magine how hard it would be for a non-athletic person to write a letter, drive to work or surf the web with poor eyesight. Not being able to do your job, or simple things around the house would definitely be a distraction. Now imagine if you were an athlete who played sports as a career and depended on your eyes, and you had poor eyesight plus needed glasses or contact lenses to see just average. Wouldn’t you want to do whatever you could to help yourself see better? Now, I'm not talking about steroids, I’m talking about something more special: LASIK eye surgery.
LASIK eye surgery is a procedure that uses a laser to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and/or astigmatism. And for athletes who suffer from more serious eye conditions, this might be very beneficial to them while playing sports. Many athletes say it gives them that advantage, or upper-hand, that they’ve always wanted.
The Sports Advantage of LASIK
LASIK surgery came around in 1997 and changed the way people view the world. Since then, more and more athletes have been reaping the benefits of LASIK to help them see better and improve their game without the need of contact lenses or glasses, both of which could potentially harm their eyesight during game-time. Doctors say that LASIK helps the most when the player can't see unless he or she wears contact lenses, and those who do wear contact lenses while playing, report irritation and discomfort. Plus with all the physical activity involved in most sports, there's an even higher risk for injury involving the contact.
Still, there are some sports that don’t have any physical contact at all, such as golf, yet players still want and seek out LASIK. Tiger Woods was a -11 prior to his LASIK eye surgery. “For years I dealt with the hassles and frustrations of glasses and contacts. Then, I made the decision that changed my life.” He goes on to say, “As a professional golfer my eye sight was just too important to risk. Some of my main competitors had LASIK and loved the results.” Tiger, like many other athletes went to the TLC Laser Eye Center saying “They provided me with the information that I needed and wanted to know. TLC answered all of my questions and helped me to be excited, not afraid of LASIK.”
Another prime example is the San Diego Chargers. Many key players on the team were having the surgery done. So the Chargers staff went so far as to appoint their own LASIK eye doctor to tend to all the players who were interested in stepping their game up a notch. Charger players say this has helped their visual acuity and depth perception and that they feel like it’s made a huge difference.
For Chicago Cubs fans, Carlos Zambrano or the Big Z, had recently began what was thought to be a downward spiral in his pitching career. Most fans thought it was due to fatigue, but the Big Z knew it was something else. Then word got out that he was planning on having LASIK surgery performed at the start of spring training. "My eyes have been bothering me for a while," Zambrano said. "I have to take care of that -- I have to see the strike zone good. It's part of my job. I'm not blind. I have good vision. But there's something wrong with my eye that has to be corrected." He also says that glasses and contact lenses aren’t an option because he simply doesn’t like them. But who has to when LASIK is an option? Not Carlos, not Tiger and not the Chargers.
Is LASIK Safe for Athletes?
Research studies conducted by the US Military say that the eye is capable of high degrees of stress following LASIK eye surgery with little to no risk. Anyone who has the procedure done is told not to engage in any kind of physical activity for up to two weeks after the surgery to allow the eyes to heal and to prevent infections. Numerous bacteria are found within the eyelashes and on the skin around the eye, plus sweat from can contain bacteria which could easily wash into the eye. For this same reason bathing and showers must be performed with a large amount of caution so that water or fluids do not enter the eye.
After the two week period, athletes who return to their sport report a large improvement, not only in their vision but in their overall performance. Some say it was the best idea they ever had and recommend it to anyone, not just athletes, but anyone who wants to improve their eyesight, depth perception, peripheral awareness, focus and overall visual skills. If you're interested in LASIK surgery, look through the phone book, search online or talk to your eye doctor. Take the next step and improve your life on and off the field.
