10 activities that can be improved with laser eye surgery
What are the benefits of laser eye surgery?
The main reason that our patients come to us seeking laser eye surgery is because of the inconvenience of glasses and contact lenses in daily life. Whether you’re scrabbling around on your bedside table to find your glasses when you wake up, or you forgot to pack your contact lenses for a weekend away, the hassle that comes with poor vision can be huge. When we see our patients come back to us for aftercare visits, we love to hear about what the most life-changing aspect of their laser treatment has been.
1. Swimming
This is perhaps the most common activity that our patients tell us they are excited to enjoy after laser eye surgery. You can’t wear contact lenses in the water as it puts you at risk for severe eye infections, and swimming with glasses is very impractical too. Some people also have relied on prescription goggles in the past, but imagine being able to jump into the pool and just see with your own eyes?
2. Tennis
How many tennis players have you seen wearing glasses? It’s not a common thing to see as it’s highly impractical. In a game where you’re moving quickly and having balls pelted at you at high speed, glasses aren’t the best idea. Although contact lenses could be a fix for this, some people are contact lens intolerant, including Novak Djokovic himself, who has had to bow out of tennis matches due to poor vision and contact lens issues. Laser eye surgery certainly would resolve this issue!
3. Putting on make-up
The motivations for laser eye surgery which relate to make-up and beauty aren’t talked about as often as some of the others, such as swimming or going on holiday. However, the reality is that a lot of people wear make-up and the task of applying it is made ten times harder when wearing glasses. How are you supposed to apply mascara when wearing glasses, but you need the glasses to be able to see what you’re doing? Contact lenses can also cause severely watery eyes in some people, which would only undo all of the eye make-up you’ve been working on!
4. Running
In a similar vein to tennis, running is another sport which involves getting a bit sweaty and possibly struggling with glasses sliding down your nose. On a treadmill, you might be alright to run without glasses, but if you’re running in the great outdoors, you need to be able to navigate and see any obstacles clearly. We’ve actually treated Olympic and Paralympic athletes who have found laser eye surgery life-changing when it comes to competing!
5. Reading
We read so much on a daily basis, whether that’s your morning newspaper, emails on a computer, or checking the train times on the screen at the station. If you’ve got a prescription and your glasses or contact lenses aren’t quite right, reading can strain your eyes, particularly if you have to squint to focus. Imagine how much easier these tasks become once you have laser eye surgery and can see things in the distance without straining your eyes.
6. Driving
Another huge motivation for people to seek laser eye surgery is to be able to drive free from glasses. We hear from lots of our patients that they were sick of getting into the car and then finding they’d forgotten the glasses which they legally needed to wear in order to drive. When you’re in charge of a vehicle travelling at speed, good vision is absolutely imperative, from being able to read road signage and instructions, to being aware of the actions of other vehicles around you. Thankfully, 99% of our laser eye surgery patients achieve driving standard vision after laser treatment with us!
7. Cooking
Cooking is another daily task which can present many a challenge if you’re attempting it with poor vision. Glasses are often impractical as they steam up when you open the oven or lean over a boiling pot. Whether you’re trying to identify the numbers on the side of a measuring jug or you’re checking the texture of your freshly-baked sponge cake, good vision is a definitely necessary for success in the kitchen.
8. Cinema
Are you in that group of scatty people who arrives in social situations, only to realise you’ve forgotten your glasses? Imagine the disappointment of sitting down in the cinema, excited to watch a film, when the horror hits you that your glasses are at home. Depending on the strength of your prescription, this can be particularly disastrous, yet it’s something that our laser eye surgery patients don’t have to worry about. If you’re a cinema goer who relies on glasses, perhaps this is your LASIK motivation.
9. Sunglasses shopping
It might sound trivial to people who have perfect vision and can wear any sunglasses they like, but people who rely heavily on glasses have often been limited by prescription sunnies for years. Imagine walking into a shop and knowing you can pick up any pair of sunglasses you like. Forget the expensive prescription sunglasses and embrace the £2 pair from any high street store!
10. Travelling
We’ve had quite a few patients tell us how excited they are to go travelling after their laser eye surgery. Sometimes it’s just a short holiday and they’re looking forward to having no glasses as one less thing to pack. Sometimes, however, people are using their newfound visual freedom to go travelling around the world for months or years at a time. The worry of losing your glasses in a country thousands of miles from home doesn’t have to be a concern after laser eye surgery!
You can read more about laser eye surgery here, as well as our blog post on understanding the difference between LASIK and LASEK. If you have any questions about laser eye surgery, feel free to give us a call on 0800 093 1110 or send us an email to enquiry@optimax.co.uk. You can also book your free no-obligation consultation online here. We look forward to welcoming you soon!
