LASIK and Sports: A Winning Combination

Sports can feel like a distant dream if you wear eyeglasses or contacts. For team sports such as football or rugby, the National Eye Institute recommends that you wear eye protection in addition to glasses or contacts, which often feel awkward and cumbersome. Individual sports such as running and golf do not require protective eyewear, but over the distance of a marathon or the time of eighteen holes, your glasses can begin to feel like lead weights or your contacts can start to itch and burn. Want a better alternative? Consider a new team: LASIK and sports.

Focus on what Counts

Glasses or contacts often seem to be only minor irritations, especially if you are just starting out in a sport. As time progresses, however, many athletes start to feel frustration at the need to always carry a pair of protective lenses or to make sure they don’t lose a contact right before a big game. Corrective lenses steal part of your focus; if you lose a contact or break your protective eyewear, you will not be as effective on the field. In effect, you will not be able to reach your full potential, despite your talent. Your glasses or contacts are holding you back.

Not to mention the cost associated with buying new prescription sunglasses and protective eyewear. Basketball, badminton, baseball, kayaking, mountain biking; all those sports could require two or three different pairs of glasses. The costs of requiring corrective lenses for around the house, in the gym, out in the sun and on the water can definitely add up.

Improved Performance

Athletes benefit from 20/20 vision–not to mention 20/15 vision, which some LASIK patients achieve after the procedure. From soccer players to divers, from football receivers to hockey forwards, naturally clear vision helps them score goals, nail triple back flips and catch touchdown passes. But not every naturally gifted athlete also has the benefit of naturally “normal” sight. As a result, LASIK and sports are starting to go hand in hand. Many athletes turn to laser vision correction from experts like LASIK MD to improve their game. NHL all-star forward Tyler Seguin, world-class triathlete Paula Findlay, and Olympic silver medalist Joannie Rochette are just a few of the professional and amateur athletes to have undergone the procedure with great results.

LASIK works by reshaping the outer layer of your eye, helping it focus light directly onto the back of your cornea. This will help bring your vision closer to the ideal of 20/20—in many cases even up to 20/15. Using the newest excimer laser technology available, LASIK MD surgeons are able to improve your vision in less than 10 minutes, and you’ll notice a dramatic difference the very next day. Within only seven days, you are ready to get back on the field, strap on your skates or pound the pavement. But remember, with or without LASIK, you should still wear eye protection with certain contact sports.

Don’t let glasses or contacts hold you back. LASIK and sports are a winning combination that can help you maximize performance.