Three percent dissatisfaction and another four percent merely ‘meh’ is pretty high for an elective, perhaps even cosmetic, procedure that operates on something as fragile and irreplaceable as the eye.
I understand the 'cosmetic' argument, and would like to offer my personal experiences as a counter.
I was 20/200 overall vision, and wore glasses since I was 11. At age 27, before going into law enforcement, I underwent the Lasik operation, and it was definitely a life changer.
Living near swamps, in the south, it wasnt uncommon to walk outside from an air conditioned building, and have your glasses instantly fog. My skin gets incredibly oily and the glasses would slide down my face. It was hard to find frames that didn't leave huge uncovered and distracting gaps in my peripheral vision from being too small.
In the academy, I saw plenty of guys have to deal with glasses falling off of their faces while doing pushups/working out. They'd have to evaluate "Do I want to see or do I want to not break my glasses" during defensive tactics training.
Post graduation, I can only imagine how negatively glasses would've impacted my job. Water getting on the lenses in the rain, splatter getting on them while tracking people through the woods. Sweat and condensation blocking your vision. This assumes they stay on.
Having to wrestle around with someone to get them into handcuffs is difficult enough, and its incredibly easy to get tunnel vision. Staying aware of your surroundings is important, and there would be a significant amount of due stress if you couldn't see what you were doing because your glasses got knocked into a ditch.
I had to start wearing glass at age 25, and have been wearing them since. I also live in a very damp area (coastal, not swampy), and indeed, if I go out from an air-conditioned building on a hot summer day, my glasses might fog up.
But - frankly, your story is very difficult to relate to, and some of it sounds unreasonable. Oily skin cannot make glasses fall off your nose, unless they don't fit to being with; they're (supposed to be) supported by the structure of your ear and nose, not by static friction; you should have changed your frame.
Now, yes, they can fall off if you lean all the way forward; or if you throw your head around during physical activity. Or you don't want them to be at risk when playing soccer or volleyball or what-not. Well, you get prescription goggles for that; They're not that expensive.
I was really depressed and annoyed with having to wear glasses for a couple of months after I started to. Then, gradually, I forgot about them. That is, I didn't forget to wear them, I forgot about the hassle of wearing them. Yes, occasionally I get annoyed by raindrops, or a thumbprint, or having to tighten one of the screws. But it's really not as bad as you describe.
Caveat: My visual acuity without glasses is better than yours.
Improper use of contacts can scratch ones eyes and not everyone can comfortably wear contacts. The risk of LASIK may not appeal to some, but saying "what about glasses or contacts?" is a silly question from the perspective of someone who has had LASIK. It's a personal choice.
Also, some of the negative responses to such a survey can be avoided by proper screening of candidates and not just wanting to take the money of every person who walks in the door. For all we know, the people who responded negatively to that survey were never good candidates for lasik in the first place and are just frustrated they spent the money for little change in their vision.
I wore contacts for several years before my eyes became sensitive to them. I'm unsure if it was the cleansing agents or the contacts themselves. It wasn't dirty contacts, even new contacts would irritate my eyes. I stopped wearing them when I couldn't bear to keep them in for more than 4 hours.
This is only my own experience, but I'm quite certain that contacts are not a solution for everyone.
I had lasik when I was 30 (I think) I've been incredibly pleased with it.
This is an important perspective. If these were the rates for a necessary medical intervention, we would be ecstatic. Because for a necessary medical intervention, the patient's baseline is not good. But wearing glasses is mostly a nuisance, not a health issue.
I've worn glasses since I was seven-years-old. They are a nuisance sometimes. But elective surgery, particularly for my eyes, makes me nervous. I don't want to take even a 1% chance of chronic eye problems to get rid of glasses.
Well, I would say we'd also need a little more information about the 'dissatisfied' responses. It could be that none of them worsened the person's eyesight, they were just dissatisfied with the level of improvement, or that they still needed corrective lenses after the lasik. Or maybe not, but hard to tell simply from those poll questions, many people have unrealistic expectations.
Anecdotally, I know two people who had minor complications (chronic dry eye; sensitivity to light), but enough that they regretted the procedure. I also know more people who are very happy with it. But that's enough to dissuade me.
I'm in the same situation as you. Worn glasses/contact lenses from a young age.
A 1% chance of life-changing complications with something as critical as vision is, honestly, a shockingly high number for something I had assumed was far more safe.
Right now you have chronic eye problems, in the form of a lack of focusing ability. When I underwent LASIK, I knew my eyes weren't perfect before it, and that they wouldn't be perfect afterward, either.
The problem was never the surgery, it was the hype. I've regressed about 1 diopter over 15+ years, but that's better than being at 6 diopters and being almost unable to function without glasses.
In any event, taking away informed choice isn't what I want my taxes to pay the FDA to do.
I wear glasses as well. I've considered laser eye surgery. But I've decided against it, and all it took was learning about some of the bad outcomes. It's just not worth the risk. My eyesight is not that bad and glasses are fine. With my vision, 1 in 10 chance of being unsatisfied is not worth it. Sure, 9 of 10 times I'm happy, but I would far unhappier with a negative outcome for something so unnecessary than I would be happy with a good outcome.
