LASIK - Do It

[Cheesehead]

I thought seriously about doing this in Jordan (the country) in 2010 shortly after college. Could’ve had it done with all-Harvard trained docs who worked on the royal family for <$1200 (no insurance) in Amman. I was there for an archaeological dig. Part of me still wishes I would’ve done it but some folks that had said it worked out fine but they were standing up the whole time, had no anesthesia, and could smell their eyeballs burning. Decided to wait.

I’ll add...on occasion it is nice to not be able to see. Had to fire somebody last year for poor performance. Sat across the room from him and HR and looked that poor kid in the eyes who was 2 years out of college and told him he didn’t measure up and we had to let him go. Didn’t see a single tear because my glasses were on top of my head. Best firing trick ever.

 

[Wildabeest]

could smell their eyeballs burning

Unless something has changed since I had it done 20+ years ago, you do smell the laser burning the tissue away to reshape the cornea. Wasn’t expecting it, and have vivid memory of it.

 

[LousyResident]

Unless something has changed since I had it done 20+ years ago, you do smell the laser burning the tissue away to reshape the cornea. Wasn’t expecting it, and have vivid memory of it.

Lol yep my wife too
Could hear and smell it.

 

[LousyResident]

For those of you whose employer’s provide Medical Flexible Spending Accounts, plan a year ahead and fund those accounts to pay whatever your out of pocket portion is. That will allow you to pay that with pre-tax dollars, which can add up when you are paying a few thousands out of pocket.

Exactly what we did. Plus those funds are typically available right in the beginning of the year. Max it out, get it done, pay the difference, and have it "paid off" by tyne end of the year.

 

[WBouldin]

Unless something has changed since I had it done 20+ years ago, you do smell the laser burning the tissue away to reshape the cornea. Wasn’t expecting it, and have vivid memory of it.

You absolutely can smell it. That’s the only moment I let myself think about what was happening.

Something else was said about anithesia, you definitely won’t be under as they need you to communicate with them on when you’ve blacked out visually so they can start the laser.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Any of you guys that have had LASIK have dry eye troubles? I have chronic dry eyes and am more or less constantly on antihistamines for allergies, and my optometrist seems dubious about recommending me for LASIK. If you’ve got the dry eye thing, is there anything you did to make it work. I hate wearing glasses and can’t do contacts (once again, because of the dry eyes).

 

[LuckyGoose]

I'm going on 39 and supposed to be a good candidate. I think it's time. Contacts and I don't get along anymore anyway. This thread is good motivation. I've only ever met one person who had it done. Nice to hear all of the accounts here.

 

[Dave N]

So how bad does your vision have to be to be considered a candidate?

 

[LuckyGoose]

Your age, at least 20/40 vision, and cornea qualities are primarily what they assess. I'm sure there's other things they look at too. Last time I asked, they said something about my astigmatism but I don't remember how that plays in.

 

[WBouldin]

So how bad does your vision have to be to be considered a candidate?

It is all based on your prescription and your cornea thickness. The stronger your prescription, the more cornea they need to reshape to correct it. I had bad astigmatism in my left eye and its completely gone. Astigmatism can be thought of as ridges and valleys on the eye that cause distortion. Contact lenses are flat and therefore cannot fully correct for the ridges and valleys - LASIK gets rid of the ridges and valleys thus removing the astigmatism. Again, depends on how thick your corneas are for what they need to reshape, but LASIK is best way to correct astigmatism as it removes it.

**Im not a doctor, these are my layman's understanding of a highly complex issue

 

[LuckyGoose]

Thanks for dumbing that down for me to understand. Ha. That just gets me more excited to have it done. The night time driving improvement with reducing the astigmatism is a whole other bonus.

 

[WBouldin]

Thanks for dumbing that down for me to understand. Ha. That just gets me more excited to have it done. The night time driving improvement with reducing the astigmatism is a whole other bonus.

Yeah my night time driving before sucked. You have "halos" for a week or months after the surgery in low light situations so for me night time driving is impossible right now 4 days post-op, but that supposedly goes away in a few weeks and I expect night time driving to longer be a concern of mine.

 

[birdman27]

Another vote for 100% do it. I wore glasses since first grade, with pretty terrible vision (-8 range). Was 20/20 two days later and dont even think about it 4 years later. I went a week long scuba trip about a month later and the difference from when I had to wear contacts was striking. No issues at all.

Like others said, if you can use a medical spending account, do it for the pre-tax dollars.

 

[Wildabeest]

Any of you guys that have had LASIK have dry eye troubles?

I do, but it’s been a recent phenomenon so I’m not sure if it’s directly related to the LASIK or not. Could just be that my eyes are revolting along with the rest of my Post-50 body!

 

[7Bartman]

I've considered it for the last 5 years (40 now). I have large retinas so I'd only be a candidate for PRK. I can even get Uncle Sam to cover it, however I'm scared to take chances with my vision. Yes, I hate the expensive contacts, but I also had a friend of a friend have some serious complications from this procedure.

 

[LousyResident]

Any of you guys that have had LASIK have dry eye troubles? I have chronic dry eyes and am more or less constantly on antihistamines for allergies, and my optometrist seems dubious about recommending me for LASIK. If you’ve got the dry eye thing, is there anything you did to make it work. I hate wearing glasses and can’t do contacts (once again, because of the dry eyes).

My wife had dry eyes before, causing migraines in combination with her contacts. She still has dry eyes, but it's much easier to manage with drops now. She has drops stored in every purse, multiple drawers, all vehicles, etc. lol. She's much happier now.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Around 1995 my vision went to shit. I remember not being able to make out the time on the VCR and started wearing glasses then contacts. The loss of acuity was so complete that I was a real liability without glasses. Finally stabilized at something terrible; probably 20/300. In 2016, I got the bladeless through a TLC company that since closed here and still operates in other SW cities. That same night I could read the tiny digital clocks again from across the room. It was like something returned to me that went missing long ago.

 

[MTGreenhorn]

Did Lasik 9.5 yrs ago now, still 20/20 without ever going back/touchups, had to pay for it out of pocket/loan, and at the time was in my mid 20's.
Best health choice I've made to date still!
(now I just need to work on making some more good choices.....)

 

[wa_archer]

Would have said the same thing up until 6 months ago. I got it 15 yrs ago and was great until my vision faded and now im back to contacts. The opto. siad i need to wait a few yrs to see if vision levels off and then consider a touch up to it.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Any of you guys that have had LASIK have dry eye troubles? I have chronic dry eyes and am more or less constantly on antihistamines for allergies, and my optometrist seems dubious about recommending me for LASIK. If you’ve got the dry eye thing, is there anything you did to make it work. I hate wearing glasses and can’t do contacts (once again, because of the dry eyes).

Yes, actually, they can work with dry eyes too! Lasik may be out, oh well, but there is a corneal lens replacement. As I understand it, they take away your bogus lens and then using laser beams, suture in a good lens. I was a candidate for lasik so did not research alternatives more, but check it out!