Many people believe that laser eye surgery especially LASIK eye surgery is far too expensive for their budget. However, just because new high tech equipment is being used does not necessarily mean that the surgery is out of the reach of most people. It is really a matter of how much you can afford to stop wearing corrective lenses to see the world clearly.

Laser eye surgery is not the same as going out and purchasing a new outfit. The outfit will be out of date before you know it, but your eyesight will last the rest of your life. If you take the average amount of money it costs for laser eye surgery, which is around $1,344 in 2005 and divide it out over the years that you will need your good vision you are not paying hardly anything. Think about it. If you get the surgery when you are 35 and your life expectancy is 85. That is 50 years of good eyesight. Now, divide the $1,344 by fifty years, the amount would only be $26.88. If you had to have your eyes examined and buy eyeglasses or contacts yearly you would have to pay more than that amount yearly. Therefore, if you receive laser eye surgery, in the end, you would be paying less for clearer vision.

If you still believe that this type of surgery is too expensive then take a look at the expenses of the ophthalmologist which include the purchase or lease of the laser, maintenance of the blades, maintenance of the laser equipment, rent on the building where they perform the laser eye surgery, gowns, masks, gloves, surgical solutions, medications, cleaning supplies, advertising costs, insurance, and in some cases when the laser is leased the ophthalmologist has to pay fees to the developer or manufacturer of the laser.

There are some things you can also do to learn exactly what you are paying for and compare prices from one licensed ophthalmologist with others.
Questions you should ask include:
In case of complications, or more surgeries, will I be charged?
What is included with the laser eye surgery?
What is not included?
What are the average costs of medications such as pain medication or anti-inflammatory medications?
Will I still have to wear temporary contact lenses or eye shields and if so, are they included in the fees?
Will follow up visits be included in the fee or are they extra?

Are you tired of wiping off the fog or sweat off your eyeglass lenses? Or the tedious but necessary time spent cleaning your contact lenses? do you suffer from any of these conditions? Myopia, commonly called nearsightedness, or hyperopia, farsightedness, and astigmatism. If so, then yes, there’s a safe laser eye surgery procedure for you.

Today’s medical lasers are more sophisticated and it’s complemented by surgical techniques that are less invasive - there is a safe laser eye surgery procedure for you.

Let’s examine three procedures to help you decide which procedure the safe laser eye surgery for your eyes.

PRK is the acronym for Photo Refractive Keratectomy and was invented, and practiced since the early 80s’. However, it got the FDA nod only in 1995. The entire procedure is performed using an excimer laser, and reshaping takes place by the removal of surface cells on the cornea. Healing time takes longer, a month and gaining improved vision is also gradual. A majority of patients don’t feel much pain during the operation.

LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis and is the most popular of all three laser eye procedure, because the operation is fast and healing takes place in a day or two and improved eyesight is immediate. Approved by FDA in 1998, it’s relatively new, but the medical data on it is promising. Here the surgeon creates a flap under the cornea and then reshapes it by cutting out corneal tissue.

CK stands for Conductive Keratoplasty. The surgeon operates by using a probe that is thinner than a strand of human hair. The probe utilizes radiofrequency (RF) energy and is applied in a circular pattern on the outer cornea to shrink small areas of corneal tissue. The circular shrinkage pattern is creates a constrictive band (like the tightening of a belt), increasing the overall curvature of the cornea. The procedure uses no knives, or laser or other surgical instrument inserted in to the eye. Healing is faster and there are fewer complications. FDA approved the procedure in 2002 and it is temporary pending more medical data on the procedure. However, available information shows that there is no regression for the patients and the operation only takes 15 minutes to do. By any standard, this is also a safe laser eye surgery procedure you can consider.

So there you have it, a brief comparison of surgical techniques. It’s up to you to decide which of these is the safe laser eye surgery procedure is for you. In the end, the skills and the experience of your eye surgeon accounts for a large part of the success of the surgical technique.