Lasik eye surgery

bojinx

I was hoping to get some feedback about lasik eye surgery.

 

I went to a lasik eye doctor the other day.  The Doctor performed a wonderful eye examination and the results were that it would be possible for me to get lasik on both of my eyes, although my right eye has a lot of astigmatism and may need to come back for a touch up (free of charge). 

The cost would be $1,500 per eye so a total of $3,000 dollars.  I figure that over the long run I would be saving money verses buying glasses and/or contacts.  Mistakingly I went on youtube and typed in lasik ....now I am very nervous about getting it done.

Has anyone ever had lasik eye surgey or know someone who has?  How was the outcome?  Would you recommend getting the surgery?

 

Thanks

 

Unknown

I know a couple people who have and rave about it. They have told me the thing to remember is the cause of your poor eye sight, because some are solved more completely than others with lasik surgery.



I think your best bet is to search the internet for some kind of lasik surgery message boards. If there's a medical procedure there's always a message board or website run by former patients dedicated to informing on the subject.

Pyrite

I had laser corrective surgery a few years back. After 25 years of wearing glasses I most definitely am glad I did it.

A few things to keep in mind...

First, make sure the place and doctor performing the procedure are reputable. Do some research to make sure they have a good standing in your community.

Second, the process itself is really no big deal. Mine took about 2 hours. But only about 10-15 minutes of that was sitting in the chair getting my eyes futzed with. They should give you numbing drops for your eyes. I barely felt anything except a little pressure.

The recovery is pretty simple as well. Your eyes will be very blurry for about 12-24 hours. You'll need to put a combination of 2-3 types of drops in them every few hours for about a week. You will also be light sensitive for a couple of days. There should be no real pain, just a bit of dryness. After a day or two you should notice a real difference in the quality of your vision. You should see just as well as with glasses/contacts.

If you can afford it I recommend the procedure. Just be as sure as possible that the people you're trusting to do this have a good rep and record.

Elapsed

I had it done a year ago. I'm not sure I would go through with it again. It's great not having to deal with glasses or contacts, but the pain for several days after the surgery was excruciating. I mean REALLY bad, some of the worst days of my life.

There are different variations of the surgery, so your results may be different. I'm not sure what I had done exactly, but the doctor said it was the method that removes the least material off of the eye. My Dad had a different variation several years ago and said there was no pain at all after.

The surgey itself a bit scarey too. You go completely blind at one point. Then your vision comes back and everything is blurry and discolored. I was actually extremely happy when the vision came back. I figured even if everything was blurry and discolored, at least I wasn't completely blind. They warn you before it all happens it goes exactly as they describe, but still it is unsetteling.

Czzarre

In the short term (20 years) there does not seem to be any significant downsides of Lasik. However, the question still remains about 50 years down the road. Sure, we may not think about our 70's while we are young, but you still need to ask yourself. Is good vision for 50 years a good tradeoff for worse vision or blindness when your older? Thus far there is little data to support that there is worsening vision, but it remains a question in the medical literature.

Torrential

Elapsed

Your vision does indeed get worse overtime even with the surgey. The dcotor warns you that it won't last forever. You will probably have to wear glasses agian one day or have it done again.

Dekron

Originally posted by bojinx
I went to a lasik eye doctor the other day.  The Doctor performed a wonderful eye examination and the results were that it would be possible for me to get lasik on both of my eyes,

I was all ready to get it, but my examination resulted in me being diagnosed with a very rare eye disease called pellucid marginal degeneration. In short, my corneas are degenerating at a rapid pace and according to the doc, if it continues to degenerate at the same pace I will need corneal transplants in 5 - 10 years. Woohoo!

Anyways, Lasik is nothing to be worried about. However, be sure you are getting real Lasik and not PRK. Also, getting custom Lasik is the best option.

 

Neptus

I had the military do mine.
It was pretty damn smooth, actually to tell you the truth.
I had to put two drops of steroids in my eyes a day because I've worn contacts for long that the contacts wore down the whatever on my eye.
After you first get it done your eyes will play tricks on you and make you believe you're walking to the promise land with 12 virgins with big D cup boobs waving you in like you just ran a 20 mile marathon.
Only to wake up finding out you took too much of vicodin.

TheFranchise

<blockquote><i>Originally posted by Czzarre</i>
<br><b><p>In the short term (20 years) there does not seem to be any significant downsides of Lasik. However, the question still remains about 50 years down the road. Sure, we may not think about our 70's while we are young, but you still need to ask yourself. Is good vision for 50 years a good tradeoff for worse vision or blindness when your older? Thus far there is little data to support that there is worsening vision, but it remains a question in the medical literature.</p>
<p>Torrential</p></b></blockquote>
<br>

On a similar note, if glasses were created today, they'd probably have a hard time passing government approval instead of being grandfathered in like they are. Glasses make your eyes worse over time, too, but people still wear them.