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Ten seconds. That was all it took for Hugh Coffee to put on his contacts whenever the bell rang in the firehouse. After all, without those lenses, he couldn't run into a burning building. The contacts were a pain, but after almost 20 years as a firefighter in Griffin, Ga., they kept him on the job.
Coffee, 47, is one of the 3 million or so Americans whose vision is too poor to be corrected by laser eye surgery. But new procedures, including implanting a tiny plastic corrective lens sold under the brand name Verisyse (amo-inc.com) that was placed behind Coffee's cornea, may change all that. "I couldn't do much of anything without contacts," he says. "But today is a whole other story."
The operation, which is one of two similar procedures expected to get FDA approval soon (Coffee was part of a clinical trial), will add to the dizzying number of surgical alternatives to wearing glasses or contacts. The FDA also recently approved conductive keratoplasty, which uses radio waves to reshape the cornea, for presbyopia or vision problems that develop with age.
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Even if your eyes aren't as bad as Coffee's, you can go cross-eyed considering all the options. Laser procedures, like Lasik, are by far the most popular operations that correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. But they aren't cheap (about $1,785 per eye), they're rarely covered by insurance and they don't work for patients with complex problems.
Before you pitch your glasses, evaluate your options. If you're considering any surgery, your vision should be relatively stable (you shouldn't need new glasses every nine months). Think about possible complications, such as bad night vision, cloudiness, glare and halos, which occur in about 3 percent of patients. Then start hunting for a doctor you trust. Be aware that doctors have their own preferences. In Lasik, your physician may prefer to use a blade rather than a laser to peel back the outer layer of the eye for the procedure. Or your doctor may prefer a procedure called Lasek, which requires only a minor incision. And different doctors prefer different brands of lasers. Experts say most procedures produce similar results, but you should find out why your doctor recommends a specific technique.
Ask your family doctor, ophthalmologist or optometrist for referrals. Then do your own interview. Make sure the eye doctor performs a detailed, free examination, measuring corneal topography, thickness, pupil size and refractive error. Then he or she should give a balanced risk assessment of available procedures. Check that your doctor does his or her own preoperative and postoperative exams, as well as performing the surgery. And there should be little extra charge for follow-ups. Ask how long the doctor has been doing the surgery (at least three years), how many similar procedures he or she has done (not fewer than 100), which percentage of patients have achieved greater than 20/40 vision (should be greater than 90 percent) and which percentage achieved 20/20 or better (not less than 50 percent, but be suspicious of a higher number). Go to allaboutvision.com for more tips.
Be skeptical of ads promoting $399 per eye for laser procedures. Bargain docs may not have the latest technology (new lasers are expensive) or there may be hidden fees for follow-up care. Be sure to read all the fine print--doctors shouldn't charge based on how bad your vision is.
Despite the risks, laser surgery has changed the lives of countless patients. Only hours after her Lasik surgery, Victoria Lucas, 35, was seeing 20/20. Soon she was driving at night and even went scuba diving. Her only problem now, she says, is figuring out what to do with all those old frames.
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