Laser eye surgery

[Ciavete]

Any success stories, cautionary tales, recommendations as to yea or nay?

[jlyon]

I had mine 12 years ago and no issues and my vision is still perfect.

[cp43]

My wife had it done last year. She's loving not wearing contacts anymore.

[inlimbo87]

Subscribing. I've been wearing contacts for 17 years now and I'm ready to be done with them.

[Mzilliox]

I did it 2 years ago, never look back, its the best. no more contacts on camping trips, no more foggy glasses on cold mornings.

[rwerkudara]

Had PRK surgery right before Thanksgiving last year. Definitely painful and healing took longer than I expected, but worth it as I now have 20/15 vision.

[Louis]

It depends on the type of problems you have with your eyes and the degree of correction required. The less they have to do the more likely you'll have a positive result. I'm massively nearsighted and the odds are non-trivial that I'd probably still have to wear glasses after the surgery, so I haven't bothered to take the chance.

Caveat: I'm not an ophthalmologist, and the statement above is my layman's interpretation of what my ophthalmologist (who does lots of these surgeries in St Louis) has told me.

[veloduffer]

I haven't had it done but have looked into it for years. I'm very nearsighted (-9.0 Left, -8.0 right) and have worn glasses since I was in 3rd grade.

From what I've researched, success depends on how poor your vision is to start with, level of astigmatism, eye dryness and cornea thickness. Your risk of side effects (halo-ing, poor night vision) is affected by those factors.

RPK and Lasik generally achieve the same level of success. RPK is more uncomfortable after surgery, but you don't have to worry about the flap. There are some doctors here on the forum that can provide more enlightened answers. Obviously, choosing a good practitioner/doctor is also key.

Since I achieve 20/20 vision corrected with contacts (20/25 with glasses) and have good night vision, I haven't pursued surgery. One day, I think lens substitution (like cataract surgery) will be a viable option for vision correction.

[kmac]

my experience was less fortunate. i got it done back in 2005. the worser of my two eyes actually got corrected very well. but my better eye ended up getting worse (i actually suspect it got measured wrong, but could not prove this).

anyway, 8 surgeries later, the eye is usable for depth perception, but i see about 4 of everything due to tiny wrinkles left in the corneal flap (i believe they are called "micro-striae"). everything from a mini iron to stitches in the cornea failed to correct the issues.

i've learned to live with it pretty well, but from a cycling perspective the main gripe i have is that when the eye gets dry, the vision gets significantly worse and the eye almost becomes useless. i find that glasses that don't allow any air to get thru (which would help slow the drying process) fog WAY too quickly so either way i end up not seeing very well. and in winter riding, the whole fogging/airflow blocking balance is much harder to keep in check. not great when you're trying to look for icy patches.

note that i haven't heard of too many other stories like this, but it can be a bit of a bummer when it does happen. ironically, the whole reason i went for lasik in the first place was so i could see better when cycling. oh well...

(i should mention, i had a mild astigmatism in both eyes... it wasn't considered a high-risk case. more falls into the whole "stuff happens" bucket.)

[texbike]

I had it done 15 years ago and it was one of the best life-style improvements that I've encountered. The ability to engage in cycling and other outdoor activities without concern about contacts or glasses was huge!

I had an eye appt a few weeks back and found that there hasn't been significant deterioration in my vision since the procedure was performed. However, I am finding that as I've aged, my arms have become too short to hold objects far enough out to read fine print and will probably need reading glasses soon (or longer arms).

Perhaps Rick Perry will make me a good deal on his glasses since he'll no longer be needing them...

Texbike

[makoti]

Love mine. Still need glasses to read (I'm very old), but I can drive, ride, watch tv without. And it was done 2001.

[Black Dog]

13 years later and I am still seeing much better than 20/20. I had the custom correction done which typically results in better than 20/20. Worth the extra $. The surgery was the best money I have every spent on anything. Quality of life and all that.

[Geeheeb]

9 years on and I have a haze in my vision that gets worse when I'm dehydrated (sort of like the dream effect on a soap opera, but mild). I have a hard time driving (but not riding) at night due to glare, esp on rainy nights. I was 20/400, then up to 20/15 but that has faded to the point that I need mild glasses for night driving and looking at far field things over about 50' away.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by Geeheeb

9 years on and I have a haze in my vision that gets worse when I'm dehydrated (sort of like the dream effect on a soap opera, but mild). I have a hard time driving (but not riding) at night due to glare, esp on rainy nights. I was 20/400, then up to 20/15 but that has faded to the point that I need mild glasses for night driving and looking at far field things over about 50' away.

Wow, 20/400 was a huge correction.

[kramnnim]

I had the custom wavefront intralasic whatever...hmm, I forgot how long it has been, 4 years? My eyes get dry more than they used to when I'm lying down and staring up at a ceiling fan. Headlights bother me some when driving at night, I see "halos" around them. White font on a black TV screen glows a bit. But overall, I'm very happy.