Laser eye surgery

Candis C. Griggs <griggsconservation [at] earthlink__net> writes

>I am interested in learning if any fellow conservators have opted
>*not* to have corrective laser eye surgery/LASIK due to the future
>difficulties in close-up vision.  Specifically, I have been told by
>my potential doctor that by correcting near-sightedness now, it is
>extremely likely that I will need reading glasses for close-up work
>in 10-20 years (in my forties and fifties), which I would not
>otherwise, based on my vision now.  ...
>...
>...  Are there any other factors that a conservator should
>consider?

I also considered eye surgery to correct myopia.  The thing that
stopped me is that there is still a small percentage of operations
that are turning bad for some people.  It is a very small percentage
(around 2 percent from what I remember) but the risk is there: those
people are seeing constantly flashes of light.  It will never stop
and they will have to suffer this for the rest of their lives.  The
other thing that stopped me is that if your iris are opening wider
than average, just like mine, your night vision could get worst.  I
hope this helps in taking your decision.

Eloise Paquette
Painting conservation student
Queen's University, Kingston
Canada


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:76
                   Distributed: Friday, May 30, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-16-76-007
                                  ***