You and your spouse are celebrating your wedding anniversary with a nice steak at XO’s in Downtown Cleveland and the evening is a success. You are both dressed to the 9’s, and there wasn’t any traffic crossing the Carnegie Bridge as you made your way to the restaurant. You feel like a million bucks, and now its time to pick out that steak you’ve been looking forward to. You pick up the menu, but something must be wrong with the print, or the lighting, because you can’t make out the letters. You pull the paper closer and closer to your nose, but you are still having trouble making out the letters. Is this a fluke, or a signal for a larger problem?
If you are considering LASIK surgery, a great step you can take to prepare yourself is knowing exactly what problems your eyes may be facing. The effort to maintain healthy eyes should be a life-long practice, but there are some issues that even the best eye care routine cannot prevent. In these cases, it can be very helpful to seek the counsel of your doctor. Your doctor will also be able to advise you on whether LASIK surgery is an option to resolve some of these issues – and, if you live in Greater Cleveland, your doctor can work closely with us throughout the entire process to make sure you are receiving the best, most consistent care possible. Here, we provide a few suggestions for when it is appropriate to seek your doctor’s advice:
- If you notice as an adult that you begin to struggle with reading smaller print – like your favorite novel or a letter in the mail – you may be struggling with Presbyopia and have decreasing ability to see small items near you while your long-distance vision remains strong.
- Lazy eye, which consists of one eye with much weaker vision than the other, appears in people of all ages. However, if noticed in children it should be treated immediately, as treatment options decrease with age.
- Forming slowly over time, cataracts are cloudy layers that develop in the eye lens and decrease the amount of light your retina receives, resulting in unclear vision. Cataracts often require surgery to be corrected.
Conditions that affect your vision also affect your life – they may make it difficult to enjoy your favorite pastimes, or make it challenging to complete basic tasks like driving or reading a document at work. If your life is being adversely affected, it may be time to meet with your doctor and discuss what choices you have, such as whether you are a candidate for LASIK surgery or may need to pursue a different option for vision correction.
We’re also always happy to talk options with you, so if you want to learn more, now is the time to come in for your free consultation.
