Going through Lasik surgery doesn’t mean that the health risk associated with your eyes has vanished with your vision errors. It is important to note that Lasik is a vision correction surgery which just enhance your vision and help you to get rid of your contact lenses or glasses BUT it doesn’t ensure the overall health of your eyes.
Why annual eye exam is necessary?
Many people take their health for granted which lead many lifestyle diseases or hereditary diseases to grow until it becomes unbearable. Diseases like Diabetes, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy, Glaucoma can damage your vision to the extent of blindness if not diagnosed in early stages. Therefore, an annual eye exam is a must for every person who has been Lasik operated or not.
There are some other reasons for getting an eye check up which are:
- An annual eye check up can help in detecting any of the above mentioned diseases in early stage so that it can be treated appropriately.
- It is very important for those patients who have diseases like diabetes, cancer or other chronic disease and those who are taking medications which can affect the eyes.
- After Lasik, some patients may experience dry eyes or discomfort due to allergies. An eye check up can help your ophthalmologist to keep a check on your condition and change your medication if required.
- Lasik benefits are not independent of aging process means you may require reading glasses or further enhancement later in your life. An annual eye check up can help you in remaining updated about your vision and eye health status.
- Lasik treatment involves the alteration of shape and thickness of the front surface of your eyes. An annual eye check up can keep a tab on your corneal health and ruling out any risks of corneal stability or keratoconus (a progressive disease which leads to thinning of cornea to make it bulge out in a cone shape). If the condition detected on time, it can be easily treated with corneal collagen cross-linking.
- You must go for your annual follow ups unless your doctor tells you to visit frequently to keep your Lasik vision in the best shape
- There are chances of flap dislocation or displacement even after months of Lasik surgery and if you have rubbed your eyes aggressively by mistake or you are into contact sports like boxing or wrestling which can cause an eye injury then you must visit your doctor immediately if you feel discomfort.
- An eye check up also takes care of issues like early detection of eye diseases, refractive errors associated with aging, focusing problem, eye teaming problem or any alignment problems.
- It also helps your doctor to make any changes to your prescription if you acquire any disease after surgery.
If you have chosen Lasik treatment then you must have decided to live with a better vision without the help of glasses. An annual check up can assure that you enjoy the benefits of the surgery over a long period of time despite of growing age. Besides an eye check up, you should also be careful about your eye care means you should protect your eyes from harmful UV rays by using sunglasses, avoid any eye injury after surgery, using your eye drops to take care of any drying or allergy of eyes. With these little precautions, you can easily live with a 20/20 vision for a long time.