Anyone ever get LASIK eye surgery? How has it been?

[Jobbs]

Had dry eyes for like a year after the procedure. Also have some issues with ghosted vision in both eyes (basically faint extra images offset from the main image, most noticable in high contrast). Glasses can help a bit with this so I still wear glasses.

On balance it's still better than being helpless without glasses, but I can't say it was 100% perfect for me.

 

[StrykerIsland]

What is the difference between PRK and LASIK? And what made you go with it?

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Lasik cuts into the layer, PRK completely dissolves it. I didn't like the idea of cutting, lol.

It can be rough to start, everything people say is accurate. Halos, difficult night driving, dry eyes, etc. But it all goes away over time and all you are left with is great eyesight.

Best money I ever spent and the fact that now 13 years later I'm thinking about doing it again tells you I don't regret it one bit.

 

[DarthMasta]

Got LASIK 20 years or more ago, was pretty painful for a few days, has been going great since then, night vision is a bit impacted but nothing too bad.

 

[Aztechnology]

Had it done this year, stellar results have 20/12 vision. Very minor if any discomfort. Just had to keep using drops for a while. Vision steadily improved over a few day period. Has been awesome.

 

[gcubed]

I'll take halos at night to be able to see while skiing or mountain biking, or anything else where I should get prescription lenses but don't want to deal with the hassle and expense. I had mouth surgery (palette expander surgery) as a 40yo last year, and my braces are coming off in a few months, so let's celebrate by getting my eyes lasered

 

[Kanhir]

Had it done five years ago (-3.5, -5.5 => 20/20), regret nothing. My eyes were already light sensitive before, so the effects didn't hit me as much. Not having to wear glasses or contacts is as much of a game-changer as you'd expect it to be.

The 24 hours after surgery are awful, though. Make sure you bring someone to look after you, stay inside for the day and make sure you keep your eyes numb with the eye drops they give you.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Got it many years ago, probably about 20 years. One of the most life-changing (for the better) events in my life. Can't recommend it enough if you need glasses at all times.

The only thing is, I'm 43 now and both me and my SO are getting presbyopia, which I can't do anything about but her, still having myopia, can take off her glasses to fix. So that's another factor to take into account if you're around this age or older; it's like having glasses all the time so you can't take them off to focus on things that are very close. But it's still a very good tradeoff, and even if I end up needing close range glasses it will be better than needing glasses pretty much all the time.

 

[Josh378]

Had Lasik surgery last year. In love with the surgery since. Ended up with 15/20 vision. Best 4k investment ever. Feels good to be liberated from wearing glasses!

 

[Knugen]

Had it done 4 years ago, best decision I've made.

 

[Nerdcy]

4k doesn't seem too bad for American prices haha. I'm curious, if you have success once with LASIK, does that mean you'll always have success getting lasik again? Or is there always a risk? Is the night time driving in the rain still doable? Are you able to make it home or do you have to pull over on the side of the road?

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I think every time they do the procedure there is a chance that something could go wrong. But I went from not being able to see my hands in front of my face to no glasses so it was worth the risk for me. It really is a very short procedure and as long as you're getting it done from someone who knows what they're doing, I really do think it's luck on whether you get the bad side effects afterward. Of course, I was very rigorous about aftercare. Wore the eye glasses/mask for 2 full week, never touched my eye, put in eye drops three times a day, didn't watch TV/stare at a screen for 48 hours and gradually phased screen time in, etc.

If I know it is going to rain at night, I try to avoid it (either leaving earlier or having my husband drive). If it starts raining, I can make it home but I am definitely driving slower than normal on the right lane (I'm talking about a 4 lane highway, a normal road with just a regular number of cars is absolutely fine).

 

[Primal Sage]

Worst decision I ever made. Had perfect sight using glasses before. After the surgery I have perfect sight on one eye while wearing glasses and 80% sight on my previosly dominant eye... using glasses. I sometimes get headaches due to not having equal vision.

It's great if you're not in the 1% that have issues and still need glasses afterwards. I not only still need glasses, I have demonstrably worse sight than before.

It's a gamble. A gamble with very good odds that it will turn out great. But never forget, it IS a gamble.
I would pay almost anything to have the sight I had before the surgery.

I've partly destroyed my love of reading. Stupid, stupid, stupid....

Also remember, even if everything goes perfectly, it is still temporary. Depending on your age, you might get 10-20 years of improved (and possibly glasses-free) eyesight but you will absolutely get long sighted again. You might be able to have another operation then but that depends on the thickness of your corneas. And whether you want to take a new gamble. Especially since the longevity of another (let's assume successful) operation will be even shorter due to your age. We all get long-sighted with age. The operation won't change that.

 

[hydro94530]

I got lasik done a little over 3 weeks ago. It's been a bit of a nightmare so far I must say. I had my left eye develop striae overnight which was found thr following morning at my follow up. I didn't do anything wrong I just won the 3% lottery, lucky me. They had to re lift the flap and re float it back into place in the office and sent me home with a contact lens bandage. A few days later it was removed and my vision overnight turned to shit. Like from close to 20/20 with it in to something closer to 20/50 with it out. This is caused by classic lasik dry eye. Apparently my left eye was so dry I damaged my cornea just from blinking (at night it could hardly even blink at times due to how dry it was). Basically it roughed up my cornea like scratching it with sand paper. I want to say I was using shit tons of drops and followed all my post op stuff to an absolute T. I just got unlucky. Right eye is basically perfect after 3 days. Left eye is stil very blurry compared to my right. Doctor says it will clear up eventually but unfortunately there isn't really a time frame. So I just keep waiting to be happy with my vision. If I could go back in time I'd have kept my glasses. They never bothered me much anyways. I'm 38 btw and have worn glasses since I was about 12 and needed them years earlier but I hid from my poor vision due to not wanting to wear glasses as a child. My vision right now is worse than with glasses in every possible way. Closer vision worse. Night vision worse. Lots of halo and glare from lights. Objectively every aspect of this compared to wearing my glasses is worse. However when my left eye does clear up which it does for a short time now when I put drops in I can see the potential for my vision in the future when I'm fully healed and that future is great. I just have a long road to get there. Rapid recovery is probably the biggest lie about lasik. Yes you might get good stable vision within a day or two but for many many people it's often much longer than that for one or both eyes. It could take weeks or months even. I won't tell anyone not to get lasik but I will say that unless you absolutely hate wearing contacts or glasses it probably isn't worth the money or risk. I got pushed into the procedure by my wife and friends who had had it done and loved it. For my glasses never bothered me much so I didn't care. Still I eventually went along with it and I might be happy in the end I did but right now... yeah I'd have made a different decision and kept my glasses.

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Wonder if no one noticed this post but this is scary. I've thought about getting it done but my eyesight is just on the cusp of being shitty. I've had 20/15 vision my whole life but only in recent years have things been looking blurry and only in certain situations. Think I might just hold off as stories like this make me super paranoid.

 

[Kumquat]

I've been farsighted for a while now and have worn contacts as long as I can remember. My eyesight is really bad so I'm thinking of taking the plunge. How did it go for you? What's the estimated cost for surgery so I know what I'm working with.

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I'm looking to do PRK over Lasik for myself. Longer recovery but no incision is made in the cornea.

 

[Jedi2016]

Wonder if no one noticed this post but this is scary. I've thought about getting it done but my eyesight is just on the cusp of being shitty. I've had 20/15 vision my whole life but only in recent years have things been looking blurry and only in certain situations. Think I might just hold off as stories like this make me super paranoid.

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It's perfectly okay to be apprehensive, especially as this is an elective surgery. If you get far enough to talk to a doctor about it, absolutely let them know your concerns and get their input.

 

[gcubed]

Wonder if no one noticed this post but this is scary. I've thought about getting it done but my eyesight is just on the cusp of being shitty. I've had 20/15 vision my whole life but only in recent years have things been looking blurry and only in certain situations. Think I might just hold off as stories like this make me super paranoid.

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if you don't 100% need glasses then it's definitely not worth the risk

 

[Kuga]

Yeah, the "night blooming" effect is present for me but is manageable and I can still drive just fine in the dark. The only other issue I've had is that ever since Lasik my eyes have been drier than they used to be, so I use eye drops on a regular basis (it doesn't help that because of work and hobbies I stare at screens for a good part of the day). Not everyone has has this issue though.

 

[Tan]

A friend of mine did it and had non-stop pain for a year in which he consulted multiple medical professionals around the country and nearby parts of the states (we're in quebec, canada). He's gotten better now, but not 100%. If you have dry eyes sometimes already I would not recommend it.

That being said, my 80 year old grandmother did it and has better vision than my mother now.

 

[hydro94530]

It's perfectly okay to be apprehensive, especially as this is an elective surgery. If you get far enough to talk to a doctor about it, absolutely let them know your concerns and get their input.

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Very true, that would have the best route to take. I guess because I don't REALLY need it yet, my brain is like don't take the risk dude lol.

if you don't 100% need glasses then it's definitely not worth the risk

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Yeah this is my brain right here lol.

But still this thread has been super helpful so far. I never even heard of the night bloom effect people are mentioning so that's also interesting. Thanks though to both of you!

 

[FullNelson]

Got Lasik 6 years ago maybe? Bad ghosting and dry eyes have been my issues. You learn to live with them but yeah, it sucks. The risk seems low, but if you are unlucky and get the side effects, it's quite annoying.

The risk is not worth it if you ask me. Using glasses was a pain, but way better than the ghosting I'm experiencing now.

There has been some doctors that specialize in fixing my kind of issues with special contact lens. If you go and check their success stories, they are full of post-lasik patients with side effects: https://laserfitlens.com/patient-stories.

So yeah, when it works, it's amazing, but when it doesn't, it sucks big time.

 

[Spence]

7 years ago, best thing I ever did, light sensitive for a while but nothing more and it went away. 20/20 vision the day after operation which was faster than sitting in the waiting room.

 

[RR30]

Been 5 years ago definitely don't regret it a bit. My eyes were really bad and still aren't perfect and I get dry eyes sometimes but the positives far outweigh the negatives for me.

 

[thediamondage]

I got Lasik nearly 21 years ago (!), my wife got it 15 years ago. As others said, night vision is a little iffy - I can see just fine but bright lights are a bit bloomy, and vision has slightly deteriorated from 20/20 to a bit worse over a decade. I don't need reading glasses to pass a driving test but my wife does, and I probably will in a few years. I don't remember what kind of vision I had but its the kind where its harder to read stuff far away. I'd imagine the procedures to get it done today are far superior to 20 years ago.

I say absolutely do it, not having to deal with glasses or contacts ever is a huge life changer as any wearer knows.

 

[tmdorsey]

Had Lasik done on both eyes back in 2004. Procedure went well and my vision was great for about 12 or so years. Started noticing my distance vision getting worse and worse and I eventually was back in glasses, so last year I had a PRK enhancement (covered under the original Lasik warranty) in one eye. The surgeons recommended me doing one eye because of my age (43). With this procedure, I now use my left eye for distance and right eye for upclose reading. The theory is this will keep me out of reading glasses a bit longer than if I had both eyes corrected.

So far I'm pretty satisfied with the results. Have all the basic side effects (dry eye, some haloing at night) but I was already use to those after having the lasik done, lol. Eye drops helps with the dry eye and the driving at night is a little tough, but not terrible by any means. Laser eye surgery has greatly improved my quality of life and I don't regret it in the least.

FWIW, I blame my dry eye on the years of contact lenses I wore before I had Lasik done.

 

[Kumquat]

Had Lasik done on both eyes back in 2004. Procedure went well and my vision was great for about 12 or so years. Started noticing my distance vision getting worse and worse and I eventually was back in glasses, so last year I had a PRK enhancement (covered under the original Lasik warranty) in one eye. The surgeons recommended me doing one eye because of my age (43). With this procedure, I now use my left eye for distance and right eye for upclose reading. The theory is this will keep me out of reading glasses a bit longer than if I had both eyes corrected.

So far I'm pretty satisfied with the results. Have all the basic side effects (dry eye, some haloing at night) but I was already use to those after having the lasik done, lol. Eye drops helps with the dry eye and the driving at night is a little tough, but not terrible by any means. Laser eye surgery has greatly improved my quality of life and I don't regret it in the least.

FWIW, I blame my dry eye on the years of contact lenses I wore before I had Lasik done.

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Doesn't the uneven prescription cause headaches? I've had times where I only had one contact in and got splitting headaches from it.

 

[tmdorsey]

Doesn't the uneven prescription cause headaches? I've had times where I only had one contact in and got splitting headaches from it.

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I haven't noticed any more headaches than I usually get.

 

[Draenoth]

I got Lasik last June, and have been extremely happy with it so far, wish I had done it earlier. I'm 44 and had astigmatism in both eyes, but now have 20/20 vision. I had the usual side effects for the first few months; dry eye, blurry/starburst lights when night driving. But all of that cleared up by the end of 2020 and now I rarely have to use eyedrops (usually after a long day staring at a computer) and don't have any issues with night vision.

Insurance didn't cover any of it, but I work for a company that had a discount with a local place, and ended up getting everything for $3,600 (I think it would have been around $4,500 without the discount). If you can afford it, I would absolutely recommend it. It's so nice not to wake up and be unable to see without glasses, or have them fog up when wearing a mask. Not spending $300 every couple months on contacts has been great too.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

For anyone that doesn't have the nerves fully grown in the back of one of their eyes, which led to using your one eye less or just generally worse vision, did LASIK make it better? Before I wore glasses, my left eye was 20/100 and my right was 20/15.

 

[hitme]

Does anyone have problems with far-sightedness? I was thinking of getting it, but my optometrist mentioned it to me during my check up and that took me by surprise.

 

[Tawney Bomb]

I got it about two years ago. The first few weeks of night driving were awful, but it has gotten substantially better. Best investment I have made. Beats contacts killing my eyes.

 

[KAMI-SAMA]

Wonder if no one noticed this post but this is scary. I've thought about getting it done but my eyesight is just on the cusp of being shitty. I've had 20/15 vision my whole life but only in recent years have things been looking blurry and only in certain situations. Think I might just hold off as stories like this make me super paranoid.

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Yeah, I'm surprised just from the sample I'm getting from this post, the amount of people who had side effects from Lasik is higher than I thought it would be....

if you don't 100% need glasses then it's definitely not worth the risk

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I wear contacts all day and glasses at night but yeah I need them all the time.

Yeah, the "night blooming" effect is present for me but is manageable and I can still drive just fine in the dark. The only other issue I've had is that ever since Lasik my eyes have been drier than they used to be, so I use eye drops on a regular basis (it doesn't help that because of work and hobbies I stare at screens for a good part of the day). Not everyone has has this issue though.

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Yeah, I'm used to using eye drops to rewet my contacts especially since I had to wear a mask. (Turns out wearing contacts and a mask while working at a desk makes your eyes dry out like no other)

Had Lasik done on both eyes back in 2004. Procedure went well and my vision was great for about 12 or so years. Started noticing my distance vision getting worse and worse and I eventually was back in glasses, so last year I had a PRK enhancement (covered under the original Lasik warranty) in one eye. The surgeons recommended me doing one eye because of my age (43). With this procedure, I now use my left eye for distance and right eye for upclose reading. The theory is this will keep me out of reading glasses a bit longer than if I had both eyes corrected.

So far I'm pretty satisfied with the results. Have all the basic side effects (dry eye, some haloing at night) but I was already use to those after having the lasik done, lol. Eye drops helps with the dry eye and the driving at night is a little tough, but not terrible by any means. Laser eye surgery has greatly improved my quality of life and I don't regret it in the least.

FWIW, I blame my dry eye on the years of contact lenses I wore before I had Lasik done.

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Yeah I use rewetting drops when my contacts start feeling dry as hell through out the day.

 

[Kumquat]

Yeah, I'm surprised just from the sample I'm getting from this post, the amount of people who had side effects from Lasik is higher than I thought it would be....



I wear contacts all day and glasses at night but yeah I need them all the time.



Yeah, I'm used to using eye drops to rewet my contacts especially since I had to wear a mask. (Turns out wearing contacts and a mask while working at a desk makes your eyes dry out like no other)



Yeah I use rewetting drops when my contacts start feeling dry as hell through out the day.

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Quite honestly, I sleep in my contacts and wear them about 2-3 weeks at a time. Then I wear glasses for a few days, then put in a new pair. Been doing this since my early 20's and I'm 41 now. Should probably stop but I'm gonna go the PRK route in a year or so so I'm not going to worry about it much.

 

[KAMI-SAMA]

Quite honestly, I sleep in my contacts and wear them about 2-3 weeks at a time. Then I wear glasses for a few days, then put in a new pair. Been doing this since my early 20's and I'm 41 now. Should probably stop but I'm gonna go the PRK route in a year or so so I'm not going to worry about it much.

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Wait do you take them out atleast?

 

[gozu]

I've been farsighted for a while now and have worn contacts as long as I can remember. My eyesight is really bad so I'm thinking of taking the plunge. How did it go for you? What's the estimated cost for surgery so I know what I'm working with.

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Google lasik floaters before taking the jump. I regret my (expensive) lasik.

 

[gozu]

Quite honestly, I sleep in my contacts and wear them about 2-3 weeks at a time. Then I wear glasses for a few days, then put in a new pair. Been doing this since my early 20's and I'm 41 now. Should probably stop but I'm gonna go the PRK route in a year or so so I'm not going to worry about it much.

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my ex did this for years and one day REGRET PAINFUL REGRET. They got infected. Stop doing it.

 

[KAMI-SAMA]

Google lasik floaters before taking the jump. I regret my (expensive) lasik.

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They look like the floaters I already have in my eyes. I thought everyone had floaters in their eyes... Did you not?

 

[Droidian]

I have severe astigmatism, and was told it would be about $5k per eye, per treatment, and I would need a minimum of two treatments per eye.

So yeah, fuck it. Glasses it is.

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Damn, I know I have astigmatism and struggle to drive at night with glasses and contacts which is why I'm considering getting Lasik.
Here I was thinking it would only cost $3,000 per eye but you mentioning $5k...I don't know now.
I'll probably do a financing plan at that point.

I'm just waiting on my tax return to get started.

 

[FantaSoda]

I have what someone else described as the starburst effect at night. It is not as pronounced as in that picture. However, I would easily do it again in a heartbeat. I don't have to wear glasses anymore, it is fantastic!

 

[gozu]

They look like the floaters I already have in my eyes. I thought everyone had floaters in their eyes... Did you not?

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I did not have thick floaters near the center of my vision before Lasik. I have plenty of floaters in my peripheral vision, and many tiny ones that my brain or I ignore just fine. There is just this one new cluster that is truly annoying and inescapable. in the center of one of my eyes. The other one is fine.

I would have kept my glasses had I known.

Still, floaters are small potatoes, health-wise. I have more bothersome health issues to worry about so I honestly don't care all that much about them as long as I live in the dark and use dark mode on everything.

I would die I were forced to use light mode everywhere. The floaters are too distracting.

 

[Funkybee]

Had Lasik done 3 years ago. Got a 20/20 result from being far sighted with -4.5 description glasses.
Life changing.
However, I still have ocasional halos and my eyes tend to get very sensitive at night when driving and I feel like most cars have their high beams on me and i sometimes flash at them only to realize they're just on their regular low beams but FUCK some cars specially newer ones have extremely bright headlights.
The other thing I've realized is that my eyes are not as strong as they used to be, meaning i feel they get tired much faster. Also the most annoying upsetting fact in my case is that i can't ride the bicycle without sunglasses since post Lasik. The wind makes it very uncomfortable for my eyes.
So keep these in mind even tho YMMV.

 

[MaxBill1908]

I have no experience with LASIK, but I am going to get an implanted contact lens (Visian ICL) in a few days. Really looking forward to it. I have around -7 on each eye and astigmatism so the doctors advised me to get the ICL. There is no risk of getting chronically dry eyes with it. It's almost twice as expensive, but also reversible.
In case my experience interests you I can share some details after the procedure.

 

[lunchtoast]

Did it back in June, no issues. Wore glasses/contacts before and had astigmatism. Eyesight wasn't terrible but got tired of it. Don't remember any halo issues at night.

 

[spidye]

I really wanted to do this, but I've got Kerataconus and the last time I could get it done was at the age of 23 as my eye wasn't as conical. I could not raise the 30k per eye to get my sight fixed and now basically my eyesight has gotten progressively worse since. I may actually go completely blind in the next 20 years.

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Wait. Lasik is not a standard therapy for keratoconus as it doesn't stop the progression. I think you mean cross linking as it's the only way to stop the progression.
Good news about keratokonus is that it normally stops progressing after you reach your 30th birthday and beyond.
Just for my interest where do you live?

 

[Tokyo_Funk]

Wait. Lasik is not a standard therapy for keratoconus as it doesn't stop the progression. I think you mean cross linking as it's the only way to stop the progression.
Good news about keratokonus is that it normally stops progressing after you reach your 30th birthday and beyond.
Just for my interest where do you live?

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There was a point where my eyes were round enough that they could do a procedure that would have corrected my keratoconus. Cross linking did not exist at the time. From what I understand, my procedure would have involved some weird disc put under the cornea, but due to scarring it is now impossible. I am past 30, and my eyesight and eye shape is even worse now.

I am in Australia.

 

[Bunta]

I had it done in September. Glad I did it. Starbursts at night are almost gone at this point. I'm really only using the eye drops when I wake up and before bed now. I found I was using them too much and blurring my vision. My right eye was perfect pretty quickly in terms of vision, my left had to catch up a little but it's gotten there. Recovery isn't bad, your eyes will burn on the way home before going to sleep. Just follow your doctors instructions to the letter.
Not having to worry about putting in and taking out my contacts each morning/night alone have been worth it, for me.

 

[Deleted member 9330]

I really want to try and find the money to get this done, I'm getting sick of wearing glasses. This would be a total QOL upgrade.

 

[Skiptastic]

Had LASIK done almost twenty years ago and it's been one of the best decision of my life.

 

[Auros01]

Had it done back in 2014, if I remember correctly. It was about $1800/eye but that was before some insurance benefits kicked in and it was a bit extra for "lifetime" coverage, i.e. heavily-reduced cost if I need an additional vision correction later in life.
I was pretty anxious about the surgery but it went well. They had trouble getting suction on my left eye, so there was some bruising afterwards but no damage or pain related to that issue. Recovery was easy - I had a brief bout of pain on the day of for about an hour but then it subsided.

I still struggle with dry eyes and halos to this day but it's not bad. This is one of the best decisions I ever made and I always recommend it to others.

 

[spidye]

There was a point where my eyes were round enough that they could do a procedure that would have corrected my keratoconus. Cross linking did not exist at the time. From what I understand, my procedure would have involved some weird disc put under the cornea, but due to scarring it is now impossible. I am past 30, and my eyesight and eye shape is even worse now.

I am in Australia.

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Ok thanks for the info. I am sorry but it seems you have a more agressive form of keratoconus and from what I understand intracorneal ring segments were planned.

depending on the scarring there are still ways to acheive a better visual acuity (DALK, total keratoplasty both more invasive corneal procedures) but I am sure you're ophthalmologist can tell you more.
Australia has actually quite the reputation for corneal surgeries (especially Sydney) but I am not sure how the health care works.

 

[Clay]

I work at an optometrists office and meet people who have had LASIK every day. Nearly everyone who's had it done says something like "I can't believe I didn't do it sooner."

 

[Talka]

Had it, love it. Some halos but it's no big deal. Such a net quality of life improvement. Wish I'd done it sooner, recommend it to anyone who can get it.