Anyone who wears eyeglasses or contact lenses for a long time goes through some tedious or stressful situations in their daily lives:
- losing their glasses just when they are late for an appointment,
- watching a movie while lying down can be a significant discomfort,
- forgetting to take them off lenses for sleeping or bathing, among other cases.
For those considering refractive surgery to get rid of these problems, the main fear is usually about the durability and effectiveness of the surgery. Can the degree return? Check out to know how much does lasik cost!
Refractive Surgery
Laser correction surgeries are becoming more and more common in the routine of eye clinics. Although every surgical procedure has risks, in the case of laser surgery, the degree of complications is deficient because modern laser equipment has technological resources that make it one of the safest and most accurate today.
As for its effectiveness, refractive laser surgery is a method that can do away with the inconvenience of wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses. The procedure can correct up to 12 degrees of myopia, 4 degrees of astigmatism, and 6 degrees of farsightedness. The success rate exceeds 90% when people who undergo laser do not need to take another corrective technique.
Who Can Have Refractive Surgery?
To perform the procedure, it is necessary to seek a specialized physician who has experience in performing the surgery and perform all exams requested by the specialist. The patient who will undergo surgery must be over 18 years of age, as it is from this age that the patient is considered an adult.
Some people are unable to undergo refractive surgery. Know some cases where the procedure is incompatible and cannot be performed:
- Patients diagnosed with keratoconus: Degenerative disease of the eye, which alters the structure of the cornea, making it thinner and changing it to a more conical shape than expected.
- Diabetes: Individuals with diabetes may also have difficulties in post-surgical healing.
- Patients with cataracts: patients at any stage of the disease should not undergo laser grade correction since there is already a specific and more effective treatment for this dysfunction.
- Glaucoma: the procedure is not indicated, as the laser incidence can modify the corneal curvature. If not compensated for, autoimmune diseases (rheumatism) can cause an inflammation of the eye known as uveitis.
- Ocular herpes: cannot be operated on due to the aggression of the laser and the use of corticosteroids in the postoperative period, which end up aggravating the chances of recurrence of the condition.
Post-Surgical Residual Grade
Despite the high success rate of corrective surgery, 3% of patients may not have a complete correction and may not reach the goal of having entirely perfect vision.
The chances of needing to use glasses or contact lenses again after refractive surgery are minimal. If there is a residual degree, it is possible to discuss further intervention. It is possible to perform a second surgery, where the professional will perform the adjustments in some cases. The most important thing is to know that the technique is effective and safe and can bring the patient a new way of seeing the world.
What Are The Criteria For Undergoing Refractive Surgery By The Health Plan?
The Health Agency determines the mandatory coverage of refractive surgery, as long as the patient meets some prerequisites and criteria, such as:
- Be over 18 years old and have a stable degree for one year.
- Have moderate and severe myopia: between 5.0 to 10.0 degrees. In the case of associated astigmatism, it must have up to 4.0 degrees of astigmatism.
- Hyperopia with up to 6.0 degrees. In the case of associated astigmatism, it must have up to 4.0 degrees of astigmatism.
These parameters were defined by the health plans considering the clinical results observed in which the procedure brought considerable improvement in the patients’ quality of life. Refractions are measured using a negative cylinder. Despite being a guaranteed right of the health plan beneficiary, there are many complaints of non-compliance with the rule. Click to know how much does lasik cost
