laser eye surgery

[dido]

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i will be entering my first year of medical school in the coming weeks, and i am also horribly near-sighted. i am currently considering getting the lasik procedure done on my eyes in the near future. however, i have heard of some terrible horror stories regarding botched surgeries, or unwanted side-effects, such as bad night vision or easily fatigued eyes. i know i will be studying a lot in medical school, but i also cant resist the temptation of living without the hassles of my glasses/contact lenses.

so i was wondering if any of you had experience with laser eye surgery, if you would recommend lasik at this time, or if i should wait until the technology improves.

thanks!

 

[Scooby Doo]

I have had the Lasik surgery. I did it when I was 19. I am currently 22 and seeing pretty well...with glasses I could see 20/15...now I see maybe 20/25 in one eye and 20/30 or so in the other...
Email me if you want to know more..
Go to a good doctor...
unfortunately I had some other problems with my eyes before going in so I came out with worse problems...such as dry eye and stuff....but overall..much better than having to wear glasses for my old prescription..
which was -7.50 and -2.00 astig in both eyes
I couldn't wear contacts anymore either b/c my eyes were too dry and rejected them...

 

[Stinky T]

In addition to the dry eyes, I also developed irregular astigmatism in both eyes. My wife, sister, father, and best friend all had the procedure done as well and they all have 20/20 vision.

Apparently, new software will be available soon that will more accurately map your cornea. With this new software, more customized ablations will follow. If I remember correctly, the new software utilizes wavefront technology. While this technology isn't exactly "new", its application in corneal mapping is. Anyway, I'm sure the ophthos/optometrists out there can provide more information. I wish I had waited longer before I had the procedure done.

 

[cpw]

Well, hopefully as a future OD I can give ya some pointers on LASIK. If you're extremely myopic (like myself) you first off need to make sure you're a good candidate for the surgery. I went to my OD and had a pachymetry done. This is where they measure the thickness of your cornea. I found out that for my prescription my corneas were too thin to be lasered and my surgery would be VERY high risk. So, the OD called the surgeon.. confirmed my corneal numbers and agreed that I couldn't do it. Make sure you go to a surgeon that's respected. These are your EYES! Spend as much time researching surgeons as you could shopping for your next car. Don't go to the guy offering a coupon.. unless he/she's the best. Find out who the other opthahmologists go to.. that's the guy you want doing your surgery.

Dry eyes and astigmatic problems are a concern with some people.. as are halos around objects at night. You have to decide if the benefit outweighs the risks in your mind. Sit down and talk to your OD about it.. they'll go over all the pros and cons and tell you if you're a likely candidate.

In my case.. I just bought myself some new light weight glasses that won't bother me on those late night study sessions.
Hope this helps! good luck!

 

[impassivemd]

I heard that if lasik surgery does not work, you may not be able to wear contact lenses ever again. That was enough to convince me not to get the surgery. I don't think I could wear glasses all day long, every day. Now if that's just a myth, please correct me.

Even if it does work, there is no guarantee that your eyes will stay 20/20 forever, as the above poster stated. And there is no guarantee that your eyes will be 20/20 to start. I just don't think it's worth it.

 

[ashtanga]

Scooby, you had dry eye before having Lasik?! I have dry eye now and my eyes reject my contact lenses after a few hours per day. I can't imagine how uncomfortable it would be if it became worse after the surgery. Do you really think Laski was worth it for you?

 

[Scooby Doo]

My eyes got screwed b/c I wore hard contacts from grade five all the way to grade 12...pretty much every day! I then got a really bad infection and started gettign all these problem..such as dry eye, blepharitis, and meibomitis...(dandruff on eyes basically and improper tear production due to clogged pores).

I started sleeping with my eyes open! Yes, OPEN...and that contributed even worse to my dry eyes! My vision was horrible and my glasses were so thick..you saw the prescription I posted above...So i decided..i can have dry eyes and not see...or I can have dry eyes AND see 🙂
I decided to go witht he surgery. I could have probably waited longer but I was living in a "now is better" frame of mind then..

I got it done..twice actually because I regressed the first time...
Overall, I think I mainly need to cure myself of sleeping with my eyes open..that is the major problem I have right now..I wake up constantly and have to put drops in my eyes...maybe once every 1 to 4 hours 🙁

But, I can see and it's worth it... alittle haloing at night...and dry eyes...but we live to endure it...
I can at least take part in all the normal activities I used to and not have to worry about breaking my glasses..

 

[mitzi]

I just had Lasik surgery in March of this year. I was 20/700 and am now seeing 20/20. I do have the problem with halos at night, but I was told to expect it because my pupils are abnormally large. I have found; however, the halos are no worse than they were when I wore my gas perm lenses, which I wore for 18 years. I agree with the above posts that you should find a doctor you are comfortable with and have all your questions answered to your satisfaction before proceeding. I was having trouble with fatigue, but I've found that eye drops cures that problem. I am completely satisfied with the procedure I received and love not having to wear glasses or contacts, something I have not been able to do since I was in 3rd grade and I'm now 32. Good luck on whatever you decide.

 

[dido]

thanks for some great advice! now for some more questions...

i did a lot of research on the internet to find the best doctor and also went on discussion groups on-line. i was ready to go ahead with the procedure until i came across three family friends. both had it done in their 40s, and one was in her 30s. ALL of them said that they had perfect vision in the daytime, but had blurry vision at night (indoors, while watching tv or reading). however, they were satisfied because their lifestyle did not require perfect visions at night. since i knew i was going to be studying intensely in med school, i became apprehensive about going ahead with the surgery. have any of you experienced this blurred night vision? if so, has it interfered with your studying? if you are a surgeon, has it affected your performance in the OR? what is the cause of this eye fatigue? from my research online, it doesn't seem to be attributed to corneal thickness or pupil diameter. so how would i know if i would be predisposed to end up with this condition?

also, i heard that you can get tear duct plugs to relieve the dry eyes. i was relieved to hear this because i currently have dry eyes and cannot tolerate contacts. are plug implantation a permanent procedure and would you recommend it?

thanks again.

 

[Pilot]

Did it in March 2000. Wouldn't hesitate to do it again...

 

[Scooby Doo]

i have the punctal plugs..i even had the holes sewed up for a while..my story is about a 10 page paper if you really wanted to hear it...don't woryr about blurry night vision...you can always wear glasses for the evening...or whatever.that's what i did for a while...