Excimer laser myopia correction is based on the principle of continuous excimer laser pattern on the cornea, which is designed to effectively and precisely control the cutting of the cornea, changing the curvature of the cornea to achieve rapid vision improvement. The correction time is very short, so it is basically an “immediate” correction of myopia. It is this aspect that makes some hospitals blow the excimer laser up, and even a lot of unrealistic propaganda. In reality, however, laser myopia correction has many limitations and is not “perfect” and needs to be viewed objectively. Today, we will discuss some common misconceptions about laser myopia correction. Misconception 1: Anyone with myopia can have laser surgery. There are certain indications for laser myopia correction surgery. The first is that myopia correction surgery requires a certain age, usually 18 years of age or older, and this age, myopia is stable, before you can consider surgery. 18 years of age or younger, if only simple myopia, is not acceptable excimer laser surgery, because their myopia is not yet stable, after the surgery, the vision may be okay at the time, later may appear myopia The rebound. Of course, for some special cases, such as high farsightedness, or those who are so different in both eyes that they cannot wear glasses, they can choose surgery before the age of 18, but this must be done only after a thorough evaluation by a professional doctor. There is no principle limit on the upper age limit for surgery, but 45 years of age or older can affect the results due to problems such as presbyopia, or cataracts. In addition, there are 10-20% of myopic eyes between the ages of 18 and 45 that are not suitable for surgery because the eye conditions do not match. Misconception 2: Excimer laser correction surgery for myopia can completely treat myopia and can prevent the treatment of other eye diseases caused by myopia. In fact, this view is wrong. Myopia is generally caused by the elongation of the eye axis, and laser surgery for myopia is performed by cutting the cornea to correct the refractive power for the purpose of vision correction, so, to be precise, this surgery only “corrects” myopia, not “treats” myopia. After surgery, the structure of the eye remains unchanged. People with high myopia often have a somewhat abnormal fundus and are more likely than normal to have serious complications such as retinal detachment. Laser surgery to correct myopia does not improve the fundus of the eye and cannot be used to treat other eye conditions. The eye must be free of other eye diseases, and a thorough examination is required before surgery. Of course, laser myopia correction surgery does not aggravate the fundus. Laser surgery neither increases nor decreases the incidence of fundus lesions in people with high myopia. After the excimer laser surgery for myopia, the vision is normal, but it does not mean that myopia is completely cured, because the pathological changes of the original myopia will not be changed, the hereditary to the next generation will still be inherited. Misconception 3: Excimer laser surgery can improve vision to the extreme. People who hold this view often have high expectations of the surgery. In fact, laser surgery can only bring the recipient’s vision close to the corrected visual acuity with optical glasses, but generally not beyond that. Because the surgery itself is equivalent to making a pair of glasses out of the cornea, the vision that can be achieved after surgery is also essentially equivalent to the corrected vision of the glasses before surgery. Of course, this does not mean that it is equivalent to the vision of the glasses you are wearing, because some people have glasses that are not very accurate. Therefore, a comprehensive dilated eye exam is needed before surgery to determine the true myopia and to predict the corrected vision after surgery. Misconception 4: Laser myopia surgery is done as often as you like. At present, some hospitals claim in their advertisements that “myopia surgery can be done on arrival” in order to attract customers, but in fact, this practice is not correct. Excimer laser surgery for myopia is a complete system project that should be strictly controlled to choose the best treatment results. The excimer laser irradiates the cornea of the eye, photochemically cutting the cornea in small amounts and changing the refractive power of the cornea to treat myopia. The data to determine the surgical procedure and the amount of corneal cut depends on a strict preoperative examination, so a preoperative dilated eye exam and a second day review are necessary. Therefore, patients undergoing excimer laser treatment for myopia need to come to the hospital at least one day in advance for the examination, and should not believe in “instant computerized optometry”. In addition, the fundus should be checked, and if there are any lesions, they are not suitable for surgery. Intraocular pressure should also be measured to rule out glaucoma patients. Before surgery, antibiotic eye drops should be applied to prevent infection and contact lenses should be stopped for a period of time, so it is not possible to do the surgery as soon as you arrive. Misconception 5: The cheaper the price, the better the deal. Price is not the most important indicator of excimer laser surgery. The results of excimer surgery are highly dependent on the equipment (including auxiliary equipment) and the level of the operator, and the equipment and operator determine the price of the surgery, so price should not be the dominant factor in choosing. The price of surgery at Shanghai New Vision Eye Hospital is determined in accordance with the cost of surgery and also takes into account the principle of benefiting the people, so the price is relatively medium and reasonable. I personally feel that surgery should also be pursued for “cost effectiveness”, rather than just pursuing “cost effective” or “high end”. The best surgery is the one that suits your eye condition, and will achieve the “perfect” result. Misconception 6: The satisfaction rate of laser myopia correction is 100%. With the continuous updating and maturation of the excimer laser, coupled with more than a decade of clinical practice in China, the effectiveness of excimer laser treatment for myopia is beyond doubt. According to statistics, the vast majority of patients can remove their glasses, and the overall satisfaction rate is high, but this does not mean that all patients are satisfied with the results of the surgery. In fact, there are many patients who are dissatisfied with the post-operative results because the pre-operative expectations do not match the actual situation, and the surgeon does not communicate with the patient thoroughly. For example, some people are already in their 40s, and after the surgery, their myopia is corrected, but they will be a little uncomfortable to see near, which is actually the performance of presbyopia, a normal human performance. However, if there is no objective understanding before the surgery, it will be mistaken that the doctor did not do a good job. There are also some people, with some mild amblyopia, whose vision cannot be corrected to more than 1.0. The post-operative vision will also be worse. In these cases, both the doctor and the patient should have a correct understanding and good communication before surgery. Therefore, when choosing myopia correction surgery, make sure to do a detailed professional examination, listen more to the professional doctor’s opinion, and do not do the surgery in a hurry. Do not force what the doctor recommends cannot be done, for example, some patients do not have enough corneal thickness and the degree is deep, so do not take the risk in this case. In addition, based on a detailed examination, which allows the surgeon to predict the results of the surgery, special individualized treatment data can be designed for you. In this way, the results of the surgery will be better and the post-operative satisfaction will be higher due to the objective expectations. Laser myopia correction surgery can be essentially “perfect” if a rigorous examination, rigorous selection of the surgical plan, objective communication between the surgeon and the patient, establishment of good surgical expectations, avoidance of some of the misconceptions listed above, and good cooperation between the surgeon and the patient during the surgery. The result is basically “perfect”.