After waiting out in the cold for the morning public transport, the average spectacle wearer will undoubtedly step onto the warm bus and become blinded by the condensation that overtakes their lenses.
For those who have far-from-perfect vision, alleviation may come with LASIK eye surgery. This relatively safe and easy procedure has dramatic results both for your eyes and your wallet.
Kelly Duval, a sophomore environmental engineering major, has worn glasses or contact lenses since she was in first grade. Recently, Duval found that she could no longer wear contacts, and so her parents offered her LASIK eye surgery.
"My favorite part is getting out of the shower and not having to put on glasses that fog up and you can't see anything, and waking up in the morning and not having to look around for my glasses," Duval said.
According to Duval, many of her friends and family members have also had the procedure done, all of whom experienced no complications. After her surgery, which was performed the day after Thanksgiving, she had some basic eye maintenance to keep her eyes safe and lens-free.
"The first couple days you just have to put drops in," Duval said. "But for a week you have to sleep in goggles and shower in goggles and just avoid any strenuous activity, and wear sunglasses all the time you are outside."
Although the procedure can be quite costly, Duval had her surgery performed in Canada, where it is considerably less expensive than in the US.
"I got it done in Canada, at the LASIK Niagara. It's a lot cheaper than in the US; you can get two eyes done there for the cost of one eye in the U.S," Duval said.
According to Kevin O'Brien, marketing director and surgical technician at Fichte Endl Eye Associates on Niagara Falls Boulevard, the same procedure can cost about $2,000 per eye in the Buffalo area, but the cost can be much higher in other parts of the state.
O'Brien warns that the major risks involved in the surgery are contingent upon a facility's equipment, as well as a patient's eligibility. His own office puts each client through a three-hour eye exam with several different measuring devices to determine eligibility. About 10 percent of people are turned away.
"Major risks involve if you go into a center or into a place that has less than state of the art diagnostic equipment. Everyone's eyes are different and the eye is a fragile little environment unto itself," O'Brien said. "If you don't have the mapping techniques to actually know what the eyes are for, a baseline information before you change it, you can cause some real harm."
According to O'Brien, there have been no known reported cases of blindness caused by LASIK Eye Surgery, which has been performed around the world since 1991. The Fichte Endl facility itself has done over 30,000 procedures without any major complications.
LASIK Eye Surgery is a process by which there are two lasers that cut a flap on the cornea, much like a teapot lid, that actually lifts up and exposes another layer of tissue that is treated by a second laser.
"A lot of college students actually embrace this technology because it's been part of their collective reality for quite a period of time," O'Brien said. "We find that a lot of parents are looking at LASIK much like they looked at braces or other things that they could do for their children."
According to O'Brien, current technology can already fix nearsightedness, farsightedness and even astigmatism, and that advancements are not in the way the eyes are treated, but how they are stabilized during the process.
"Lasers in the past didn't have what are called tracking devices, which kind of locked onto the eye. Tracking devices are becoming more sophisticated, so if there is any slight drift of your eye during the procedure...all those effects are negated," O'Brien said.
For those who've had the procedure done, life without glasses is just a little bit easier, according to Duval.
"I've heard that people have a habit of reaching for their glasses, but I don't anymore," Duval said. "I'm just like, 'ah no more glasses.' Just get up out of bed and go."
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
