When you are budgeting for the LASIK eye surgery cost, you have to consider keeping extra funds aside for a LASIK enhancement in Los Angeles. A LASIK enhancement is a follow-up LASIK procedure that every so often is performed if the outcome of your initial vision correction surgery is insufficient or if your vision changes to some degree over time.
Determining Visual Satisfaction After LASIK
Several circumstances can affect your satisfaction after LASIK such as:
- The quality and health of your corneas
- If you are nearsighted, farsighted or have astigmatism
- How bad your refractive error is and the strength of your eyeglass or contact lens prescription
- If you are at risk for dry eyes after LASIK
- Your age
- Your expectations
The majority of LASIK procedures in Los Angeles successfully correct high degrees of nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Younger people with mild nearsightedness and astigmatism usually are the best candidates for a good result, so their LASIK eye surgery cost usually does not go beyond what they forecasted for the procedure.
What you expect before LASIK is also an important factor in how satisfied you will be afterward. You must keep in mind that the goal of LASIK is to reduce your need for glasses and help you see very well without corrective lenses. However, outcomes vary from person to person.
Although many people who have had LASIK claim to see better than they did with glasses or contact lenses before surgery, not everyone will have the same results.
A small percentage of people may realize that their vision isn’t as good after LASIK as it was when they wore glasses or contacts before the procedure. LASIK enhancement would be a necessary procedure in these cases so it is essential to plan for the possibility when considering the LASIK eye surgery cost.
When Do You Require LASIK Enhancement?
You shouldn’t panic if your vision isn’t as perfect as you expected it to be right after LASIK surgery. Everyone’s eyes are different and respond differently to different techniques.
When you are assessing your vision after LASIK, you should take some time to let your eyes heal to really notice if there is a significant visual improvement. Although you should be able to see a lot better without glasses the day after surgery, it isn’t uncommon for vision to ebb and flow for several weeks while your eyes adjust.
A factor of your follow-up care after LASIK is that your Los Angeles doctor will examine your vision for several weeks to months.
Although uncommon, you may feel uncomfortable driving or performing other visual tasks after LASIK. If this happens, make sure to tell your ophthalmologist. If needed, he or she can prescribe new eyeglasses for you to wear for a short period of time until your vision improves and adjusts to the results of the procedure.
If after three months of LASIK you still notice that your vision is blurry, you may need to speak to your surgeon about an enhancement.
To decide if you are a good candidate for a LASIK enhancement, your eye doctor will re-examine your corneas with the same methods used previously for your first LASIK procedure.
Besides other concerns, your optometrist will check to see if you have enough corneal thickness for a second surgery.
If after your LASIK procedure, there is very little refractive error to fix with another laser treatment or you are not a good candidate for a LASIK enhancement procedure, wearing eyeglasses on a part-time basis might be advantageous to sharpen your vision when required.
To get the best comfort and clarity, most ophthalmologists recommend that you choose eyeglass lenses with anti-reflective coating. This coating removes distracting reflections and supports sharper vision in low-light conditions such as driving at night.
A lot of people feel that wearing progressive lenses provide much comfort and convenience after LASIK because these line-free multifocal lenses give clear vision at any distance without having to carry a separate pair of reading glasses.
It could also be beneficial to look into investing in high-definition lenses that can correct higher-order aberrations that regular eyeglasses cannot address.
If you find that you are sensitive to light after LASIK surgery, request for photochromic lenses that darken automatically when exposed to sunlight for better comfort when you go outdoors.
How Does A LASIK Enhancement Compare To A Primary Lasik Procedure?
A LASIK enhancement is almost the same as a primary LASIK procedure, except for one thing. Instead of using a microkeratome or laser to create a corneal flap, the Los Angeles surgeon performing a LASIK enhancement utilizes special tools to lift the flap that was created on your eye’s surface during the primary LASIK surgery.
No pain is involved when the flap is re-lifted and it usually takes only one or two minutes. Next, your surgeon uses an excimer laser to reshape your cornea.
Normally, only a slight additional reshaping of the cornea is necessary during an enhancement. Therefore, this laser treatment should only take a few seconds.
Once the enhancement is complete, you will receive the same post-operative instructions that you were given after your primary LASIK procedure.
Make sure to follow your doctor’s instructions to lower the risk of eye infection and ensure you have a good outcome.
In most circumstances, only one LASIK enhancement is required to restore vision to an adequate level. Unfortunately, in more difficult cases, more than one enhancement might be needed to achieve this.
How Much Does Enhancement Laser Eye Surgery Cost?
Many eye surgeons do not charge an extra fee for LASIK enhancements that are performed within one year of the primary LASIK procedure that they performed themselves. However, pricing policies differ immensely among refractive surgeons and eye surgery clinics.
If you had LASIK surgery and are not satisfied with the results, contact Excel Laser Vision Institute at + (818) 907-8606 today. Our trained Los Angeles eye surgeons can quickly determine whether you require a LASIK enhancement.
