July 15, 2011 
For all of you who are thinking about having laser eye surgery….
As much as you think of it as a luxury that not everyone can afford, surgical correction of vision is not as EXPENSIVE as it is PROFITABLE.
Try calculating ten years of wearing contact lenses and glasses, and compare this amount to the price of a one-day procedure that will forever relieve you of dependence on visual aids.
For example, a person in the early twenties who wears glasses and contact lenses over the past ten years has so far on its visual aids spent a five-digit sum. This amount is slightly less than that you will be offered in a clinic to remove your diopter forever (it is important to note that the cost of treatment depends on the degree of refractive error – you higher your diopter, the higher the price). If that person continued to wear contact lenses until the end of their life, for the current short-sightedness and far-sightedness that they can expect after their 45th year, the total amount they would spend only on visual aids would exceed 100 000 kuna!
After you create your own calculations for your current and future costs of vision correction with glasses and contact lenses, you will surely to come to the realization that laser eye surgery is the best thing you can do for yourself. The first step then is to take your phone and book an appointment for a check in one of the clinics that offer laser vision correction. Of course, this check-up does not obligate you to perform the procedure – you can always back off. If you are not from Zagreb, you can immediately arrange to do the surgery the day after the examination.
THE CHECK-UP
2 weeks before the examination you are not allowed to wear contact lenses. The examination takes about an hour and a half and includes a complete assessment of your eyes and vision, to determine whether you are a candidate for laser surgery. Do not let people convince you that you are too young for surgery or you can’t be a candidate if you have astigmatism; rather go to the eye examination and get information from reliable sources. The examination includes various tests such as determining your current refractive error, corneal thickness measurement, visual acuity testing, determining which eye is more dominant, evaluation of the eye health, etc. You come with glasses to the check-up, and preferably with an accompaniment as the doctors will expand your pupils with drops, which means that you won’t bear the sunlight very well when you leave the clinic. When all the tests are performed, an optometrist will advise you whether you are suitable for laser vision correction, calculate the cost and explain the whole process.
SURGERY
The procedure is quick, easy, painless and AMAZING – as soon as you leave the operating room you will be able to read letters on the poster in the waiting room. Which is a truly amazing feeling. The procedure lasts 20 minutes. There is no reason for fear, but you can ask for a tranquilizer pill to relax a bit. After surgery you won’t be able to operate the vehicle, so should make sure you have suitable transportation home. The rest of the day you’ll have to spend as much with your eyes closed, but already in the morning after surgery you will have a crystal clear view of the world.
Although several methods are offered, depending on your needs, the most common one is LASIK. Anesthesia is local, meaning that anesthetic drops are used so there are no needles! The procedure is completely safe; it is done only on the surface of the eye so there is no possibility of become blind. Likewise, it is impossible to close or move your eyes during the operation because your eyelids are wide open by a ‘holder’ and the eyes are fixed with the suction ring. LASIK method is performed by creating a protective flap – the surgeon cuts the layer of the cornea and gently lifts it aside, thus revealing the inner corneal tissue. Then the cornea is ‘ground’, i.e. her shape is being shaped to eliminate nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. The thickness of the layer that is removed depends on the degree of refractive error – as your diopter is higher, the more of the cornea must be removed. The average duration of this part of the procedure is about 30 seconds, you feel absolutely nothing, you will only see the red laser beam above your eye and hear the sound of pulsing laser. When the cornea is shaped, the surgeon returns the flap that will heal itself on the eye. You will leave the operating room and VOILA! At this moment you have protective lenses on your eyes, you are required to drop anti-inflammatory drops and artificial tears every few hours and make sure you get the first examination the morning after surgery. Side effects that occur in the coming days are brighter glare and creating a halo around the light source in the dark, the eyes are quite dry which is relieved with the application of artificial tears and you’ll have small bloody spots on your eyeballs that will pass with time. The first two weeks after the procedure be sure not to rub your eyes, do not wear make up the first few weeks, you should avoid physical exertion, swimming, sauna and dusty places, wear sunglasses as much as possible and most importantly apply regularly prescribed drops and abide the agreed dates for post-operative examinations.
Clinics usually offer a warranty of two years, which means that if you have any problems, your dioptre returns or you hit your eye and damage vision, your surgeon’s duty is to perform another surgery and provide you the best vision. The chances that you don’t need to wear glasses ever again after the LASIK surgery are for myopia to -5 diopters over 98%, while for myopia between -5 and -10 diopters over 95%.
Your satisfaction with the performed procedure and new vision will be ONE HUNDRED PERCENT.
If you have any questions, I would be happy to help you: tea@optike.com