Halx

I had laser eye surgery 5 months ago. It was a procedure known as PRK (not to be confused with Lasik) and the process took about 15 minutes for each eye. With PRK, they fire a laser straight into your eye without having to cut that little "flap" that makes everyone so squeamish. I had to get PRK because of my thin corneas. So, 5 months later, here I am, starting a conversation on the practice.

People who have Lasik will tell you that they woke up the next day and saw perfectly, but the recovery process for PRK is actually quite miserable. It took 5 days for my sight to improve enough for me to actually go to work. Another week before I could take off my sunglasses when outside. It was painful and frustrating. You know how you want to grasp the part of your body that is painful? Well you can't grasp your eyeballs. I got through it though. I will tell you that my eyesight is now perfect. In low light, there is slight "haloing" when my eyes are too dry. If my eyes are properly moisturized, my sight is impeccable.

I wanted to tell you all this before asking you all for your experiences and concerns for the operation. I went from not being able to see a foot in front of my face to perfect eyesight in the span of 2 months due to this procedure. I'm a fan and the suffering was worth it. Does anyone else have experience or opinions on the subject?

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highthief

I had Lasik 3 years ago and things are great. I started at -2.75.

The wife had Lasik about 10 years ago and went from -8.5 to just about perfect.

Mum in law had PRK done 12 years ago and she's very happy.

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yellowmac

The idea of vision correction surgery always made me squeamish, with the thought of having part of my eyeball sliced open. ::shudder::

But I haven't heard about this new (?) PRK procedure. Maybe I'll have to look into it.

Mind if I ask how much the procedure cost? Are these things typically covered by insurance? (I have a hunch that it's no...)

Halx

I paid $3000 for both eyes. Mind you that I got it done in the middle of Manhattan, where things are typically more expensive than most everywhere else in the world.

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CandleInTheDark

PRK, by my understanding, is the older of the two procedures (LASIK). I believe there are less aberations developed in PRK. But it is a more painful and risky process.

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Halx

CITD, I'm not sure about the risk in PRK. I think the fact that the technology has been around for over 15 years now has given it the chance to mature to the point where the risk is small.

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dlish

my twin brother got his done about 6 years ago now. he has no regrets.

he went from a blurry eyed guy to a 20/20 vision in one and 19/20 in the other. last week he said it was one of the best things he's ever done.

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Vigilante

I've been blessed with 20/20, even though I stare at monitors all day.

My wife isn't as fortunate. She can only see a foot in front of her face, so we have talked about lasik for a while. Thanks for the heads up on PRK, just another method to consider.

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alicat

Hal, I am like you and can't see a foot in front of me without my glasses. Thankfully my prescription has been stable at -6.75 (right) and -6.25 (dur) for a handfull of years now. My eyes worsened progressively and quickly in my 20's and then leveled off (when you can't function without corrective lenses to begin with, your vision getting worse is mucho scary!).

< aside > I think Shani's got even worse eye's than mine and maybe Redlemon too (?) (and highthief's wife).

My insurance won't cover corrective surgery and I sure as hell can't pay for it out of pocket. I used to be jealous of anyone who could have it done, but then I started ruminating...

Having such bad vision, I sometimes like (need?) to take my glasses off and just rest my eyes from all the visual stimulation. Kind of a "check out" for a few moments. It's not the same as closing your eyes, but something like I think hearing aid wearers do when they turn them off, "tuning out" for a bit. It never lasts for more than a few because when I'm not working, cleaning or gardening...I'm reading.

So Hal, since it seems you had similar vision before the procedure, I ask you if you ever liked the "time out's" I do and if so, how do/have you dealt with not having that ability any longer? It's something I'm seriously concerned about if I am ever able to afford surgery.

As another aside, my hubby has such a weak prescription that when I put them on, I don't see any correction at all. When he put's mine on, he swears he get's a quick/short headache and can't see straight for a couple min's. (they're not coke bottles for chrissakes!)

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ngdawg

My son does wear coke bottles-he's a -6.5 and a -7.0-and I just got him contacts. Being that he is only 16, his eyes will get worse until he is in his mid-30's to mid-40's although the contacts should slow the worsening.
Halx-was the pain or discomfort the whole 5 months? When did it lessen to the point it was gone?I wish I'd have gotten this for myself. I can't wear contacts due to severe dry eye and allergies and now at my age, I need bifocals at least(for really close up I take off the glasses, but I use different parts of the lenses to see different distances otherwise).
Did your doctor happen to mention ages when this procedure is best done? I am assuming that a 16 year old shouldn't have it done for a few years.

mannin52

reading these posts makes me just want to get corrective eye surgery even more. 2 family members had it done, along with a close freind. the friend didn't have his eyes sliced open, just a quick laser shot. all three have said they love it, and was one of the best investments they hace ever made.

Halx

ngdawg, the pain only lasted for a week, during the immediate recovery. From there, it was light sensitivity for a couple weeks and then nothing. By 2 months, I had perfect vision.

I had been wanting to have this procedure done for a while but I kept getting denied because I was not done growing. As soon as your eye prescription stabilizes, you're good to go. I had gone 3 years without my prescription changing, so I knew it was time.

alicat, having blurry vision is frustrating. I did not like being so limited. I hated having to take off/put on my contacts all the time. I hated the red eyes that they'd give me. I am so grateful to be able to SEE now.

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Nimetic

Bloody interesting. I'd consider this.... also. Maybe.

And yeah, I thought that lasik was a little riskier. I didn't think that the older method involved any cutting... (?).

PonyPotato

Crompsin had PRK done last March, I believe, and he has 20/15 vision now. I am getting mine done by the same doctor in December.

Crompsin said it was both the most painful thing he ever went through, as well as the most rewarding and the best investment he ever made. I'm not sure what his vision was like beforehand, but mine isn't toooo horrible (-3.5 in one eye and -1.25 in the other) but I have trouble with scratched glasses and can't stand to wear contacts for more than a few hours at a time.

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little_tippler

This is fascinating. I too have thin corneas and have been told I could not have eye surgery. This would sure beat contacts...

I also have another eye problem though that means one of my corneas has slightly deformed...not sure if that also invalidates PRK. But I will find out!

Only thing I'm scared of is the long-term...does it ever go back, after several decades? And then is there something you can do about it if it does? These are my main concerns. That and going blind through a mistake! Eeek.

Heh I'm squeamish but I have already been told I may need a corneal transplant later on in life, courtesy of my cornea problem. That is just creepy...but apparently they have a high success rate. Never did think I'd ever need a transplant though. Weirdness.

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PonyPotato

little_tippler: your eyes change shape and elasticity as they age. So even if you get laser eye surgery at 20 or 30, you will probably still need reading glasses by 45-50 depending on your eyes.

Also, the place I'm going does a "lifetime commitment" which means I will get free lifetime adjustments (within reason and as long as I have enough corneal thickness left) if the first surgery does not settle well.

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Xazy

I got lasik it paid $2500 but was pretax money though. I am now 20/15 and I love it, was quick easy and the next morning could see perfect. Only slight pain and burning the night of the surgery went to sleep and woke up and could see the time on the clock.

Love it, would recommend a free consult with several doctors so you can get a true feel for if you are eligible. Also remember to negotiate on the price, trust me you can!

KellyC

In my case, I couldn't see crap past 6 inches of my face. I had LASEK (not to be confused with LASIK) back in December 2006. They told me the healing rate is similar to PRK but I was able to see perfectly after about two or three weeks. I didn't notice any improvements in my eye sight after that. It wasn't that painful either. My eyes were irritated for about a week with some light sensitivity for a few weeks. After that I'm fine. And yes, it's the best investment I made thus far. Although it burned a huge hole in my wallet. I think I may have gotten ripped off. If I shopped around a bit more, I could have saved myself a lot more money. But, I decide to go with this doctor because he seems very good and my eyes are worth more than all the money I'd ever make.

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abaya

Oh, that sucks. My prescription has changed pretty drastically every year... I mean, I really start noticing a change after about 6-8 months, it's that bad. I didn't start wearing glasses until I was 19, though... and only REALLY started needing them full-time in 2005. So does that mean that I'm not done "growing" yet?... wish that applied to my height as well!

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snowy

I know three people who have undergone LASIK--two quite successfully and one unsuccessfully. The healing process seems mightily unpleasant. My dad also had laser eye surgery done, but it was a peripheral iridectomy to keep glaucoma at bay.

I would do it some day if I had that kind of money. I have astigmatism, and so contact lenses have never really been an option unless I want to pay more; plus sticking something on my eye kind of squicks me out. But I do like my glasses. To me, they're an expression of my personality.

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Halx

Welcome to the late bloomer club, abaya.

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abaya

Yeah, I know... there I was, thinking that I would have perfect vision for life, at least until I was 19. I think I read too many books/stared at too many computer screens in my teens. Oh well. My eyesight went from -2.25 to -3.00 within the last 6-12 months before my most recent exam, which is nuts. I also have an astigmatism in one eye, but instead of writing me up for the fancy lenses to correct it, he gave me a prescription that was in between my two eyes' needs (if that makes sense)--so I have the same prescription for both eyes, and they compensate for each other. It's nice to not have to worry about mixing up the lenses, too.

I actually don't mind contact lenses at all... I started wearing those full-time in summer 2006, and while the brand I had for the first year were horrible (I've blocked the brand name from my memory)--I got a new eye doctor for my next exam, and he put me on a more expensive, but OH SO MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE brand--Acuvue Oasys. And I haven't had any problems with contact irritation since then... definitely worth the extra bucks (and I get them in bulk at Costco anyway, so it's cheaper than usual).

Sure, the cleaning process at night can be a tad annoying, but it really only takes about 3 minutes to go through it. And I actually feel pretty sexy in glasses, so I don't mind having those, either.

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blahblah454

Does anyone here have any horror stories or am I the only one?

I seem to remember my mom having this done and them botching it. Mind you I was about 16 at the time and did not get all the details. But I remember her eyes bleeding for a while and then being blood shot (like red, she had no whites, they were all red, I have pictures on my other computer if you guys don't believe me). I am not sure what exactly happened to her but she had to go in to the doctors regularly for months after. She still wears glasses.

My vision is like -.75 and -.5 so its pretty good. Just a little disorienting at night because I have no depth perception at low light levels, and my vision was perfect one month, then what it is now a month later.

abaya

And that is just another reason for why I don't really mind contacts and glasses at this point... The risks are still too present for my liking. Heh, that's what I thought, in my early 20s... and then I hit 25, and it's been downhill since.

I might think more about laser surgery after it's been around for enough decades and I don't know anyone with horror stories... we'll see.

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Xazy

I know of a friend of a friend where their eye literally seemed to collapse inward for some reason. Never found out the end result I know he was in the hospital for three weeks by the time I heard about it. I guess time to make a call and see if I can find out.

james t kirk

Bargoon.

It's $4,300 in Toronto.

I had been avoiding it, but now that I'm getting to need bifocals (sigh), I figure, well, I can get the Laser surgery done, then opt for just reading glasses.