20/20 Vision: What Does it Mean?
Will LASIK give me 20/20 vision?
What an appropriate question for the New Year!
At Lasik Vision Centers of Cleveland, we are often asked if LASIK surgery can give someone 20/20 vision. The answer is surprising. It will actually most likely give you vision that is BETTER than 20/20! Sounds great, right? But, the reality is that our patients have no idea what 20/20 vision is! You’ve heard that term thrown around your entire life, but do you really understand what having it means?
The eye chart plays a huge role in determining who has 20/20 vision. The chart measures visual acuity which is the sharpness of your vision. The top number indicates how many feet you are standing away from the chart. The bottom number indicates the number of feet someone with what is considered to be average or normal site would be standing away from the chart to see with the same acuity.
If you are standing 40 ft. away from the eye chart and you are reading letters that someone else would normally be able to spot from 20 feet away, you would have 40/20 vision. It’s not perfect, but it’s not terrible. The good news is that you aren’t alone. According to this study, only about 35% of all US adults have 20/20 vision.
According to that same study, about 75% of all US adults have 20/20 vision thanks to visual aids like glasses and contacts. That sounds impressive, but there is something better out there that can be achieved through LASIK. 20/20 is considered the optimal visual acuity mark, but you can have vision that is even BETTER than 20/20, as we mentioned above. If you have 20/15 vision, for example, that means that you can see what others see from 15 feet away when you are standing 20 feet away!
According to a study by the American Refractive Surgery Council, over 90% of all LASIK patients achieve visual acuity of 20/20 or better! That means that once you are done with your surgery and the follow-up, you will see better than many people who have glasses! Now that would be something to celebrate in 2020!
So, now that you know what 20/20 means, wouldn’t it be great to have 20/20 vision (or better)? If so, that means that it’s time to contact the good people at Lasik Vision Centers of Cleveland to find out! Schedule your free consultation today to get started!
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