With hours spent poring over books, websites and essays, life as a student can become increasingly frustrating if you have to wear corrective lenses.
Glasses can be uncomfortable and contact lenses can dry your eyes out, which makes long study sessions and lecture schedules a more arduous undertaking than they should be.
With the cost of laser eye surgery rapidly decreasing, the procedure is beginning to become a viable option for students. Before making a decision regarding whether or not to undergo laser eye surgery, however, it's imperative that you consider all of the potential implications.
The age factor
If you're a student aged between 18 and 25, laser eye surgery may not be as wise an investment as it first appears. Indeed, at this age, your eyesight is still changing. For this reason most clinics will recommend waiting until your eyesight has been stable for at least a year.
The ideal scenario is to only undergo laser eye surgery once in your life. If you're a student, aged 18-25, therefore, it's imperative to discuss your situation with a medical professional before making a final decision regarding whether or not to undertake this elective surgery.
The cost
When it comes to laser eye surgery, cost is often the prohibitive factor for students. Advertisements on the high street may claim that laser eye surgery is a possibility for only a few hundred pounds per eye, but, at these prices, the quality of the service is often either substandard or the price that is advertised is only for very specific prescriptions.
The average cost, charged by a reputable service provider, such as Optimax laser eye surgery, runs into the thousands, but paying this little bit extra for the company's well-reputed service, certainly helps to give you peace of mind.
As it's unlikely that as a student, you'll have several thousand pounds stashed away in savings, you must find a feasible way to pay for such surgery. If your parents cannot afford to loan you the requisite money to pay for laser eye surgery, some clinics do offer discounted rates for students, as well as payment plans, which makes it a possibility.
If you intend to take out a payment plan to cover the cost of your surgery, however, you have to question whether the benefits of the surgery are worth getting yourself into increasing debt over, but that's a decision that only you can make.
Some financially-savvy students are tempted by laser eye surgery abroad, as the costs are significantly lower than in the UK. The risks associated with surgery of any kind abroad, however, are very real and must not be taken lightly.
The importance of timing
If, after considering all of the pros and cons of laser eye surgery, you're still sold on undergoing the procedure, timing is everything.
For students, the summer holidays are the perfect time to undergo laser eye surgery. You have three months to undergo the operation and make a full recovery, thus minimising the impact that any complications may have on your studies. After all, you're paying thousands of pounds each year for an education, so undergoing surgery during term time and missing classes because of follow-up appointments with your surgeon (or because of symptoms such as headaches) is a complication that makes little sense.
