Lasik - Anyone had it done?

[2600]

So, I'm starting the consultation with a couple places soon and was wondering if anyone else has had the procedure done.

[ChadTower]

Not me, but I have been thinking about it.  I find myself wearing my glasses more and more often the past couple of years.

[2600]

I wear contacts all day.  I hate wearing glasses and only update the prescription every couple years.
Just tired of contacts and with the little guy around, I think it would be a bit easier at night or in the morning.  Especially, if another one was to come along.

[AtomSmasher]

A good friend of mine had it done and something went wrong, so now he still has to where glasses and has some permanent side effects like seeing halo's around lights.

[hypernova]

Get the kind where they grind your eye down, not the kind where they use a laser or knife to cut up your eye.

Unless you never want to ride a rollercoaster again.

Elaborate, please!

only update the prescription every couple years

I haven't updated mine in over ten years.  And I use my wife's prescription.  They give me 20/10 and 20/5 in my eyes.  I'm not sure I could stand to back to 20/20, whatever that feels like.

Without them, anything beyond a foot from my eyes begins to blur.

[ahofle]

I had it done almost 10 years ago and I am still happy with it.  Best $1500 I ever spent.  And these days the procedure is much better and less risky -- places around here pretty much guarantee you will be 20/20 or you pay nothing.

[shmokes]

I read about 20/15-20/10 without glasses.  Lucked out there.  But I know four or five people who've had lasik done.  None of them would hesitate to recommend it.  They always say it was the best money they ever spent.

[Cakemeister]

I had it done back in 1999.

They've got the "wavefront laser" thing where they don't have to cut your cornea. When I had it done they had to use a planer type thing to cut the cornea, peel the cornea back, run the laser, and put the flap back.

The worst part about the procedure was the smell of burning hair.

Afterwards I had to put drops in my eyes every few minutes for about a month.

My vision now is maybe 20/30 or so. Considering I was a -6.50 and -5.75 diopter correction before the surgery, not a bad result.

Consider the cost. If you spend $250-$300 per year on contacts, glasses, solutions, etc., you'll get your money back in just a few years.

Git 'er done! 

[FrizzleFried]

I know 3 or 4 people who had it done and they all recommend it. 

[quarterback]

A good friend of mine had it done and something went wrong, so now he still has to where glasses and has some permanent side effects like seeing halo's around lights.

Ditto.  My friend had it done back in the late 90's (98 maybe) and he was screwed.   And he went to a legit doctor as well, not these strip-mall lasik/botox/change your oil while you wait, places.   It scared me off of ever doing it.   I'd love to wake up and be able to see without my contacts, but the risk isn't worth it to me.

[ahofle]

The worst part about the procedure was the smell of burning hair.

LOL I forgot about that.  Burning eyeball smell.

[squirrellydw]

stay away from lasik plus, my friend works there and told me not to go there

[CCM]

I had lasik about 5 years ago, it was the best money I ever spent!  I still have 20/20 in both eyes.  I got sick of worrying about glasses and dealing with contacts.  It's amazing waking up the day after the procedure and being able to see the clock without fumbling around for glasses.

And I've ridden many roller coasters in the last 5 years too!

[DaOld Man]

I also got lasik surgery in one eye about 5 years ago.
I wore very thick (dr pepper bottle bottom) glasses since 5th grade.
I wore contacts for about 15 years, then I got a cataract on my left eye.
They removed the lens and put in a plastic one with my prescription so I had good vision in one eye.
After that I went ahead and had my right eye corrected with Lasik.
I see great now, my left eye doesnt focus, so my right eye does most of the up close work. That took a while to get used to.
But I wish I had the laser surgery done years ago.
You will love it.
It feels great to wake up in the middle of the night and be able to see the digital clock.
Also, I too have ridden several roller coasters since the surgery. (Ive never heard about a danger of doing that.)

[jfunk]

I can't recommend lasik enough.  I think PBJ is wrong about the flap thing, though.  The flaps heal VERY quickly.  You can rub your eyes and everything.  If I can rub my eyes as much as I want without worrying about dislodging a flap, I'm not much worried about a rollercoaster 

My main advice is SHOP AROUND.  And I'm not talking about price.  I went to one of those 'discount places' first when looking.  Offered me a pretty good price.  But the SAME person looked at my eyes, talked about the procedure AND talked about pricing.  At the end, they talked about their warranty.  You paid on how long you wanted your warranty to last?!?!?  And then they kept pressuring for a deposit and to 'commit'..  I was REALLY uncomfortable with the whole setup and felt like I was in a used car lot.

The place I eventually chose was the exact opposite.  PRICIER, but felt like it was a medical procedure.  Set prices, full 100% warranty (if my vision changes, they redo it for free..).  First I saw their lab tech who did the eye readings.  Then I talked to the optometrist and surgeon about the procedure, and finally talked to a financial person about payment plans and such.  No pressure, all very professional.

And totally worth every penny.  It's nice to be able to read the alarm clock in the morning and see while I'm swimming.

[Paladin]

It's been about a year since I've had it done.  I work for a health care company - and they don't cover any of the cost.  I went to a local place that has one of the best doctors in the country, and paid $3700.  I figured that if I was going to get it done I'd damn well go to the highest quality place I could.  I have a friend who doesn't own a car, so we set all of our pre/surgery/post op days the same so we could carpool and have my wife drive us on our surgery day.

He ended up with great results, and is very happy.  I'm pretty much on the fence.  I love not having to wear glasses, but ended up with some night time halo/blur that pretty much can't be corrected even though I got the usual free lifetime correction deal.  It's got to do with the shape of the eye and when my pupils open up as it gets dark.  I can still drive at night, but see blurs around car head/tail lights, stoplights, streetlights, etc..  I just got a prescription for some drops that might help by shrinking my pupils, but I haven't tried them yet.  I can get glasses for driving at night, but the prescription I was shown didn't make much difference with the blur.

You have to remember that the "official" line is that the goal of Lasik is to reduce a persons dependence on glasses, not completely eliminate the need.  As far as the surgury goes, I'm still considered a "success".  I seem to be bouncing between 20/20 and 20/30 without glasses, and can function fine.  Whenever I start to feel unhappy that my vision isn't as sharp as it was with glasses I just remind myself of how great it is not having to put those damn things on every day, keep them clean, etc...

One other thing to remember is that your getting your prescription burned onto your eyes, so if your eyes change from year to year it may not be the best thing for you.  I waited until now because of that, for the past 3 years or so my prescription finally settled down.

Am I glad I did it - yes.  Do I wish I had better results - yes.  Would I do it again - yes.

[Grasshopper]

I had Photo Refractive Keratectomy done on both eyes a few years ago before Lasik was widely available. I've been extremely happy with the end result. I went from being very shortsighted (-10 diopters) to having almost perfect vision.

Lasik is a more recent development and from what I've heard it produces more reliable results than PRK (although it actually sounds more dangerous to me).

[FrizzleFried]

PBJ sure seems to know his stuff considering he never has needed glasses nor has he had or needed any type of sight correction surgery.   I sure wish I "knew it all" as well.

PBJ,  you should start a course "Know it all 101".  I'd sign up right away!

[Ed_McCarron]

I had thought about having it done about 10 years ago.

Give or take 8 years ago I blew out one of my retinas with a blood clot - basically wiping out the sight in that eye.

When I went back later to have the other eye lasik-ed, they refused, telling me that "well, if something goes wrong, you won't have another eye to fall back on."

That kind of turned me off on the whole thing.  I realize any surgery has chances of failure, but when you seem to expect it to fail...

YMMV.

[TOK]

PBJ,  you should start a course "Know it all 101".  I'd sign up right away!

I read... constantly.  And I forget nothing.

My knowledge of lasik comes from reading articles talking about how servicemen that were given the laser/knife treatment weren't allowed to fly fighter planes.

I thought that was pretty weird, so I looked into it.  Turns out the Navy covers the treatment where your eyes are basically ground down into another shape, and that thousands of people were getting that versus the other methods so they'd be eligible to fly jets.  This was a national news article ~6-8 months ago.

Then it turns out that the belief is that those flaps never properly heal and there's plenty of people that have had them pop open when subjected to various stresses.

People are free to crap the thread with half-baked ideas, though (as always)

I don't know much about Lasik, but where did you make the leap from flying fighter planes to riding roller coasters?
I think the wildest coasters give you 3G for a a couple seconds. A little over 4G is typical grayout range and 4.8G is where vision goes black. At about 5.4G, the average person goes unconscious.

A potential F-16 pilot has to be able to withstand 9G in a centrifuge (without a G suit) to qualify for training, I'd imagine the Navy F/A 18 requirement is similar.

There is absolutely no comparison between the requirements of a fighter pilot and riding a roller coaster. If you're riding coasters less than a month after your surgery, you're probably going to get what you have coming, after that I don't think anyones eyes are popping out.

EDIT: I just confirmed this here...

Long link shortened to lasikmd.com

Activities after 1 month
   

Activities that can begin at 1 month WITH eye protection.

    * Water skiing, wind surfing, kayaking, surfing.
    *
      Sun-tanning and salon tanning with eye protection for PRK patients.
    *
      Dirt biking, mountain biking.
    *
      Parachuting.

Activities that can begin at 1 month without eye protection. Proceed with caution:

    *
      Riding a roller coasters.
    *
      Dying your hair and eyebrows
    * Swimming, waterslides, scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing.
    * Basketball, football (with helmet), soccer, baseball.

[boykster]

I've considered it, and have several friends / colleagues who have had it done.  The majority of them are happy, and at worst have minor side effects; some haloing at night, not "perfect" vision and still needing glasses at times, etc, but for the most part they are happy.  My opthamologist in fact had it done about 10 years ago to correct nearsightedness, and now he's suffering from premature far-sightedness.  He's convinced it's from the Lasik, but that's anecdotal.

I have one co-worker now who had it a few years ago and went to a Lasik-R-us kind of shop and has had nothing but trouble with one of his eyes.  He's had blurriness, fogged vision, pain, redness, etc off and on since he had it done.  He still needs glasses for certain types of activities.

I'd LOVE to have it done; I've worn corrective lenses or some sort since I was 8, contacts since I was 15, and the idea of waking up in the middle of the night and not needing to reach for my glasses would be ---smurfing--- cool....but I'm not sure I'm willing to risk my eyesight for the convenience.......

[boykster]

If I ever needed sissy goggles

Bad taste, bad joke, and for someone who claims to be such an intellectual giant (reads a lot and doesn't forget) I'd expect more out of you.  When you're ready to sit at the 'big person's table' let us know and we'll include you in the adult conversations....

[quarterback]

stay away from lasik plus, my friend works there and told me not to go there

That's frightening.

[2600]

Well I've got an appt. with 2  of the well known places around here.  One this week and one at the end of Feb.  What I expect to get out of the first visit is just more information about the places and to check them out myself.  One of the places is nation wide and my parents actually had theirs done there.  Unfortunately, I called the 800 number to schedule an appt and basically talked to a used car salesman.  Strike 1 for them.

I have more research to do, but I'm definitely going for the all laser Lasik's and both places offer the "Custom" Lasik.

[SirPeale]

If I ever needed sissy goggles

Bad taste, bad joke, and for someone who claims to be such an intellectual giant (reads a lot and doesn't forget) I'd expect more out of you.  When you're ready to sit at the 'big person's table' let us know and we'll include you in the adult conversations....

Agreed.  I mean it's not my fault my eyes are malformed. 

If I had a choice in the matter I'd never wear glasses again.  I can't wear contacts because my eyes are too dry.  For the same reason I can't have the surgery because a lot of people experience dry eyes afterwards.  Making my dry eye problem worse doesn't seem like a good idea.

[CheffoJeffo]

I dunno, I have a tough time imagining that a pinball geek who brags about reading a lot (without forgetting!) and spends his time getting banned from online forums is anything BUT a sissy.

 

Signed,

CheffoJeffo and his SissyGoggles(tm)

[DrewKaree]

I know four people who've had it done.  I was looking into it myself.  I have to wear "sissy goggles" due to the shape of my eye and the circumstances surrounding my vision problems.  I was jumped by a dog when I was younger (not a pit bull, for Tommy's peace of mind when he surreptitiously reads this).  I got one eye tore up fairly badly, and have had to wear glasses ever since then.  The other eye is almost perfect, and has only recently started to need an actual prescription due to having to work harder, the doc says.  Scar tissue in the area along with my eye shape make it impossible to easily insert and wear contacts, so I've been stuck with "sissy goggles".  Lasik will help somewhat with my issues to where I might be able to have a lesser prescription, but I was flat-out told there was a high probability that I'd STILL need "sissy goggles".  Having the surgery, in spite of PBJ's opinion of what optical devices are "manly", would be a waste of time and money in my case.  Hopefully, you'll be talking extensively to people who don't remind you of the used-car salesmen or online pinball geeks who posit an "expert-like" opinion because of what they've read in an article or twelve.  Perhaps your situation isn't the same as mine, but I'd like to reassure you that there are millions of "sissy goggle" wearers in the world who won't think you're less "manly" for deciding to stick with "sissy goggles" if you aren't comfortable at the end of your decision making process to go ahead with the surgery.

Of the people I know who've had it done, 1 lost sight in 1 eye for about 3 months due to issues with the equipment during the surgery.  She had to wear a patch, and still requires glasses/contacts in that one eye.  Her eyesight came back in that eye, but there was a possibility that she might have lost the use of that eye. 

The other people have had no problems save one.  The person I know who got it done first had to go back for a fix, which it didn't.  He's got the halo thing.  It doesn't bug him (he says), but I've got the same issue with "sissy goggles", and I always get a special coating on the lenses of them to help with it, but it doesn't EVER completely eliminate them, and it drives me nuts while driving at night. 

Good luck with your decision.  It sounds as if it isn't something you're taking lightly, in spite of comments from the peanut gallery that you're a "sissy" if you happen to stick with wearing glasses.

[FrizzleFried]

Peanut gallery or penis gallery?   

Shoot...sorry...slipped out.   To be fair,  I'm a ---tallywhacker--- myself.

[boykster]

That's a good, albeit slanted, summary of post LASIK complications.  I say slanted because its obviously geared towards increased regulation or outlaw of LASIK, and that's fine.  It does provide a very nice, evidenced account of the major complications.   I think it's quite alarming that in one study they found nearly 50% of patients with symptoms of dryness....

The co-worker I have who has all the complications suffers from the dry-eye problem and it REALLY bothers him a lot.  He's constantly using drops, messing with one of his eyes, etc.  He's told us that'd he rather go back to messing with contacts that have to deal with this constant pain and irritation.

I'm just not willing to mess up my eyes....

[zaphod]

Has Lasiks six years ago and best money I ever spent.  Went from 20/800 to 20/30 in ten minutes.  Had contacts most of my life and eyes were getting progressively drier as I aged, so had to wear glasses more and more.  For me, it went perfectly.

[jfunk]

Just make sure you're comfortable with the place and understand all of the risks.  There definitely ARE risks.

I'll just add these last statements.  I woke up the morning following surgery and was able to read my alarm clock without squinting, getting up, putting on my glasses, etc.  That may not sound like much, but it was definitely a great moment in my life 

And then, several weeks later, I went to Jamaica with my wife and was able to see her while swimming in the ocean WITHOUT glasses.

And don't forget being able to buy non-prescription sunglasses!!!  Any style you want!

[Jdurg]

I'm a Type I Diabetic and have my eyes checked every year.  Thankfully, there are ZERO diabetic related vision problems.  I have, however, developed a form of nearsightedness most likely related to the fact that I work in front of a computer screen for 10+ hours a day.  My ophthamologist said that I was pretty well near sighted, but correction wasn't needed.  I could get Lasik if my insurance would pay for it, but if not, I didn't really need it.

I haven't gone with the Lasik yet since i have no real "need" to, but the only advice I would give is that if you can live just fine without it, why take the risk?

[zaphod]

I haven't gone with the Lasik yet since i have no real "need" to, but the only advice I would give is that if you can live just fine without it, why take the risk?

I did it because I was having to wear glasses more and more (read: five days a week), and I felt the risk was worth it.  I could only read my clock by the bed if I was within 12-18" of it, and squinted.  If I were in public and somehow lost/broke my glasses (however unrealistic that is), I literally would have been helpless. It improved the quality of my life immensely.  I agree with jfunk- it was so nice to be able to wear sunglasses anytime I wanted.

The rule of thumb I suggest to people that if they can see a person just fine at five feet with no correction, eye surgery might not be for them. 

[ChadTower]

The rule of thumb I suggest to people that if they can see a person just fine at five feet with no correction, eye surgery might not be for them. 

A friend of mine got Lasik because he was just a little bit worse than this, but hadn't been wearing glasses at all, for years.  One of the first things he said the next day to his wife was "damn, when did you get so old?"   

He spent the rest of his recovery time sleeping on the basement couch.   

[AtomSmasher]

The rule of thumb I suggest to people that if they can see a person just fine at five feet with no correction, eye surgery might not be for them. 

Heh, someone 5 feet away from me with no correction just looks like a multicolored blob.  I've worn glasses since I was 7 or 8 and contacts since I was 14, and while I would like to get the surgery to correct my vision, I just don't feel its worth the risk.  My friend that I mentioned before and had bad results from lasik wasn't able to drive a car for a couple months after he got the surgery because it screwed up his vision so bad that not even glasses would work, and if that happened to me I would be out of work during those months.  Even if it's a small risk of that happening, it's too much of a risk for me to do it.  They did do lasik on my friend a couple more times and was able to get his vision pretty much back to where it was before the surgery, except he now has the night vision side effects.

For me, contacts are fine for now.  I'll reconsider eye surgery if they ever improve the odds of success and reduce odds of permanent side effects.

[ChadTower]

They did do lasik on my friend a couple more times and was able to get his vision pretty much back to where it was before the surgery, except he now has the night vision side effects.

That's a hard leap of faith to make.  They try to correct your vision, screw it up and make your vision far worse, and then say "let's try this again, please.  We'll get it right this time."  I'm not sure I would let them anywhere near my eyes after the first failure.

[zaphod]

Do a lot of due diligence on the doctor who would be performing the surgery.  Talk to anyone who has had surgery.  Talk to nurses, eye doctors, anyone who might know good or bad of them.  Locally we have an excellent doctor (the one I chose), and then we have the cut-rate "Walmart" doctor who advertises relentlessly, using price as the primary selling point.  Because my surgeon doesn't advertise (everyone is referred to him from eye doctors), some people don't even know there are other alternatives to the cheaper place.  With only one exception, every person I know who has had problems with the surgery went to the cheap place.  In fact, the cheaper place pretty much tells you you will be back to see her at least one more time.

I am a big advocate of the surgery but totally understand anyone's issues with no getting it done.  You only have one set of eyes.

[2600]

I had my initial consultation with Center 1.  It went well, answered a lot of questions, and was pretty informative.  I had been to this location a couple times before a few years ago for regular checkups and contacts so it was somewhat familiar.  The All laser and Custom Lasik seems to have improved the percentages for a lot of the concerns that people have addressed here.

Strike 2 for Center B.  When I made my initial appt. I was basically booked like I was having the procedure done.  No contacts for 2 weeks, etc. even though I informed them I just wanted to talk to them about it.   I asked for an earlier date and was told there was no earlier date.  Today, I called to reschedule the consultation to an earlier date again hoping to speak to someone else since I believe I talked to someone at the national level and not the local office.  I was told again there is no earlier date.  So, I went online scheduled the earlier date and called back to cancel the original appt and confirm the appt I made online.  If it wasn't for my parents having it done at this location and the fact that they are one of the few locations offering the all laser, I probably wouldn't of proceeded further.

[quarterback]

They did do lasik on my friend a couple more times and was able to get his vision pretty much back to where it was before the surgery, except he now has the night vision side effects.

That's a hard leap of faith to make.  They try to correct your vision, screw it up and make your vision far worse, and then say "let's try this again, please.  We'll get it right this time."  I'm not sure I would let them anywhere near my eyes after the first failure.

It may seem like a big leap of faith, but that's not uncommon.    They'll tell you upfront that your eyesight might need "adjustments".  My good friend went back at least once as they tried to make things better, he may have gone back even more.  He also was unable to drive for at least a month (it's been a long time so I can't remember all the details). Luckily he had a good friend he worked with who would pick him up every day.

I've got one set of eyes and the fact there's a risk of being eyepatched even from a full-priced real (read: non-sleazy) doctor is what keeps me away.
  Big risk for completely voluntary surgery, IMO.

[ChadTower]

It may seem like a big leap of faith, but that's not uncommon.    They'll tell you upfront that your eyesight might need "adjustments". 

Adjustments are one thing... but having completely effed up the first one, letting them try again is entirely another.  How does one know they won't eff up the second time and make you legally blind?