It online without prescription seems so easy—you’re tired of wearing glasses or contacts; tired of waking up in the morning and not being able to see the alarm clock; tired of having to squint to see street signs or holding the menu at arm’s length just to order a meal. So you drive to the nearest of several Lasik centers near you, lured by the promise of “Personalized Vision Correction,” a “Lifetime Satisfaction Plan,” even “NO MONEY DOWN! No interest til 2010!!” You’re a little bit afraid to “go under the knife,” but you console yourself by imagining what it would be like to wake up and see clearly, painlessly, throughout the day—each day, every day.

It’s a seductive vision (pun intended), but the reality, as revealed at a hearing organized by the Food and Drug Administration this past April, is not just ugly, but literally painful and painfully complicated.

As in, complications from surgery. Horrible complications.

From the New York Times:

Patients harmed by Lasik eye surgery alternated between fury and despair Friday as they told federal health officials of suffering years of eye pain, blurred or double vision—even of people driven to suicide.

From the Washington Post:

“Since Lasik, I am visually handicapped,” patient David Shell told [the] panel … “My eyes never feel comfortable … 10 years have passed and I still suffer from this problem,” Shell said.

From eFlux Media:

“I have no night vision. I can’t drive at night. When I look across my living room, it’s like looking through used wax paper,” said Barbara Berney, who underwent the procedure in 2001 and now is president of the Vision Surgery Rehab Network, which helps patients who have experienced complications. “I deal with people every day who are miserable and depressed after Lasik surgery.”

Turns out that, of the estimated 700,000 Americans who undergo the procedure each year, many more are reporting post-Lasik problems than the industry’s self-proclaimed “95 percent satisfaction rate” would have us believe. Here is a partial list of complications:

* “Starbursts and halos that make it difficult to see” (Post)
* Poor vision even with glasses
* Complete lack of night vision
* Extreme blurriness, haze, glare
* “Dry eye … so severe that people suffer intense pain and need surgery to retain what little moisture their eyes form” (Times)
* Depression and other psychological problems

That a Lasik patient could still have 20/20 vision while experiencing these complications—and thus be claimed as a “success story” by the Lasik industry—is part of what Matt Kotsovolos describes as “a deceptive industry practice.” Kotsovolos underwent a so-called successful Lasik procedure, but testified at the FDA hearings that “For the last two years I have suffered debilitating and unremitting eye pain.” It seems pretty obvious that ongoing serious eye pain would trump any claim to “perfect” vision, but the industry statistics are, well, fuzzy, to say the least. Although the FDA convened the panel precisely to ascertain “the range of effects on patients’ quality of life,” which hitherto had been “a big unknown,” the panel ended up concluding that “Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is safe and well accepted,” according to MedPage Today.

Ah, but like those inadvertently hilarious TV commercials for miracle drugs with a list of that take longer to announce than the benefits of the drugs themselves, the panel recommended these caveats to those seeking Lasik (from MedPage Today):

* The panel suggested labeling changes to more fully state what and how problems can occur, including extreme blurriness, haze, glare, halos, and starbursts. It also suggested that the label take note of possible depression or psychological problems.

* The panel also recommended that the FDA’s LASIK Web site should include photographic illustrations of visual disability, detailed statistics as to risk of side-effects or complications, and an expanded explanation of the benefits of LASIK, i.e., that improving distance vision will mean the need for reading glasses.

Caveat emptor, as they say: Buyer beware. When you consider not only Lasik’s potential horrific but also that you’re paying anywhere from $2,000 to $2,500 an eye for the possibility of ruining your sight, squinting at street signs or holding the menu at arm’s length doesn’t sound so bad. Of course, there’s another option—with NO and for a fraction of the cost—but it requires a little bit more work than just strolling into surgery. It’s called “Eye Exercises for Natural Vision Correction.” And no FDA panel has ever had to be convened for that!

Technorati Tags: Improve Vision, Lasik

photo credit: jorel314

20/20 Vision – What Does It Mean

How To Improve Your Vision Naturally!
Breakthrough Method Helps Thonds To Improve Bad Eyesight Naturally.

Herman Snellen, a Dutch ophthalmologist, designed the first eye chart, which measures visual acuity. Sounds complicated, but it’s not, really. Referred to as the Snellen Chart, it was developed in 1862 and is still used today. One of those things one a day that just didn’t need any changes through the years. He set the baseline of measurement at 20 feet. (The approximate distance at which light rays do not require our eyes to bend the rays to focus them upon the retina.)

Snellen set this standard of 20/20 vision to represent “normal sight,”. Or,it is what a person with normal vision could see at a distance of 20 feet.

This means that a person with 20/40 vision must be 20 feet away to read what he or she should be able to read at 40 feet; a person with 20/85 vision must be 20 feet away to read what he or she should be able to read at 85 feet away, and so on.

There is another chart that measures near vision (nearsighted).

www.your-vision-care.com

There is a chart included in the Rebuild Your Vision Program (I have mine hanging in my den).

Technorati Tags: 20-20 vision, Eye Exercises, eyes, Improve Your Vision, vision

photo credit: jorel314

Good visual habits are your first step towards better eyesight. Dr Bates was one of the first Doctors to promote and devise techniques to improve vision. Other doctors have followed with new techniques, or even modernizing some of the older ones.

Good vision techniques are not new,…they have just been re-invented, and modernized.

“How To Improve Your Vision Naturally With Eye Exercises”

Exercise For Eyes: Learn Easy Eye Exercises That Have
Amazing Success Improving Vision. RebuildYourVision.com

Technorati Tags: Dr Bates, Vision Techniques

photo credit: jbelluch

“I just wanted to let you know that I have been using Rebuild Your Vision for just over a year now and haven’t had to wear glasses at all since the day I started the program. Last year, after I finished my first semester of graduate school, I noticed that my vision was getting progressively worse. All those hours hitting the books and typing papers had taken their toll. A friend had Lasik done and was very happy with the results, but I knew even if I liked the results, my wallet wouldn’t! It was just too expensive.

Plus I had eye surgery as a teenager (for lazy eye) and really wasn’t anxious to be poked and prodded like that again. I thought, ‘There has to be something I can do to help my eyes without paying through the nose with the very real possibility that I might have to wear glasses again later in life anyway.’ The whole thing just seemed counter productive. That’s when I hit the internet and typed in ‘noninvasive eye improvement’ and up came Rebuild

Your Vision. It sounded perfect…in fact almost too good to be true. But, I figured that at $84 if this thing was for real, it was worth a shot, and even if it wasn’t, I could still afford graduate school. (Translation: I didn’t have to turn over nearly $5000 for it.)

The exercises fit in perfectly with my schedule. They were also easily adaptable for me. I simply sat to do all of them, instead of standing for some, and lowered the charts to accommodate. I couldn’t be happier with the results. There was marked improvement within as little as 5 days and continued improvement since then. My eyesight has gone from 20/120 (R) and 20/240 (L) to 20/40 in both eyes and continues to improve daily. I love the fact that after 28 years of wearing glasses, I finally feel like my eyes belong to me, instead of being held hostage behind a pair of lenses. normal Even better, I know they always will. Thanks so much!”

Mary
Full Name & Disclosures for testimonials are on the website

Technorati Tags: better eyesight without glasses, eye excercises, eyesight exercises, improve eyes, improve vision program, improve your eyesight, Natural Vision Correction, the program for better vision, vitamins for eyesight