If you have a problem with your eyesight, you have three options to consider: glasses, contact lenses or laser surgery. Each of these corrective solutions has its pros and cons; read on to find out what they are.
Glasses
Glasses fitted with prescriptions to fix your specific eye problem is the most common method of sight correction. The lens of the glasses will help make sure that light is focused onto the back of the eye, correcting any blurriness you might be experiencing. It’s important to have an extensive eye test carried out so that you can get the lenses that are right for you. The size and thickness of the lenses will depend on how short-sighted or long-sighted you are.
Your eyesight will change as you grow older, so you should go back to your optician and have your eyes tested again every year or so. It might be the case that you have to have two pairs of glasses because it’s possible to become both short-sighted and long-sighted. That might sound strange, but it’s true. Without corrective surgery, you’ll have to keep going back and having your prescription updated. This is one of the downsides of wearing glasses.
Contact Lenses
Contact lenses work in exactly the same way as ordinary glasses to correct your vision. Where they differ from glasses is in how they’re used. They use a lens that changes depending on your prescription. But you have to wear them on the eyeball itself. This has its positives and its drawbacks. First of all, it’s not the most comfortable thing to do when you first get used to it. Putting them in can be fiddly and annoying, but once you’ve got used to it, it should be okay.
They can be used and discarded each day, but this can be a little costly because you have to buy new ones all the time. Alternatively, you can buy lenses that can be disinfected and then reused. You have to be careful to stay hygienic when you used them though. If you don’t, you could find yourself dealing with an eye infection, and that’s no fun.
Laser Surgery
Laser eye surgery is the process of burning away sections of your cornea to correct the curvature of it. This is all done with a laser. Many people don’t like the idea of having lasers directed into their eyes. But the process is actually very safe and very quick. The lasik procedure (one of the most common types of laser eye surgery) is usually done on an outpatient basis. This means you won’t even need to stay in the hospital overnight after the procedure.
You feel no pain during or after the procedure because local anaesthetic will be used to numb any pain. And your vision should start to improve within hours of the procedure. The results are normally very positive too. They can’t work for everyone, but it’s thought that about 90% of laser eye surgery procedures are successful at fixing sight problems. If you experience any problems such as dry eyes or haziness in bright lights after the procedure, you should see a doctor.