Lasik eye surgery and sports

I read an article on the internet the other day stating that LeBron James had Lasik eye surgery from a doctor in Beverly Hills, California and the subtitle read something like, “Imagine what LeBron can do now with improved vision”. It may come as a surprise to some, but in my opinion, this is the worst thing he could have ever done for his sports career. Every day, thousands of unsuspecting people, yours included, look to improve themselves with this dangerous life altering surgery. The marketing for this surgery is extremely appealing, touting 20/20 vision after a simple 15 minute (45 second actual time) procedure. But the one thing the medical/opthamolgy profession don’t say, or better yet, don’t want you to know, is that reading 20/20 off a Snellen Chart is the worst method of determining whether or not you have good vision. Here’s a couple of reasons why: 1) your vision is much more complicated than this. Your vision includes your eyes ability to team with each other as you go from looking at something up close to something far away. There is no guaratee that this smooth effortless transition will be there after surgery. Many times, it takes months afterwards to get this back and it can be very unsettling as you go through this process. 2) In spite of what your medical/eye doctors says, the corneal flap that gets cut, does not heal. I believe there is a gag order on the profession not to admit to this fact, which is a shame. They are convinced that through “suction” the flap is immovable and secure but yet if you should ever need an “enhancement” to correct your vision further, all they do is go back in and simply lift the flap up again. The reason your cornea will never heal is because ther is no blood supply to it. That’s why it’s clear. It is also chemical inert, which means it is unreactive to most substances. The fact that your cornea doesn’t heal, makes it a very dangerous situation for your eye if you ever get your eye poked, just like it happens all the time in sports, especially basketball. The significance of this is that if you get your eye poked just a little, you can permanently destroy your vision. They don’t tell you these things, but they need to start. 3) Most medications have some effect on your vision. For example, antihistamines such as sudafed are known to vasoconstrict your blood vessels in your eyes. However, once you have this surgery, if you take such a product, you can expect your vision to blur. Not very fun. Again, they don’t tell you this. Imagine if you are on high blood pressure medication and diabetic medication, you stand a chance of having difficulty with your vision for the rest of your life. The problem is, this information is not published in their reports and the average consumer thinks it will be a walk in the park.

If you know someone who has had this done, ask them several questions, you will be amazed at how IMPERFECT this surgery is, almost all will tell you there are things now that are different that they don’t like. For example, how do the eyes feel in the morning or late at night. Almost all will tell you they are a little dry and that they just have to put a drop or two of artificial tears in them to make it go away. It may sound small, but if you think you are just going to walk away from this surgery without any consequences, think again. Ask them how thier vision is at dusk and while driving. Almost all will say that things are a little hazy and or just not sharp. Again, perhaps a small thing, but far from perfect. Also, many things you take for granted, such as using hairspray, deodorant, shampoos and colognes/perfumes can irritate Lasik eyes. All have fragrances and preservatives, some of the most irritating substances you can find on your eyes. Even if you don’t have problems with these now, your chances of them are greatly increased after surgery. All this and more can happen even with a “successful” surgery. Just imagine if yours isn’t.

Medical doctors/opthamoligists are motivated just like a lot of people, by money. There is big money in this surgery. Imagine yourself getting paid $3,000.00 for 15 minutes of work and you too can start seeing why they would think this is the best thing someone can do. Totally false. As an athlete and as a regular person, this is the worst thing you can do. The vision you enjoy now with your glasses or contacts will always be far superior than what any surgery can give you. Don’t ever forget that. Lasik surgery cannot make you see better than you are now.

Before I go, here is one last thing the medical profession wants you to believe that isn’t true. They want you to believe that around the age of 40 you will start to need reading glasses. However, for those in their late thirties, after having this surgery, you can immediately expect to have to buy a pair of reading glasses, something you may never have had to do before. Its hard to imagine, but we actually do need our close up vision just as much, if not more as our distance vision, but all this is lost after surgery. Do you know what your doctor will say when you start to blame the surgery, “Well, you are almost 40 so that’s how it goes”. They will never take responsibility for the surgery causing this, but it does 100% of the time. And now, you get to walk around with a pair of reading glasses, and you thought you were free of them.

DON’T DO IT MY FRIEND. You look great in glasses. Treat them as your best friend. Save your money. Don’t let another smooth talking car salesman, I mean, medical doctor, sell you on how great Lasik is. The only thing great about it is that they will make another 3K today. You however, will be scarred for life.