Who has had lasik? How long has it been and what are your experiences?
 

I am looking at my flexible spending plan with my employer and realizing that if I end up not using the pre-tax money this year (2015) I can use both the 2015 and 2016 money as long as I get a procedure done before March 15th of 2016.

I am contemplating doing this to pay for lasik next year. Before I do that, I am interested in hearing who had lasik, how old you were when you got it, how long it has been, and what if any issues you had post surgery and ever since.

A friend of mine seemed to have problems with eye dryness following his surgery about 8 years ago but I never asked if that continued on past the first year or so. Also, I year that lasik is not permanant and over time you would have to have the procedure again because of natural aging.

For the record, I am 37 and by the time I get it done I would be knocking on the door of 39. I am pretty happy with glasses and contacts but they are a bit of a bummer sometimes having to keep track of a spare set of glasses when my eyes get tired at the end of a long day. Also, I can't ride a motorcycle or anything where there is excess air rushing near my eyes as it dries out my contacts and leads to them getting stuck in odd places where the vision is blurry.

Well... thoughts?

My brother, at least 10 years ago, he's 37 now, doing excellent.
He wore glasses since he was 3.
No personal exp.

I'm going for a regular old glasses/contacts exam yesterday but I am going to ask the basics while I am there. I saw a video of the procedure when they used to use the "can opener" to remove the corneal film and that was enough to turn my stomach. I hear they use a laser now?

Just trying to think of the future.

I had my Lasik procedure done almost exactly 2 years ago. Before the procedure I could only read the big E on the eye test chart, now I hover around 20/25 vision. There was severe dryness for the first few months, and moderate-minimal dryness for the better part of a year. I currently don't have any issues with dryness. The only downside I have noticed is that at night when I'm driving the "halo" around headlights, street lights etc are more pronounced than they were before the procedure. It's something I don't really notice anymore either. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

The "Halo" thing is something else I have heard. I kinda see them now with contacts and glasses... lol.

They do use a laser now. They put some sort of clap around your eye, not actually touching your eye and it helps to flatten out your eye for the laser to cut it. The clamp is by far the worst/weirdest feeling part of the procedure. Once the clamp is on they cut the flap with the laser then they flip the flap over with a small tool. Once they flip the flap open they have you stare at a dot for 10-15 seconds while the laser does its work, then they put some drops in, flip the flap shut and put some more drops, done. The only time anything actually touches your eye is when they open/close the flap.

I had it done when I was 27 and at 33 I am still happy.
Never could deal with contacts and glasses allways got in the way... Makes my life much easier.

My eyes were dry for about a month or two, can`t really remember anymore, but not a problem eyedrops won`t cure for the period.

Low light vision is down some and I feel I am more easily blinded like when driving at night or in tunnels. I get some weird glare too from sharp light sources in in low light conditions, but this it not something that I spend much time thinking about.
Methods and results are likely to be better today.

The correction is as permanent as it gets, but yes, your eyes change and at mid 40`s most of us will need reading glasses to focus properly up close. I do believe the lasik will still be fine for everything else though.

That feeling when you can smell your own eyeball being fried with a laser... :inout:

I had mine done 3 years ago, and it was done with the "can opener" method, (age 25). It was much more painful than all of the advertisements lead you to believe, but not unbearable. Your eyes are sore for a few days afterwards and don't work very well. Eye drops help a lot, and I was prescribed some sort of tear promoter medicine.

prior to the surgery, I was functionally blind without glasses or contacts, so it has been a godsend for me. If your eyes were as bad as mine, I cannot recommend it enough. I do occasionally get some night vision problems, headlights and streetlights make can make it difficult to drive at night. Usually this is only a factor at the tail end of a 6 hour or more car drive. I think my eyes get tired, or dry causes the problem. They are fine after sleeping it off.

I had PRK done a little over a year ago , best money I've ever spent. I didn't drive for a week after surgery, experienced mild discomfort for a couple three days after the procedure. It took probably 8-9 months for my eyes to settle down on a final prescription. It still amazes how much better my vision is now compared to with glasses . Not to mention the benifits of not wearing glasses or contacts. Fred B

I had Lasik done 10 yrs ago, and still 20/20. No problems what so ever. All I need are reading glasses for up close.

Wife had hers done a out a year ago. She is seeing better than 20/20 and she had bad vision. I plan to do mine when I stop spending all of my money on my miata... so it might be a while.

She was seeing fine the next day. Had to use special eye drops for a while, but zero issues on her end.

Advice - talk to a few different eye Dr's and go to someone they suggest. I say a few to get a good level on who is the industry leader in your area. We have a friend in the business so he was able to direct us to a good Dr. Base it on suggestions of people in the industry and not price.

my .02

I have worn glasses since HS, mild stigmatism. fastforward and I am now 33 and my prescription has not changed in about 7 years. I am a perfect candidate for it but as much of a pain as contacts and glasses can be (not much to me) I'd rather not risk it. If they mess up well thats it for my vision and I would have "ruined" something that was not that bad.

If I was functionally blind and wearing coke bottle glasses maybe I would consider it


People that I have know to have the procedure done have had the dry eyes, as well as the halo effect. One person I knew had it work for a few years but then needed glasses again (although that was with technology available 17 years ago)

I had PRK in like 1997. LASIK wasn't recommended yet for my level of prescription (~ -4.00). Today LASIK would be recommended. I got to like 20/20 vision in bright light with one eye, 20/15 with both eyes, 20/25 in dim light.

My prescription hasn't changed meaningfully since. I'd do it again.

My advice to you: Spend extra on the "wavefront" technology. Ask for Valium to take before the procedure. Be sure you get the goggles to sleep with squared away. Do it in the afternoon and take a long acting sleeping pill early evening so you wake up in the morning with new eyes!

In for information. I'm considering the procedure myself, but I'm scared of losing visual "sharpness" (apparently that's a thing), and I really don't want to worsen my already shit night vision. Actually setting an appointment tomorrow for them to check my eyes out. Also if I'm going to pay this large amount of money for this procedure and then still have to wear glasses I'm going to be fucking pissed. I'm hovering at about a -2.5 right now.