With all of the technology involved in eye surgery, it may seem a wonder that ordinary working class people can afford these procedures. However, the fact is that practically every household has the means to pay for eye surgery, such as total vision correction, and the reasons are clear to see.

The fact is that the technology being used in procedures is changing all the time, with lens replacement now a preferred option ahead of simple tissue removal. A little more than 20 years ago PRK, or Photorefractive Keratectomy, first emerged as a recognised procedure. While it is still being used extensively now, LASIK or laser and refractive surgery has since been developed. The actual costs of the older procedures have gradually been reduced as the newer ones arrive.

Demand has also increased in recent years, with a greater amount of disposable income amongst professionals and a better financial position for mature couples or retirees, allowing them to pay for procedures that may have financially once been outside of their reach. The increase in demand has allowed clinics to reduce their prices, though prices can still vary significantly.

However, the most meaningful development has been the introduction of financing, which has lowered the immediate costs of all surgeries to a very affordable monthly rate. Generally, the finance deal will require the payment of a deposit, which represents 25 percent to 40 percent of the total cost. Most clinics will offer an interest rate free term, perhaps for the first 10 to 12 months, after which a competitive rate will apply.

Some finance deals can extend to a period of 48 months, with repayments falling as low as the cost a coffee shop lunch each month. While the result is a total payment of almost 200 per cent of the initial procedure fee, spreading the cost of payment this way has made surgery affordable to even the lower income families.

However, there are definite fees involved that, on the surface at least, can seem to make procedures expensive to most. The important aspect to consider is that a significant amount of factors go into the pricing structure. It is not only the time on the operating table that is being paid for, or even for the advice and expertise of the surgeon carrying out the operation.

It may come as a surprise, but often clinics are required to pay a royalty fee to the manufacturers of laser machines and procedural equipment for each procedure that is carried out. It can represent around 10 percent of the overall cost, depending on the agreement between the clinic and the manufacturers.

Sometimes more than one doctor is consulted over a case. This is especially true when a case is not so straightforward and a second or third opinion is needed. A good example is for medically required procedures like the treatment of glaucoma, or where the benefits of the surgery must be weighed against the likely degree of pain during recovery or even long term effectiveness.

There are two categories of procedures that any clinic will offer. These are medical and cosmetic (elective), and the pricing can differ between them both. This is chiefly because insurance companies do not cover elective procedures, only medical ones. For that reason, initial consultations for medical cases are provided with a fee, which is charged to the insurance provider. Elective procedures, such as refractive procedures, come with free consultation and free post operative checkups.

Unfortunately, every clinic is also a business so, as well as these serious factors, everything from the use of simple surgical implements and the cost of scrubs, to electricity and office paper clips is also taken into account. But this is a small fraction of the overall cost, an acceptable addition to pay when refractive surgery successfully improves the quality of life for a patient.

And that is the overall reason for the investment. While costs can run into the high hundreds of pounds for one eye, the result can be priceless. With lens replacement procedures that can revive aging eyes and even enhance the quality of sight beyond what the patient had ever enjoyed before, the cost is relatively low. That is why leading surgical procedures, such as total vision correction, are available and affordable to almost anyone.