Quick question about LASIK

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Lost in Translation

単純な馬鹿でありたい。
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If I'm interested in going into surgery and am currently a myope, would it be advisable to get LASIK done? Are there any surgeons here that have gotten LASIK? I've wanted to get LASIK for a while now and I think my eyes are stable enough for the procedure to last decades from now. However, I'm a myope which I would think is better for a surgeon especially in older years.

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I know surgeons who have done it and were happy with it (even with some slight visual disturbances with bright lights/night vision). However, most surgeons I know wear some sort of corrective lenses, be it glasses or contacts. Many wear magnifiers or loupes as well, or in lieu of, glasses. If you do it, do LASIK because YOU want to; career-wise, it isn't something surgeons are advised to do just because of their career choice.
 
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I had LASIK about 6 months ago and I couldn't be happier. Agree with Smurfette though, it's a personal rather than professional decision. I got it because I developed an allergy to my contacts, meaning I could no longer participate in some of my favorite hobbies. It really didn't change things for me professionally, other than the fact that I didn't have to put prescription lenses in my loupes
 
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Got LASIK right before MS1. No regrets. Still 20/20 four years later. Love being able to see perfectly at bed, in the shower, in the swimming pool, and in the OR without having to wear glasses.
 
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Got LASIK right before MS1. No regrets. Still 20/20 four years later. Love being able to see perfectly at bed, in the shower, in the swimming pool, and in the OR without having to wear glasses.
I wanted to get LASIK but now feel like I should wait until after medical school :/
 
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I am also interested in LASIK but have amblyopia. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
I'm going to suffer through PRK instead, personally. I rub my eyes in my sleep, I'd tear those corneal flaps clean off.
 
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I'm going to suffer through PRK instead, personally. I rub my eyes in my sleep, I'd tear those corneal flaps clean off.

you could just tie your hands down at night, you could use the sort of restraints we use in the hospital :naughty:
 
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LASIK five years ago, still rolling with 20/15. Some of the best money ever spent.
 
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Any residual light issues? And how long was the recovery?

I had my surgery on a Friday before a three day weekend. I was given diazepam the day of the surgery and it went flawlessly. No issues and no pain. I went to bed and woke up overnight with excruciating eye pain, and felt like I wanted to tear my eye balls out. I had "emergency eye drops" that I think were probably ketorolac, which made it better. That weekend my pain went away but vision got very bad. By Sunday it was extremely blurry. By Monday things improved and pretty soon my vision got good. A few months later I was 20/15.

I didn't have any residual light issues. I had pretty bad dry eye for two weeks, but got better. One of my friends got LASIK, and to this day still has dry eye issues and has been on Restasis. I could not be happier with my results, and best of all I can rub my eyes all I want. It's just the immediate recovery sucked, but I would do it all over again.

If money isn't an issue though, you might want to check out Visian implants. I got quoted $13k at UTSW. I paid $3000 for PRK in Dallas.

If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.
 
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I was wondering about PRK (I don't want a flap, either). I've got an optho appointment in a few weeks so I'll ask pros/cons then.
 
I'll just second what most of the people said. I got LASIK just at the start of MS2 and have never been happier. My vision was so bad I actually had to have a second surgery on one eye but for the first time since I was 6 I don't have to deal with glasses or contacts. If your vision is truly awful, I advocate going for it. There will always be people on here and on the internet with horror stories from second or third hand. Trust your gut.
 
Another vote for LASIK. I had it done in 2008. I didn't take the diazepam they offered me before the procedure, and I didn't need it. I squeezed a stress ball, and I was fine. The whole thing took less than 2 minutes.

I had 20/15 vision for the first 4-5 months, then it settled into 20/20. I had no pain, no dry eye, no visual disturbances after. Almost ten years later, and I still have 20/20 vision with essentially no complications.

They also guarantee your vision for life and will redo the procedure if you ever need it in the future (at the place I went anyway).

Make sure you go to an established ophthalmologist who has been doing it for a while. I know some people who went to docs who don't do LASIK all day every day and they had some pain and discomfort after. But that's anecdotal.
 
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I got LASIK as a PGY4. Several of my coresidents and staff said they want LASIK but are too afraid, like if there's a complication they can't continue to work.

The risks are pretty low. The procedure was pretty easy. I was given a "professional courtesy" discount by the surgeon. Overall pretty painless.

I don't think it has negatively impacted my ability to operate. I do have to wear glasses or goggles as eye protection and I'd say they're generally fairly low quality, so I don't get the same visual sharpness as when I wore prescription glasses.
 
Got Lasik just over 10 years ago. Was awesome. Went from terrible nearsightedness to 20/15. Was stable for a long time. Some issues with halos at night for a year or two and light sensitivity (often have to wear sunglasses even on cloudy days) which is still ongoing. Rub the s--- out of my eyes all the time and no trouble with flaps (I did give it a solid year of being very careful). I do have to say that the past year I've noted some worsening of my vision that's really only an issue if I'm driving for hours or at night again. Will definitely get a revision when I'm no longer a resident. Until then I just need to actually go find a doc for some glasses in the meantime.
 
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If I'm interested in going into surgery and am currently a myope, would it be advisable to get LASIK done? Are there any surgeons here that have gotten LASIK? I've wanted to get LASIK for a while now and I think my eyes are stable enough for the procedure to last decades from now. However, I'm a myope which I would think is better for a surgeon especially in older years.
I am also on your situation, what is your decision?Have you gotten lasık?
 
There is a bit of scary adverse events possible with LASIK. I used to work for an ophthalmologist and mentioned LASIK and she strongly discouraged me from getting it.
 
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There is a bit of scary adverse events possible with LASIK. I used to work for an ophthalmologist and mentioned LASIK and she strongly discouraged me from getting it.

is there any option that she suggests?
 
@vselin, basically I was told to wait for cataract surgery to correct my vision xD
 
There is a bit of scary adverse events possible with LASIK. I used to work for an ophthalmologist and mentioned LASIK and she strongly discouraged me from getting it.

Can you elaborate? This seems contrary to most of the current consensus. Overall it seems like a fairly low risk procedure.
 
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Can you elaborate? This seems contrary to most of the current consensus. Overall it seems like a fairly low risk procedure.
Overall, it does seem to be a low risk procedure. The major side effect is Dry Eye Syndrome (~28% of patients, PMID:27893063), which in and of itself can be quite problematic (Sounds crazy, but DES can actually cause a lot of difficulties in daily living). But corneal ectasia is the most frightening risk factor. When the corneal flap is created for LASIK, it severs the collagen connections of the inner layer of the cornea. From what I have read, these bonds do not reform and are thus a thinning of the cornea. This thinned area is more susceptible to intraocular pressure leading to keratoconus-like deformations. Ectasia is quite difficult to treat and can cause massive refractive error.

Plus it makes it harder to calculate what lens you'll need for cataract surgery (which most people will need at some point).

The next part is somewhat speculative, so take it with a grain of salt:
LASIK is still a relatively new procedure. There hasn't been a lot of time for corneal ectasia to develop. It may be over the next couple decades there will be an increased incidence. A speaker at a 2015 FDA Ophthalmic Device Panel for Collagen Cross linking suggested that most cases of post-refractive ectasia are not reported due to the development many years after the surgery.
There was a petition by Dr. Morris Waxler in 2011 to withdraw approval of LASIK devices.
 
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Overall, it does seem to be a low risk procedure. The major side effect is Dry Eye Syndrome (~28% of patients, PMID:27893063), which in and of itself can be quite problematic (Sounds crazy, but DES can actually cause a lot of difficulties in daily living). But corneal ectasia is the most frightening risk factor. When the corneal flap is created for LASIK, it severs the collagen connections of the inner layer of the cornea. From what I have read, these bonds do not reform and are thus a thinning of the cornea. This thinned area is more susceptible to intraocular pressure leading to keratoconus-like deformations. Ectasia is quite difficult to treat and can cause massive refractive error.

Plus it makes it harder to calculate what lens you'll need for cataract surgery (which most people will need at some point).

The next part is somewhat speculative, so take it with a grain of salt:
LASIK is still a relatively new procedure. There hasn't been a lot of time for corneal ectasia to develop. It may be over the next couple decades there will be an increased incidence. A speaker at a 2015 FDA Ophthalmic Device Panel for Collagen Cross linking suggested that most cases of post-refractive ectasia are not reported due to the development many years after the surgery.
There was a petition by Dr. Morris Waxler in 2011 to withdraw approval of LASIK devices.

It’s crazy that this field is selling out to the commercial side of things. Everywhere I go, I hear from Ophthalmologists alike that Lasik is 100% safe. All the personal ophthalmologists I have talked to (as well as one MD/PhD) have told me he they told me they don’t recommend it to me at all. There are definite risks. Can anyone point me to a more academic review article on this topic. Surprisingly the New York Times has done a fairly decent job. I’m looking for a source to determine what makes one more at risk for corneal ectasia (connective tissue dz., dry eyes, high prescription, etc.) Dry eye syndrome, going through 1 week of hell, etc. are all fine for me. LASIK would be life-changing for me as with such a high prescription I have to wear such heavy lenses.
 
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It’s crazy that this field is selling out to the commercial side of things. Everywhere I go, I hear from Ophthalmologists alike that Lasik is 100% safe. All the personal ophthalmologists I have talked to (as well as one MD/PhD) have told me he they told me they don’t recommend it to me at all. There are definite risks. Can anyone point me to a more academic review article on this topic. Surprisingly the New York Times has done a fairly decent job. I’m looking for a source to determine what makes one more at risk for corneal ectasia (connective tissue dz., dry eyes, high prescription, etc.) Dry eye syndrome, going through 1 week of hell, etc. are all fine for me. LASIK would be life-changing for me as with such a high prescription I have to wear such heavy lenses.
The PROWL studies are the best I could find. I'd just get on PubMed and see what you can dig up. I searched ClinicalTrials.gov to try to find information from a more robust study, but didn't have much luck.
 
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It’s crazy that this field is selling out to the commercial side of things. Everywhere I go, I hear from Ophthalmologists alike that Lasik is 100% safe. All the personal ophthalmologists I have talked to (as well as one MD/PhD) have told me he they told me they don’t recommend it to me at all. There are definite risks. Can anyone point me to a more academic review article on this topic. Surprisingly the New York Times has done a fairly decent job. I’m looking for a source to determine what makes one more at risk for corneal ectasia (connective tissue dz., dry eyes, high prescription, etc.) Dry eye syndrome, going through 1 week of hell, etc. are all fine for me. LASIK would be life-changing for me as with such a high prescription I have to wear such heavy lenses.
I think the risks are still quite low. But for me, even a .001% chance of a bad outcome wasn't worth it for my eyes. I'm pretty content with my contacts (and have been for the last 25 years I've worn them). That's good enough for me.
 
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I think the risks are still quite low. But for me, even a .001% chance of a bad outcome wasn't worth it for my eyes. I'm pretty content with my contacts (and have been for the last 25 years I've worn them). That's good enough for me.

Yeah, everyone is different. The risk was worth it to me because I constantly had headaches with my glasses and dry eye with my contacts. I also went to a guy who was one of the first people to do it in my state who had an extremely low complication rate, so I felt good about it. It worked out great.

But yeah, if I didn’t have any of those issues, I would have thought about it a lot more.
 
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is there any option that she suggests?

For what it’s worth, I got LASIK a few weeks ago and am incredibly happy. I’ve had to wear glasses/contacts since 5th grade and in the past year started to get conjunctivitis related to contacts. So, I figured it was time to fix things, and no better time than before the start of M1.

My vision was pretty bad and I had mild astigmatism and dry eyes. I had the procedure (10 min on each eye) on a Friday afternoon and went home with my eyes feeling like sandpaper. Went to sleep and woke up with 20/20 vision. It’s the best feeling ever and completely worth the cost, imo.
 
If you guys don't mind me asking, how much did ya'll pay in general for Lasik?
 
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dont you need stable eye vision for 2 years also, before you can get the lasik?

Mine number keeps going up =/
 
Thinking of doing this, before residency starts...


Had it done when I was 18. My eyes are pretty dry in the morning even 5 year after the procedure, but I usually just put in eye drops, and I'm good to go. Like everyone else, I think it's a good investment. Before it, I always had to wear clunky glasses, as my vision was terrible. This might be a silly point, but I really think I was one of those people that never looked good with glasses, and I didn't really have a ton of confidence in high school because of it and other reasons. So overall, just be aware of the risks going into it.
 
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Had it maybe 7 years ago, left me disabled. In severe pain everyday, can't use a computer or drive, will be hard to become a doctor, I would do anything to go back to life before the surgery. Severe photophobia and double vision. Think carefully before allowing someone to operate on your perfectly normal eyes, at least read all the negative experiences.
 
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Many of the ophthalmologists I work with are still wearing glasses or contacts. Like most things in medicine, minor complication rates are relatively high and major complications are more rare. It depends on your risk tolerance.
 
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Had it maybe 7 years ago, left me disabled. In severe pain everyday, can't use a computer or drive, will be hard to become a doctor, I would do anything to go back to life before the surgery. Severe photophobia and double vision. Think carefully before allowing someone to operate on your perfectly normal eyes, at least read all the negative experiences.

Microkeratome blade or iFS laser for your flap? Did you have prior dry eye? Any underlying medical conditions? Doesnt sound like your eyes were "perfectly normal" before all this, and could just be a troll account newly formed with 1 post.
 
Microkeratome blade or iFS laser for your flap? Did you have prior dry eye? Any underlying medical conditions? Doesnt sound like your eyes were "perfectly normal" before all this, and could just be a troll account newly formed with 1 post.


Doubt the poster came here to “troll”. I’m sure he had a bad experience or else he would be singing its praises like everyone else. My brother in law developed DLK and was miserable for over a year. It disrupted both his career (trial attorney) and well being. When you get a rare complication, it can really screw up your life.

And with regard to those pre-existing conditions, some eye doctor proceeded anyway.
 
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Never said it wasn’t possible. Pointing out its a rare situation and many of the bad outcomes are due to poor patient selection. So an eye doctor proceeding with lasik on a non ideal patient with a history of KCS or inflammatory conditions isn’t a lasik complication, its poor doctoring.
 
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I wonder if it would be feasible for someone to go through residency (especially any surgical ones) exclusively with contacts? Obviously medical school should be pretty easy (apart from certain rotations maybe) and attending life probably wouldn't be too much of an issue because you have more control over your schedule/hours.

I have pretty bad vision (which has thankfully stabilized in the last couple years) but use monthly contacts pretty much exclusively now without any issues (had to switch to hydrogen peroxide cleaning after some issues early in my usage). But I also don't work 10+ hours a day with night call/etc. Do residents exclusively wear contacts and if so, are they usually the daily, throwaway kind or monthlies?

As someone entering medical school in the fall, part of me wants to consider doing LASIK sometime over the summer before I start M1 but part of me is hesitant with reports of various complications (even the minors ones like dry eye ad night vision issues sound problematic).
 
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I wonder if it would be feasible for someone to go through residency (especially any surgical ones) exclusively with contacts? Obviously medical school should be pretty easy (apart from certain rotations maybe) and attending life probably wouldn't be too much of an issue because you have more control over your schedule/hours.

I have pretty bad vision (which has thankfully stabilized in the last couple years) but use monthly contacts pretty much exclusively now without any issues (had to switch to hydrogen peroxide cleaning after some issues early in my usage). But I also don't work 10+ hours a day with night call/etc. Do residents exclusively wear contacts and if so, are they usually the daily, throwaway kind or monthlies?

As someone entering medical school in the fall, part of me wants to consider doing LASIK sometime over the summer before I start M1 but part of me is hesitant with reports of various complications (even the minors ones like dry eye ad night vision issues sound problematic).

Nimbus might disagree with this though.
 

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Nimbus might disagree with this though.


I don’t disagree with any of it. LASIK is obviously a safe and effective procedure but it still has risks that are real. The people who complain of complications afterward are not making it up. They wanted to have a great result like everyone else.

One of the slides in that presentation shows that slightly over 60% of LVC surgeons who are candidates for LASIK have had it on their own eyes. That means almost 40% of that group have not. Doctors are generally a risk averse group so I’m not surprised. Again it depends on your individual risk tolerance.

When Visian ICL came out, I went to be evaluated by 2 of the early surgeons offering the procedure. They both said I was an ideal candidate. Then I talked to a very experienced and deft retina guy I work with. He said if he had my -11 eyes, he wouldn’t do it. So I’m still in glasses because I am risk averse with my own vision. It’s a solution that currently works for me with zero risk. When I develop a cataract and my vision is no longer correctable with glasses, the risk benefit analysis will change.
 
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I wonder if it would be feasible for someone to go through residency (especially any surgical ones) exclusively with contacts? Obviously medical school should be pretty easy (apart from certain rotations maybe) and attending life probably wouldn't be too much of an issue because you have more control over your schedule/hours.

I have pretty bad vision (which has thankfully stabilized in the last couple years) but use monthly contacts pretty much exclusively now without any issues (had to switch to hydrogen peroxide cleaning after some issues early in my usage). But I also don't work 10+ hours a day with night call/etc. Do residents exclusively wear contacts and if so, are they usually the daily, throwaway kind or monthlies?

As someone entering medical school in the fall, part of me wants to consider doing LASIK sometime over the summer before I start M1 but part of me is hesitant with reports of various complications (even the minors ones like dry eye ad night vision issues sound problematic).
For regular days contacts are fine - most people wear them for 12+ hours/day anyway. I put mine in around 6am and take them out around 8pm currently. 24 hour calls are a different story. I just wore glasses on those days. My wife would take her contacts out around 9pm and wear glasses the rest of the call.
 
For regular days contacts are fine - most people wear them for 12+ hours/day anyway. I put mine in around 6am and take them out around 8pm currently. 24 hour calls are a different story. I just wore glasses on those days. My wife would take her contacts out around 9pm and wear glasses the rest of the call.

That makes a lot of sense. I obviously have no issue wearing glasses considering I did so for majority of life thus far (apart from the fact that they are pretty thick lol). I think I am going to stick to the current plan for medical school and re-evaluate before residency. Maybe in those 4 years, there will be some advancements in the technology (reduction in complications, etc).
 
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