Lazer Eye Surgery.......
 

Ok, I currently wear contact lenses and anyone that wears them can tell you that they are a real pain in the ass sometimes. They get lost, ripped and sometimes give you nasty eye infections if you don't clean them properly. Oh and when you get an eye lash or something in ur eye you gotta take it out clean it and all that crap, it's just one headache after another. I have been thinking about getting Lazer eye surgery for about 2 months now. Before I go and look further into it I was wondering if anyone here has got it and your opinions on it. Any feedback would be great even if you just have your own opinion about it that'd be great, Thanks :)

Until my eye doctor starts performing the surgery, I won't be getting it. He won't be performing it until he believes it is perfected.

My trainer got it done because he was afraid he was going to be shipped off to Iraq, and he seems to enjoy not wearing glasses though.

Read up on it. Check out some links on the internet. I'm avoiding it, cause I'm still pretty young and my eyes may not be done changing. I'll have it done eventually though. My uncle does it, so I get 50% off. Quite a deal.

i heard that since its not 'perfected' yet there are some mild side effects. one that i can remember is the 'loss' of night vision...which means you might be 'blind as a bat' at night

There was a long thread about this not too long ago, on the general discussion board. I would link to it, but I just don't know how. Anyway just search under laser eye surgery, some good comments (including my own)

Corrective refractive surgery involves cutting on your cornea (The clear part on the front of your eye) with either a laser or a blade. The cornea is responsible for bending most of the light that comes in your eye ~+40 diopters worth. The lens of the eye bends ~+20 diopters. The vitreous and aqueous humors (gels in the eye) bend ~+10. The cornea is part of the fiberous tunic of the eye. This tunic is primarily responsible for the structural integrity of the globe. Here is the problem. The eye is under pressure. Refractive surgery monkeys around with the one part of the eye that is responsible for bending most of the light and, at the same time, is responsible for the pressure integrity of the eye. This is a recipe for disaster. The armed forces used to kick you out if you had it done. The original version of this surgery (Radial Keratotomy) seriously limits the eye's capacity withstand environmental pressure changes. The conceptual basis for this surgery is flawed. I would recommend against it. Most people get it for purely cosmetic reasons which is a poor rationale for *any* surgery.

I had it done 2 years ago. I did get some problems- like decrease in night vision and flares around lights at night. These problems were most likely secondary to my large pupil size, which is corrected for much better today than 2 years ago.

I'm very happy not having to mess with contacts, being able to see my clock in the morning, swimming without worrying about losing a contact, etc. My vision has remained stable these past 2 years.

All in all, even with the problems, I'm still happy I had it done. It definately improved my day to day living and decreased a huge hassle factor in my life

My wife and one of my best friends both had laser surgery done. They both have, for the first time in their lives, 20/20 vision. They have had no problems. The first few days after is a little crappy, but you can see better immediately.
The surgery has been done in other parts of the world for 30 years. The US did not give approval for a long time to insure safety. Most any problem can be fixed and most places will give lifetime updates/fixes. As you grow older there may need to be adjustments.
Research it and don't go to a place advertising low price laser surgery. Good luck.

I appreciate all the feed back, thanks. One more question to the ones that have had it done.....Any kind of pain factor involved?? Soreness etc.

Depends on the type of surgery done. PRK will hurt ALOT, I think LASIK is supposed to be relatively pain free. BTW, the army now GIVES for free PRK surgery to those who want it.

my dad did lasik way back in the day in boston with the guy who invented it.

he got it done ~5 years ago, no complaints to this day. The only problem was the decrease in night vision, but his vision has stayed at a constant 20/20 for 5 years since surgery.

that sure would be nice. my right eye is legally blind, and I've been considering laser surgery... I think I'm gonna put it off for a few more years though, I get along fine at the moment.

I found an opthamologic (sp?) surgeon who taught other students how to do the procedure. It was very quick, mostly painless, and I really enjoy not having to deal with contacts and eyeglasses.

I always recommend to people that they find someone who does all other eye surgeries (cataracts, glaucoma, etc.) and see if they also do lasik.

I asked my doctor on a scale of 1-10 how hard the surgery was to perform, and he said, ".5"

yeah, Im legally blind too (both eyes though), would love to get the procedure someday.

Lasik has gotten better now that they dont scratch off the layer of the cornea and they now just cut a 'trapdoor'.

No pain at all. They offered me a valium prior to surgery(which I gladly accepted) and I was relaxed and it went very smooth.

The freakiest part is when they pull back the corneal flap. Everything is a COMPLETE blur. You get a little concerned whether the vision will come back or not...

Of course, if you consider relentless teasing by my wife because I looked like a dork wearing goggles to bed for a week to be painful, then there was some pain.

My girlfriend had it done a few years ago. She had very poor vision due to eye damage when she was younger. She couldn't see the clock radio from the bed at night (and it was one of those BIG number ones), read traffic signs, etc.

She flew to LA to have it done and she's very pleased with it. There are some side effects though. One of the most common is astygmatism. She has a very mild case which involves glasses for far away reading, but it is much better than the thick coke bottles she had to wear before.

So it's not perfect by far, but in extreme cases it may be worth it. If it's not extreme, I'd just wait a few years and see how much better it gets.

Can't fault Zampolit there. It depends on how uncomfortable you are with contacts or glasses vs. the possible side effects of surgery. I had my LASIK done in '99. After 4 years my eyes are still good, but not as good as they were immediately after surgery. As I have aged my eyesight has continued to decline, even before the surgery so the fact my sight is not perfect since the surgery is no surprise. Keep in mind having the surgery to affect your nearsightedness will affect your close up vision, at least it did mine. Before the surgery I couldn't focus much more than a foot past my eyes, but my close up vision was excellent. I could focus on something within an inch or two of my eyes. Now my distance vision is nearly perfect, but I can't focus on anything closer than 6 inches. It's not a big deal as I just use a magnifying glass for really close up work.

There are two types of surgery as mentioned before PRK, which costs less, and LASIK. With PRK a laser is used to shave the outermost layer of the cornea off. With Lasik a blade or laser is used to cut a very thin flap in the cornea, fold it back, shave the cornea, and then put the flap back. You can probably imagine the difference. Imagine if someone had to cut a bunion out of your foot. Would you heal up faster if they pulled back the skin and replaced it later or if they just cut the bunion from the surface? The soreness I experienced with my LASIK was minimal. I had the surgery done in the morning and when the painkiller eye drops wore off in the afternoon my eyes felt like I had grit or sand in them. The following day all abnormal sensation was gone. I know a woman who had the PRK done and she had that gritty feeling in her eyes for a little over a week. Also, keep in mind you will have to use antibiotic drops 3 or 4 times a day to reduce the chance of infection. With the LASIK I had to take the drops for 3 or 4 days. The woman who had the PRK done had to use them for 2 weeks.
Most importantly make sure whomever you choose to do the surgery has tons of experience (on other people's eyes). Don't go for the cheapest one advertised, there's a reason they are the cheapest and you don't want a rookie messing with your eyes.

Well, other than the fact the surgery wouldn't be all that usefull to me (I am also slightly cross-eyed, requiring some wierd-ass lenses), I just can't get over the thought of purposely shooting lasers into my eyes.

oi.


And I am told I look better with glasses.

i'm getting this procedure called zyoptix done on Thursday... Wish me luck =D

heya all,

i *think* i got this off the other laser surgery thread, its quite a good resource for anyone planning on doing it...

http://www.surgicaleyes.com/

does anybody know if lazer surgoery also fixes stygmatism (sp?) The only reason i would do this is because i have a lazy eye that is visible when im not wearing my glasses. just a cosmetic thing tho :P

I'm thinking about it too, you can't argue that it's not worth it.