I wore glasses as early as elementary school. Even though I didn't mind the way that glasses looked, I eventually switched over to contacts. Contacts gave me more freedom in sports, but they still caused a few minor irritations too. Even though I wanted to have good vision without needing contacts and glasses, I was a little skeptical of lasik because I didn't like the idea of a laser on my eyes. After my older brother and sister both had lasik surgery in Utah performed on their eyes though, I mustered a little more courage and decided that I might be interested in trying it too.



The first step to take if you are interested in lasik, is to schedule a screening appointment at a reputable lasik vision center. At that appointment, you will be educated on the whole lasik process including the preparation, surgery, recovery, follow-up visits and risks. They will take also pictures of your eyes to determine whether you are even a good candidate for lasik surgery.

If you and the doctor are both willing to proceed, you can then schedule a lasik operation. The procedure takes less than an hour for both eyes, but you will need to bring someone with you to drive you home after the operation and I wouldn't recommend trying to go back to work the same day. Your eyes won't hurt, but they will feel a little irritated and swollen (akin to the way I feel around cats) and the best way to get through the discomfort is to sleep. Sleeping also gives your eyes a chance to rest and recover.

By the second day, your eyes will be substantially better. For example, I felt great and I could see everything around me as well as I used to when I wore glasses and contacts. For several weeks after the surgery plan on using a lot of prescription eye drops, wearing protective eyeware (sunglasses) and refraining from swimming. The eye drops will help reduce dryness and keep infection at bay and the sun glasses help too because your eyes may be light-sensitive after the surgery. Swimming is avoided because a lot of bacteria thrive in water and you want to avoid that until your eyes are completely healed.

Those small sacrifices are well-worth the amazing results you can enjoy after lasik. For example, now my vision is better than 20/20, and my siblings have experienced the same thing. It is wonderful to be free of contacts and glasses and even better to see everything around me so well.