Laser Eye Surgery! Anyone had it done?

Had it done... wouldn't do it again. Now have constant dry eyes and my eyes changed anyway so I still have wear glasses. Same for my mom who is 28 years older. Would not recommend. Good luck.

I dis it years ago. It worked great. Was bladeless LASIK.

Paid more toward the higher end as you want to be sure with a thing like this. Zero regret, was all upside for me.

Don't watch the videos ahead of time. You don't want that in your head during the procedure.

Did it nearly a decade ago, never regretted it once. I stopped using the eye drops after a week and never needed them again. Best 4 grand I ever spent.

I had LASIK a few years ago, best £2500 I've ever spent, should have done it years ago. I get dry eyes but regular drops solves that issue easily. Be sure to buy the best sunglasses you can for going outside the following few months after the surgery.

I had mine in 2005 so not recent. Still better than 20 20. Paid 1200 USD back then. Took 2 day off work. Super quick. Gave me a Valium before for nerves and sleeping pills and a couple pain pills for that day. Slept most the day. I was good to go the next day. Had to use eye drops a lot. I saw halos around lights like leds for a couple months.

Grossest part is when they have to cut the lenses and flip them back. I didn't feel anything but pressure But when they were done I could already see pretty perfectly.

Had it 6 years ago, best $3,000 I've ever spent. The first few months sucked a bit with halos around bright lights and, oddly, subtitles for movies, but that had gotten much better with time and I barely notice it anymore. The process was really freaky though, felt a bunch of pressure on the eye and then everything goes blurry. It was amazing when I first opened my eyes after the surgery, could almost see as well as I could with glasses within minutes.

Edit: used eye drops for dry eyes for around a year afterwards, the first couple months the eyes felt dry really often. Still too paranoid to rub my eyes directly, always just rub lightly around the eye if it feels like something is there.

wads said:

Had it done... wouldn't do it again. Now have constant dry eyes and my eyes changed anyway so I still have wear glasses. Same for my mom who is 28 years older. Would not recommend. Good luck.

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What surgery specifically did you have / what was your prescription like before (if you don't mind answering) — it might be useful to expand on this for others looking into the different options.

Make sure your optometrist does a corneal thickness measurement before scheduling an appointment for LASIK. Basically, from what I've learned from my optometrist, the most common cause of nearsightedness is a cornea that's too thick. You could also have a misshapen lens, which LASIK can also help with, but if it's your eye that's misshapen, instead, your cornea may not be thick enough to correct for it.

A friend of mine went through this around 2006. They didn't take his measurement until he was getting prepped for the surgery and he was informed right before going into the room that he wouldn't get 20/20 vision. He ended up going through with it, which allowed him to go from coke-bottle lenses to thin and light ones, but it was a lot of money for still needing to wear corrective lenses. If you get the measurement done beforehand, you won't feel pressured into making a decision on the spot.

I had LASIK done in 2005 and had the halo thing for almost a year, I think. My dry eyes lasted for 6-8 months, but I weaned myself off of the drops. Eventually age caught up to me and I went from 20/15 to 20/40 in the last couple of years. I still think it was worth it.

My mate said he loves it but he also said to be aware it may only last 10-15 years and you'll need a "top-up".

To be honest £500 a year to not wear glasses doesn't sound too bad to me.

I keep meaning to look into it. I'm mildly astigmatic so may not be eligible.

I had it done in 2016 and it's one of the best things I've ever done.

My eyes do get dry occasionally, but it's not a huge deal at all.

Do most of these laser places offer monthly payment plans? I'd love it but no way I can drop £2500-5000 in one go.

Yup, worth every penny.

Lay tight and smell your burned flesh in the process.

formasymphonic said:

What surgery specifically did you have / what was your prescription like before (if you don't mind answering) — it might be useful to expand on this for others looking into the different options.

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It's been more than 10 years at this point. I got the one they cut the flap open. Not PRK, but I don't remember what it was called. I'm assuming the tech has changed at this point so it may not be useful anyway. My eyes were -3.25 before and are -1.5 now. It's still better, but the dry eye is the worst.

Got PRK done. Best money I ever spent.

One of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. Being able to wake up, not fumble around trying to get glasses, not bothering with contacts, not buying solution, etc. Definitely improved quality of life, and if you wear contacts it will be less expensive in the long term.

is wearing glasses that bad really?

Did it 4 years ago.

No complaints. Tho I personally did like wearing glasses.

Anyways, Surgery was weird. I didn't feel pain, just a ton of discomfort since they are applying stuff to your eye and touching it. Lasted about 10 or so minutes.

Yup! I did it at the end of March... So I'm just over 3 months post-op. Loving it so far!
My eyes do get a little bit dry once in a while, but it doesn't last and it definitely has improved, and will continue to improve I suspect. My vision is great. I have 20/20 in the left eye (which had astigmatism), and 20/15 in my right eye, which is better than average.
The only thing I struggle with a tiny bit (mainly because it's summer and it's only been 3 months) is light sensitivity. Gotta keep wearing sunglasses outdoors or else my eyes start to water big time. But they do desensitize over time :). I paid about $3100 Canadian for it, but my extended health through work covered about $1000 of that, so I paid $2100 all together.

The place you get it done at does make a huge difference, because some have more precise lasers than others. Make sure to do your homework and listen to whatever suggestions your optometrist gives you.

visvim said:

is wearing glasses that bad really?

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Depends on who you are. For me, it definitely was. I'm an athlete and spend much of my time on the volleyball court or on the soccer field. Glasses just don't work for sports like that, and I sucked at wearing contacts. After about 2 hours they would start to bug me to the point where I'd start rubbing my eyes and they would just fold around and get stuck in the back of my eye sometimes. I decided once my extended health benefits kicked in that it was no longer worth it. Plus, you save money in the long run since you no longer have to buy contacts, glasses, solution etc.

I had PRK. I had an abnormally long recovery time. 9 months. Insane. I regretted it after a few months of no progress. Dry eyes, still blurry. But now? They're great. Love it.

Spouse had LASIK. No issues.

I'd still go PRK if I could, even though it had a longer recovery time. Years later, eye doctors can't tell I had it done. No flap.

visvim said:

is wearing glasses that bad really?

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Yes

Teh Hamburglar said:

Yes

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how come? I've worn them constantly for my entire life and never had any issues that I'd wanna take this kinda risk you know?

Yes. They called it different but it was basically PRK. So happy with it. More then 10 years.now. just getting old and stsrting to need reading glasses. A sacrifice I gladly make as my far vision is better then 20/20

visvim said:

how come? I've worn them constantly for my entire life and never had any issues that I'd wanna take this kinda risk you know?

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"Risk" is a heavy word. PRK has been done for so long now that the risk of anything bad happening is slim-to-none, at worst. They do some pretty detailed assessments on you ahead of time to make sure you're a candidate.

Had my RelexSmile surgery about one month ago!

Went from almost -10 diopter in both eyes to zero. I paid 4000 Euros - would recommend at least 2 weeks vacation especially if you have a desk job/ have to stare at screens a lot.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat- I can finally wear sunglasses without having to deal with contacts and seeing everything clearly when you wake up is just great! Surgery was completely painless.

visvim said:

how come? I've worn them constantly for my entire life and never had any issues that I'd wanna take this kinda risk you know?

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The risk is minimal. It's a procedure that's been performed for 20 years now. I hate having to find my glasses whenever I'm in bed and have to get up. I hate feeling glasses on my face, especially being able to see around the lenses on the periphery. I hate having to clean them several times a day. It's a pain when you go to exercise or do activities where you're moving a lot. I put eye surgery into my budget awhile ago so I can't wait to have it done.

Did it 15 years ago. I only needed it in one eye, so the risk was relatively minimal. It was the best money I've ever spent.

also did it years ago. My recommendation is to do it as soon as possible. Your eyes will go bad (or at least worsen a bit) when you're old, that's a given. Reading glasses and all that with old people. To maximize the value of the operation you should look to maximize your glasses free time in your life.

The feeling of reaching for your glasses in the morning and grabbing nothing is one of those euphoric moments in your life. Total freedom.

Laser eye surgery does not increase your chances of needing reading glasses. That's natural aging of the eye, and it's simply something laser eye surgery cannot correct. If you're going to need them, you're going to need them.

Apparently some slight astigmatisms can reduce the likelihood of needing reading glasses in the future, so if the laser eye surgery happens to correct that slight astigmatism, then that may make you prone to reading glasses in the future.

A coworker did LASIK two years ago, he's extremely happy about it, the procedure is fast and care is minimal after it.

Sirenja said:

Had my RelexSmile surgery about one month ago!

Went from almost -10 diopter in both eyes to zero. I paid 4000 Euros - would recommend at least 2 weeks vacation especially if you have a desk job/ have to stare at screens a lot.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat- I can finally wear sunglasses without having to deal with contacts and seeing everything clearly when you wake up is just great! Surgery was completely painless.

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2 weeks? I thought about 3 days or so. Is it the dry eyes?

Had it done 3 weeks ago. So worth it. 20/15 vision less than 24 hours after the procedure and it seems to still be improving.

I did have quite the dry eye for a little less than two weeks after but right at the two week mark it seemed to have just gone away. The dry eye is very real. Still put in the drops every hour or so out of precaution but seems great at this point.

No halos or night issues for me at all.

The procedure itself was super simple and I experienced no discomfort at all. Far easier than I imagined. I was a nervous wreck the week prior and it was totally unwarranted.

I had it on a Friday and was working normally on Monday.

Honestly, as many have said, I should have done it years ago. Would do it again if I had to.

Cbrun44 said:

Had it done 3 weeks ago. So worth it. 20/15 vision less than 24 hours after the procedure and it seems to still be improving.

I did have quite the dry eye for a little less than two weeks after but right at the two week mark it seemed to have just gone away. The dry eye is very real. Still put in the drops every hour or so out of precaution but seems great at this point.

No halos or night issues for me at all.

The procedure itself was super simple and I experienced no discomfort at all. Far easier than I imagined. I was a nervous wreck the week prior and it was totally unwarranted.

I had it on a Friday and was working normally on Monday.

Honestly, as many have said, I should have done it years ago. Would do it again if I had to.

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Had mine done three months ago and this was pretty much my experience exactly.

Maybe the best money I've ever spent. Minor dry eye for two weeks and then perfect vision all the time.

I was thinking about getting it done a year or so ago but ended up deciding to wait out the bionic lens development.



https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/bionic-lens-implant-perfect-vision/
http://ocumetics.com/info.update.html

They are undergoing trials now (a year behind schedule) so hopefully within 2019-2020'ish it'll be available to market.

I did a year ago, one of the best purchases in my life. Glasses-free life is great.

Did it last year. Great decision.

Yep! But I was expecting a cyclops level beam, but it's quite a bit less powerful than that.

I bought a Groupon a few years back and when I went for the evaluation they told me my cornea is too thin for the procedure.

I'm glasses for life ;_;

I know the chances are low (or even nonexistant), but blindness would be the only thing I can think of that would make me consider suicide.

I was looking for some info thinking about doing it too, but I saw quite a few people develop myopia again. One of my coworkers had to wear glasses again in three years (it regressed 100%, according to her). Not to mention the sore eyes, and apparently, you can't donate your corneas too.

On the other hand quite a few people really like it. I think you should be fully informed of the good and bad experiences, because I noticed that this surgery has a really strong marketing around it. My doctor even tried to push me into doing it.

PS: My myopia degree is relatively low, too. If you have a higher degree maybe it's worth a try anyway.

Greatest decision of my life.

not had it so i'm not in the same position to be able to talk about it as others in this thread who've had the procedure. tbh i'd certainly think about it for myself as i currently wear a prescription.

i'm not about to try and gainsay the experiences of people in this thread who have had lasik, i haven't, so listening to their experience is valuable.

that being said, this article came up in june in the new york times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/well/lasik-complications-vision.html

A recent clinical trial by the F.D.A. suggests that the complications experienced by Mr. Ramirez are not uncommon.


Nearly half of all people who had healthy eyes before Lasik developed visual aberrations for the first time after the procedure, the trial found. Nearly one-third developed dry eyes, a complication that can cause serious discomfort, for the first time.

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most Lasik surgeons maintain that soreness, dry eyes, double vision and other visual aberrations like those suffered by Mr. Ramirez subside within months for most patients.

That was the case for Justin Puglisi, 39, a letter carrier active in the Air National Guard. He experienced dry eyes for a few weeks after undergoing laser vision correction last September but no longer needs to use wetting eye drops.

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Dr. Donnenfeld wrote a frequently cited 2016 review paper that reported the vast majority of Lasik patients were satisfied. He counsels patients that symptoms like halos and excessive glare may get worse in the short term but improve over time, except in the "rare patient."

Yet few studies have followed patients for more than a few months or a year, and many are authored by surgeons with financial ties to manufacturers that make the lasers.

One such study, written by the global medical director for a large laser eye-surgery provider, reported high satisfaction rates among patients five years after Lasik.

But the study also found that even after all those years, nearly half had dry eyes at least some of the time. Twenty percent had painful or sore eyes, 40 percent were sensitive to light, and one-third had difficulty driving at night or doing work that required seeing well up close.

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i don't wish to concern anyone, but i guess with something like this it's worth going in open eyed. this doesn't detract from the many many people who lasik seems to have helped, but i know for myself, as someone who would also be eligible i'd certainly be concerned by the above issues if i ever decided to give it a go.

spineduke said:

Regression is very limited in general - people can typically regress 1-1.5 degrees over the course of a decade. The doctor I did it with insisted that I should have had no major changes to my myopia in the last few years, among the other typical checks on the health of the cornea etc. So unless she had only 1-2 degrees, its possible that her myopic situation wasn't stable at all, and she was already on her way to further regression before the op. This is really on the doctor to assess and advise if she should have gone ahead with the surgery in the first place.

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I think this is definitely possible. I know other people that just started to need glasses and jumped straight into doing the surgery, I don't doubt it might be her case.

I wouldn't blame her, though. When my doctor (good reputation and all) examined me he said I shouldn't worry because I was already stable. I only have 2 degrees and I'm still pretty young. I didn't do it and now, only 6 months later, I'm feeling my vision is getting slightly worse. I think if I had done it back then I would be regressing by now.

So maybe the op should just make sure his degree is undoubtedly stable before proceeding with the surgery, and avoid doctors that only work doing it.

ExInferus said:

2 weeks? I thought about 3 days or so. Is it the dry eyes?

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I could already see well after 3 days but stuff like reading on my phone or computer screen was very strenuous and blurry in the beginning! Doc said this is normal and takes some time (about two months) bc I had such high diopter!

One month after the surgery reading on the phone (even small stuff) is no problem but sometimes my sight gets a little bit blurry at work- especially during long shifts.
It's just very stressful for the eyes!

My girlfriend had it done and she has crazy good vision.