Lasik - anyone had it done?

I have astigmatism and a history of cataracts in my family. I'll wait until I'm ancient and my eyeballs quit reshaping themselves and maybe hold out for some cybernetic eyes.

An active friend's girlfriend (camping, hiking, foreign travel, bungee jumping etc) that got LASIK (in the past year) and it was worth it to her due to no need to carry around accouterments of contact lens wear/glasses while traveling. Her recovery was rough because of the dry eye afterwards but she also refused to take any pain meds and, in general, is a PITA.

My other buddy got LASIK (I wanna say late 90's) surgery went well but then he wasn't able to go into the Airforce to be a pilot and was pretty crushed.

Just weigh in why you really want it and research whether you'd do laser or razor.
 
never really considered it. im good with contacts.

personally, I wouldn't bother unless there was a strong reason. heard it helps scuba diving, pilots...etc.

few people at work had it done. couple people they had to go back to glasses. I guess the idea is that if your sight is declining, it will still decline after. not an expert tho
 
Pagy said:
never really considered it. im good with contacts.

personally, I wouldn't bother unless there was a strong reason. heard it helps scuba diving, pilots...etc.

few people at work had it done. couple people they had to go back to glasses. I guess the idea is that if your sight is declining, it will still decline after. not an expert tho
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Just tired of glasses. I don't think i'll be scuba diving or flying anytime soon, but you never know.

I think a lot of the aggravation is coming from my current glasses. The frames are Oakley, they are all plastic, beat to shit, the i have the transitionals with anti glare cover, and thats starting to wear off so they are constantly foggy.

I haven't worn contacts in ages, but I think im going to go ahead and get a fresh eye exam, then get glasses and contact. I'm just too much of a worrying bitch to not get freaked out by razors and lasers around the only 2 eyes i have
 
I did it nearly 10 years ago, I feel like very recently my ability to read at night has slightly diminished. It has always been pretty perfect though.

Also any good place doesn't use razors anymore, mine was 100% laser back in 2010 or 2011.

Also aren't you an older guy in his 40s-50s? Pretty sure it's pointless after a certain age.

I figured odds are they only blind one eye, I can live with one eye if I have millions in malpractice money.
 
JuggerNaught said:
Just tired of glasses. I don't think i'll be scuba diving or flying anytime soon, but you never know.

I think a lot of the aggravation is coming from my current glasses. The frames are Oakley, they are all plastic, beat to shit, the i have the transitionals with anti glare cover, and thats starting to wear off so they are constantly foggy.

I haven't worn contacts in ages, but I think im going to go ahead and get a fresh eye exam, then get glasses and contact. I'm just too much of a worrying bitch to not get freaked out by razors and lasers around the only 2 eyes i have
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if you can find contacts that fit and are comfortable...it’s easier imo
 
slogg said:
I did it nearly 10 years ago, I feel like very recently my ability to read at night has slightly diminished. It has always been pretty perfect though.

Also any good place doesn't use razors anymore, mine was 100% laser back in 2010 or 2011.

Also aren't you an older guy in his 40s-50s? Pretty sure it's pointless after a certain age.

I figured odds are they only blind one eye, I can live with one eye if I have millions in malpractice money.
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I don't know when its 'pointless'. From what i've read, its not so much pointless as its going to be a recurring procedure with greater frequency than if you had it done in like your 20's or something. And i've always heard that you pretty much lose your night vision. So then i'd be 60 something, can't see shit at night, and end up one of those florida old people that can't drive for shit
 
JuggerNaught said:
I've always figured contacts are pretty much contacts as far as fit goes. No?
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fuck no they aren't. incorrectly sized contacts will make your eyes bleed
i don't remember how the sizing worked because it's been a decade+ since i've worn them, but i've had some that were the wrong size and it sucks
 
JuggerNaught said:
I've always figured contacts are pretty much contacts as far as fit goes. No?
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My creepy optometrist had me try 3 different brands before the one I stuck with. Kind of like glasses the prescription and size can be the same but some feel different. Especially when it comes down to how often you’re supposed to dispose of them.
 
I had Lasik done in 2001. One of the rare years I got a tax check and didn't owe, so I spoiled myself and had it done.

I considered it like this. The facility I was at did 53 surgeries that day. Add up all the facilities and they still have less than 1% of complications from lasik. The chances are there of course but really low.

The surgery took 10 minutes tops counting the aparatus that goes into place to keep you from blinking etc. No pain but the weirdest part of everything was smelling your eye burn while they are lasering.

After the surgery its very close to being hit in the eye you are basically looking thru celephane but in areas you have good vision so I was able to read the clock when they told me to. You must wear guards at night and the antibiotics etc. If you touch your eyes such as rubbing in your sleep etc you can push the flap out of place and create a wrinkle. They can fix this but its an emergency procedure because if it heals like this you are fooked.
 
PRK all done. It was super quick and easy. I can definitely see better but have to wait a few days for initial healing to start. There was no pain or discomfort during the procedure but the pain got real after I arriving home. The eyes ache and burn. I just want to keep them closed and sleep a lot. Have to take lots of meds/eyedrops to facilitate recovery. I opted to have blood serum tears made by a local pharmacy. Those are awesome and feel amazing. Also have to do follow up doctor visits to make sure healing is going as planned. Thumbs up all around.
 
Kiss and tell time.

Day 1 post-op exam on Friday morning went just fine. All looked and felt OK.

The pain after 2 days was really bad and frustrating. It was very intense, strong as fuck aching and burning in both eyes. I woke up around 2:30am on that following Saturday morning because it sucked. Tried to open eyes and any amount of light was unbearable. My eyes gushed with tears that had built up during the night. Called the on-call doc and they said that it was normal, take some more NSAIDs and try to tough it out.

I kept my eyes shut and sat in a dark room with sunglasses on for most of Saturday and some of Sunday. The worst part about it was trying to stay idle and not do much which kind of made me crazy since it was making me feel worthless. I like to keep busy with tasks and things but I just listened to the audio of a movie, a few podcasts and some music, resting on and off when I felt the need.

After Sunday around noon, almost all pain was gone. Weird how it just dropped off like that but whatever. I wasn't complaining.

Had 2nd post-op exam on Tuesday morning and all still appeared OK to the doc. Vision was really getting hazy, blurry, double-vision. I could see if I found the sweet spot distance between myself and something but that wasn't practical.

Wednesday vision was starting to clear up and I was starting to forget that I wasn't wearing glasses/contacts anymore because I was beginning to see normally again. I was getting really excited and began to feel like the surgery was a success at this point.

It's Friday afternoon now and I'm almost seeing completely normal other than a few hazy spots and focus issues. I can drive just fine and make out letters/numbers on most far away signs.

I have a 1 month, 3 month and 6 month post-op exam. If everything still looks good, then I'm golden. Full healing expectations is ~3-6 months but could be a but more or less.

Would I do it again and recommend to others? Fuck ya. This is awesome. Either way you go with LASIK or PRK, definitely get an Rx for serum tear eyedrops. They are so comforting through the entire ordeal.
 
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