REFRACTIVE SURGERY AND SPORTS

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Share on facebookShare on emailShare on twitterShare on favoritesMore SAthletes, like other top performers – pilots and first responders, for example – often turn to LASIK for peak vision. Athletes rely on vision correction that, unlike eyeglasses or contact lenses, is always in place, and that stands up to extreme conditions. Being an athlete means working in challenging environments - in dirt, sand, wind and rain, going quickly from sunlight to artificial light, and dealing with physical conditions, such as extreme exertion and collisions, that make eyeglasses and contacts hard to use.

Source: Adapted from ARSC - American Refractive Surgeons Council. Nov 7, 2012
Recent advances in technology have made LASIK an even more attractive option for athletes. But for an athlete considering LASIK, there’s a lot to think about, including which kind of LASIK is best for each particular sport.

Dr. Derek N. Cunningham, O.D., the director of research and optometry at Dell Laser Consultants in Austin, TX, explored these questions in an extensive article that was published recently in The Review of Optometry. Dr. Cunningham summarized his article on the Dell Laser Vision blog. 

According to Dr. Cunningham, there are many reasons why athletes like laser vision correction:

• Better vision after LASIK surgery helps reaction time and depth perception
• LASIK allows you to see contrast better under different kinds of light than glasses or contacts 
• LASIK stands up to extreme environments. Sweat, helmets and other gear can make it impossible to wear glasses. And contact lenses aren’t completely reliable in extreme conditions.

LASIK is the most popular laser vision correction procedure available today because it is a safe and effective option, delivering excellent vision with a fast recovery time in a two-step process. This includes creating a flap in the cornea – today most surgeons use an advanced, very precise laser instrument called a “femtosecond laser” - to reveal the inner cornea where the vision correction is performed. Once the flap is replaced, the procedure is over and typically, patients experience an immediate improvement in their vision quality. That improvement increases during the healing process. Other approaches are available that don’t involve a flap – instead, the surgeon uses a laser to reshape the outer surface of the cornea. This is known as “surface ablation” or Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK). This offers excellent results as well, and the surface of the cornea is initially stronger because there is no flap, but there is a longer recovery period. Which technique is better? It depends on the patient. 

In making the choice, athletes and their LASIK surgeons need to think carefully about several issues:

• Does it matter to you to see contrast well? It does to many athletes, who have to sight small objects (like balls) against changing backgrounds (like the sky or the grandstand). Clinical studies show femtosecond-laser flaps allow better contrast detection. 

• How much time can you take to recover? If you have a long off-season, surface ablation can be a good option. But recovery is much faster a flap is made with the femtosecond laser and that can be a better option for athletes who need to be back in action quickly. 
• What’s the risk of eye injury in your sport, and what kind of injury are we talking about? After 15 years and 16 million procedures, we know LASIK is an extremely safe and stable vision correction option for many types of sports – including contact sports such as football and boxing. But when there is a high probability of getting jabbed in the eye with a finger – such as in basketball, wrestling, and mixed martial arts – surface ablation may be the better option. 
• Are you ready to play your position and be part of the treatment team after surgery? Most patients experience some side effects after laser vision correction – in particular, dry eye. For athletes as for all patients, it usually resolves a few weeks. But it can be more bothersome for athletes than for non-athletes. Athletes should understand the treatment regimen – a combination of oral antibiotics, medicated eye drops, artificial tears, Omega-3 fatty acid supplements and nutritional support, both before and after surgery – and the importance of sticking to it.
• What do you expect from laser vision correction? Knowing what the surgery will do for you, and what it won’t do, will help you have a good experience. Talk to your surgeon, make sure he or she understands your needs as an athlete, and make sure you understand how your vision will change, and how that might affect your performance. Involve your coaches and trainers, so that you have as much information as possible about your specific needs. 

Whatever your sport – at whatever level you play - an in-depth conversation with your surgeon can help you make the right decisions about laser vision correction.