LASIK Vision Correction
 

im considering getting lasik over the summer, and id like to know what the community thinks of it. basically my concern is safety. i have heard there is irreperable damage in 1/10000 cases, and worsening vision in 1/1000 cases. Does anyone know of someone who has had the procedure & it went badly?

Also any recommendations of Doc's in the southeast would be appreciated.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

I had it 6 months ago and I'm happy I did it. I went from 20/70 to 20/20 vision and eventually it will be a lot less hassle than glasses or contacts.

It wasn't completely hassle free: a normal complication is that your eyes dry out and you have to put in eyedrops every 30-60 minutes for a month or two. It took me a little longer to stop taking the drops, about 4 months. Sitting in the chair wigged me out a little, I could smell them burning my cornea away.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

Eye correction post

Above is a link to some different options in the Health & Fitness site earlier this year. I had it done a few years ago and other than dry eyes from time to time, no issues.

I know someone who claims to have poor night vision (stars) as a result of surgery.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

I had it done in June of 2006. I went from 20/200(r) and 20/400(l) to 20/10 total vision.

I love it.

I made a long post about it on OOT. I'll go fishing for it and post it.

Here they are: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...rue#Post6133568

and

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...rue#Post7892105

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

[ QUOTE ]
I had it 6 months ago and I'm happy I did it. I went from 20/70 to 20/20 vision and eventually it will be a lot less hassle than glasses or contacts.

It wasn't completely hassle free: a normal complication is that your eyes dry out and you have to put in eyedrops every 30-60 minutes for a month or two. It took me a little longer to stop taking the drops, about 4 months. Sitting in the chair wigged me out a little, I could smell them burning my cornea away.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had the problem of dry eyes too, but only needed the drops for about a month. I think your eyes start getting used to you putting in the drops and so they don't rewet themselves on their own. To get around that I just stopped using the drops and dealt with my eyes being dry until my eyes started functioning properly again.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

i got PRK about 1.5 years ago, vision is still a wonderful 20/20 (from like 20/300, 20/400). "bad" things happen more often if you go to a place that just wants your money. If you are really worried, spend a bit more and go to a good and reputable place that wont do the surgery if your eyes can't handle it.

i also had eye dryness issues, but its fine now, and well worth it.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

I'm thinking about doing this too, setting up a consultation for next week. My dad had it done and loves it. My vision hasn't changed in the last few years so hopefully I'll be a good candidate.

Mikech got it done and while he told me he would still do it again, he had a few major issues with it he said. Don't remember what exactly. PM him if you are really curious.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

A friend's wife got it done. Her one eye is unrepairable. I guess she has a fish-lens now after they did surgery on it twice.

I am on the fence about getting it. I have concerns about what long-term effects. I also have poor night-vision, so worsening that is another risk I am not willing to take.

If I was to get it, I would wait until I can afford to pay $2,000 per eye. Those $199 jobs scare me.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

Had it done about two years ago. No problems so far.
Don't be cheapass and go for the cheap procedure. It's your livelyhood at stake. I paid 5K for Wavefront LASIK.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

My eyes have been changing recently (good eye getting better, bad eye getting worse). Would this change after surgery, or does this mean I just wouldn't be able to get it done?

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

KingDan,

you will likely be told to let your eyes stabilize before getting the procedure.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

KingDan,

That's the $1MM question. Without much long term research, what does/will happen down the road? It was explained to me that the surgery corrects your vision to near perfect from the way it is that day.

With Lasik the doctor reshapes the tissue underneath the cornea. If you're nearsighted (as I was), my corneal shape (word?) had flattened so they shaved down the sides to more of a peak. That's how I understood the process.

Could my eyes continue to flatten now? I'm guessing. My cornea healed well and has a good thickness to it. So if they told me in 10 years I'd have to get it re-done...I wouldn't be that upset and would've felt for the 15 years it was $$ well spent.

I wore gas permeable hard contacts which were a pain. I had poor vision (don't remember the exact #'s) and dry eyes (winter in the Midwest) with contacts....yuck.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

[ QUOTE ]
Had it done about two years ago. No problems so far.
Don't be cheapass and go for the cheap procedure. It's your livelyhood at stake. I paid 5K for Wavefront LASIK.

[/ QUOTE ]

see avatar for bonus side effects.

LAZEREYES

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

[ QUOTE ]
im considering getting lasik over the summer, and id like to know what the community thinks of it. basically my concern is safety. i have heard there is irreperable damage in 1/10000 cases, and worsening vision in 1/1000 cases. Does anyone know of someone who has had the procedure & it went badly?

Also any recommendations of Doc's in the southeast would be appreciated.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yellow, listen up man. It's the best money you will ever spend. My wife (26 years old) was -425 in one eye and -375 in the other eye and now she sees perfect. The whole process took about 30 seconds. The day I took her there, the doctor did 133 sets of eyes. We paid 4800.00 for it (well I did lol) I'm fortunate to have 20/20. My wife wore glasses and contacts her whole life. She walked out of the office and could read my shirt. You can't drive for like a day and a half afterwards and have to wear these goggles at night so you don't scratch your eyes for like a week. We got ours done at filutoski eye institute who has done over 35,000 of them. They are located in Lake Mary, FL. I encourage you to watch their video on their website filutoskieye.com hope this helps man and seriously, best money you'll ever spend.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

this is encouraging, i def think i will be doing the procedure now. 2 things though.

is there a ranking list for doc's that is regional? i have only found a national ranking

how bad is the dry eyes? i detest putting drops in my eyes, will this wind up being an issue?

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

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is there a ranking list for doc's that is regional? i have only found a national ranking

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Link?

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

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how bad is the dry eyes? i detest putting drops in my eyes, will this wind up being an issue?

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Dry eyes are like waking up in the morning after a hangover. You have trouble opening up your eyes and focusing correctly and it causes you to keep your eyes closed so that your eyes can try to tear up. If you wear contacts now, imagine yourself wearing contacts and never blinking. Or imagine taking your contacts out and forgetting to put them into saline solution. What happens to the contacts? They dry out and shrivel up.

Not using drops WILL be an issue. It's mandatory because the cornea flap is so fragile that you want to keep it moist so that it heals correctly. It's only a month, it's not that bad. As your cornea starts to dry, it begins to shrink and shrivel up. By keeping it moist, you are keeping it from doing that. Not putting in the drops will put strain on the edges where the cornea was cut and it could cause you additional problems.

At least that is my take on it.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

Best way is to talk to people who have them done. This is your best reference. Any office can have nice ads and etc, but personal reference is more reliable.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
is there a ranking list for doc's that is regional? i have only found a national ranking

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Link?

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it was in a magazine

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

Where I live, there are (at least) two major providers, each who basically claim the other is using inferior older technologies and techniques. I have no clue as to which is better, but eventually I will research it since I think I might want this, too.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

if you live in south Florida try Univ.of Miami's Bascom Palmer Eye Institute - one of the best in the country.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

The Mayo Clinic is supposed to be really good.

I think if your doctor does not tell you the following, you should continue on.

Before surgery, your eye doctor takes a detailed medical history and uses specialized equipment to carefully measure your cornea, noting the shape and any irregularities.

If you wear contact lenses, you'll need to switch to glasses full time a few weeks before this exam. Contact lenses can distort the shape of your cornea, which could lead to inaccurate measurements and a poor surgical outcome.

And things that may prevent you from getting approval for this procedure. I know that my left tear duct is damaged, so I think this would be out of the question for me.

* An immune system disease. Diseases that affect your immune system may impair your ability to heal after surgery. The risks of incomplete healing, infection and other complications are increased whether you have an autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, or an immunodeficiency disease, such as HIV. Taking an immunosuppressive drug also disqualifies you from having this surgery.
* Persistent dry eyes. Any condition that causes dry eyes, including the autoimmune disease Sjogren's syndrome, is likely to impair healing.
* Eye characteristics. An extremely uneven corneal surface or an otherwise abnormally shaped cornea may make surgery more difficult to perform.
* The stability of your vision. If the quality of your vision is fluctuating or progressively worsening, you may not be eligible for LASIK eye surgery.
* Other factors. Your eye doctor will take into account additional factors. For example, deep-set eyes may make the surgery more difficult and risky.

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/heal.../lasik-surgery

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

Don't want to side-track the discussion, but is there any method/exercise that people can use to strengthen their eyes and improve their vision?

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

I know that there are ways to sharpen your eyes, but that is if your eyes are slightly bad (20/30). The air-force had these exercises, that are basically focus exercises.

I have heard of people making visual recovery, but that is likely from histarical blindness (sp?). Also people with say 20/30 and 20/40 sometimes fluctuate back to 20/20, etc.

I have seen those ads for "classes" that is supposed to recover bad eye-sight. I am sure they are scams, though.

I have researched this and found that there is a point where there is nothing you can do with your eyes but use corrective procedures.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

i had lasik done in april of '05, and while i don't regret it, i also wouldn't recommend it unequivocally.

on the positives side, my vision went from heavily nearsighted to 20/20. after needing to wear glasses or contacts for most of my life, it was incredibly liberating to wake up in the morning and just open my eyes and be able to SEE.

however, there were negatives as well. as has been mentioned, your eyes become very dry and you'll need drops for a considerable length of time; i had to use them for several months. my eyes also *felt* very different: it just always felt like i had dust or a hair or something in my eyes. i got used to it but it was uncomfortable for a while. furthermore, although my vision is technically 20/20, i'm still left with some glare problems--i.e., when driving at night i see halos around car lights.

all of these things i learned to adjust to, and they don't outweigh the benefit of the pure vision improvement. if i were to score it from 1-100, i'd give the whole thing around an 85. i'm glad i had it done, but i wouldn't call it an unqualified success. obviously YMMV, but that was my experience.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

Had Lasik done 18 months ago and I am in the "best money I ever spent" camp. The best recommendation I can give is that I often forget that I even had it. I had it done on a sunday and was at work on tuesday. I have had zero side effects. I feel that this is because I spent some $ to have the higher end surgery done. I had many questions about the surgery before hand so I went armed to the consultation with questions reguarding night vision, chance of damage etc. The doc answered all my questions. Get the surgery. Research the place you go. Pay for the best.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

I had a different surgery done, PRK, which is pretty much the same as LASIK except for that it doesn't cut a flap into your eye but instead removes the outer layer of your cornea and lets it regrow. The docs recommended it because of how poor my eyesight was, I'm not sure what it was in 20/20 but my contact strength was -6.75 and -6.25, so it was quite a change. It's been a little under 3 months since the surgery and I'm seeing great, haven't used drops since the end of the first month. Highly recommended.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

wow i really think im gonna get this after reading these reviews

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

Hey for you guys that had PRK, how long was it before you were seeing good?

That's what the excellent LASIK place here in town recommended to me...just curious how long before the epithelium heals and you're seeing good again after the procedure? How much discomfort did you have?

Anyone in here had to deal with irregular astigmatism? I apparently have that in my eye that has never been corrected well with glasses.


As far as my friends' experience, everyone I know raves about LASIK. But they have all gone to the cadillac place in town too, so yellowsub - definitely find the best place wherever you are. I know the associated higher price won't be a huge deal for you, so definitely find the place with the best reputation.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

[ QUOTE ]
My eyes have been changing recently (good eye getting better, bad eye getting worse). Would this change after surgery, or does this mean I just wouldn't be able to get it done?

[/ QUOTE ]

The good places will usually want your eyes to have been pretty stable for a year before doing a procedure.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

had it done Feb '04. Went from 20/95 to 20/15 both eyes. If you live in the Northeast, I recommend NOT going through the Lasik Vision Institute. "$199/eye" is meaningless because that's only if your current vision is 20/40 or better. In other words, you wouldn't need the surgery anyway. I paid $1400/eye going through a respected opthamologist North of Boston.

Dry eyes usually only effect you if you had dry eyes to begin with. My brother had dry eyes before surgery and actually doesn't even use any drops now. Biggest thing I've found, make sure to have all your follow-up appts with an opthamologist (including yearly eye exams), not an optometrist.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

Haven't read every response, but I had LASIK done over 1.5 years ago.

I went from being blind without glasses to having 20/20 (still do after 1.5 years). It's a pretty painless procedure, although I was freaking out and sweating like crazy while strangling some stuffed animal they gave me to hold on to. After the surgery you basically go home, wear some ugly goggles, and sleep for a few days. The goggles are annoying since moisture builds up in there, but after a week you are done with them and can see fine.

You take drops for a month. My eyes feel fine and I would do the surgery again in a heartbeat. It's so awesome just being able to see when you're swimming or in the shower. Also, you are allowed to wear sunglasses like normal people!

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

got it done 2 years ago, recommend it unequivocally. Possibly one of my top 10 life decisions.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

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got it done 2 years ago, recommend it unequivocally. Possibly one of my top 10 life decisions.

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I was also 18-19 at the time and they had no problem with me doing it.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

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Hey for you guys that had PRK, how long was it before you were seeing good?

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I had PRK done in Jan-04.

The first day of recovery hurts. It's like having sand in your eyes. Take the pain meds, turn off the lights, and grit your teeth. Second day is better, and it's all down hill from there.

I could drive 3 days later, about 20/40 or so. Took about 2 months for everything to heal completely, and I was 20/15 in both eyes afterwards.

Best money I ever spent.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

I did it in Sweden 5 months ago and went from -4,5 and -5 to 0,9/1.0 I'm very happy I did it. I would guess most serious clinics are good today, what have developed the most is the after treatment which is crucial if you want good results/no complications.

In Sweden we have many methods, the two most common are Lasik and Lasek. I'm busy right now so I have no time to see which one is which but I did the one where they do not cut up a lid with laser. They desribed this method as an "american instant success" type of method (basically you do it go home and feel fine IF everything goes according to plan) while the one method I picked is more a "safe european method". The flipside with this one is that it hurts more (the days after) and takes sometimes up to a year to see perfectly(you will still make it without glasses after a week or so). With this method though the risk of infections and major complications are minimal. I got lucky and had perfect eye vision after 3-4 weeks (I managed after day two) and I had no pain.

As long as the clinic seems serious and you really really stick to the after treatment (I had to put eyedrops every 5 minutes for the first 24h for example) I think you will have good results and obviously then be happy with the results. It is a great feeling afterwards!

/Kex

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

I was 20/20 in one eye and 20/25 within a week after PRK, started out something like 20/1000+, I don't even know the actual numbers but it was bad. I don't think that's typical, the doc was surprised at how fast it healed, but I guess I run good. There was some definite deterioration throughout the day though, I'd wake up seeing clear and as the day went on things would get a little blurrier. That gradually went away though and wasn't noticeable after a few weeks. Again though, I don't think I'm typical.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

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Don't want to side-track the discussion, but is there any method/exercise that people can use to strengthen their eyes and improve their vision?

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no.

and if someone tells you yes, they are a charlatan.

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

I had it done almost 5 yrs ago, I'm 25 now. Just had a physical and found my vision is 20/25 left eye, 20/10 right eye. I'm thinking of cutting the left eye out for being a slacker!

Re: LASIK Vision Correction
 

I went to the most expensive place I could find in Beverly Hills. Total was $4800 with a discount no less since my dad has done business with the doctor.

I was scared out of my mind. It felt like Clockwork Orange. I took twice as much valium as they told me and it did nothing since I was so amped.

Still, I managed to sit still and it went relatively smoothly. There was a slight tear which freaked me out, but it healed quickly.

It is incredible to not get up in the morning and have to search for glasses. Or see while swimming. Or just go buy a pair of sunglasses. Or play golf without them and having to switch back and forth with glasses depending on the sun. I could go on and on.

Best.SURGERY.ever