Lasik

Aaron Beaver

Member
Messages
427
Location
Missouri
Anyone have Lasik done? I am contemplating doing it, have to talk to the wife first, but I am unsure about it. I heard you can't blink, isn't that hard to do?

Mostly I have been thinking about it because I was about ready to get some prescription safety glasses so I could quit wearing my everyday ones in the shop. So that got me to thinking if I was going to by another pair of glasses I might look into Lasik.

Thoughts welcome from anyone that has had it.
Thanks
 
Yep, I had it done, it was not "Painful", but it WAS extremely uncomfortable for the 30 seconds or so when they suck your eyeball half out of your head to hold it in position while they use a laser to cut the flap they flip open to do the actual lens correction on.

That being said, I'd do it again, I started wearing glasses around 13 years of age, and I got the Lasik done in Aug of 2006, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. NOT Having to wear glasses to see is so nice, and my eyes are really really good now, I have better than 20/20, they call it 20/10, meaning I can see from 20 feet away, what the average person with good eyesight can see from 10 feet away. In Japan, they use a different scale, here I have a 2.0, where as most people have a 1.0 or so.

I know a lot of people who have had the Lasik done, they all say the same thing "Why did I wait so long..??"

Put a LOT of research into your doctor, you want the people who do a TON of these and have not had any problems, the clinic I went to do over 50,000 a year and have not had one problem.

Cheers!
 
LASIK INFO.

Hi,

I really should sit down and plan this reply so it is in logical order. I will, however, toss out my thoughts as they come to mind.

I was a doctor in an office that did nothing but cataract surgery and refractive surgery. This was after I retired the second time. I was just an employee. I have not actually done refractive surgery. I have sat in on and worked with a bazillion patients who were going through the process.

If you need bifocals now or if you need to remove your glasses to do close work, you will still need glasses after the surgery. For this group of people there is a refractive surgery technique called monovision.

I VERY STRONGLY advise that you do not have monovision surgery until you have tried monovision with contact lenses. Many people respond poorly to monovision. Monovision does have an effect on your depth perception and woodworkers do work with sharp thingies and fast twirly thingies that can cause harm.

If you do need two different powers (one for far and another for near) and the monovision contact lenses work for you, go ahead with the surgery if you desire.

For the typical nearsighted or farsighted person with moderate, or less, astigmatism, the surgery is considered safe and has a very high success rate. There are many people who can have successful results if they do have a significant amount of astigmatism. However, this is more complicated and patient requirements are more stringent (how thick are your corneas, how large are your pupils, etc. etc.). This is strictly on an individual basis.

Your eyes will be dryer after LASIK or PRK refractive surgery. If you have dry eyes now, it will be worse later.

Immediately after LASIK surgery, you sit up, look across the room and can see the clock, calendar or whatever. PRK is non-invasive---the surgeon does not cut into the eyes. The surface layer (epithelium) of the cornea is retracted (sort of like removing Saran Wrap from around a billard ball), the laser works on the surface, the epithelium is replaced. PRK vision gets better and better over time.

Last Sunday I was at a seminar on LASIK and PRK. This was presented by a flight surgeon for the USN and Marine Corps. He is aircraft landing certified. However, his main thing is research in refractive surgery for military purposes. Until recently, if you were a USN or USMC pilot, the only refractive surgery the millitary permitted was LASIK. This was because of the very rapid recovery rate (you can fly in about 3 days). PRK has been the only choice for USMC "grunts" and anyone else who is apt to be in a jungle, forrest, or similar. Because no incisions were made in the eye it was assumed to be physically stronger than the eye of a LASIK patient.

They have recently done LASIK on rabbits, then after one day post-op (look at eye the next day with various instruments) the rabbit was subjected to 8 G forces and to an air blast of 400 miles an hour (I am not positive of the 400 number---I would have to look it up). LASIK flaps did NOT dislodge so the fears of problems from ejection, etc. appear groundless.

Even though PRK does not involve cutting the eye, there is much more discomfort than LASIK. LASIK gives better vision the first month, approx. equal to PRK the second month, and after the third month PRK is slightly better. Please realize these numbers represent a bazillion eyes, a statistic. Any single case is a case unto itself, it may be greatly different than the statistical average.

As in any surgery or treatment there are complications. Personally, I think 50,000 (or any other thousand) cases without a problem is B.S. I do not have current statistics. However about 3 or 4 years ago I was at a seminar and the statistics at that time were one complication in twenty for LASIK.

I am basically retired. I work at Camp Pendleton, Calif. two or three days a week doing routine eye exams for military, retired military, and their families. I see a lot of patients who have had refractive surgery. I am impressed by the quality of the work done in the military hospital. I am also aware that a lot of civilians, who should not have refractive surgery, are getting the surgery anyway. I am sure $$$ has nothing to do with this.

I have probably created more questions than you had before. If you have questions post them (I look at email, FWW, etc. about once a week so don't expect rapid reply) and I will do my best to answer them.

There are people out there who are much more up to date than I am. Yes, I see patients all of the time. However, I have not even been in a surgery for several years. I do attend seminars when the doctors presenting them do not have an axe to grind (have their own private office, on staff for an equipment manufacturer, etc.). It is always joyous when the doctor is promoting his office or showing how wonderful his companies laser equipment is compared to the other guy's.

It is the end of a very long day. I am very tired. I don't know why I answered this tonight instead of another day. I am not even going to read this or check my spelling. Good night.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
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Jim, thanks for the extra info! :thumb:

When I said the clinic I went to did not have any problems, I was not as clear as I could have been. Complications, yeah, you bet, I had one with my right eye. When they did the frying with the lasers on my eye, flushed it, the put the flap back, they would check to make sure everything was clean and not crap was left over under the flap. They even take pictures to show it was clear, for their files (and insurance reasons, I'm sure). The next day, at my check up, they found that I had some bits of crap under the flap. It was explained to me that this happens in about one in twenty people. I was told that for some reason, some of the cells that did not die after being blasted by the laser later did die, and detach, and float around under the flap. The had to tear open my flap and clean out the area again. I had the wonderful thrill of having this done three times. Wait a day, then have the flap torn open and flushed, repeat :doh:Not fun, but still, in the end, would do it again. Besides, I got cocaine drops for my eyes, and they really took care of the pain I had.

When I said the clinic had no problems, what I mean is that they say that they have never had a case where someones eyesight was damaged, or worse than it was when the procedure started.

The place I went to is http://www.shinagawa-lasik.com

I know that when the time comes, I'll need reading glasses, but both of my parents did not need them until they were into their sixties, so if that holds, I have 20 years or so with no glasses at all.

Cheers! :wave:
 
Thanks for info fellas. I need my glasses for everything, can't see near (unless its 4" from my face) & can't see far without them. I have pretty bad vision just not sure what it is. I will need a new eye exam to get the new safety glasses prescription since I haven't had one in so long, so I could find out my number for sure then and maybe see if LASIK is something to consider.

I just can't imagine how nice things would be when mowing the lawn, going camping, playing softball, woodworking and not having glasses get sweat on them and have them slipping off all the time. I did buy a pair of the adjustable strap/rope things that hold your glasses on and they worked well.

I will do some more looking and research. I wouldn't mind if I had to wear reading glasses later on, still would be better than wearing glasses all the time I think.
 
Hi Aaron,

If you are over age approximately 43, you will require glasses for your close work after the surgery. They can do monovision to prevent this. However, you saw my concerns about monovision refractive surgery (unless you try it with contact lenses first & know that it will work for you).

Enjoy,

Jim
 
My wife had it done. Prior to the surgery she couldn't see more than 10 feet, a day later she was reading signs 100 feet away that I could barely read. She did have each eye done at a separate time, mostly because of the savings plan we used to pay for it, but would also limit damage if something did go wrong. They offered Valium, which she took the small dose of the first time, but she took the larger volume the second time to be more relaxed. She said also that the worst part was when they sucked the eyeball into place, but it was merely a short time of discomfort...no pain.

Good luck
 
Aaron, Didn't see that you were in Kansas. My wife had hers done on the Kansas side in Overland park. Can lookup the doctors name if you are around the area. She had him recommended by several coworkers and friends that used him.

Let me know...
 
Aaron, Didn't see that you were in Kansas. My wife had hers done on the Kansas side in Overland park. Can lookup the doctors name if you are around the area. She had him recommended by several coworkers and friends that used him.

Let me know...

Sure, that would be great, I actually live in Overland Park and I know there are a few places around here. Second issue is the money, I keep thinking off all the tools I could by if I didn't have it done.:D
 
My opthamologist is considered one of the best in our state. He has taught in med. school and around the world. As Jim said, he tole me results with patients attempting monovision showed a very low percentage that were successful. I tried it briefly and did not like. Currently, when using the computer, I'm using monovision but it is not perfect.
There are procedures other than Lasik to correct vision. My daughter-in-law had one and is very happy with the results. I'll have to write her and ask which.
 
Second issue is the money, I keep thinking off all the tools I could by if I didn't have it done.:D

My company has the pre-tax medical spending account setup, so she did one eye at the end of the year from that year's account and the other eye on next year's account, so didn't hit the budget too bad.

She used the 'Heart of America Eye Center', Dr. Joseph Simone.
 
Heard back from my daughter-in-law. Her procedure was similar to Lasik but was called 'surface ablation'. What they did was plane off some of the cornea to reshape and refocus the image coming into the eye. Sounds yuccky to me, but most surgery is. She is very happy with the results.
 
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