Considering corrective vision surgery, have you had it?

Question

I currently wear contact lenses/glasses for nearsightedness. I am considering having corrective vision surgery (laser, lasik, etc..). I am wondering if anyone else has had it done for nearsightedness and if you would recommend it? Any information would be helpful, thanks!

Answer 1

I had lasik done for nearsightedness and it turned out great it was one of the best things I ever did I have 20/20 vision now and love it. I think the percentage of bad cases is small.

You can get free exams and consultations at a lot of places then you can read up on alot of the independent info.

http://www.lasiksurgeryfiles.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LASIK

Answer 2

the best (and sometimes scariest) part of this site has to be the variety of answers/opinions you get!

OK, that being said, i want to comment on some of the comments! :) if someone suffered a retinal detachment after LASIK, that tells me two things. Their pre-screening was poor, and they never should have been cleared for surgery in the first place. It is very unfortunate that it happened. When you are trying to decide where to have your LASIK, keep this one thing in mind. In my experience MOST of the time, the surgeon only does the actual surgery, not the pre- and post-op exams, not the initial consultation. You need to be just as comfortable with the technicians in the office as you are with the surgeon and his credentials!

As far as having dry eyes after surgery. This is a known after effect. If an office *does not* tell you this, you should be wary of what else they are not telling you. Is it a life long condition? Well, this is what I tell my patients, and I believe it 100%. After surgery you are using a ton of drops, both medicated and artifical tears. For a week (or more) your eyes are being flooded. Now, most of our patients come in to our office with dry eye sypmtoms and don't even know it. But once it is treated, and once you feel how good your eyes feel when they are hydrated, you become almost hyper-sensitive to when they get dry. You notice it more. Using artifical tears is never a bad thing. You put lotion on your hands and feet, why not a little "lotion" (artifical tears) for your eyes.

Also keep in mind... LASIK treats distance vision only (unless you have a mono-vision treatment, but that is a whole other post!!) You can pretty  much bank on needed reading glasses when you hit your early to mid 40's. This does not mean your LASIK has "worn off" it is just part of the aging process. The muscles that hold the lenses in the back of the eye become weak, and that is completely different from the LASIK treatment that is applied to the front surface of your eye.

I agree... do your homework. Get consultations for different offices, be comfortable with the whole staff, ask about their equipment.

Another thing... whether you have LASIK or Intralase...there is a flap created in both cases. Intralase creates the flap using a laser, and LASIK uses a microkeratome (that does have a very small blade in it) After the flap has been created, the laser portion of the treatment is ABSOLUTELY the same. If the whole flap thing scares you, then you can opt for AST (sometimes called PRK or Epi-LASIK) however there is a much longer healing time and greater possiblilty for discomfort.

Whew... I could go on and on about LASIK. It's my passion! I hope I helped a little bit and was happy to do so!

Answer 3

I haven't had it done but my father is an eye surgeon. Do not ger lasik. It sucks. Lazer is a better choice!!!

Answer 4

Vision correction surgery is etching your prescription on to your eyeballs. Most people with artificial corrections(glasses, contacts, lasik) have experienced that their vision is blurry again after 1 to 3 years.

Artificial corrections do not deal with the real issues of blurry vision so vision tends to get worse and worse year after year.

Answer 5

I think it depends on your eyes. I know 4 people that have had it done.

3 of them now have perfect vision but suffer dry eyes

1 of them had a retina detachment

and the other still needs glasses.

So, really you need to get opinions.

Be honest with yourself and your health. Some people have conditions like diabetes or macular degeneration that will double the risks.

Just get different opinions. Research Intralase vs pure LasiK (one cuts a flap in your eye...the other doesn't...can't remember which is which)

Just speak to a professional...get reviews on your Doctor and PLEASE don't just go on price...you only have 2 eyes!!