Lasik Eye Surgery

[issues]

Anyone hear had the operation? I have horrible vision and my glasses really distract me if I'm not fully concentrating on something. I've been thinking of getting this done for a while now, I have two friends who tell me it's the best money they have ever spent. Then there are the people with some minor bad things to say like loss of low light driving abilities and other night driving problems. Anyone here have any comments about it? From either things you've heard from friends, relatives, and yourself?


Much appreciated!



(I'll probably be heading to sleep soon so I might not reply back until tomorrow.)

[Osceola]

I have terrible vision too, I'd appreciate any further posts in this topic as well, seeing as I've really wanted it for awhile..

[Lame-Name]

Contacts?

[imb39]

I had it done last year. no glasses for a year now and I was hoping to wear sunglasses this summer, though that has been dashed...

There was no pain involved for me and the process was over with fairly quickly. I had no problems after the operation (indeed, I went on holiday a week later and drove to the midlands - not too far, but far enough).

The after care was good too and I had follow up eye checks. I find that my eyes seem to get a little more tireder now, but I suspect that is because I simply notice it now where as in the past I'd simply shrug it off.

I am happy with the results. I can drive with no problems, have/had no pain and never have to worry about minor things like taking my glasses off when it rains, for example.

[Da Skinna]

Just get new eyeballs like in Minority Report.

Hell, if it worked for Tom Cruise, it'll work for you.


But seriously, this is interesting, I see the commercials all the time. My personal thought is that it may work for some better than others, depends on the full eye report or whatever they give, they push the most expensive, available things to the public, it's all sales in the end. If your vision suffers, that's that, they can blame it on several things, just never really a refund...

Of course, I'm a cynical bastard, and when I'm not presuming the best of people, I presume the worst. Enjoy.

[Erik]

My mom's an eye doctor, and she is anti-LASIK.

If the corneal stroma is thick enough, then it shouldn't be a problem.
But if it's on the thin side, then making it even thinner (which is what LASIK does) can make future cataract operations impossible.

Cataract is the leading cause of blindness.
It's age related, but chances are that you'll suffer from it eventually.
And hearing "sorry, we can't cure your cataract and you'll go blind because you had LASIK 40 years ago" is probably the last thing you want to hear by then.

LASIK clinics do check the thickness of the corneal stroma before accepting you as a client.
But they only check if it's thick enough to perform the LASIK procedure, not if it's thick enough to perform LASIK + leave enough for a future cataract operation.

[Da Skinna]

Ah, there's so the reason in why they push it, most people with eye problems have thick whootchamucallits...

Interesting, seriously.

[scottishranger]

I think LASIK is good in general, but it can seriously limit some jobs you can hold(for instance, if you want to get into a military academy, LASIK surgery is a disqualifier)

[Banned]

Moved to the Athenaeum.

[C.M.]

@ Erik

Thanks, i've been considering Lasik as well and after reading your post i've come to the conclusion that i'd rather live with the minor inconviniences of glasses.

[lewis16666]

Yea damn it Erik you've sown the seeds of doubt in my head. But a good informative post lad...

[issues]

Thanks for the replies.

One of the reasons I was considering this was that I cannot get contact lenses in at ALL. I'm not sure why but every time I have tried I just have to give up after a while. I'll definitely have to weigh in the possible future implications but I fear having only glasses might hinder my future career more then I'd like it to be, but being blind doesn't seem like an option I'd pursue either.

Erik, do you know what the percentage of people who go blind is?

[LSJ]

I was thinking about "laser surgery" before.
I cannot use contacts (mental issues with them), and glasses are annoying. I'd love to be able to look down ironsights without glasses.
I'm wary of doing anything to my eyes that could cause problems in the long term, such as difficulties with cataract operations...
It would be nice to see studies on this sort of thing.

[Cataclysm]

Contacts are a *****, but not as *****y as having to cleans those accursed glasses... Im glad they're gone.

[chris_uk_83]

My friend had laser eye surgery a couple of years ago. He spent two days in bed because his eyes hurt, but after that he was fine and could see much better than before. He's never looked back.

On the other hand, a lecturer at my university (an expert on lasers) used to go on about how stupid it was to deliberately shine lasers in your eyes and that he'd never go near it ever. He never actually provided a decent reason though.

I suppose it's up to you.

[Big War Bird]

My brother had the surgery a couple years ago, he seriously bad eye sight too. His vision is great/no complaints.

I have looked into it, they said they could not get my vision to 20/20 though, just good enough to be functional without glasses.

[Mythos]

I had one, but it wasn't LASIK, it was PRK. It hurt like a ***** for a whole weekend, but ultimately it was not totally successfull because I had it at 18 and by 21 my short-sightness had grown back to half what it was before the operation.

[Simetrical]

I had one, but it wasn't LASIK, it was PRK. It hurt like a ***** for a whole weekend, but ultimately it was not totally successfull because I had it at 18 and by 21 my short-sightness had grown back to half what it was before the operation.

My optometrist refuses to consider it until I'm 25. He says eyes are too changeable before then to bother with it, and won't recommend it even then if he feels my eyes are still changing too much.

[MasterAdnin]

Simetrical, my doctor says the same thing. She told me to wait until I am older then if my astigmatism does not heal by that time, she told me to try Lasik. Erik, Lasik is good for astigmatism right?

Salaam bros,
Adnan

[Erich von Manstein]

I had LASIK done last summer when I was 23. Best thing I ever did. I was blind as a bat before (20/400) but now I'm scoring 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other. For several months afterwards night driving was a bit more difficult since every light I encountered had a halo around it (making it difficult to judge the speed and distance of onrushing cars) but I really don't notice them anymore. Surgery was quick and easy - it takes about 5 minutes per eye. Afterwards you will have difficulty seeing for about 48 hours and will be extremely sensitive to light, but those effects will pass with time. The main thing to remember is to not rub your eyes afterwards, as this will wrinkle the protein flaps that were placed over your eyes and you'll have to go back in for more surgery.

Make sure you that you get the actual laser surgery rather than the blade kind (which some doctors still advertise as LASIK). It's non-invasive and results in a foreign protein flap being placed over your eye, whereas the blade results in slits being created in your actual eyeball.