I am an athlete. Is LASIK right for me?
As an athlete you should have concerns about the safety of your eyes, and what role LASIK will play in your active lifestyle. First consider what risks come with what sports, and what risks those sports pose with contacts or glasses. With high contact sports like boxing, basketball, and soccer injury can result from high person-to-person impact. Sports played with a ball or racquet like racquetball, baseball, or even hockey poses the risk of an ocular injury from the impact of a compact object at high speeds. These types of sports often result in injuries ranging from corneal abrasions to retinal detachments. These are the types of sports we automatically think cause ocular injuries but what about the less obvious sports risks. Bikers, swimmers, fishermen and skiers are also all at high risk for ocular damage from their active lifestyles. As a biker there are risks of road debris damage, with swimmers the risk of infection, and with fishermen and skiers a high risk of UV damage from reflective surfaces.
Knowing what types of risks we face in each activity is the first step, now we must decide how to reduce our risk of injury. With contact lenses we do not have any real form of physical protection against physical sports. This is the same for glasses unless they are specially made with materials like polycarbonate. LASIK will also offer no protection against high impact sports injuries, in fact LASIK may not be right for these types of athletes. A procedure called PRK may be a better corrective option for high impact sports players. With LASIK you run the risk of flap dislocation but with PRK there is no flap to be moved. With a procedure like PRK you are no more vulnerable than a player with contacts or even no correction. This is one reason that athletes may decide on a procedure like PRK over LASIK. But in almost all cases the best policy is to wear protective facial gear like goggles when participating in these forms of activities.
When it comes to swimming LASIK may actually be your best option. Contact lens wearers run a high risk of infection if they wear them while swimming, especially if they are not removed once out of the water. LASIK patients run a much less significant risk. And when it comes to UV damage from outdoor activities it is important that all individuals wear some form of UV protection. This can help to reduce your risk of pterygiums, pingueculas, and cataracts.
In the end LASIK or PRK can offer the freedom you desire for your active lifestyle unlike you would receive with glasses, and is considerably safer than contact lenses. While laser correction can not protect you from all the risks of your active lifestyle it will give you more freedom and will do nothing to stop you from taking all the precautions necessary to stay safe.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 at 9:24 pm and is filed under LASIK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
