Over the years, the popularity of lasik eye surgery has grown leaps and bounds. From being a procedure that only a few opted for, it has become one of the most commonly opted refractive surgery procedures for the eye.

With costs dropping and the procedure becoming more affordable, lasik eye surgery clinics have mushroomed all over the US. There have been many stories about patients suffering from complications after the procedure, though in reality, these numbers are minuscule when compared to the actual number of patients who have had the procedure done on them successfully.

So how do you make sure that you get the best lasik eye surgery possible for the best price? After all, it is a procedure involving one of the most delicate body parts, the eye, and any problems during the surgery could cause dreadful loss to you, including the ability to see.

One of the key elements to a safe surgical procedure without the risk of complications is choosing the right surgeon to perform the operation. Find the right surgeon and you are halfway down the home stretch already.

While reading the advertisements placed by various facilities offering lasik eye surgery, one of the highlights, along with the facilities offered, is the price. Do not let price be the determining factor in choosing a facility to get the procedure done. Also check that the surgeon at the facility is good.

One good way of checking this out is finding out the credentials of the doctor. This does not require too much of detective work. Just see if the surgeon is accredited with any of the academic medical centers. If the person is actually affiliated with or accredited to such an organization, you know that you are in safe hands.

Another good way of finding out if the surgeon performing the lasik eye surgery is good is to get a referral from your regular optometrist. Since he is the guy you consult regularly, he will be able to point you in the right direction regarding getting a good surgeon to do the procedure. The problem with consulting an optometrist attached to a facility itself is that you will not receive this kind of clarity from that doctor.

Even if you do not have a regular optometrist to get a good referral for lasik eye surgery, you can get one online. You can log on to the website of the Academy of Ophthalmologists, www.aao.org, and search for a good surgeon using the ‘Find an Eye M.D.’ feature on the site. Another good way to go is to get in touch with centers in your area that provide refractive eye surgery procedures.

My daughter has worn glasses since being 8 years old. She switched to contact lenses at 16. She is 21 now and told me yesterday that she is considering using her savings from her part-time job to get laser eye surgery.

Now I wear glasses and can see that they are inconvenient at times. I tried contacts years ago, before the newest generation of soft daily wear lenses were developed. One day I will get around to trying them again. But I know nothing about laser eye surgery, so I told her I would find out more and then we could talk about it.

I have summarised what I found in the paragraphs below.

Laser eye surgery, or LASIK surgery (Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis ) is one answer for those people who do not want to wear glasses all the time. The surgeon uses a laser to permanently change the shape of the cornea, the tough part at the front of the eye. Because the shape is changed, the eye’s own lens is more able to do all the focussing that’s necessary, reducing the need for glasses or contacts.

There are some risks attached to the procedure, as there are to all surgical procedures, but most patients are pleased with the results.

You do need to be aware of the specific risks and to weigh up how important these negative effects of Lasik surgery are to you.

Some patients develop extended blind spots, they cannot see certain lines on a reading chart or when reading a book and have to move their heads to overcome this.

If you have very strong lenses, for either near sightedness, or long sightedness Lasik surgery may not be very successful.

Some patients develop glare, halos and double vision. All of these symptoms can make life unbearable. Other patients lose vision in low contrast settings, like driving at dusk.

You may develop a severe case of Dry Eye Syndrome. This is a permanent condition that causes discomfort and occasional blurring of vision.

These risks put off a lot of potential patients from having laser eye surgery. They would certainly put me off, and I will do my best to persuade my daughter not to go ahead.