I'm just starting my PGY1 as a Gen Surg categorical. I had been wearing contacts/glasses for about 18 years when I had Lasik this past March...two weeks before the match. For me I was tired of glasses and contacts. It was fine in the OR if I was wearing my contacts, but that wasn't an option for me if I was on call...I would have to take out my contacts eventually. I always felt like my field of vision just wasn't what it could be wearing glasses. I also fancy myself a bit of an outdoorsman and if I was going to be out for any extended period of time it was always such a hassle with my corrective lenses. The prospect of ever losing my glasses or contacts while I was out in the field was enough to scare me to death. I would have been essentially blind...helpless...in the wilderness. Anyways that probably sounds pretty silly, but nonetheless, those are the reasons that I sought out Lasik.
My doc was a bit of big wig down in Houston and he told me that he himself had a very low complication rate (less than one percent) for complications such as dryness, halos, night vision difficulties, etc. His serious complication rate was next to nothing (hundredths of a percent) that included astigmatism, altered vision that is uncorrectable and blindness.
For the laser that he used on me 98% of folks ended up with 20/20 vision or better!! I went in the day after surgery for a check-up and my vision was already 20/20. It continued to get even sharper for about 6 weeks or so, and it's been awesome...no halos, no problems at night, just great vision without having to screw around with glasses and contacts.
It wasn't all great though...evidently the opening to my eyes is pretty small. Small eyes plus Cro-Magnon brow I suppose. Anyhow, my doc used a laser called intralase to cut the flaps instead of free-handing them like some do. That particular laser has to mount onto your eye and for me it was a pretty tight fit. I recall several techs holding me down and the doctor pulling my eye open as he forced the mounting cup onto my eye while I writhed in pain. I also recall the surgeon yelling at me, "I know it hurts but you're gonna have to suck it up!" LOL
I can laugh now, but I didn't think it was very funny at the time. The soft tissues around my eyes were pretty swollen for several days, but luckily that was the worst of it and my vision is great. So unless you have smaller eyes than 90% of the population this shouldn't be a concern for you.
That's my story on Lasik, and generally I would recommend it to other people. My surgeon says he does the procedure on other surgeons "all the time", though I did not ask him to quantify that statement. I would caution people to shop around for their surgeon though and make sure he/she has a good reputation and see what his/her success and complication rates are. Mine had all of those statistics published. All eye surgeons are NOT created equal. The lasers are great, cutting edge technology but they are just a tool...like a scalpel...you want the guy holding it to be as skilled as possible. My surgeon was good, his bedside manner wasn't perfect...."SUCK IT UP!!!"...but at least my vision is good. I paid a lot more than most people do, but shopping for cut rate eye surgery just didn't make sense to me.
