Lasik

[mbossman2]

anybody here had LASIK surgery?

I am thinking about it.

[mystvearn]

What is your current power? The stronger the power, the higher the risk. The older, the higher the risk. But lasik has gone thru lots of improvements. The treatment used to last 15 days. Consult your doctor and get an eye examination. If everything is fine, then you will have perfect sight, if not, blured vision, double vision, or worse lost of sight can occur

[TwoRails]

I haven't, but I know at least 5 folks that have had it done. So far, they've all be happy with the results. For me personally, that's just to scary for me :eek: The sucess rate is pretty good, but my big cocern (after "sucess") is what happens 10... 20... 30 years down the road? Lots of medical procedures seem OK at first but turn out not too good years after.

[mbossman2]

current vision is -3.50. I share the same concerns as tworails but hve yet to talk to an actual MD yet.

[rspassey]

Personally, I would recommend against it. Vision is one of the most essential senses; we can go without being able to taste or smell, but if something happened to your eyes, your life would change significantly in a few seconds. I guess you should ask yourself if wearing glasses or contacts now is SO BAD that you feel you have to get eye surgery. My cousin's daughter (cousin in young 20s, and her daughter is 6 or 7) just had the eye surgery because she had some pretty bad sight and eye alignment problems from birth; apparently it helped her, but being so young, she has 50, 60, 70 years ahead of her for something to arise. If my cousin, and I hate to say this, would have just been a little more responsible, she would have had her daughter wearing her glasses all the time as opposed to allowing her vision problems to get worse.

[Mac Medic]

I had it done 2 years ago. Best thing I ever did, I even had it filmed!..

[rspassey]

I had it done 2 years ago. Best thing I ever did, I even had it filmed!..

Out of curiosity, what was it that made you do it? I mean I wear glasses now and have to wear my glasses to drive and to do well in class (see the board); but would never think about laser surgery.

[mbossman2]

...I even had it filmed!..


what, you sit around at parties and family gatherings to show home movies? :D

[als814]

My vision is very close to your's mbossman, and I want to get lasik as well. The only problem is I'm only 19, and they recommend you are at least 21, but I'll probably wait until I'm like 25 just to be on the safe side. Just be prepared to spend a lot of money for it, you definitely don't want to go to a cheap doctor.

[Kareeser]

Both my parents had lasik done on them, and both have had glasses for the better part of their lives.

Quick surgery, resonable recovery time, and best of all, they don't need glasses for everyday situations!

They are getting on the older side, so they do need glasses to read.

Fun afternoon for the whole family :)

[Markoman01027]

This is something many people have told me about, even my eye doctor:

http://www.eyetechlasik.com/potential_risks_and_side_effects_lasik_and_prk_laser_eye_surgery.htm


HTH,

Matt

[Markoman01027]

If my cousin, and I hate to say this, would have just been a little more responsible, she would have had her daughter wearing her glasses all the time as opposed to allowing her vision problems to get worse.



From what my eye doctor told me, wearing glasses does not improve or weaken your eye vision. It is only an accomidation so you can see *Normal*. I only wear my glasses when I drive, when I need to see far away, and based on my eye exam results, my eyes aren't any better or worse than they were since I got my glasses when I was 16. I am now 21.


HTH,

Matt

[rspassey]

From what my eye doctor told me, wearing glasses does not improve or weaken your eye vision. It is only an accomidation so you can see *Normal*. I only wear my glasses when I drive, when I need to see far away, and based on my eye exam results, my eyes aren't any better or worse than they were since I got my glasses when I was 16. I am now 21.


HTH,

Matt

Perhaps. I'm just going off hearsay, but she was born with a lazy, crossed eye. Her glasses were designed to help draw the eye into it's proper location, and therefore if her muscles got used to it that way, she wouldn't need the laser surgery, but she rarely wore her glasses for 6/7 years when she finally just had to get laser. I got my glasses at 15, I'm 16 now and have a feeling my vision is getting worse (And I wear my glasses all the time that I need them).

[mystvearn]

Also does the cost of doing one surgery is cheaper than replacing glasses few times over your life time? And do you really require it. For myself, one Lasik is more expansive than changing glassses 20 times. Also some people look better with glasses on than without. So have a look at yourself.

[Mac Medic]

Out of curiosity, what was it that made you do it? I mean I wear glasses now and have to wear my glasses to drive and to do well in class (see the board); but would never think about laser surgery.

I was sick of wearing glasses/contacts and live a rather active lifestyle, so Lasik was a natural choice. It's been proven safe over time, I did a lot of research and found a doctor with a 0 failure rate and decided to go ahead and do it. I paid extra to use the newest baush & lomb machine which was proven to leave no scarring and bought the lifetime warranty. The feeling of liberation being able to see perfectly (I ended up with 20/15 vision) without glasses, to dive into a pool the 1st time and actually be able to see was well worth every penny.

I filmed it because the procedure is interesting. seeing them peel back the cornea is a little disturbing but to see what they can do in a matter of minutes per eye is amazing. A friend filmed it for me through the glass (the room is glassed in so that everyone can see the procedure) and my eyes were shown on a tv screen, so everything is up close and personal. The procedure took about 2 minutes per eye. When it was finished I walked out into the waiting room, my friend was still filming so I walked into a door jamb for the cheap laugh!...

My eyes were sore for about 2 hours after the procedure, but if you use the eye wetting drops often (every 10 - 15 minutes) it no worse then a lash in the eye.

It's safe and well worth the money for anyone whose active a lot.

[Kasturi]

Just a word of advice: Never trust a Lasik surgeon who wears glasses.

[mairving]

Just a word of advice: Never trust a Lasik surgeon who wears glasses.
I would rather have one wear glasses than one that needed to wear glasses and didn't. Lasik can't fix every eye problem, only a limited number of conditions can be fixed.

I work at a college of Optometry. Optometrists don't generally do Lasik since it is a thing that Opthalmogists do but I did find a paper that one of the doctors had written on Lasik. Some of the stats are:
<ul>
<li>LASIK is the safest of all ophthalmic surgical procedures; serious side effects only 1% that are sight-threatening. </li>
<li>Most commonly performed ophthalmic surgery in U.S</li>
<li>Low complication rates</li>
<li>High overall patient satisfaction.</li>
</ul>

An optimum candidate would be:
<ul>
<li>Large pupils (greater than 6.5mm in dim light)</li>
<li>Astigmatism >2.50D</li>
<li>Significant higher order aberrations</li>

</ul>

[FLG]

There is another form of eye surgery, they implant a lens instead of doing surgery on the eye. This means, if whatever reason your vision changes or something happens...you not stuck, they can just change the lens.

I found a few articles on it

http://vision.about.com/od/laservisioncorrection/i/laserorimplant.htm

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060823/LIFE/608230363

Might be something you should research more.

[doctorgonzo]

I found this (http://www.urbanophile.com/arenn/lasik.html) first-hand report from a person who went through it a long time ago. It's pretty interesting. I think the whole cornea flap thing would freak me out personally.

I have pretty bad vision (-5.75 and -6.5) and I normally wear contacts, but I haven't seriously considered LASIK yet.

[als814]

I take it there isn't any way they can just knock you out to do the procedure is there? I have a really hard time trying to keep my eye open when they do stuff like even just that puff of air they shoot into your eye during an eye exam.

[doctorgonzo]

I have a really hard time trying to keep my eye open when they do stuff like even just that puff of air they shoot into your eye during an eye exam.

They wire your eyes open so you can't close them; if you've seen the movie A Clockwork Orange that's basically what they do.

[SARGE]

For me personally, that's just to scary for me :eek: The sucess rate is pretty good, but my big cocern (after "sucess") is what happens 10... 20... 30 years down the road? Lots of medical procedures seem OK at first but turn out not too good years after.

And the preacher said, "AMEN".

[Kareeser]

But don't worry, als, while they wire your eye open, they keep it constantly lubricated, and your cornea doesn't have any nerves going to it, so I suppose you wouldn't feel a thing.

Over time the cornea heals by itself, but the first couple hours are the most crucial, since it is when the cornea can be easily shaken loose. (It's still attached, but not in the proper position)

[Lespaul20]

Both of my parents had it done about 6 months ago and had a friend do it about 2 years ago and his Mom did it shortly after. My parents didn't have any real bad problems, mostly dry eyes for about two weeks. My Moms cost more because of her astigmatism and was about 1400 for both eyes, also she is seeing better that 20/20 now so I think it was a success. My fiends Mom had a little worse side effects but she had pretty bad vision and they went to a real cheap doctor. My eyes are -2.50 in both and I would love to have it done but I would probably go with the intra-lase(sp) where it's all laser no cutting I believe. If I had the money I would do it. Hopefully by that time there will be a less evasive procedure.

[als814]

But don't worry, als, while they wire your eye open, they keep it constantly lubricated, and your cornea doesn't have any nerves going to it, so I suppose you wouldn't feel a thing.


Argh, just thinking about it makes me cringe. It will be worth it in the end I suppose.

[chuck4456]

Lasik works. One of my old girlfriends had it done when it was actually new. Never a problem since. Their technology is even better now. Much depends on the structure and shape of your eyeball. A good Opthamologist will know if it will work for you.

[David M]

I am considering lasik. The idea though of placing my eyeballs under a laser and having them held open Clockwork Orange style scares the hell out of me. As a boat captain, losing my vision in even one eye means I lose my license for carrying passengers for hire and therefore my livelyhood. On the other hand I hate wearing prescription glasses...they are always getting scratched and are a big nuisance in addition to being expensive at about $200 a pop about once a year.

I still have to think more about it.

[mbossman2]

well folks...lasik is now on the back burner....some jerkweed stopped short and fast on wednesday night and me, my bike and the ground (chose the "soft" dirt vs tha hard asphalt) became quite intimate....

i came away quite fortunate: broken bone in my elbow and headed towards knee surgery...but there were worse possibilities...

btw, in case you are thinking about riding: wear your gear...without it i would have been looking at:

severely lacerated hands
severely lacerated knees and elbows
significant head trauma (good scratch on the side of the helmet)
plus the damage i have now....

in case you are thinking it can't happen to you...it did to me and i have a lot more riding experience than most....

[HAL9000]

Good to hear you came out better than it could have been.... helmet pics have been shown before.. but mebbe you should snap a picture of your helmet so now people can associate that damage with somebody they know and what could have been.

[mbossman2]

as soon as i can move around better and use more than one hand i will

[TwoRails]

Glad you are still here mbossman2, and relatively not seriously damaged. Good warning you have for others to wear their gear.

[down_shift]

MBossman2, I use to ride (streetbike) to, I wrecked twice, while wearing my gear! Gear is definitely the way to go, I'm not a big gear natzi, and I didn't always wear my gear but I tried to as much as I could. Logged 17500 miles in a year then sold it.

As far as the lasik eye surgery goes, I don't regret it one bit. I now have 20/15 vision and it's awesome. I always hated wearing glasses, specially when I ride or when I play sports. It's definitely worth it.

I"ll describe the procedure. First you go in for a consultation and they will tell you if your a candidate or not. If you are you decide if you want the surgery and if you do you will come in one day before the surgery and do some pre op stuff. The day of the surgery they dialate your pupils and give you a valume(sp?). Then they numb your eyes (you can't feel a thing), they use a "microkeratome" to cut a "flap" from your cornea. Then your vision goes black, mine went black for about 5 seconds in each eye... scared the piss out of me but the doc said its normal and it came back shortly after. Then the doc pulls the "flap" back and you have to look at a laser and then it starts resurfacing your eye (you can actually smell it burning your eye to). Then after the laser he puts your flap back in place and then puts like a patch thing over your eye and then does the next eye. After the surgery you go back into the pre op room and they check your eyes and then you'll leave with some funky lookin goggles to protect your eyes from sunlight and from you rubbing them. They give you a little bag with antibacterial eye drops and steroid drops. That's pretty much it, hope this helped anyone that's looking into seriously getting lasik, its awesome!

[David M]

Down shift,
Thanks for report on your first hand experience. I am more willing to try it now. Just curious, what do they use do keep you from blinking?