Why Laser Eye Surgery Is Safer Than Contact Lenses

By Jennifer Daily 

 

There has been a lot of research done on people who have undergone laser eye surgery as well those who wear contact lenses. The main of this research was to find out which is safer between the two. This research concluded that Lasik eye surgery is a safer option as compared to contact lenses in the long run.

There are some risks involved with laser eye surgery as is normal with any other surgery. However, this research calculated the risk associated with the Lasik eye surgery is very low. It was found that the risk of significant loss of vision after laser surgery is about one in every ten thousand patients which is about 0.01%, this is significantly low. This means that the rate of success is 99.9%. This was compared to the risk of getting some contact lens related eye infection in those who wear contacts.

 

The risk was found to be approximately one in every hundred people who use contact lenses after about thirty years of use. With contact lenses there is also a significant risk of vision loss as a result of these contact lens related infections. This has lead to the conclusion that laser eye surgery is safer as compared to contact lenses due to the significant risk of eye loss when using contact lenses.

Another risk that comes with contact lenses is hygiene. It is difficult to clean them and most people do not adhere to a strict contact lens cleaning regime to protect them from accumulating dirt. Again even though the user actually cleans the lenses it is important to know whether the cleaning solution used on the contact lenses is actually safe for the eye to avoid causing adverse effects to the patients' eyes. This again makes laser eye surgery a better choice and a safer one since you do not have to worry about contact lens hygiene and how to clean them. You also do not risk any infections from dirty lenses.

It was also discovered that with contact lenses there is the risk of unsafe practices such as wearing lenses over night. This is a very dangerous habit which could affect the eye negatively in the long run if repeated frequently. This therefore poses a bigger risk for the user even when they are unaware of it. In such situations laser eye surgery is a better option if the patient qualifies for Lasik surgery. With laser surgery you do not risk forgetting to remove your contact lenses and falling asleep with your lenses on this is a very dangerous habit. With Lasik laser surgery there is also little risk of sharing contact lenses which may lead to cross contamination and transfer of bacteria or other germs that may lead to infections.

Therefore, it is recommended for people who wear contact lenses to go and consult at laser eye clinics. They conduct an assessment to see if you qualify for Lasik eye surgery. If you qualify then you can think about it and decide if it is what you want.

 

About the Author

Eye surgery guruJennifer Daily is the author of this article on laser eye surgery. Find more information, about lasik here