Lasik Surgery is Not Right For Everyone

Lasik is the most popular vision correcting surgery in the world; millions of Americans have had it. In many cases, it worked well, but some people are finding it actually makes their vision worse over time.

David Hydock had Lasik six years ago.

"I was nearsighted and I had been hearing about Lasik and laser surgeries and how you wake up in the morning and you see your alarm clock and its crystal clear," said Hydock.

That's how clear many people's vision was after surgery. David's was too. But some including David over time noticed a major change.

Hydock said, "I definitely had progressively worse and worse and worse vision."

Why would that happen? One possibility was poorly done surgery, but studies showed that the more common Lasik mistake was in doing it on the wrong person.

"Clearly there are people who had Lasik who shouldn't have had Lasik," said Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler.

That's because during Lasik tissue that does not grow back is injured. Certain eyes do well with that change; now we know others do not.

"The cornea can't have weakness,” said Dr. Wachler. “If the cornea is too thin that's also a red flag."

Unfortunately, David was not told about any red flags.

"It's a depressing feeling,” said Hydock. “It's crushing when you realize that your vision is not what it should be."

Luckily for David, Dr. Wachler found out David had keratoconus; a condition where the cornea weakens and bulges; so he saved David’s sight with a breakthrough procedure.

"I went from 20/100 to 20/40," said Hydock. Continue Reading...