i had it done almost a year ago. only side effects are my eyes are almost constantly REALLLLLLLY dry, and sunlight is brighter than i remembered. but i still love it.
Yea, I had it done. Friggin' love it. I went from blind as a bat to 20/15 in both eyes. I haven't had any dryness like 3DGuy but the sunlight does seem brighter. My eye doctor said that this is actually because I wore glasses or contacts for so many years; having lenses over your pupils, even clear ones, actually diffuses the light.
my missus had it done a few years ago. absolutely fine , no side effects
Lasik is the best one and is done totally by machine, prk relies on the doctors hand also.
flaagan, just out of curiosity why did they make him do it one eye at a time?
Yeah I'm blind as a bat too - I have high hopes. They expect 20/30-ish right out of the gate for me which is better than what my glasses do (20/50 for contacts) I expect I'll find the sunshine to be brighter too but at this altitude sunglasses are a prerequisite anyway so no big deal.
I've been waiting to get this done as well. I haven't visited my eye doctor in awhile now, but I believe I have another year until my eyes "stop growing". As soon as I'm at that point though...gettin' that laser put to my eye. Though, it's kinda scary 'cause if something does go wrong, there goes my career...and that whole 'sight' thing. Good luck sledgy!
I talked this over with my Dr a few months back and he said some of the cheaper procedures give good results and people are pleased BUT you can normally get better results with the more expensive procedure. People who go cheaper often don't complain because some improvement is better than none at all. It's not like you can go have the cheaper done then go get the more expensive done and compair. Sometimes they do send you to a speicalist for touch up work but I would hardly call that a comparison.
Honestly I have been putting it off because I use my eyes every freakin day, its my bread and butter, screw with that and my ship is sunk. Also my percription has been getting better. Its a wierd genetic thing in my family for a time my grandpa, my dad and my brother didn't need glasses as thier eyes changed from far to near or vice versa. Mine are starting to do the same thing and I shouldn't have it done till my vision is 'set'.
The way I see it you get one chance at something like this even if my Dr is 100% full of it and all procedures are the same, I would rather go to someone who doesn't have pacients stacked up like firewood trying to burn thru 50 people before lunch. Its your eyes, 10 years from now are you really going to care what you paid? I would rather have closer to 20/20 than have bragging rights saying:
"yeah but I saved half off the second eye!"
"so is that the one under the patch?"
"yeah..."
"does it always ooze like that?"
"no thats me crying"
"you should get that looked at I'm pretty sure tears aren't green"
Totally Vig. I'm taking an art break right now so it's an opportune time to get it done. Apparently it's extremely rare for them to make your eyes worse than they are - it's usually from complications, i.e. you rubbed your corneal flap off before it was healed and it got infected/didn't use antibiotic drops etc. Logistically, if everything goes well I will have missed a total of 5 hours of work and I'm getting it done on a Monday. They give you a sedative the first night to make you sleep hard and the next day you should be good to go (fingers crossed!).
I have been thinking about this lately too, but I am not quite sure if I can afford it right now. Anyways, I have done some research and I guess I could share my findings (Keep in mind I am only a biologist, not a doctor, so take it with a grain of salt).
The scientific studies show that all major techniques (LASIK, PRK, LASEK, Epi-LASIK) are comparable in the percentage of complications, about 97% of the patients have what could be called a acceptable result with no compilcation (that's 97 out of 100 for the matematically challenged ) but only about 60% have what could be called almost perfect vision.
The remaining 3% have mostly minor complications that sometimes make a imidiate second operation necessary (make sure your doctor makes those free of charge, btw a second operation a few years later is often necessary), but depending on the thinkness of the lasered area it might not be possible to do so (In that case I personally would advise against doing the op, even if the first sitting is possible).
Comparing the techniques, than there are two major versions: LASIK with works by cutting a flap relatively deep into the front of the eye and lasering inside, and the others where just a thin layer of cells is removed by different methodes.
Usually LASIK is the method that you will get, and it has the huge advantage of a really quick recovery(1-2 days the max) and very little pain, but has other certain disadvantages that I personally wouldn't want:
The flap is probably never really strongly reconnected, since it is cut into an area of the eye that isn't recreated by the body very much, there have been cases where the flap could be reopened after several years, and the american airforce isn't using this technique out of fear it might reopen during stressing flight maneovers. But generally if you arn't working in a physically stressing enviroment (or have such hobbies) it really shouldn't be a problem.
The other problem with LASIK is that if complications occur they are usually flap related and can be quite serious as you can imagine.
LASEK/Epi-LASIK on the other hand only flaps back the top cell layer and if anything goes wrong the doctor can perform a standard PRK where the entire layer is removed.
This layer of cells is replentished naturally by the eye every few weeks so theoreticly there are no remains of the procedure, other than the ablation of the underlaying tissue that corrects the vision.
The huge dissadvantage of these other techniques (mainly PRK the others to a lesser extent) is the longer recovery time (about a week), the sometimes occuring "white fog" in the following months and the much greater pain (since the removed layer is pain sensitive).
Other general problems: if you have a very large pupil you could have problems with coronas, as only a small central part of the eye is lasered and if you can "see" out side of it because of big pupils you get these unwanted effects a lot stronger than persons with smaller pupils (everyone gets it a little bit; in the dark especially).
Oh and last but not least, there is a new laser technique called "wavefront" laser, with is supposed to give more exact measurements and thus results. It is still very new, but I think personally that if you can get it go for it as there should be no dissadvantage (it works with every methode).
BUT PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR AND NOT SOME STRANGER ON THE INTERNET
Like a motherfrakking charm. It's not perfect since it will take time for my vision to learn how to not be farsighted and a little watery but I stand amazed.
JKMakowka, I'm just sorry I didn't get this done sooner. If you can swing the cash or financing, I highly recommend it. The only downside I've found is the initial haziness/starbursts - on the upside of that I saw The Who last night and it was the prettiest show I've seen Now those are two old men who can still rock your fucking socks off. They rock harder at 60+ than most bands on their best day, for 3 hours straight without a break. The Pretenders opened for them which was a nice surprise. Outstanding show.
I was actually going to get my eyes done recently but then I heard about the whole eye flap thing. I have this huge thing where I dont like to touch tmy eyes. So I guess LASIK is out for me
Bodanski, you can get LASEK, which uses a laser to make the 'flap'. It's actually more uncomfortable from what i've read. They use more suction pressue on your eye and the laser made flap can cause pain for 2 weeks after the surgery. It also takes 5-15 minutes to cut the flap with laser, as oppesed to 3 mins with the blade.
I asked a Lasik doc about it. He says they put anestitising drops in, and you lay back. They put a ring on your eye that suctions it and gives pressure to the eye and it's not even uncomfortable. You dont see the bade or anything, they put this thing on your eye, and for a split second you just see a flash of black and thats it. They hold the flap open directly from the cut, so you dont see the tweasers or whatever they use. So it's really not all that bad. I'm trying to schedule an exam, but oddly enough they are never open when a normal human being would be off work.
It was more comfortable than I thought it would be.
The flap cutting I got with "Intralase" which is the laser cutting method. The ring and suction was uncomfortable but the cutting itself was done in less than 30 seconds for each eye, not 5-15 minutes. The first four hours after the surgery were mildly painful, nothing excruciating. It felt like the time I got drunk and fell asleep on the beach with a grain of sand in my eye which scratched the hell out of my cornea but nothing permanent. After a good night's sleep I haven't had any pain except some mild itching on the day after. They get a little dry occasionally but they always have.
The excimer laser which did the prescription cutting under the flap was 50 seconds for the right eye and 52 for the left. It's normally about 30 seconds but I had a bad prescription, farsightedness + astigmatism. Because of this I wasn't able to get the custom mapping, just traditional Lasik but my sight is vastly improved nonetheless. This was the scariest part for me because when the laser engaged it sounded like an arc welder and made me jump both times but it wasn't painful at all. The smell is pretty bad but not gagging. I'd say the entire procedure couldn't have gone over 10 minutes but of course with high anxiety comes time compression or dilation They do give you a mild sedative beforehand for the anxiety.
I'd say it really depends on your doctor for the procedure and equipment. I'd consulted with 3 other offices before settling with this office. Just take your time and find some people that you're comfortable with and don't be afraid to tell them to shove off if you don't like them. I didn't like anyone who tried to gloss over or flat-out bullshit me about pricing. The one I ended up with had modern equipment and was up front with the fact that the price is high because they have to pay for the best gear. They pampered my ass throughout the entire process and made my mom very comfortable while she was waiting for me to drive me home so the cost was worth it. The other three places had a cattle herd mentality, trying to push as many patients through as quickly as possible and I'm just not down with that kind of medical care if I have the option to avoid it. One little customer service trick I learned is to tell them right off just how dissatisfied with the previous vendor you had and they will usually mark you as someone to handle with kid gloves.
The jury is still out but for near work my vision is better than my old glasses got me to so that's a no. For far sight, it will take a while for my focus muscles to adjust. Technically I could probably see improvement from glasses but legally I'm able to drive without them. Mine is kind of a "worst case" scenario with my (previously) poor vision. I'm in the 3% that doesn't get to 20/20 or better but I'm still very pleased with the results.
Replies
Now that both are done he's enjoying the improvement it's given him to his eyesight.
Lasik is the best one and is done totally by machine, prk relies on the doctors hand also.
Yeah I'm blind as a bat too - I have high hopes. They expect 20/30-ish right out of the gate for me which is better than what my glasses do (20/50 for contacts) I expect I'll find the sunshine to be brighter too but at this altitude sunglasses are a prerequisite anyway so no big deal.
Honestly I have been putting it off because I use my eyes every freakin day, its my bread and butter, screw with that and my ship is sunk. Also my percription has been getting better. Its a wierd genetic thing in my family for a time my grandpa, my dad and my brother didn't need glasses as thier eyes changed from far to near or vice versa. Mine are starting to do the same thing and I shouldn't have it done till my vision is 'set'.
The way I see it you get one chance at something like this even if my Dr is 100% full of it and all procedures are the same, I would rather go to someone who doesn't have pacients stacked up like firewood trying to burn thru 50 people before lunch. Its your eyes, 10 years from now are you really going to care what you paid? I would rather have closer to 20/20 than have bragging rights saying:
"yeah but I saved half off the second eye!"
"so is that the one under the patch?"
"yeah..."
"does it always ooze like that?"
"no thats me crying"
"you should get that looked at I'm pretty sure tears aren't green"
The scientific studies show that all major techniques (LASIK, PRK, LASEK, Epi-LASIK) are comparable in the percentage of complications, about 97% of the patients have what could be called a acceptable result with no compilcation (that's 97 out of 100 for the matematically challenged
The remaining 3% have mostly minor complications that sometimes make a imidiate second operation necessary (make sure your doctor makes those free of charge, btw a second operation a few years later is often necessary), but depending on the thinkness of the lasered area it might not be possible to do so (In that case I personally would advise against doing the op, even if the first sitting is possible).
Comparing the techniques, than there are two major versions: LASIK with works by cutting a flap relatively deep into the front of the eye and lasering inside, and the others where just a thin layer of cells is removed by different methodes.
Usually LASIK is the method that you will get, and it has the huge advantage of a really quick recovery(1-2 days the max) and very little pain, but has other certain disadvantages that I personally wouldn't want:
The flap is probably never really strongly reconnected, since it is cut into an area of the eye that isn't recreated by the body very much, there have been cases where the flap could be reopened after several years, and the american airforce isn't using this technique out of fear it might reopen during stressing flight maneovers. But generally if you arn't working in a physically stressing enviroment (or have such hobbies) it really shouldn't be a problem.
The other problem with LASIK is that if complications occur they are usually flap related and can be quite serious as you can imagine.
LASEK/Epi-LASIK on the other hand only flaps back the top cell layer and if anything goes wrong the doctor can perform a standard PRK where the entire layer is removed.
This layer of cells is replentished naturally by the eye every few weeks so theoreticly there are no remains of the procedure, other than the ablation of the underlaying tissue that corrects the vision.
The huge dissadvantage of these other techniques (mainly PRK the others to a lesser extent) is the longer recovery time (about a week), the sometimes occuring "white fog" in the following months and the much greater pain (since the removed layer is pain sensitive).
Other general problems: if you have a very large pupil you could have problems with coronas, as only a small central part of the eye is lasered and if you can "see" out side of it because of big pupils you get these unwanted effects a lot stronger than persons with smaller pupils (everyone gets it a little bit; in the dark especially).
Oh and last but not least, there is a new laser technique called "wavefront" laser, with is supposed to give more exact measurements and thus results. It is still very new, but I think personally that if you can get it go for it as there should be no dissadvantage (it works with every methode).
BUT PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR AND NOT SOME STRANGER ON THE INTERNET
I asked a Lasik doc about it. He says they put anestitising drops in, and you lay back. They put a ring on your eye that suctions it and gives pressure to the eye and it's not even uncomfortable. You dont see the bade or anything, they put this thing on your eye, and for a split second you just see a flash of black and thats it. They hold the flap open directly from the cut, so you dont see the tweasers or whatever they use. So it's really not all that bad. I'm trying to schedule an exam, but oddly enough they are never open when a normal human being would be off work.
The flap cutting I got with "Intralase" which is the laser cutting method. The ring and suction was uncomfortable but the cutting itself was done in less than 30 seconds for each eye, not 5-15 minutes. The first four hours after the surgery were mildly painful, nothing excruciating. It felt like the time I got drunk and fell asleep on the beach with a grain of sand in my eye which scratched the hell out of my cornea but nothing permanent. After a good night's sleep I haven't had any pain except some mild itching on the day after. They get a little dry occasionally but they always have.
The excimer laser which did the prescription cutting under the flap was 50 seconds for the right eye and 52 for the left. It's normally about 30 seconds but I had a bad prescription, farsightedness + astigmatism. Because of this I wasn't able to get the custom mapping, just traditional Lasik but my sight is vastly improved nonetheless. This was the scariest part for me because when the laser engaged it sounded like an arc welder and made me jump both times but it wasn't painful at all. The smell is pretty bad but not gagging. I'd say the entire procedure couldn't have gone over 10 minutes but of course with high anxiety comes time compression or dilation
I'd say it really depends on your doctor for the procedure and equipment. I'd consulted with 3 other offices before settling with this office. Just take your time and find some people that you're comfortable with and don't be afraid to tell them to shove off if you don't like them. I didn't like anyone who tried to gloss over or flat-out bullshit me about pricing. The one I ended up with had modern equipment and was up front with the fact that the price is high because they have to pay for the best gear. They pampered my ass throughout the entire process and made my mom very comfortable while she was waiting for me to drive me home so the cost was worth it. The other three places had a cattle herd mentality, trying to push as many patients through as quickly as possible and I'm just not down with that kind of medical care if I have the option to avoid it. One little customer service trick I learned is to tell them right off just how dissatisfied with the previous vendor you had and they will usually mark you as someone to handle with kid gloves.
I'm curious though, you said your vision is greatly improved. Do you still need glasses?
The jury is still out but for near work my vision is better than my old glasses got me to so that's a no. For far sight, it will take a while for my focus muscles to adjust. Technically I could probably see improvement from glasses but legally I'm able to drive without them. Mine is kind of a "worst case" scenario with my (previously) poor vision. I'm in the 3% that doesn't get to 20/20 or better but I'm still very pleased with the results.