LASIK Eye Surgery

Anyone had it, or know someone who has?

My vision is bloody awful and I'm thinking about having LASIK done.

Any experiences or thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks!

Yes, I did it about 7 years ago. One eye at a time, 6 months apart.

My prescription was -3.75 and -4.00, 3 weeks after the operation I was 20/20 and 20/15! I so totally recommend it - just make sure you know WHO is doing it and if they have lawsuits or malpractice problems.

The only problem I had was when they did my right eye. The doctor, after the operation when he was placing my mostly-cut-off cornea back on top, went "oops, oh that's ok, just a little wrinkle".... well, that little wrinkle was not ok and I have a slight astigmatism in my right eye. (like seeing a vague copy of what you are looking at, mostly lights, have double-vision.. it's been years now so my brain has mostly compensated for it and I do not consciously notice it.



Still all in all, faaaar better than contacts or glasses.

I'm in the same boat as you junctionalfunkie.. i've wanted to have it but never knew enough about it. i have friends that have had it done. 3 have had zero problems. 1 friend see's halo's at night. they all had the operation by the same dr. if it was not for my friend that see's halos i would have had it done a long time ago. i hate wearing glasses and contacts don't work for me. i'm legally blind in both eyes (without glasses of corse) i wish i could get rid of them forever, but don't want to screw with my only set of eyes.

I had awful eyesight - wore glasses from the minute I got up til I went to bed since I was 12 years old - had it done and love it. No problems - - had the survery at 2 PM one day and was back at work in from of my PC the next. I recommend it.

^ How long ago did you have the procedeure done, travelaroundNC?

Thanks for the replies so far. My eyes are -6.00 and -6.50. Pretty bad.

Funny story: years ago, when I didn't take very good care of myself, I went for months wearing only one contact lens (because I only owned the one, and no glasses).

A friend came by, shoved a tab of acid in my mouth, produced some heroin, and we each took a nice shot.

"There's some girls we're gonna meet in a while." He tells me.

Cool.

Then my one lens falls out of my eye. I'm practically blind, with no recourse, high as fuck, with a blind date in an hour.

I beg my friend to take me round to the eye doctor I had seen last, almost two years before. He does, and blind, tripping, and smacked-out, I go in and somehow convince them to give me a couple of disposables for the emergency.

Amazing, since lots of times my contacts have to be specially ordered (because I'm so fuckin blind).

Anyway, it'd be cool never to have to worry about anything like that happening again.

lifeisforliving-You mean you're conscious for the procedure? Just local anesthetic? No good dope?

junctionalfunkie said:

lifeisforliving-You mean you're conscious for the procedure? Just local anesthetic? No good dope?

Click to expand...

Local anesthetic, they gave out a 10mg valium (like THAT would do anything to me), but I brought my own dope to chill me out for the operation - which in hindsight was a great idea. At one point you have to sit staring at a laser for 30 seconds or so - and not move your eyes at all, which is greatly facilitated by benzo's.

The procedure is at times uncomfortable and weird, but no pain. The pain comes the NEXT day. lol. But they gave me excellent topical anesthetic (procaine or something like that), in eye drops which 100% removed the pain. After a week, all pain was gone, and excellent vision was there. Totally cool.

If you have under -6, I strongly suggest a surface ablation(PRK/LASEK/EPI-LASIK) as opposed to LASIK. It may mean some extra pain and taking a week off work, but you'll be glad you made that choice for years to come. It's far less invasive and less prone to complications. It also leaves the support structure of the eye intact and does less damage to nerves endings on the cornea which means less permanent dry-eye problems. Trust me, dry eye isn't fun, and it lasts forever.

PRK means grating the surface of the eye, LASIK means slicing a grove all around it, peeling a layer off and ablating under then putting hte flap back in place. The flap never heals completely, you ever get a punch in the face or go snorkelling with LASIK eyes and you're in for trouble.

Just think PRK is the only type of laser that the US army permits on it's special forces.

I had PRK done last october, I was -4.75/-5.00 with astigmatism best decision I ever made. Plus I'm a kickboxer and had I done lasik I could never have gotten back on the ring. My eyes hurt like hell for a week.

Okay, having my eye "sliced" doesn't sound too pleasant. I've been considering LASIK as well, (my eyes are both prescription -7.25..I know that's terrible, and I'm sick of people gasping when I say that) but I have to wait until my eyes stop changing. According to my doctor, that means waiting till I'm 21. I figure by then it will be improved and there will be even less chance of complication.

I've had it done in a "third world" country, and it's still a breeze not only compared to other surgeries, but more importantly all the hassles of eyeglasses and/or contact lenses.

After a couple of years my left eye became a bit weaker than the other one, so I had to go in for an extra session.

Highly recommended on my end.

how much did it cost for the whole operation? did it hurt?

I've known tons of people who've had it and it all worked out eventually for them (one had bad vertigo for several weeks). I still wear contacts.

Well, I should update this thread, as I wound up having the surgery five months ago. The pre-op revealed that my corneas were actually too thin for LASIK, so I had a similar procedure called PRK instead.
The operation is virtually the same, but the recovery is a bit more involved than LASIK, and there is supposedly more post-op pain involved (I say 'supposedly' because I honestly don't know how much pain is involved. In my cowardice, I procured a gram of heroin for my recuperation . A damn good thing, too, since they only gave me worthless Darvocet).

So, it went perfectly. I have had no side effects at all, and my vision stabilized at 20/15 within a week of the surgery, where it remains.

All in all, extremely satisfied. I got a plan that allows for tweakings in the future if necessary.

Total cost was $2650.