in a hurry. I guess that’s the price you have to pay for luxury.
LASIK Surgery – My Best Investment Yet!
Without a doubt, it is the best option available for vision correction. This form of eye surgery uses sophisticated laser technology to remodel the Cornea of the human eye. I just got mine done around two months ago and so far the results have been astounding. Here is what I liked about the whole process.
· LASIK was totally painless and only took about 20 minutes to complete.
· It completely fixed my near-sightedness problem and improved my vision to 20/20. Those of you suffering from astigmatism would be happy to know that LASIK eliminates astigmatism permanently.
· No more dealing with eye glasses being broken.
· No more buying expensive cleaning solutions for contact lenses throughout the year.
· Improved my mood and confidence.
There is only one drawback to this priceless eye treatment – the price! LASIK is very expensive and not everyone can afford it. Be prepared to pay up to $2,000 per eye. Agreed that you cannot put a price tag on personal health, but different people have different parameters on which they base their decisions.
Features aside, the price can be the ultimate factor in deciding what you choose. If you have the money to invest then definitely go for LASIK. Otherwise contact lenses and eye glasses will be a cheaper and faster alternative albeit not the best one.
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