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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   2416 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 21, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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As an example - ophthalmologists almost always wear glasses and almost never get laser eye surgery.

I thought that was a myth. This study seems to indicate that they do usually get LASIK when they're a candidate for it.

Oh that's very interesting. I can't argue with the data (well I guess I could use my journal log-in and read the paper but zero chance haha).

I guess I should then clarify that this is based off of anecdote, and association with Ophthalmologists at very high end departments. Perhaps the difference is that some level of conservatism is associated with appointment to high prestige programs and that has an impact on personal healthcare habits that may not be present in the population of eye doctors at large.

Thank you for passing this along.

I am curious though, do you happen to know what the reason is why some of the ophthalmologists you're familiar with choose not to get LASIK? I thought it was a pretty safe procedure if you're a good candidate for it.

I asked one about it once and he gave me this "why the fuck would I laser healthy cornea."

That's perhaps unnecessarily punchy but it is important to keep in mind that the procedure comes with risks, and can succeed in principle but cause dry eye or night vision issues. When compared with nearly riskless management like glasses that may seem like not worth it, especially when you actually are the one who sees people who come in who had it go wrong and therefore said risk is more than hypothetical.

Additionally it's worth noting that the timing for it is important, your eyes change as you age and after a certain point it no longer makes sense. It's possible the issue here is in part medical training - you don't have the time or resources to get it done until after it stops being clearly a good idea.

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