Posted on 07/13/2009 9:32:13 PM PDT by Treeless Branch
Instead of lasik, there is an even better thing out there. They essentially do a corneal lens transplant kind of thing. A very small slit to insert a lens in the eye, a far smaller slit than lasik. That’s what I’m going to have if I ever have something done.
Book marked for info.
I had a great experience with LASIC in January of 2003 at Lasik MD in Toronto, Canada. They’re real pros there, and their pricing is much lower than here in the USA; my cost was about $1,500 for the whole thing. You’re likely to pay that much per eye here in the US. It’s one part of the Canadian medical system that’s *not* socialized, and they do great work.
I went from a prescription of about -3.5 myopia in each eye, plus about -1.25 astigmatism in each eye, to *better* than 20/20 in each eye. I am about 20/12 or 20/15 with each eye individually; using both eyes together I can usually read the 20/12 line without trouble, and sometimes the 20/10 line.
Quick recovery, no complications, excellent experience; I’m very glad I did it.
I had sufficient corneal thickness for LASIK despite having “enormous” pupils (8.2 milimeters); the amount of cornea removed is a product of your prescription strength and pupil size.
I’m not sure where you’re having this done, but in general scanning-spot lasers are more effective at removing less corneal tissue for the same correction. Some of the wavefront-based lasers (notably the Bausch & Lomb Technolas 217z at last check) are excellent for this. Over the past few years most facilities have moved to scanning spot lasers (small-diamater lasers that scan over your eye as opposed to large-diameter lasers that stay put, limiting the size of the correction to the diameter of the laser), but you should make sure that’s true of your chosen location.
If you go with LASIK, I’d recommend having them use a blade-based microkeratome rather than the all-laser procedure. Using the zero compression keratome from Bausch & Lomb, I had a quick recovery and minimal soreness. Everyone I’ve talked to who has used the all-laser procedure has had a more difficult recovery than people who have had the blade-based procedure.
All that said, I really do recommend the Lasik MD folks. See www.lasikmd.ca.
There is a downside to PRK. With Lasik, your new vision would come in almost instantly. With PRK it takes a little while, about a couple of weeks. There is one other small drawback, be prepared for pain. I had a lot of pain with my procedure for the first 48 hours. I had a bit of difficulty. One of the protective contact lenses that they placed in my eye came out. This caused me a great deal of discomfort.
Don't let anyone tell you that PRK doesn't hurt. For those first 48 hours, it is going to hurt.
12 years ago I had PRK..it was before Lasik became perfected and because I had such a bad astigmatism it was all he said he could do.
The recovery time is longer, but the results are the same. It was one of the best things I ever did. HOWEVER...12 years later I do need to wear glasses (contacts). Laser surgery does not stop the natural deteriation of sight..so the older I get, the worse my eyes get...but still NOTHING like it was when I was young. I figure one day they may come up with something even better..and I’ll get it!
I had LASIK. Have excellent vision now, except near vision but I’m 45 and expected that.
Only regret is that they tested me beforehand for ability to make tears and I was at the lower end of acceptable. I now have a problem with dry eyes requiring 2-3 times daily use of eye drops.
Also I found the procedure traumatizing.
I honestly don't remember much pain. But I do want to tell you that one of the side effects is poor night vision. Lights are more blurred, etc. I always wear anti glare glasses when I drive...and it make me less likely to drive at night. That was definitely a downside.
Also I found the procedure traumatizing.
How so? I’ve often thought about getting this done. What should I expect?
My brother also had his LASIK done in Toronto. That was about 10 years ago and his eyes are still good now. I believe he paid about $2000.
I would like to do it, if I lived near that area. But I’m also terrified by the idea of a laser cutting my cornea. VEry squeamish about my eyes. I don’t know if I could handle it. Probably puke and run screaming from the room before they even turned on the machine.
The pressure on the eyeball was much greater than I expected. There’s some type of suction ring they use, I assume, to firm up the eyeball in order for the laser to do its thing.
Put it this way...if the procedure had resulted in imperfect vision, I would have gone back to glasses rather than go through it again.
They give you a valium before the procedure. No running and screaming.
I had LASIK in 1998 and I still think it was the best money I ever spent. I had very bad vision and a pretty bad astigmatism, but the doctor I had was very good and I had no problems at all. I literally got off the table seeing better than before.
My wife had it a few months later and she ended up having a few complications and had to have the procedure repeated on one eye. However, she was never in pain and at no time was her vision compromised.
The procedure is easier and safer now than when I had it. Sure is cheaper too! I can’t say anything about PRK, but I really do recommend LASIK.
I think I’ll stick to my glasses, I’m just too squeamish for that sort of thing. Sides’ I look smarter this way and my low, criminal forehead and car-door ears are not so noticeable.
Not to digress too much but LASIK is often cited as an example of free-market medicine in action. Very few health plans cover LASIK so without third-party payers the customers shop around and look for the best deal. As a result, as the technology has advanced and improved, the price has gone down. Like the rest of the free market and unlike the rest of medicine where it is a given gospel that medical advances can only cost exponentially more and more...
In the end, I’m glad I did it. My complaint about the eyeball pressure would have been alleviated if they’d just told me beforehand to expect it.
My dry eye problem is exacerbated by the dry Las Vegas climate and the two bottles of wine I drink every night.
But almost nothing beats waking up to clearly see the hummingbirds feeding at the feeder outside my bedroom window every morning.
How old are you?
Do NOT have radial keratotomy done, where they slice the cornea like a pie to reshape the lens. I’ve known a couple of people who did and later needed cataract surgery and the cornea literally fell apart when the surgeon made the incision to remove the lens for replacement.
The cornea had to be stitched back together, and you can only imagine the discomfort involved, and now they can’t see very well because of the scars. Their only viable option now is cornea transplant and the anti-rejection drugs they have to take for maintenance as long as they live.
If the doc says too thin, then you must do PRK or do nothing at all.
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