Question:
contact lenses have a much higher complication rate than LASIK
does. I recently put in some soft theatrical contact lenses and I
forgot what a nuicance contact lenses are. Anyone help me?
Answer:
I believe that in previous posts it was clearly presented that the
lifetime complication rate from contacts is actually less than the
current complication rate from refractive surgery. Suggesting that
invasive surgery is safer than removable contact lenses - even with
the potential for complications - would be disingenuous. Additionally,
a relatively small percentage (about 0.5%) of refractive surgery
patients have serious complications that either require extensive
maintenance or invasive intervention. No studies I've seen support the
same seriousness of complications from contact lenses.
Most certainly refractive surgery or contact lenses can be viable
alternatives to glasses, and both have complications, but overall
contacts are going to have a lower probability of serious
complications than surgery.
