I've been wearing glasses since I was 15 (found out I needed them when I failed the eye exam for my driving learner's permit) and long thought about LASIK. A few years ago I switched to contacts and since then the desire for surgery is gone. Contacts are comfortable, I can stop any time they become a problem, and only take up a minute of my day to put in and take out. And as my eyes change, my prescription can change, so they're a bit more future proof.
Now, I don't mean to criticize people who choose LASIK at all. It's a deeply personal choice, and what's right for me may not be what's right for you. I just wanted to share this because I had previously overestimated the hassle of contacts and I'm glad I gave them a try.
I researched LASIK heavily before deciding not to proceed. A few things that fed into my decision:
(1) 1% have serious complications, and another couple percent say they would've abstained if they could go back in time. Basically, ~3% of people were unhappy with LASIK. That means that you'll see a lot of echo-chamber about how it's amazing (the 97%), but 3% is not negligible.
(2) By the time you're 45 y/o, you're going to get presbyopia -- ie. you will require bifocals because your eyes lose the ability to accommodate. You'll need some form of correction in the future.
(3) Most of the lifestyle improvements were relatively minor compared to donning & doffing soft lenses once in the morning and once at night.
(4) You cannot wear soft contact lenses anymore after LASIK. If you need contact lenses in the future, they'll have to be rigid (eg. gas-permeable). Those suck. It also means you may not be able to take advantage of advances in soft contact lens technology, such as the glucose-sensing lens and the "autofocus" lens. [1]
As someone who had contacts and got LASIK later on, I would still highly recommend considering it. For me, the deciding factors included 1) hassle of putting on contacts, 2) ability to lose them when swimming and 3) lack of access to new contacts when traveling or outdoors.
I've since found that my contact prescriptions were, apparently, never that great, since after getting LASIK my vision feels noticeably better. The first few days it felt like switching from 1080p to 4k, it was that significant. I think it might have to do with how LASIK is done nowadays, where they make a topographical map of your eye and adjust the curvature with extreme precision. You just can't get that with contacts.
Anyways, it's been 2+ years for me too and I can truly say it was one of the better life-changing decisions I've made.
As a contrast to @mikeash's experience, I'd love to use contacts, but can't really wear them. My astigmatism is ... epic. Astigmatism with soft contacts means toric lenses, which have a few annoying "quirks". First, they never quite fully correct most astigmatism because the corrections are quantized in a way that makes it difficult to get a bang-on correction. Second, they lose acuity if the wearer's head is tilted. Both of these flaws relate to how toric lenses work: they're weighted to maintain their orientation. They're only in correct position when your head is straight up-and-down. Tilt your head a bit and they start to float off line. The worse your astigmatism, the more annoying these deviations become. As such, when I'm in for an eye exam no one recommends soft lenses for me anymore.
That leaves modern rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses. I don't mind the feel of wearing these, and the vision is excellent. They don't need weighting for correct orientation, which eliminates the aforementioned limitations of soft lenses. The visual acuity for my correction is in all ways superior to soft lenses I've tried. The central vision nearly rivals good glasses, and the sharp peripheral vision blows glasses out of the water. But even with the newest, most permeable lens materials my eyes can't really ramp up to tolerating them for a full day's wear. And there's the rub, since RGPs require a ramp up to acclimate to wearing them, they aren't really amenable to just popping them in "weekend warrior" style.
I haven't taken the LASIK plunge yet, but the above might illuminate why it's an appealing option for some people.
I developed an allergy to contacts during college. After wearing them for more than 15 minutes, my eyes would swell up. I was on a sports team and didn't want to negatively affect my performance with eye wear. So I got the lasik. I had a hell of a problem with dry eyes for years, obviously not helped by spending 10 hours a day in front of a CRT monitor. Finally I got diagnosed with Blepharitis, which is an inflammation of the eyelids caused by tear duct blockage. I treat it with a warm compress every morning and get by all right. I often wonder if the lasik caused the Blepharitis, the contacts caused it, or I had it and the contacts irritated it.
I've been wearing glasses since I was 8, got contacts when I was 13 and have been thinking about getting LASIK since it first became popular ~10 years ago. I have gone from wanting it really badly to now not wanting it all.
In high school and college, I wore contacts all the time because it improved my confidence. As I got older, I found myself wearing glasses all the time and contacts at the gym/social events, etc. As a side note, wearing contacts stabilizes your vision - your Rx will not change as quickly because of the short focal distance. This is a nice benefit because we spend so much time looking at screens nowadays.
LASIK is definitely a contender for the best value purchase I've ever made. My only regret after having it done is that I didn't get it years sooner. I think you get used to the hassles and limitations of glasses and contacts and it's not until you're freed from then that you realize what a pain they really were.
I swam a lot as a kid but avoided it once my vision got bad and being able to swim with complete freedom has made me rediscover the joy of being in the water. I'd call that out too as a bigger than expected benefit. It's also a big improvement over glasses or contacts for my favorite sport, snowboarding.
I can see slight haloing at night if I look for it but I find my night vision for driving much improved relative to glasses or contacts and my memory is of experiencing haloing and other worse artifacts at night with both so for me this hasn't been a negative. Driving is probably the most demanding night vision task I do and it's improved.
I was fortunate not to suffer any complications beyond dry eyes for the first six months or so, something I also suffered from with daily contacts. During that time I'd carry the little disposable moisturizing drops in my wallet but I don't need them any more.
There are obviously risks of complications but when I looked into it at the time it seemed that they were less over a ten year time frame than the possible complications of contact lenses, worth considering when weighing up the risks.
The thing that always bothered me about LASIK is that the flap never fully heals. I considered doing PRK (an alternative procedure that omits the cutting of the flap), but the healing time can take months. I was screened by an eye surgeon who insisted LASIK is a superior procedure. Has anyone scientifically compared the risk of LASIK vs. PRK?
I've had PRK, and while the healing time is longer (you have to wait for your eye's epithelium to grow back), the overall risk is less. There is no flap, just a reshaped cornea.
You wear a contact lens for a week to prevent infection. And during the time that you're healing (my case was about 5 days), you get to listen to a lot of audiobooks.
edit: my surgery was 5 years ago and I've had no issues. Still see perfectly today, although with my night vision, I sometimes question if I'm seeing poorly, but I question my wife and she eases my worry by telling me she also cannot see the dark-object-very-far-away-at-night.
I had ICL* surgery instead of LASIK, because the cornea was too thin. It has worked very well so far: I do get halos, but haven't had any other complications. The implants can also be removed or replaced.
* Implantable Contact Lens, from Wikipedia: The procedure is performed under local anesthesia with the patient awake throughout the operation. The flexibility of the ICL enables the lens to be rolled for insertion into the soft silicone tip of the micro incision injector through a very small incision (2.2mm) thus avoiding the need for stitches, and this procedure usually takes less than 30 minutes in the hands of an experienced ophthalmologist. Following the procedure, most people have immediate use of their eyes. The full recovery period is typically 1–2 days with minimal discomfort and most patients are able to go to work the next day. After surgery, the common advice is to avoid driving home and to visit the attending ophthalmologists regularly for several months so as to monitor the implants. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implantable_collamer_lens )
Not scientific but I only had PRK as a choice. And the healing time is a lot more than the LASIK procedure. Although my doctor told me that it "could take a few more days".
Took me a week until I could look at a computer screen with a ridiculously large zoom level and only for a couple of hours total per day. At about 3 weeks, I could look at a computer screen at a lower resolution but no more than 4-5 hours total.
As for risk; from my reading the greatest risk in both are post-op infections which are a concern with any procedure(even sampling blood). The others weren't really something to worry about. With LASIK, there's also a risk of flap detachment. But that could happen even with a healthy flap if the force is big enough.
I got PRK. No long term issues (other than occasional minor dry eye, and maybe a tiny bit of light sensitivity), but yes, the 3 week period after you get it can be very rough. You usually have to take at least one week of work off.
I've only ever had cursory looks at LASIK because my nearsightedness is not quite serious enough to need glasses all the time, but I looked up what you mentioned and found this:
I did a lot of research when I got it last year. PRK is a better procedure, but only marginally so, and I decided it wasn't worth the pain and longer healing time.
If you do a lot of extreme sports, martial arts, race car driving or those sorts of things, PRK may be worth the extra pain and inconvenience though.
Off topic; does anyone know if there are any services that get rid of floaters? I've got a nasty one right in the middle of my best eye and it is very annoying. Has been there for two years and I haven't got used to it yet.
I had a retina detachment earlier this year. My retina had torn and scarred on the bottom of my eye and decided to detach while I was out of the country. Recovery has been ok and I have 20/30 vision on that eye .... But that is with staring at the letters for long enough until my brain has averaged the letter out (the letters actually narrow and widen). I now have a permanent pinch in the middle of my sight due to the retina not lying down perfectly flat. I will have to deal with this as my doctor says this will not heal. It is not fun. If I wear corrective lenses my eye tries to merge two images that aren't the same size.
Anyway I'll stop ranting. One of the signs that you might be having tears (precursor to detachment) is an increase of floaties in the eye. Also nearsightedness (yes for to the eye shadow you have a higher chance of detachment), and light flashes. If you are noticing more floaties you might want to get out checked out.
I have the same problem, talked to the doctor and there is no way to fix it permanently. What you can try is move floaters by doing a "teenager" eye roll, very rapidly several time in a row. In my case this helps to shift them away from the view.
Not to my knowledge. Last time I did research on that, there were experimental treatments (also involving lasers) to try to dissolve them. Which had dangers and some side effects, among them more floaters!
Give it time, it will likely become less annoying. I've had one for 5 years now. In the last couple of years, I've noticed more of them appearing, but this particular bothersome one fading. It is likely breaking down and my eye doctor told me it could happen.
I did mine 9 years ago. Best decision of my life. Long term effects:
- I suffered from the night halo effect for two years afterwards, but it went away. Even then, I was happy having done the surgery.
- I am more light-sensitive now than I was. I'm uncomfortable without sunglasses in a bright summer day, something that didn't happen before. From what I can tell I'm still in the normal light sensitivity band.
- My eyes are drier now than before surgery. Again, not something that affects day to day life. I notice it mostly when the eye gets irritated somehow (after swimming in salty water or chlorinated water, after being in smoky environments or being exposed to dust).
Doctors routinely downplay both the halo effect and the reduced tear production. The halo effect is more common in high correction surgeries (my correction was 3 dioptries myopic correction and 4(left) and 6(right) asthigmatic correction, which is rather high).
If you have already reduced tear production, I'd advise against the surgery. From people I know who did LASIK, that's the only relevant downside people talk about. Having permanently dry eyes and permanent need for drops is worse than wearing glasses.
It isn't painful, but I was uncomfortable for a couple weeks. For the first couple of days it seemed I had a grain of sand in the eye (and I had to resist the urge to scratch it out). On the plus side, recovery is very quick. I was out and about on the day after, and working in front of a computer screen three days after.
Absolutely life changing. I have so many bad memories from growing up with the burden of glasses. One of the worst is when my school took us to the beach for a couple of days and I lost my glasses in the sea. For the rest of the trip (3 days) I wasn't able to be active, just sat at the beach, and worst of all I was a burden on my friends. They had to walk me everywhere.
I'm so glad I got it done -- I did PRK -- but in recent years my vision started deteriorating a little bit. It's not too bad though -- I passed the DMV test. I hope it doesn't get worse than that. However, my understanding is that I can do it again if I had too. Anyone here had to do it multiple times?
I had my eyes zapped about six years ago, and it's been nothing but positive for me. Like the author said, the procedure itself was painless (and very fast, a few minutes per eye).
I had the surgery done early in the morning, and afterward slept through most of the day to let my eyes heal. I woke up the next day and was able to read car license plates across the street, where two days prior my vision was bad enough that I couldn't make out facial features over an arm's length away without my glasses.
I'll second the author: it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
I had LASIK 15 years ago. I was saddened when I learned my vision has started to decline from my eagle eyed 20/10 post surgery. It's currently around 20/40 right now, so I wear my glasses driving at night, bowling, and movie watching. Part of the decline could be due to diabetes, but my ophthalmologist said it's quite normal to experience regression as the LASIK population contributes more empirical data.
I still think it's a tremendous value, even if it doesn't last forever. I may go back for an adjustment some day...
I remember getting glasses for the first time when I was 13. While I found the better definition of far away objects nice (useful is a better word), I actually found that I liked how the world looked (in an aesthetics way) without glasses vs. with it...like I always liked how the trees[0] looked in the afternoon sun but glasses sort of ruined it.
I would later learn about "impressionism"[1], and fall in love with those art works. Apparently there are/were people out there who enjoyed seeing the "impression" of something over its definition like I did. Today, my instagram has a number of blurry photos.
EDIT: I should mention that my eyesight is not extremely terrible, and at that age, my eyesight wasn't good enough to function, although I need glasses now to drive, etc.
I had LASIK done 3 years ago, the cost was $6,000. It cost more than usual because I had 'laser cut flaps' and the 'wavefront' option. My contact prescription was around -9.00 in each eye.
Very simple procedure, I wish I had done it ten years ago. It was worth every penny. I had halos at night for a few weeks afterwards, and my eyes are a little bit dry to this day, but it's slowly gotten better. I used to have to keep a bottle of eye drops at my desk but haven't even bought a bottle in a few months.
I was happy with just using inexpensive daily wear contacts. But at some point my eyes changed, one got a little worse than the other, and I had noticeable astigmatism. This required me to get toric lenses and they were much, much more expensive. Like $99 for 6 pair vs $29.99 for 50 pair.
Having worn thick glasses since the age of 7 it was a dream to finally not have to wear them or deal with contacts any more. The only real complaint I have is my vision is still pretty bad in low-light situations, and I can't focus on anything that isn't at least 8" away. I used to be able to take my glasses off and look at a part or something very close and see it quite well.
I got LASIK four years ago. No haloing, and in general I'm really happy about it. I did have vicious dry eyes for about six months, which was much worse than it sounds, but it went away. Overall, I'm thrilled with the procedure, and as I previously had terrible vision, it was legitimately life-changing.
I got mine a couple of years ago too. It wasn't painless at all. In fact, the first week sucked. And I developed light sensitivity although it went away after 5 or so days.
I also suffered from dry eyes. Something that the doctor says rarely happens but seems to happen more often than is being recorded(from personal research, seems to happen when person suffers from high astigmatism). But it does decrease within a few months and now I occasionally have to use the eye drops to keep them hydrated so no big deal.
Regarding the blurry night vision, it happens sometimes to me. I noticed that i notice it more when my eyes are more tired and less hydrated than usual.
Overall, I am also happy with the experience. The greatest thing about it is enjoying the underwater views as mentioned.
I did Relex Smile in Bangkok, Thailand 2 months ago and am very happy. Can only recommend this procedure as it's quite uninvasive (at least compared to the older approaches).
I've had all pre-exam checks & the surgery on one day and could work the next day (after a beautiful 16h valium-induced sleep).
My left eye took a bit longer to adjust but now i'm fine and only really need my eye drops when i wake up in the morning.
I’ve worn glasses since my mid-teens, and in my mid-forties now. I’m near sighted but also have an astigmatism, so I pretty much need glasses to see anything, be it close up or far away. I’ve also found contacts never really worked well for me. On account of the astigmatism they have to be oriented at just the right angle. They are usually weighted to help this, but I never found them as good as my glasses for staring at my computer screen all day. Too much squinting and dry eyes after a while.
I wear contacts occasionally when going out. (I’m fine putting them in, but digging them out again at the end of the night I find difficult, probably because I don’t wear them often enough to become adept.)
Having grown up before laser surgery was available, the thought of cutting up your eyeball was pretty scary. The 3% dissatisfaction rate another comment cited seems far too high a risk to me when talking about your eyes. And given your prescription changes over time, it seems like an impermanent solution with permanent side-effects.
But at the end of the day, I’m a risk-averse nerd. YMMV.
I've always wanted to correct my eyes and was hoping for a story with a happy ending this time but no, there's the halos!
I hate my glasses with a passion. Some form of allergy made my eye doctor tell me I should stop using contacts. But still, I won't do LASIK(1). For a few reasons.
First, there's this thought of having a software-controlled laser beam digging pits in the cornea. And pits they are, it's not like the laser pulses create a smooth surface, we are long ways away from that.
Second, there's the corneal flap, which never fully heals.
Third, related to the second point, there's the fact that the cornea is cut and some nerves are permanently damage, which could create a dry eye condition. Apparently people commit suicide over that. And my eyes are not that moist to begin with, AC already bothers them.
Reason four is the fact that, even if 100% successful and a 20/20 results is achieved, your vision can still be really poor. Halos are just one of many (common!) conditions that aren't really correctable and you'll have to live with forever.
Last, LASIK surgeries are rather new. The first LASIK patients should be now reaching old age. And the first generation LASIK equipment was pretty poor, so any problems they have are blamed on that. But what if I do a LASIK today, and have really nasty complications as I age? They are unlikely to be corrected.
Does anyone remember that procedure where surgeons would cut the patient's eye radially to try to correct nearsightedness? Some of those patients tried LASIK later, with really poor results due to a weak cornea. Not to mention the nasty complications. That procedure sounds barbaric now.
I just hope LASIK won't be seen like that too in a few years.
[1] I'm still on the fence about LASEK. Recovery is reportedly horrible, but at least there's no deep corneal cutting.
I had the LASEK (also called PRK) and the recovery isn't as bad as it sounds. The next day was painful and I had patchy vision for a few days afterwards but within a week there was no discomfort at all and my vision was fine. (It does take a month or 2 to settle down but your vision is competely fine during this period).
It does have the advantage of less risk due to no cutting and allowing natural regrowth of the removed upper layer of cornea.
The procedure itself lasts about 10 mintues for both eyes. You lie down and they put numbing drops in your eyes and wait a minute. Then the alcohol paste (for removing the top layer of the cornea) is rubbed on to your eye with what looked like an eyeliner brush. This was the only uncomfortable bit of the procedure - even then it wasn't physical as you cannot feel it, it was more just the idea of it.
A few minutes later they apply the laser; this is over in a matter of seconds for each eye. Now with the expensive procedure I opted for (called wavefront) they do a 3D mapping of your eye and program that into the laser so it's not a random shot. Also the laser tracks any eye movement at 200 times per second.
The LASEK carries less chance and severity of halos (according to studies I believe are referenced in wikipedia). I have them but they are hardly noticable.
Interested to know for everyone who has had it, how old they were when they got it done and how old they are now? I'm curious if there's an age factor involved. I'm a 40 year old male with not too bad uncorrected eyesight and a little astigmatism.
I got it done when I was 22 (The Navy paid for it) and my vision was considered severe low vision[0] and an astigmatism. I am 28 now and I have no problems (last test I was 20/15). I was told, however, that my vision would might start to taper off around 40 (I may need reading glasses), but I am sure it varies for everyone.
I was wondering the same thing. I'm 40 in a few months; got glasses for the first time yesterday. I'm farsighted [always have been] and have a slight astigmatism.
The Dr told me that w/ Lasik they want at least three years of eye exams to make sure your eye isn't changing. He also told me that I'll probably need reading glasses in a few years after doing the surgery.
I had LASIK 7 years ago, for free actually (luckily my company's health insurance covered it if your sight was as bad as mine). I do see as well as I saw with glasses, so not having to bother with them has been amazing. But I never saw that well with glasses, and I see the same now. By this I mean I still use more zoom on my screen than anyone I know, for example. Otherwise it isn't comfortable. I've gone to the doctor and there isn't any problem with my eye, nor glasses would help, so maybe it's a problem somewhere. Anyone else have this problem? It isn't a huge one, but it would be great to see as well as most people do (wearing glasses or not).
So I am 23 and have a large astigmatism and a -9 prescription in both eyes. I used to wear contacts but gave it up because they were more hassle than they were worth for me. I was constantly dealing with dry eyes, and shifting vision. Now I use glasses but I have trouble driving at night. I have thought about LASIK and even though the risk is low, I feel that I would rather deal with the problems I have now instead of new ones. Are there any other procedures other than LASIK that are recommended? Would I even be a candidate for LASIK with such bad eyes?
PRK is has a higher success rate, albeit with a longer recovery time (IIRC, about a month). There's also ICL, where, to put it simply, a ontact lens is implanted behind your cornea, though it's not really worth it if your prescription is -9, which is pretty midrange...everyone on my mom's side of the family is blind as a bat; my grandpa has a prescription of -15 in both eyes, same as my uncle. I'm sitting at -13 now and I'm 26 so I will probably never beat their high score.
I've been wearing glasses since I was seven and I've never felt they're particularly annoying or cumbersome. (I swim and ride a motorcycle, so potentially I might be.) Therefore, I don't really need to think at all whether a surgery might be a good choice. This means that, I'm kind of blessed with being perfectly happy with what I have, for once. Now that I read the article and the comments below, that feeling is priceless.
The biggest benefit I've found from getting LASIK is the astigmatism correction. Specifically, it basically instantly made me more physically coordinated.
[+] [-] mikeash|10 years ago|reply
Now, I don't mean to criticize people who choose LASIK at all. It's a deeply personal choice, and what's right for me may not be what's right for you. I just wanted to share this because I had previously overestimated the hassle of contacts and I'm glad I gave them a try.
[+] [-] beambot|10 years ago|reply
(1) 1% have serious complications, and another couple percent say they would've abstained if they could go back in time. Basically, ~3% of people were unhappy with LASIK. That means that you'll see a lot of echo-chamber about how it's amazing (the 97%), but 3% is not negligible.
(2) By the time you're 45 y/o, you're going to get presbyopia -- ie. you will require bifocals because your eyes lose the ability to accommodate. You'll need some form of correction in the future.
(3) Most of the lifestyle improvements were relatively minor compared to donning & doffing soft lenses once in the morning and once at night.
(4) You cannot wear soft contact lenses anymore after LASIK. If you need contact lenses in the future, they'll have to be rigid (eg. gas-permeable). Those suck. It also means you may not be able to take advantage of advances in soft contact lens technology, such as the glucose-sensing lens and the "autofocus" lens. [1]
[1] Disclaimer: I work on these devices. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/16/business/international/nov...
[+] [-] mdolon|10 years ago|reply
I've since found that my contact prescriptions were, apparently, never that great, since after getting LASIK my vision feels noticeably better. The first few days it felt like switching from 1080p to 4k, it was that significant. I think it might have to do with how LASIK is done nowadays, where they make a topographical map of your eye and adjust the curvature with extreme precision. You just can't get that with contacts.
Anyways, it's been 2+ years for me too and I can truly say it was one of the better life-changing decisions I've made.
[+] [-] saidajigumi|10 years ago|reply
That leaves modern rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses. I don't mind the feel of wearing these, and the vision is excellent. They don't need weighting for correct orientation, which eliminates the aforementioned limitations of soft lenses. The visual acuity for my correction is in all ways superior to soft lenses I've tried. The central vision nearly rivals good glasses, and the sharp peripheral vision blows glasses out of the water. But even with the newest, most permeable lens materials my eyes can't really ramp up to tolerating them for a full day's wear. And there's the rub, since RGPs require a ramp up to acclimate to wearing them, they aren't really amenable to just popping them in "weekend warrior" style.
I haven't taken the LASIK plunge yet, but the above might illuminate why it's an appealing option for some people.
[+] [-] stevepotter|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lpsz|10 years ago|reply
After suffering for years with monthly contacts (dry eyes, discomfort), I'd only wish I'd learned this sooner.
[+] [-] anishkothari|10 years ago|reply
In high school and college, I wore contacts all the time because it improved my confidence. As I got older, I found myself wearing glasses all the time and contacts at the gym/social events, etc. As a side note, wearing contacts stabilizes your vision - your Rx will not change as quickly because of the short focal distance. This is a nice benefit because we spend so much time looking at screens nowadays.
[+] [-] mattnewport|10 years ago|reply
I swam a lot as a kid but avoided it once my vision got bad and being able to swim with complete freedom has made me rediscover the joy of being in the water. I'd call that out too as a bigger than expected benefit. It's also a big improvement over glasses or contacts for my favorite sport, snowboarding.
I can see slight haloing at night if I look for it but I find my night vision for driving much improved relative to glasses or contacts and my memory is of experiencing haloing and other worse artifacts at night with both so for me this hasn't been a negative. Driving is probably the most demanding night vision task I do and it's improved.
I was fortunate not to suffer any complications beyond dry eyes for the first six months or so, something I also suffered from with daily contacts. During that time I'd carry the little disposable moisturizing drops in my wallet but I don't need them any more.
There are obviously risks of complications but when I looked into it at the time it seemed that they were less over a ten year time frame than the possible complications of contact lenses, worth considering when weighing up the risks.
[+] [-] codysoyland|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] buf|10 years ago|reply
You wear a contact lens for a week to prevent infection. And during the time that you're healing (my case was about 5 days), you get to listen to a lot of audiobooks.
edit: my surgery was 5 years ago and I've had no issues. Still see perfectly today, although with my night vision, I sometimes question if I'm seeing poorly, but I question my wife and she eases my worry by telling me she also cannot see the dark-object-very-far-away-at-night.
[+] [-] MrUnderhill|10 years ago|reply
* Implantable Contact Lens, from Wikipedia: The procedure is performed under local anesthesia with the patient awake throughout the operation. The flexibility of the ICL enables the lens to be rolled for insertion into the soft silicone tip of the micro incision injector through a very small incision (2.2mm) thus avoiding the need for stitches, and this procedure usually takes less than 30 minutes in the hands of an experienced ophthalmologist. Following the procedure, most people have immediate use of their eyes. The full recovery period is typically 1–2 days with minimal discomfort and most patients are able to go to work the next day. After surgery, the common advice is to avoid driving home and to visit the attending ophthalmologists regularly for several months so as to monitor the implants. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implantable_collamer_lens )
[+] [-] scorpioxy|10 years ago|reply
Took me a week until I could look at a computer screen with a ridiculously large zoom level and only for a couple of hours total per day. At about 3 weeks, I could look at a computer screen at a lower resolution but no more than 4-5 hours total.
As for risk; from my reading the greatest risk in both are post-op infections which are a concern with any procedure(even sampling blood). The others weren't really something to worry about. With LASIK, there's also a risk of flap detachment. But that could happen even with a healthy flap if the force is big enough.
[+] [-] meowface|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lewisl9029|10 years ago|reply
I've only ever had cursory looks at LASIK because my nearsightedness is not quite serious enough to need glasses all the time, but I looked up what you mentioned and found this:
http://www.lasikcomplications.com/flapdislocation.htm
Watching the YouTube video in the link quite literally made me shudder in my chair.
If I ever do get eye surgery I'll probably go for PRK despite the longer healing time.
[+] [-] gcv|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] murbard2|10 years ago|reply
If you do a lot of extreme sports, martial arts, race car driving or those sorts of things, PRK may be worth the extra pain and inconvenience though.
[+] [-] batou|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mharrison|10 years ago|reply
Anyway I'll stop ranting. One of the signs that you might be having tears (precursor to detachment) is an increase of floaties in the eye. Also nearsightedness (yes for to the eye shadow you have a higher chance of detachment), and light flashes. If you are noticing more floaties you might want to get out checked out.
[+] [-] eps|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gilgoomesh|10 years ago|reply
One involves using a YAG laser to burn the floaters:
http://www.eyefloaters.com/index.php?option=com_content&task...
Sadly, it's done rarely enough that it could be snake oil or in-progress research.
A full vitrectomy is possible (replace the vitreous humour fluid in the eye):
http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/vitreoretinal-proce...
But this is dangerous enough that it's almost never performed simply for floaters.
[+] [-] outworlder|10 years ago|reply
Give it time, it will likely become less annoying. I've had one for 5 years now. In the last couple of years, I've noticed more of them appearing, but this particular bothersome one fading. It is likely breaking down and my eye doctor told me it could happen.
[+] [-] c0nsumer|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bunderbunder|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sergiosgc|10 years ago|reply
- I suffered from the night halo effect for two years afterwards, but it went away. Even then, I was happy having done the surgery.
- I am more light-sensitive now than I was. I'm uncomfortable without sunglasses in a bright summer day, something that didn't happen before. From what I can tell I'm still in the normal light sensitivity band.
- My eyes are drier now than before surgery. Again, not something that affects day to day life. I notice it mostly when the eye gets irritated somehow (after swimming in salty water or chlorinated water, after being in smoky environments or being exposed to dust).
Doctors routinely downplay both the halo effect and the reduced tear production. The halo effect is more common in high correction surgeries (my correction was 3 dioptries myopic correction and 4(left) and 6(right) asthigmatic correction, which is rather high).
If you have already reduced tear production, I'd advise against the surgery. From people I know who did LASIK, that's the only relevant downside people talk about. Having permanently dry eyes and permanent need for drops is worse than wearing glasses.
It isn't painful, but I was uncomfortable for a couple weeks. For the first couple of days it seemed I had a grain of sand in the eye (and I had to resist the urge to scratch it out). On the plus side, recovery is very quick. I was out and about on the day after, and working in front of a computer screen three days after.
[+] [-] devy|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] amasad|10 years ago|reply
I'm so glad I got it done -- I did PRK -- but in recent years my vision started deteriorating a little bit. It's not too bad though -- I passed the DMV test. I hope it doesn't get worse than that. However, my understanding is that I can do it again if I had too. Anyone here had to do it multiple times?
[+] [-] bstamour|10 years ago|reply
I had the surgery done early in the morning, and afterward slept through most of the day to let my eyes heal. I woke up the next day and was able to read car license plates across the street, where two days prior my vision was bad enough that I couldn't make out facial features over an arm's length away without my glasses.
I'll second the author: it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
[+] [-] jeremyronking|10 years ago|reply
I still think it's a tremendous value, even if it doesn't last forever. I may go back for an adjustment some day...
[+] [-] noobermin|10 years ago|reply
I would later learn about "impressionism"[1], and fall in love with those art works. Apparently there are/were people out there who enjoyed seeing the "impression" of something over its definition like I did. Today, my instagram has a number of blurry photos.
EDIT: I should mention that my eyesight is not extremely terrible, and at that age, my eyesight wasn't good enough to function, although I need glasses now to drive, etc.
[0] I would learn later there is a word for it in Japanese, komorebi: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/181055/english-eq...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism
[+] [-] unknown|10 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] bluedino|10 years ago|reply
Very simple procedure, I wish I had done it ten years ago. It was worth every penny. I had halos at night for a few weeks afterwards, and my eyes are a little bit dry to this day, but it's slowly gotten better. I used to have to keep a bottle of eye drops at my desk but haven't even bought a bottle in a few months.
I was happy with just using inexpensive daily wear contacts. But at some point my eyes changed, one got a little worse than the other, and I had noticeable astigmatism. This required me to get toric lenses and they were much, much more expensive. Like $99 for 6 pair vs $29.99 for 50 pair.
Having worn thick glasses since the age of 7 it was a dream to finally not have to wear them or deal with contacts any more. The only real complaint I have is my vision is still pretty bad in low-light situations, and I can't focus on anything that isn't at least 8" away. I used to be able to take my glasses off and look at a part or something very close and see it quite well.
[+] [-] tdees40|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] scorpioxy|10 years ago|reply
I also suffered from dry eyes. Something that the doctor says rarely happens but seems to happen more often than is being recorded(from personal research, seems to happen when person suffers from high astigmatism). But it does decrease within a few months and now I occasionally have to use the eye drops to keep them hydrated so no big deal.
Regarding the blurry night vision, it happens sometimes to me. I noticed that i notice it more when my eyes are more tired and less hydrated than usual.
Overall, I am also happy with the experience. The greatest thing about it is enjoying the underwater views as mentioned.
[+] [-] malthaus|10 years ago|reply
I've had all pre-exam checks & the surgery on one day and could work the next day (after a beautiful 16h valium-induced sleep).
My left eye took a bit longer to adjust but now i'm fine and only really need my eye drops when i wake up in the morning.
[+] [-] anotherevan|10 years ago|reply
I wear contacts occasionally when going out. (I’m fine putting them in, but digging them out again at the end of the night I find difficult, probably because I don’t wear them often enough to become adept.)
Having grown up before laser surgery was available, the thought of cutting up your eyeball was pretty scary. The 3% dissatisfaction rate another comment cited seems far too high a risk to me when talking about your eyes. And given your prescription changes over time, it seems like an impermanent solution with permanent side-effects.
But at the end of the day, I’m a risk-averse nerd. YMMV.
[+] [-] outworlder|10 years ago|reply
I hate my glasses with a passion. Some form of allergy made my eye doctor tell me I should stop using contacts. But still, I won't do LASIK(1). For a few reasons.
First, there's this thought of having a software-controlled laser beam digging pits in the cornea. And pits they are, it's not like the laser pulses create a smooth surface, we are long ways away from that.
Second, there's the corneal flap, which never fully heals.
Third, related to the second point, there's the fact that the cornea is cut and some nerves are permanently damage, which could create a dry eye condition. Apparently people commit suicide over that. And my eyes are not that moist to begin with, AC already bothers them.
Reason four is the fact that, even if 100% successful and a 20/20 results is achieved, your vision can still be really poor. Halos are just one of many (common!) conditions that aren't really correctable and you'll have to live with forever.
Last, LASIK surgeries are rather new. The first LASIK patients should be now reaching old age. And the first generation LASIK equipment was pretty poor, so any problems they have are blamed on that. But what if I do a LASIK today, and have really nasty complications as I age? They are unlikely to be corrected.
Does anyone remember that procedure where surgeons would cut the patient's eye radially to try to correct nearsightedness? Some of those patients tried LASIK later, with really poor results due to a weak cornea. Not to mention the nasty complications. That procedure sounds barbaric now.
I just hope LASIK won't be seen like that too in a few years.
[1] I'm still on the fence about LASEK. Recovery is reportedly horrible, but at least there's no deep corneal cutting.
[+] [-] briane80|10 years ago|reply
It does have the advantage of less risk due to no cutting and allowing natural regrowth of the removed upper layer of cornea.
The procedure itself lasts about 10 mintues for both eyes. You lie down and they put numbing drops in your eyes and wait a minute. Then the alcohol paste (for removing the top layer of the cornea) is rubbed on to your eye with what looked like an eyeliner brush. This was the only uncomfortable bit of the procedure - even then it wasn't physical as you cannot feel it, it was more just the idea of it.
A few minutes later they apply the laser; this is over in a matter of seconds for each eye. Now with the expensive procedure I opted for (called wavefront) they do a 3D mapping of your eye and program that into the laser so it's not a random shot. Also the laser tracks any eye movement at 200 times per second.
The LASEK carries less chance and severity of halos (according to studies I believe are referenced in wikipedia). I have them but they are hardly noticable.
[+] [-] stuff4ben|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jdkeller|10 years ago|reply
[0] http://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/caring-for-your-visio...
[+] [-] reboog711|10 years ago|reply
The Dr told me that w/ Lasik they want at least three years of eye exams to make sure your eye isn't changing. He also told me that I'll probably need reading glasses in a few years after doing the surgery.
I decided to revisit in three years.
[+] [-] manuelflara|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] iN7h33nD|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cholantesh|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yason|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ThrustVectoring|10 years ago|reply