Originally posted by: WebDude
Originally posted by: alent1234<BR>Maybe it was your doctor or your specific condition?
As far as I know my doctor did nothing wrong. Since my lasik troubles developed, I've met many people in the same boat as I'm in, and many of them were patients of the most famous lasik surgeons in the country (yes, even including the one that did Tiger Woods' eyes). Doctors can indeed screw up the operation, but even if they don't, and everything is done correctly, you can still have severe problems. The warning on the FDA website is there for a reason (unfortunately it was not there when I had my surgery). <BR><BR>Now maybe I should have had my tears tested beforehand. I may certainly have had a borderline dry eye condition prior to surgery. But to this day I know of no lasik surgeon who pretests for dry eye. That in my opinion is a very big mistake, and borders on irresponsible negligence on the doctors' part. But lasik doctors are reluctant to do anything which will cast the procedure in a negative light, and testing for dry eye would be indirectly admitting there's a problem there.<BR><BR>Besides the FDA website, my suggestion to anyone considering lasik is to visit
http://www.surgicaleyes.org/. There's a wealth of info there, and many real life stories from people who have been through the procedure and had problems.
I had Lasik more recently (2004) after following the proceedure for years, waiting for it to improve. The success rate is rising over time, as I think any of you will discover if you research the matter, and the lasers being used today are vastly superior to those being used a decade ago.
That being said, having had it done is proving to be a mixed bag. I qualify as a "success" as most lasik patients do, in that my worse than 20/400 vision improved to where I am borderline 20/20 -- no worse than 20/25 -- without glasses. Still, I am picky about my vision, so I usually wear glasses even when they aren't essential in order to get something closer to 20/15 vision. The lasik left about 1 diopter of astygmatism in my right eye -- while much improved over what it was, I can still see the difference with glasses. I am also at an age where I need glasses to read - did before lasik and still do, which is no surprise since lasik is not designed to remedy this issue.
The dry eye issue is real. I ended up using eyedrops for 6 - 8 months after the surgery. While it is much better now, I do think my eyes tire more than they used to. By bedtime I often feel my vision deteriorating. Whether this is the lasik or "old age" (I am 57), I really can't be sure. And, as I said, I really did not ditch glasses at all.
There are advantages, though. It used to be that without glasses I was practically blind. Now, I can see well enough for most things, including driving. Years ago, I lost my glasses 300 miles from home and had I not had a girlfriend with me to drive I'd have been in quite a fix. Swimming used to be very unpleasant for me because I hated being blind in a pool/ocean. But my lasik vision is perfectly adequate for swimming, water parks, etc. That problem has simply disappeared. Also, my old glasses were like coke bottles. My new ones have thin and light lenses. In the past I could not have glasses with large lens areas because they'd have gotten absurdly thick at the edges, but I can consider almost any style of glasses now without that concern.
So while I agree it is not a cure-all, I think some of you are too negative on the topic. Lasik used to be more of a risk -- they HAVE improved the lasers. If you are considering it, be sure to get a first rate surgeon and BE SURE he is one who screens patients before surgury for pupil size, pre-existing dry eye problems, etc. Don't know about the previous poster, but I was screened for dry eye before the proceedure -- not that it entirely avoided the problem, however.