In this blog post, we will take a closer look at the types of vision correction surgery, its safety, and considerations for those who want to escape the inconvenience of glasses and contact lenses.
What is the right choice for me?
“Lenses are like cigarettes, not ramen!” This is what the doctor told me when I was suffering from eye pain due to the swelling of my cornea from wearing lenses for a long time. The doctor told me to refrain from wearing lenses because it was harmful to my eyes. I wore glasses for two weeks while receiving treatment at the hospital. My glasses felt uncomfortable because I had worn lenses for a long time. I thought about getting vision correction surgery while wearing glasses. I did a lot of research online and listened to the stories of people around me. Most of the people around me who had the surgery did not experience any major side effects, and they recommended the surgery to me as well. Although there were many recommendations, I was not ready to have the surgery. The reason was the serious side effects I had read about online. After reading about the side effects, I became more afraid of the surgery and had many concerns about choosing a hospital. If you are planning to undergo vision correction surgery, you may be thinking the same thing. Currently, many people are undergoing different types of vision correction surgery, but many people do not know the differences between them. Here, we will look at LASIK, LASEK, and phakic lens implantation, which are representative vision correction surgeries, and discuss the things that should be considered during surgery.
Vision correction surgery methods and surgical process
Vision correction surgery can be broadly divided into two types depending on whether or not a laser is used. LASIK and LASEK surgeries are performed using a laser, while phakic lens implantation does not use a laser. The shape of the cornea is changed using a laser to adjust the degree to which light is refracted. In the case of myopia, the degree of refraction is reduced by making the central part of the cornea flat with a laser, and in the case of hyperopia, the degree of refraction is increased by making the cornea convex by shaving the peripheral part of the cornea with a laser.
LASIK surgery was developed in the 1980s to address the shortcomings of the existing refractive laser keratectomy. The existing excimer laser surgery removes the epithelial layer of the corneal surface and directly irradiates the corneal stroma, which resulted in severe pain after surgery and a long recovery period of about four weeks. LASIK surgery overcomes these shortcomings. It involves creating a corneal flap using a laser or microkeratome, bending it, irradiating the surgical area with a laser, and then covering the corneal flap again. The flap does not need to be sutured because of the natural suction of the eye. LASIK surgery is faster to recover from than excimer laser surgery and causes less blurring and less pain.
While LASIK surgery has complemented the existing excimer laser surgery, complications related to corneal flap could occur. To solve this, LASEK surgery, which combines the advantages of excimer laser surgery and LASIK surgery, was created. LASEK surgery is similar to LASIK surgery, but the difference is that it uses alcohol. The operation is completed by making the corneal epithelium thin and bending it with diluted alcohol, then irradiating the exposed area with a laser and covering it again.
Intraocular lens implantation is a surgery that inserts a lens into the eye while leaving the lens intact, and the implantable contact lens (ICL) and artifical lens implantation are representative. The two surgeries use different lenses depending on the location of the lens insertion. ICL insertion places the lens in front of the lens, while the ALTI-S lens is fixed to the iris. The surgery is completed by making an incision in the cornea to insert the lens and then suturing the cornea.
Side effects and risks of vision correction surgery
According to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, about 200,000 people undergo vision correction surgery in Korea every year. This means that many people believe vision correction surgery is safe. With the advancement of technology, surgical instruments have also improved, and side effects have been greatly reduced. According to a survey by the Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs, less than 1% of LASIK and LASEK surgery patients experienced serious side effects. Many doctors say that the surgery itself is safe, but if the pre-surgery examination is inadequate, side effects may occur.
It is not possible to be sure what will happen before the surgery. After the surgery, minor side effects such as dry eyes, blurred vision, corneal opacity, decreased vision, and glare may occur, and in severe cases, it may lead to blindness. However, serious side effects, such as blindness, are difficult to treat, while minor side effects can be treated. For example, dry eyes gradually disappear three to six months after surgery, and blurred vision naturally resolves when the corneal epithelial cells fully grow. Corneal opacity can be resolved with steroid eye drops or corneal washing, and if the corneal flap becomes bumpy or wrinkled, causing vision to deteriorate, it will usually recover over time. The phenomenon of light dazzling when looking at light also disappears when the corneal flap is in place. Correction of excessive or insufficient vision can be treated with supplementary surgery.
However, we cannot be complacent about the fact that most of these side effects are mild. A few days ago, a post by a father with a 21-year-old daughter on Facebook caused a huge stir. After LASIK surgery, his daughter was unable to identify objects and saw everything blurry. She eventually committed suicide due to her pessimism. This incident is a reminder that we must approach vision correction surgery with caution, warning us of the risks involved.
Things to Consider Before Vision Correction Surgery
The most important thing to consider before vision correction is the choice of hospital and doctor. It would be ideal if all hospitals were staffed by experienced and skilled doctors, but this is not the case. This is evident in the incidence of side effects, which is less than 1%. The CRSQA (Cornea Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance Committee) provides a list of things to check with your doctor before undergoing vision correction surgery. It is good if the doctor has more than three years of experience in vision correction surgery and has performed more than 400 surgeries in the last year. In addition, it is necessary to check whether the doctor has a 50% or higher rate of patients whose vision has improved to 1.0 or higher, whether the doctor uses an FDA-approved laser, and whether the doctor does not use exaggerated advertisements. It is necessary to be suspicious of clinics that offer too low a cost.
After choosing a hospital and a doctor, you need to choose the right surgery for you. LASIK surgery is stable and quick to recover, but it cannot be performed on people with thin corneas. In this case, you need to undergo LASEK surgery, and the same applies to people with small eyes or who have worn contact lenses for a long time. Patients with severe myopia who cannot undergo either LASIK or LASEK surgery can choose to undergo phakic lens implantation. Intraocular lens implantation is less painful and has the advantage of allowing the lens to be removed if the results are not satisfactory, but it is more expensive.
Vision correction surgery and quality of life
The reason people choose vision correction surgery over glasses or contact lenses is to improve their quality of life. One study found that nearsighted patients who underwent LASIK surgery had a higher quality of life than those who did not. This study used the QIRC questionnaire developed by the Bradford University Optometry Department in the UK in 2004 to measure quality of life. Glasses are safe for eye health, but they come with a number of inconveniences. Contact lenses solve these inconveniences, but they are not good for eye health. For this reason, many people choose vision correction surgery, and careful judgment is required to achieve satisfactory results.
