Laser Eye Surgery. Whos done it?

[Doppel]

I want to do it. I'm just a paranoid fuck! surgery on any other part of my body? no fucking problem hell i want to watch.

my head? fuck no. knock my ass out. I am scared of fucking it up adn being blind

I am scared shitless of eyes, I could never do it. Thankfully my eyes are aging well, but ugh, could never do it!

 

[T2urtle]

I'm scared of this but i'm saving up for it. I'm at $2k now, when i get to $4k-5k i'll start talking to the lasik doctors.

I've only know a handful of people who did this and they all have been great. I've also heard it cost roughly $5-8k.

 

[splat_ed]

Had LASIK done a few years back as well. Took two attempts to get good vision but worth it.

Main thing I remember was a guy doing "ten seconds to laser ignition", "five..." Etc in a deep voice ala Austin Powers

 

[Scarpozzi]

I want my wife to get eye surgery, but we both worry about the risks vs reward.

I want her to be able to see like I do. I'm 33 and wear no contacts/glasses. Neither of my parents worse glasses until they were in their 40s.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Ahhh I see so the glasses are not so much to see as to get rid of starburst. That starburst goes away after a while though right? How would you describe that, is it like when you look at a bright light and you have tears in your eyes?

For me it has never gone away, and 'm 10+ years post surgery so it probably never will. If its dark and there are bright light sources around, I see starbursts without my glasses. It is not as though I am blind, I'm not. It does make my eyes very tired though so it is imperative that I wear my glasses at night while driving. I have heard that the starbursts go away for some people, and the technology is much better now than it was when I had surgery. I've looked into getting a touch up to correct the issue, but most of the docs I talk to say that its not worth the risk of another surgery given that I'm older now (I'm almost 37) and the symptoms are manageable with an AR coating.

I think I'll have to man up and just go for an assessment and see if I'm a good candidate, and go from there. Or is it best to wait till I'm older? ex: do eyes continue to degrade over time, or does this put a stop to it? I don't want to be stuck with glasses again years from now if I do go.

The best time to get laser eye surgery is when you are young. Your eyes continue to degrade as you age, and so it is possible that you will need glasses many years from now regardless of whether you have the surgery or not. If you have the surgery when you are young, you have the best chance of enjoying glasses free sight for as long as possible. People who have lasik later in life often have to pick between correcting nearsightedness or farsightedness, but not both.

Also there are two types that I'm aware of, the blade one (one that makes me cringe the most) and the one where the laser does all the work. Which one is typically better? I heard with the blade one you are at risk of losing that skin if you get into a car accident or anything with sudden impact, as it never heals completely. Is this true?

I had the blade version, because it was the only technology available at the time. It was a strange and a bit frightening experience, I'm not going to lie. But it wasn't awful and my eyes healed very well after it. The biggest advantage to blade free lasik IMO is that it usually doesn't cause the extreme eye dryness that comes with the bladed version. I had to use synthetic tears (bion tears) to moisten my eyes for about 3 months after surgery, otherwise I felt like I had sand in my eyes. After that it was fine.

That said, your doc is the best person to ask re: what the best option is for your eyes.

 

[Kev]

Probably one of the worst decisions I've ever made.

I had custom lasik (they even redid it once) with the intralase thing and since then I have:
double vision
dry eyes
increased light sensitivity (forget about ever driving w/o sunglasses even when cloudy)

I have to wear rigid contacts to reduce the double vision.

The bad dry eyes also caused complications for another surgery... basically I developed a corneal ulcer and now my vision is even worse and can't be fixed.

I was looking into getting it done and horror stories like this are what stopped me. They even said I was a perfect canditate. But not worth the risk IMO.

 

[Chapbass]

Yeah, its one of those things I would love to be done with, but I have pretty extreme dry eye as it is. I used to wear contacts, but I abused them in college and wore them too long, so now my eyes are dry all the time (forget about A/C blowing in my face or ceiling fans for more than 2-3 minutes). Mentioned it to my doctor and he said "Absolutely not" because my eyes would likely not heal like normal.

Shitty.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Also there are two types that I'm aware of, the blade one (one that makes me cringe the most) and the one where the laser does all the work. Which one is typically better? I heard with the blade one you are at risk of losing that skin if you get into a car accident or anything with sudden impact, as it never heals completely. Is this true?

Well, that is not completely accurate.

What matters for dryness is the thickness of the flap made. With "deep cut" bladed lasik you get the flap that never heals, but with thinner Epi-LASIK the flap made is so thin it could actually be thrown away and the tissue would grow back.

With IntraLASIK often a deep cut is made- in the end blades can make the thinnest cut.

The only advantage to IntraLASIK for 80%+ percent of patients is if your surgeon is untalented the laser does all the hard parts so you still get good results. With bladed lasik if a surgeon makes a mistake (I heard about some cutting the flap in half) you have to deal with it.

The best option is to go with the best surgeon you can find and pay for it. Here is a clue- every really good one runs their own ophthalmology practice with their name on it. And they are gonna charge 4K+.

The talentless surgeons hide in the Lasikpluses of the world.

 

[Ogrinz]

Technically speaking PRK is the superior procedure in all ways except recovery time. With that said I personally had lasik done and wish I chose PRK. I was about blind before and am 20/25 in both eyes.

Cost was 5k several years ago, but savings on glasses, contacts and quality of life definitely make up for it.

I will admit I was nervous as hell for the surgery and there is a chance something can go wrong. Just do it and like 99.9% of people have great results.

 

[Red Squirrel]

How old are you? I had mine done at 27. From what I understand there's a few methods but lasik creates the flap. PRK was advised by my doctor cause my cornea is a bit thin. He also mentioned those that do contact sports usually get PRK as it won't create a flap. He's done the eyes of a number of 49ers and he's on their staff so I trusted him when it came to that.

I'm 27 myself. I have a really strong prescription.

The best option is to go with the best surgeon you can find and pay for it. Here is a clue- every really good one runs their own ophthalmology practice with their name on it. And they are gonna charge 4K+.

The talentless surgeons hide in the Lasikpluses of the world.

Yeah this is one of those things where I rather pay more to know I get good quality. Guess it's best to go see a doctor who specializes in this, vs my regular optometrist right?

Definitely would try to go for the blade less version. Can't imagine being stuck with eye drops for months. Though tbh, it's the fact that they slice the eye that bugs me the most. I think after having gone through the proceedure the eye drops would just be something I'd have to get used to and probably would not be that bad after a while.

 

[Imported]

You should definitely go in for the free consultation. You may find out you're not a candidate for LASIK and may have to get PRK instead if you want to correct your vision. I went in expecting to get LASIK but came out deciding to go with PRK due to my corneas.

 

[videogames101]

Does anybody else feel that contacts are pretty much risk free, and essentially not noticeable at all during the day?

 

[Imported]

You get tired of contacts. I did. Everytime I took mine off, my eyes felt instantly lighter. The 5 minutes to pop them on in the morning. The irritations that sometimes happen throughout the day. I had to deal with them leaving deposits if I wore them too long. It all adds up.

I wore them for over 10 years and wish I did PRK sooner. There's just nothing like waking up in the morning and having perfect vision.

 

[Chapbass]

Does anybody else feel that contacts are pretty much risk free, and essentially not noticeable at all during the day?

This. If I could still do contacts without absolutely insane dry eye after 30 minutes, I'd just do that.

 

[sotired]

This. If I could still do contacts without absolutely insane dry eye after 30 minutes, I'd just do that.

Just get CRT lenses. They're basically overnight contact lenses. Your cornea is reshaped overnight and your vision is 20/20 during the day without contacts. It's not for everyone, especially if your cornea is flat.

 

[jaedaliu]

Just get CRT lenses. They're basically overnight contact lenses. Your cornea is reshaped overnight and your vision is 20/20 during the day without contacts. It's not for everyone, especially if your cornea is flat.

Or if your vision is REALLY bad.

 

[nickbits]

I find contacts help with my dry eye problem.. or at least mask it.

In hindsight, I wish I just got contacts instead of LASIK. I didn't think I could wear contacts because of eyelid ptosis but ultimately that hasn't been an issue.

 

[videogames101]

You get tired of contacts. I did. Everytime I took mine off, my eyes felt instantly lighter. The 5 minutes to pop them on in the morning. The irritations that sometimes happen throughout the day. I had to deal with them leaving deposits if I wore them too long. It all adds up.

I wore them for over 10 years and wish I did PRK sooner. There's just nothing like waking up in the morning and having perfect vision.

It takes me about 20 seconds to remove or put them on, irritation happens maybe once in a week, those aren't big deals to me.

However, wearing them too long certainly makes your eyes feel awful. Past about 18 hours and I start noticing dryness/blurriness. If I'm awake longer then that I have glasses I can use.

Overall though, I think I'd rather deal with the minor (minor to me anyways) annoyances of contacts then having a chance of permanently ruining your eyesight.

To each their own :biggrin:

 

[mizzou]

I had LASIK almost 4 years ago, best decision I ever made! Of course, I did it for job purposes

 

[Wingznut]

Yeah, its one of those things I would love to be done with, but I have pretty extreme dry eye as it is. I used to wear contacts, but I abused them in college and wore them too long, so now my eyes are dry all the time (forget about A/C blowing in my face or ceiling fans for more than 2-3 minutes). Mentioned it to my doctor and he said "Absolutely not" because my eyes would likely not heal like normal.

Shitty.

From what I understand... When they cut the flap, they sever three of the four nerves that tell your eyes to produce tears. How those nerves heal back is different for many people. Most people get most of their tear producing back, some don't. It took me about five months to get mine back with the first procedure. I'm still recovering from my second.

So, if you already have extreme issues with dryness, I agree that Lasik is not for you. And for others who think they have minor issues, I'd consider that issue heavily before deciding on Lasik.

Does anybody else feel that contacts are pretty much risk free, and essentially not noticeable at all during the day?

I wore contacts for many years, and they aren't for everybody. For many years, I wore them happily, and without issue. But eventually something changed with me over the years, and they became more often uncomfortable, to the point that I just went back to glasses.

I had LASIK almost 4 years ago, best decision I ever made! Of course, I did it for job purposes

Oh yeah? What do you do for a living?

 

[BurnItDwn]

My father went in for Laser Eye Surgery like 10 years ago or so. He's still got some vision, but, since he's Diabetic and he does not take care of his diabetes as well as he should, his eyes have gotten pretty bad again.

That said, the Laser Surgery made things MUCH better for him and without it, I dunno what they would be like now.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I have an amblyopia and stigmatism so it would be no help to me sadly .

 

[poofyhairguy]

Guess it's best to go see a doctor who specializes in this, vs my regular optometrist right?

Yes. DON'T go to who your optometrist recommends. Often they get kickbacks for referring patients to certain LASIK providers, and often the providers who offer such deals to optometrists have to because their product doesn't stand on its own.

 

[Wingznut]

I have an amblyopia and stigmatism so it would be no help to me sadly .

You might want to talk to a good Lasik doctor, if you are seriously to consider it. It definitely helps astigmatism, as I had a very significant astigmatism.

As for Amblyopia... Check out this article: Clearer vision may be in sight for amblyopic patients

“Actually, one-third of the eyes experienced more than a one-line improvement in post-operative uncorrected vision compared with their pre-operative best spectacle- corrected vision [BSCVA],” Dr. O’Brien said. He also reported that 42.8% of patients experienced more than a line improvement in post-op BSCVA compared with their pre-op BSCVA. “It is at least an interesting observation that indeed it is possible that vision may improve in eyes that were previously thought not to be responsive to any further treatment as an adult,” he said.
The mechanisms of improvement, however, may not relate to any improvement in the brain where the “wiring” didn’t develop as a result of the amblyopia.
“It may simply be the change in the cornea that is induced by the laser vision correction that allows the system to function a little more optimally then the uncorrected cornea,” Dr. O’Brien said. “Just improving the optics of the anterior focusing elements of the eye might lead to this one- or two-line improvement that some of the patients observed.”

Even if the Lasik corrected your astigmatism, and not your Amblyopia, couldn't that still significantly improve your vision? (I haven't the slightest clue... Just asking.)

 

[poofyhairguy]

Does anybody else feel that contacts are pretty much risk free, and essentially not noticeable at all during the day?

No, they are not risk-free. Prolonged use can impact corneal thickness and cause keratoconus:

http://www.healio.com/news/print/oc...ively-impacts-corneal-thickness-and-curvature