The LASIK success rate – or LASIK outcomes – is well understood with literally thousands of clinical studies looking at visual acuity and patient satisfaction. The latest research reports 99 percent of patients achieve better than 20/40 vision and more than 90 percent achieve 20/20 or better. In addition, LASIK has an unprecedented patient satisfaction rate – the highest of any elective procedure. (Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, Vol. 42, Issue 8, August 2016, Pages 1224-1234).
For those considering a vision correction procedure, understanding the LASIK success rate is an important as part of your research as well as understanding what these rates mean for your own vision goals.
Understanding the LASIK Success Rate
One of the most common questions eye surgeons are asked is: What is the LASIK success rate?
To help answer the question let’s break down the definition of LASIK outcomes. LASIK outcomes are measured by a variety of factors, including visual acuity – the sharpness of your vision – and overall patient satisfaction.
Visual Acuity is the sharpness of your vision. It’s a static measurement usually taken in a doctor’s office while you are sitting still. Most consider 20/20 (the ability to read the eye chart at 20 feet) to be “normal.” However, the measurement of visual acuity – or 20/20 vision – may not completely define quality of vision for everyone. Some people further define quality of vision by degrees of clarity, contrast sensitivity, reaction time and other factors.
Researchers have looked into LASIK patient satisfaction including how happy patients are with their vision to how has it impacted quality of life.
When talking about the LASIK success rate, it’s also important to understand potential risks and complications.
When talking about the LASIK success rate, there is only one measurement that matters: Does it give you what you want? Does it help you achieve your own vision goals? Is your lifestyle or your career enhanced?
The One Measurement that Matters
Studies about patient satisfaction after surgery show that one of the most important factors is whether the surgery meets the patient’s expectations. To figure out your LASIK success rate, ask yourself how do you think LASIK will make your life better?
Reasons for wanting good or even excellent vision are as different as the people who are thinking about LASIK. For anyone with vision problems, there are a million reasons to consider LASIK. The good reasons – the reasons that leads to LASIK satisfaction and LASIK success – are the ones that matter to you, because you want to change the way you see in life.
For you, LASIK success might lead to getting glasses out of the way of your daily life. Or having great vision at the ready 24/7 might be important for you.
People in many other careers turn to LASIK – athletes, pilots, police and military officials, photographers, artists, engineers, and scientists who need the sharpest possible vision to do their work. There are hundreds of thousands of people who can say that their LASIK success rate is their ability to do whatever they want without constantly needing glasses and contacts.
People turn to LASIK not just for work but also for play, and to follow their passions. Your LASIK success might be measured not by your job but by how much you’re enjoying your lifestyle and your life.
What if you don’t pursue an active lifestyle? There’s still plenty that LASIK can do for you. Thanks to LASIK, you can throw away your glasses and show your best face. People also turn to LASIK when they’re on the threshold of major life events – graduating from college, getting married, starting families (ever tried to run after your small kids while keeping your glasses in place?) or setting out on new adventures after they retire. LASIK can liberate you from your glasses or contacts and set you on the path to your next phase of life.
And of course, LASIK success doesn’t have to involve any activity at all. Many people measure LASIK success rates just by the pure pleasure of having the best possible vision, and the freedom to do without contacts – or to never again be forced to grope on the nightstand to find their glasses in the middle of the night.
No matter what you love to do in life, there may well be a LASIK success story waiting for you.
This post originally appeared on Rebuild Your Vision.