If you’ve been thinking about getting LASIK, you should consider having it as soon as possible. Getting a consultation is easy and commitment-free, and chances are you’ll be a great candidate.
Most patients end up qualifying for LASIK, with about 10-15% of patients not making suitable candidates. The sooner you get LASIK surgery, the sooner you’ll be able to enjoy visual freedom.
You can even alleviate your allergy symptoms in the spring if you get LASIK now. It may not make sense how LASIK could help with your allergy symptoms at first, but it could make a difference when you learn the whole story!
Keep reading to find out why LASIK can help you get ahead this allergy season!
Allergic Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis refers to inflammation of the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva is the membrane that lines the inside of your eyelids and the front of your eye.
Allergic conjunctivitis is inflammation triggered by an allergy. Allergies can cause many symptoms, but some allergies are more likely to cause conjunctivitis.
One of the most common allergies with eye symptoms is a tree pollen allergy, which most people suffer from during allergy season.
Allergies occur when your immune system attacks a usually harmless substance. The substance is usually something like pollen.
Your body responds to the harmless substance by producing antibodies. These antibodies are what cause allergic symptoms.
When it comes to allergic conjunctivitis, these symptoms include inflammation, irritation, redness, watering, and even mucus leaking from the eyes. It can be highly uncomfortable, especially if you have an intense reaction to pollen.
But you may find that your pollen allergy is milder than you think. Something that many people wear can make your allergy symptoms worse: your contact lenses.
Contacts and Allergies Don’t Mix
Let’s talk about contact lenses. Most people have to change them out before going to bed.
If you wear them every day, that means putting them in and taking them out at least two times a day. During the spring, pollen is everywhere, especially here in Texas.
Pollen coats everything, from your clothes to your car, house, and even your pets! It’s easy to get it on your fingers without even trying.
Even when you wash your hands (which you should before handling your contact lenses), there’s often still residue on your fingers. So what does this mean?
Every time you touch your eyes, you risk getting pollen in them. You may think your hands are clean because you haven’t gone outside or come into physical contact with pollen, but there’s no way to guarantee this during allergy season.
Outside of changing out your contacts, you may find yourself tempted to rub your eyes when you’re outside because they itch. Rubbing your eyes is always a bad idea, but rubbing them outdoors means you’re increasing your risk of getting pollen in your eyes.
You may even rub the pollen further into your eyes, causing severe irritation. Pollen sticks to contacts better than it can stick to your bare eye, and it can even get trapped underneath the lens.
If you have allergies, wearing contacts can lead to a vicious cycle, making your eyes itch, so you rub them and get more pollen in your eyes, making them itch more. There is one way to get relief, and that’s not to wear contact lenses.
Without contacts, you may find that your eyes don’t get as itchy during allergy season. But anyone who regularly wears contacts doesn’t want to just wear glasses all through spring. That’s where LASIK comes in.
LASIK Means Allergy Relief
LASIK surgery is the key to stopping the endless cycle of touching your eyes during allergy season without resorting to glasses. You’ll be ready for allergy season if you get LASIK now because recovery is fast.
Most people only experience discomfort for a day or two. If you can sit at home for a day or two and relax, you have time to recover from LASIK.
Once you get LASIK, you only have to take precautions to protect your eyes for a month at the most. That means if you get LASIK surgery at the end of winter, you’ll be fully prepared for what may be your first spring without contending with horrible allergies.
More Reasons to Get LASIK Now
You can benefit from getting LASIK now, even outside of being ready for allergy season. Why? Because as long as you’re over 21 and have a stable prescription, it’s never too soon to get LASIK surgery.
LASIK is permanent, meaning the sooner you get it, the more years you’ll have to enjoy clearer, crisper, and sharper vision. The majority of patients achieve 20/20 vision or better.
There’s a reason why LASIK has a 96% patient satisfaction rate! The reason is that LASIK works! Why wait any longer to finally achieve the vision of your dreams?
Contact lenses can make eye allergy symptoms so much worse, but they can be bothersome any time of the year. Even when there’s no pollen in the air, your contact lenses can irritate and dry out your eyes.
Not only that, but they increase your risk of eye infection. LASIK surgery, on the other hand, is very low risk. It has such low risks that you’re more likely to get an infection from your contact lenses than you are from LASIK.
LASIK has the potential to change your life in ways you could have never imagined. If you love the great outdoors but have always avoided them because of your bad allergies, LASIK can help you get your life back.
You can even gain self-confidence. There’s nothing more fulfilling than waking up in the morning knowing that you’re seeing everything the way it should be seen.
Don’t wait any longer. Get the most out of LASIK surgery by having it this year, before allergy season starts. You can get ahead of your allergies and start your new life without contact lenses or glasses right away!
Are you searching for LASIK surgeons near you? Schedule an appointment at South Texas Eye Institute in San Antonio, TX today.
