LASIK --- Have you had it?

[Utoo]

After years of "waiting for them to work out the kinks," I'm dying to have this done. I'm off for a consultation on Friday & hope to have it done over my vacation time in early March. To be able to wake up in the morning and see, to be able to swim and not worry about losing contacts.....

Has anyone here had it? What's it like? What are your thoughts?

 

[Vincent Vega]

I guess I will do it in some years, as well. But at the moment it's way too expensive.

I've recently read that a survey asking about 1,000 patients woh had it done ten years ago showed that it didn't have any long-term effects so far. But on the other hand there is no guarantee that your vision will be 100% after the OP and there is a chance that you will still have to live with -0.5 diopter, or your vision will decrease to -0.5 diopter over time. Of course, that's much better than -5, but still if I paid so much money for the OP I would prefer to have certainty that I will get rid of glasses/contacts entirely.

Nevertheless, I guess should I one day have the money I will go for it, and I wish you all the best for your operation.

 

[redhotswami]

a friend of mine had it done last year. she's at a conference this weekend though. i'll ask her for ya when she gets back.

 

[Utoo]

Thanks, Mia!

VV---yeah, the cost was super-prohibitive for me before, but now the insurance that I currently have will pay for $1,050 per eye--so that helps out a ton. I feel like it'd be silly of me not to do it while I have that help. As for the chance of still having some deficit, yep--I'm -5.00 and -5.25, so even ending up with -0.5 and needing glasses for driving but not for every day life sounds pretty good to me!

 

[Mr. BAW]

I've worn glasses for over 30 years; I've always considered Lasik but you only get one pair of eyes, if you know what I mean...

Even Tiger Woods' first Lasik procedure didn't go well and he's had to have a second...

 

[Carek1230]

I know many people who have had it and most of them are glad they did, but haven't had perfect vision since the procedure as anticipated. Most had some kind of problem resulting from the procedure. I wouldn't do it. I'm with Mr BAW, we only get one set of eyes.

 

[Canadiens1131]

It's surgery. I mean, they are cutting a hole in your cornea and shooting a laser into the hole

Expectations should be the reasonable, measured expectations you have for any major surgery. And I do consider it major surgery, as it is your eyes, mannnn.

 

[Thora]

My mom had it done 8 years ago (she was 49 then), and her vision is still virtually perfect. She does use glasses on the rare occasion, but it's only for reading in certain circumstances. She's had nothing but positive things to say about her experience.

I'm considering getting it done as well, but like several of you have said, it freaks me out a little bit. However, my prescription is still too unstable to allow this to happen any time soon. I do discuss it with my eye doctor every time I visit, so we'll see what happens. That reminds me, I need to book an appointment. I am definitely in need of a checkup.

 

[Babydoll]

I'm actually planning on getting it done eventually as well... I'm near blind. I wonder what is the recommended age to get it done?

 

[ntalwar]

When opthamalogists themselves stop wearing contacts or glasses, I will get corrective surgery. But not before then - that flap thing freaks me out.

 

[Lila64]

I've worn glasses for over 30 years; I've always considered Lasik but you only get one pair of eyes, if you know what I mean...

Even Tiger Woods' first Lasik procedure didn't go well and he's had to have a second...

I've worn glassed/contacts/glasses for 20+ years now (wow!). Like Mr.BAW said, you only get one pair of eyes. I would love to see without my glasses, but I'd not take the risk

 

[indra]

I've been wearing glasses (or contacts at various times over the years) for just under 40 years now and for many years I really wanted corrective surgery but I've pretty much decided against it now. Although my vision is very poor, it is correctable to 20/20 or better and my eyes are healthy. I don't want to do anything to fuck that up. I can see where someone might be willing to take the risk if they do things where glasses or contacts are problematic (various sports etc), but for me the potential benefit isn't worth the risk.

And after having bad vision so long it's actually comforting to take off my glasses and have the world recede. Kinda takes me to my own dreamy world.

 

[BonosBaby12]

My grandmother had it done when she was 77 which was back in 2001. Said it was one of the best things she has ever done. As far as I know she hasn't encountered any problems with it.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Thanks, Mia!

VV---yeah, the cost was super-prohibitive for me before, but now the insurance that I currently have will pay for $1,050 per eye--so that helps out a ton. I feel like it'd be silly of me not to do it while I have that help. As for the chance of still having some deficit, yep--I'm -5.00 and -5.25, so even ending up with -0.5 and needing glasses for driving but not for every day life sounds pretty good to me!

Wow, that's a great deal. I've almost the same with -5 and -4.5, and especially to be able to wake up and having perfect sight and such is very tempting.
As far as I know our insurances only pay when your eyes are about double as bad. And it's normally 2,000€ per eye. Many are even going to Turkey as doctors there are as well prepared to do it because they've studied here in Germany and got the same equipment as German doctors, but for only about 300€ per eyes.
If I had the money to not care I probably would go for it, even if I were left with -0.5, but as long as that is not the case I will continue to wear contacts and glasses.

Of course, as with any major surgery there is risk involved and you only got one pair of eyes, and I can't think of much that's worse than having your eyes screwed, but nevertheless I wouldn't be entirely detered from doing the step.

 

[deep]

My grandmother had it done when she was 77 which was back in 2001. Said it was one of the best things she has ever done. As far as I know she hasn't encountered any problems with it.

but they don;t know the long term effects

say 20 or 30 years from now

 

[Auhiz]

All you scaredy-cats..

I had it done 7 years ago and it was easily the best money I ever spent. My prescription before the op was also exactly the same as yours, Utoo, even with the slight difference between eyes (normal).

Although my eyesight now is not as perfectly sharp as it was with glasses, it's easily clear enough that I haven't had to even consider glasses although they do say that as per normal your eyes will change over time. To be able to live for many years without depending on that handicap is fantastic though.

As for the op itself, don't listen to the naysayers. If even a tiny percentage of all LASIK procedures had gone horribly wrong, you'd certainly be hearing about it. They do the analysis work beforehand to decide whether or not your type of vision impairment is suitable, and what the expected vision will be afterwards.

The work itself (let's not use terms like 'slicing', 'cornea', 'flaps', etc ) takes all of 15 minutes for both eyes, maybe less these days, then you put on the dust covers for a few days and you're away. No swimming or sport for a few months though.

With your insurance cover you should get a consultation at the very least. And when you're on that table remember to keep perfectly still.

 

[ylimeU2]

When opthamalogists themselves stop wearing contacts or glasses, I will get corrective surgery. But not before then - that flap thing freaks me out.

A few people have had it in my family and almost everyone needed another surgery within a couple of years or went back to wearing glasses/contacts. These are aunts, parents, etc, so their eyes should have "settled" by now.

I understand not wanting to deal with glasses and contacts anymore, but personally, I'm not willing to go through with something like that until I'm certain it will work and I won't have to do it again.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Well, you will never have a 100% certainty that you get it done and all will be perfect. But if this is the case with your whole family there is either something in your family or the doctors did something wrong.
Normally, the cases of LASIK where it went wrong are about one percent, and those where it went terribly wrong are even about 0.1 percent or sometihing like that, and that's about as safe as it will get.

I've often heard that around 25 it's relatively safe to actually consider it getting done, as then you aren't growing anymore and your eyes are usually settled by then. But if you've stopped growing earlier and your prescription hasn't changed for two years or so it is an option either.

 

[U2democrat]

I thought about it until I saw how they did it.


I'm perfectly fine with glasses.

 

[ntalwar]

Normally, the cases of LASIK where it went wrong are about one percent, and those where it went terribly wrong are even about 0.1 percent or sometihing like that, and that's about as safe as it will get.

Some common side effects (from the literature) can include dry eyes for months or more and reduced low light vision.