Astigmatism and Lasik?

Question

I have had the privilege of wearing glasses for almost 30 years because I was lucky enough to have astigmatism and near sightedness. Yeah!! <Hope you can read the sarcasm I wrote this with>

I am seriously considering Lasik treatment to correct my vision. I am scheduled for a consult in a few weeks. A general search on line gives both all the wonder stories about how Lasik changed 'my life' and conversely how Lasik robbed 'me of my night vision.'

I've read the theories and procedures and have a degree of comfort understanding them.

My question is: Has anyone with astigmatism and nearsightedness had the procedure? What were the results? Do you regret it? Would you recommend it?

Any and all thoughts would be greatly appreciated. It will be nice to read comments from 'real people' and not from company advertising.

Thanks

Scott (39 years old)

Answer 1

Yes, the result was good. Not at all. Yes would strongly recommend it. Nite vision will be reduced and dryness will set in after the surgery for about 3 months. Afterwhich it will goes off.

Answer 2

Hi Scott,

I was about 20/250 and had astigmatism before Lasik surgery a couple of years ago. The procedure was painless, probably due to the eye numbing drops and Valium they gave me. The ride home (as a passenger, of course) was fairly uncomfortable, mainly due to light sensitivity. The doctor gave me dark goggles, but the light was still too bright. I was in some pain once I got home (maybe 3 hours post procedure), but I had some left over Vicodin, and took two doses of that. The Vicodin took the edge off. Slept fine that night. Woke up the next morning, and I COULD SEE FINE! Hallelujah! I was jazzed up about that. I drove myself to my one day check up (an 2 hour round trip) with no problems, although I did bring someone with me, as a backup driver, should it have been necessary. For that check up, I was seeing at 20/25, less than 24 hours after the surgery. I went to work that afternoon (doing ultrasound which really requires you to use your eyes). For my one week check up, I was seeing between 20/20 and 20/15. Other than the touch of pain I had post procedure, before I went to bed for the night, I had no other problems. I would do it again in a heartbeat!  No more glasses, no more contacts, no more cleaning solutions and saline!

My advice would be to talk to everyone....talk to your family, friends and co-workers. Then ask your family, friends and co-workers to talk to their family, friends and co-workers....you get the idea. I found my surgeon by word of mouth. I asked everyone I know if they had Lasiks (or knew anyone who had Lasiks), and what doctor they went to. Almost everyone I talked to in my area went to the surgeon I ended up going to, and everyone was perfectly satisfied. I went into the procedure very confident!

Just one other thing....I went to a doctor who used computerized, laser equipment. No knives were involved. But, it cost me a pretty penny. I paid $5500 for both eyes, but I was not comfortable going to a doctor that advertised in the newspaper for $500 per eye. Sometimes you get what you pay for! Good luck to you!

Answer 3

My significant other had laser eye surgery a year ago in Dec. (it was done in Montreal, Canada-the best place to have it done). He is so happy. Right from the preliminary procedures to the final laser work was perfect-without a problem. He came out smiling and was thrilled to be able to see more than 1 foot away for the first time in his whole life without glasses. He is still doing great-went for the 1 year check up in Dec. The people in Montreal have perfomed thousands and thousands of procedures. They have the best and latest equipment and an extremely skilled and caring staff. I am farsighted but would jump at the chance to have it done on me. Unfortunately, I am not a candidate.

Answer 4

I had both as well.  After my consultation, I opted to go for the surface ablation procedure – also referred to as PRK.  I also had read the horror stories about LASIK and was just too creeped out by the whole your cornea never truly heals back.   In PRK, they remove the thin layer of cells on top of your cornea and then do the procedure.  They never cut your cornea.  You do have a longer recovery time and not so much of the “WOW” factor, but I felt more comfortable with it.  I will be honest, the first month was not fun.  You think that maybe you made a mistake since you can’t see all that clearly.  I am now just two months out.  While I still have some blurry times (especially late at night) and some dry eye, I am so glad that I did it.  It is so nice to be able to see in the shower and go to the pool and be able to see.  My vision is 20/20 in both eyes.  They will tell you that it will take up to 6 months for everything to settle down.  My doctor told me that the dry eye and blurry times (usually caused by eye fatigue) will eventually go away.

If you are thinking about it, I would recommend you take a look at the PRK procedure.  In doing research, I noticed that most of the people who had problems where those who had problems with their flap.  I think the PRK is a happy medium – a less invasive procedure with the same results.  

Good luck !

Answer 5

I had CustomVue Lasik about 2 weeks ago and I was nearsighted, but didn&#039;t have astigmatism.  I did tons of research about it before hand.  A lot of those horror stories are from Conventional Lasik (like robbing the night vision), rather than CustomVue.  CustomVue costs twice as much but has better results, especially for astigmatism, glare, and halos.  CustomVue can only treat astigmatism up to the 3 diopters though.  I don&#039;t have any problems seeing at night, glare, sensitivity to light, dry eye (when I was tested before having it done, I was actually on the low side for making tears) or halos and I had 20/20 vision the next day.  There are other factors that contribute to the outcome though like eye dryness, Doctor, healing, and current prescription.  If you don&#039;t have a super high prescription and have a good cornea thickness, I&#039;m sure it will turn out fine.  Best money I&#039;ve ever spent.  Good Luck!