If you are one of millions of people who suffer form some kind of vision problem, you are probably already using some kind of vision correction aid - such as glasses or contact lenses.

You also probably head of the Lasik eye surgery. Lasik is actually a group of surgical procedures that are aiming to correct near- and far-sightedness in vision.
Many patients undergo a LASIK surgery as an alternative to wearing corrective glasses or contact lenses. But you should know that while procedures such as LASIK have the ability to provide acute vision there is no way to quantify the quality of vision the patient will see after the surgery.

The operation itself involves peeling thin layers from the patient's cornea, using a precise laser technology. The pealing of this layer corrects the imperfection in the patent's cornea thus giving them a correction in vision that is usually provided by their glasses or contact lenses.

In preparation to the surgery, a patient who wears soft contact lenses will be asked to stop wearing them 10 days before the surgery. Users of hard contacts are instructed to stop using them six weeks before the surgery. Before the surgery, the patient's cornea surface are scanned with a special computer and their pattern is recorded to provide precise information on how much tissue should be removed during the operation. The patients is also starting to take anti-biotic to reduce the risk of infection.

The surgery itself is performed under a mild sedative (such as Valium) and anesthetic eye drops. After the procedure, the patient is given a course of antibiotic and anti-inflamitory eye drops.

Patients are also given a darkened pair of goggles to protect their eyes from rubbing when asleep. It is advised to wear these from four to eight weeks depending on the nature of the surgery.

So, if a quick Lasik surgery can rid you of our glasses for good, why aren't all glasses wearing people go to a clinic and get it done?

Like all good things, Lasik surgery has some disadvantages and complications. First of all, a good Lasik surgery can cost quite a bit, and not all health insurances will cover the costs (some will cover only part of the costs). And second, there are complication that are associated with thisd procedure. About %3-%6 of patients tend to suffer from one or more of the following complications:

Dry eyes
Overcorrection or undercorrection
Visual acuity fluctuation
Halos or starbursts around light sources at night
Light sensitivity
Ghosts or double vision
Wrinkles in flap
Decentered ablation
Debris or growth under flap
Thin or buttonhole flap
Induced astigmatism
Epithelium erosion
Posterior vitreous detachment
Macular holes

As you can see, this procedure is not problem free. Before undergoing such a procedure, ask yourself if the glasses you wear as so bad that you are willing to do this operation to get rid of them. If the answer is less than a resounding "yes", you better reconsider this operation.