Lasik eye surgery cost can be a tricky thing to determine when shopping for quality laser eye surgery. The recent collapse of Lasik Vision is a good case in point. Patients were required to pay an up front fee of $1000 and then wait in line for their laser eye surgery.
This sounded like a fantastic deal until the company unexpectedly closed all 28 of their North American offices with no promise of refund to the 2000 clients waiting surgery. Their reason for closure? The price for the surgery was too low in this deteriorating financial situation and they did not have enough funds to pay their employees.
Lasik Eye Surgery Cost – A Price Range
Though the representatives of the company have stated to their already invested patients, that they may reopen the doors and honor these orders or provide refunds, no date or time has been given.
So, what is the average, current cost from a reputable lasik eye surgery clinic? For both eyes, the price is ranging from $2400 to $4000.
Lasik eye surgery, which was approved by the FDA in 1995, is an out patient procedure that is a painless with a quick recovery. It is approximately a 15 minute procedure using a computer guided laser beam that restores the damaged cornea to its proper shape, which results in corrected vision.
Recent stats show that millions have taken advantage of laser eye treatment today saving them individually, an estimated $20, 000 over a life time of purchasing contacts and supplies.
Lasik Eye Surgery Cost in Relation to Risks
There are risks involved with laser surgery however, averaging 1 in 5,000 and has been linked to cases of blindness and permanent eye damage that further reduces vision. In 2008 the American Journal of Ophthalmology released a report indicating that 28% of those who had undergone a laser eye treatment needed a follow-up surgery less than 10 years after the initial treatment. Most of these cases required a simple restoration procedure that created no complications. Lasik eye surgery cost is also a factor.
Lasik Eye Surgery Cost and Wavefront Lasik
Within the last 10 years, a higher end option has been added to the lasik treatment industry. Known as Wavefront Lasik. This procedure uses an extra mapping system that will detect the finer irregularities known as high order aberrations in the cornea that are not picked up by the standard laser treatment.
Lasik eye surgery cost is one thing – the benefits to choosing Wavefront Lasik are possibly a decreased risk of night glare difficulty, that is a frequent symptom of the standard laser treatment.
The added cost of using the Wavefront Lasik system is an additional cost added to the standard laser treatment, ranging in price from $350. to $1000.
For over 2 decades eye laser surgery has been a fantastic permanent solution for contact and eye glass wearers around the world. Though there is some risks and one has to consider the lasik eye surgery cost the over all benefits outweigh these potential problems and the inconvenience of compensating for weak vision with contacts or glasses.