Laser eye surgery - As easy as shows like 'extreme makeover' portray it to be?

Question

Just wondering. I am considering it myself, but need assurance

- What are the chances of going blind

- Can you have it if you have a slight stigmatism

Answer 1

laser eye surgery is good only if your eyes are suitable to

have it done. Apparently from what ive been told a lot of peoples eyes are not suitable to have it done ,so dont get too excited. The only way you will know is make an appointment first to have then examined. I have spoken and seen a lot of good results of people that have had it done here in Western Australia and it is not cheap either

Answer 2

Yes the treatment is now accepted as a formal treatment - but you should take the advice of a proper optician before going in for the treatment and get you optometrist to recommend a specialist to do the procedure.

Some conditions are not treated by laser surgery - like short sightedness due to middle age..

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Important things to know about laser vision correction:

1) It can correct a certain amount of myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism.

2) Not everyone is a good candidate.  There are a few measurements like corneal thickness and topography that will help determine if your eyes would be suitable for the procedure.

3) LASIK surgery involves making a flap, which can get dislodged with trauma to the eye (though that is a fairly rare complication.  PRK surgery involves some post-op discomfort but does use a flap like LASIK.

4) Knowing what I know (I've had LASIK with good results and am an eye M.D.) I'd seek the opinion of an ophthalmologist who is either fellowship trained in corneal surgery or at least has done a significant number of the procedures.  

5) Having laser vision correction will not prevent you from needing reading glasses when you're older.

www.aao.org, the "Find an eye M.D." link, can help you find someone in your area

Answer 4

I had the surgery 6 years ago, Problems were: they didnt use enough anisthetic during the surgery in my left eye,so it HURT,only for a couple of seconds till I screamed & they put more in! I only found out after the surgery I dont close my eyes tight when I sleep,so instead of me being back to normal after a couple of days like my boyfriend was (he had the surgery the day before & was able to drive me to my appointment without his glasses the next day) it took a couple of weeks of eye drops & the silly goggles at night to keep my eyes moisturised & protected. To be honest i'v forgotten what it was like having to wear glasses or faffing around with my contacts. I would do it again (but would stress I wanted loads of numbing drops!) & apart from horror stories that all sound like myth, I havn't heard anything in the NEWS about any problems with the surgery. The checks before are very thorough.

Answer 5

Dr. Maloney has a really fantastic web site that answers a lot of your questions and more. Go to maloneyvision.com and they also can refer you to a good doctor in your area as well. They are really nice people and yes it is as easy as it looks. I am not an employee of his practice, but he is friends with the Doctor I work for and we have gone in a toured his facility and watched several surgeries and it is amazing.  Personally, if I could afford the surgery, I am not sure that I would do it. There are possible side effects and there is no guarantee that my vision would be perfect. I see 20/20 out of my glasses and my contacts and there is not a gaurantee in the world that they can give me that promises that with the surgery. I am still not convinced it is best for me. However, many of our patients in our office have had Dr. Maloney or one of his associates do one of the many proceedures that are available and have had wonderful results and just love how easy it was. The web site has a copy of his book online and it tells you how to find a good doctor, questions you should ask, and what you should consider before you leap into it. I hope you get good info from the site. I did.

Answer 6

I had the older eye surgery, RK (radial keratotomy) back in the 80's.  It is supposed to have more discomfort and a longer healing time.  I had to do one eye at a time, and after the surgery wore a patch for one day, and it gave me a slight headache.  Other than that I was fine within a week.  And my vision has been 20/20 for the last 20 years.  Lasix is said to have a much faster healing time and less discomfort.  The FDA reports no cases of a patient going blind due to LASIK.  Yes, it can treat astigmatism as well.  The risk of facing serious complications after surgery is less than 1 percent, and the risk of suffering from less serious complications is 3 percent.  Nothing beats having perfect vision, and it's so much easier and less uncomfortable than contacts over the long run.  I highly recommend it!  It changed my life.  It's not scary at all.

Answer 7

It was the best thing I ever did....I was soooo nervous about this. I have had glasses since I was around 13 years old and contacts since 16...but no more... I can see very well as if I am wearing contacts with out them in. It is very surreal because i forget sometimes that i do not have my contacts in and then i have to remind myself... the worse part was the waiting around. I go the center a 11am and did not have the actual surgery until 12:15pm. the surgery was very weird, it lasted all of 10-15 minutes and I didn't feel a thing. The weirdest part was when the "flap" was removed and my vision went to 95% black. luckily the doctor told me that this would happen. after the flap was made the laser has to do it's job and it smelled like something burning, again the doctor told me this. the doctor was so wonderful i would soo recommend the lasik plus clinic in towson, md. to anyone who is think about getting this done. If anyone wants help deciding if you should get this done, I will tell you at this point it it so worth the nervousness and cost, just go and do it, you will not regret it..

Answer 8

the DR. on that show is a highly trained pro. and NO you should not have laser surgery  because the long term results are not known yet .  Dr Malone was trained at EMORY university in   atl GA