I am in my early thirties. I have been wearing glasses since 5th grade for distance, but full-time since 9th grade.
After having them fog up, get smudged, trying to nap with them, almost breaking them, relying on them too much I just got fed up.
I kept thinking about it for YEARS but finally decided, you know what, let's do the damn thing.

My optometrist said my prescription has been very stable over several years and I am seeing 20/15 with glasses. She did the full exam and everything looks good.

Did a laser eye consultation with an ophthalmologist who's apparently one of the best in the world (am in Canada, people apparently come from the US and from all over Asia to this place). It ain't cheap by a long shot. But I told myself let's do it.
He said I'd be an excellent candidate.

I have booked time off work for recovery. After wearing glasses for half my life, it's surreal that in under 3 weeks I'm going to cease that.

Got a date for surgery in late October! I can't believe I am finally going through with it.

Congrats!

I had LASIK done about 20 years ago (I'm 59 now). Been seeing clearly ever since. Although I need reading glasses. Would do it again if I needed it.

I had LASIK a bit over 10 years ago... one of the best things I've ever done. Good for you, acidjazz!

I've got to keep some readers around now, but living without glasses entirely for those years has been wonderful.

I had it done 5 yrs ago. I do have reading glasses, but my sight is one 20/25. I used to wear coke bottles most of my life. The only regret is I didn't do it sooner. Recovery was less than 24 hrs and was checked about a week later. Good luck.

I’m one of those who didn’t have a good experience. Before you do it do a web search for LASIK gone bad and read some stories about when it doesn’t go right. I can see without glasses but four years after spending 5k at a respected doctor I’m at the point where I need them again. I also now have dry eyes and my eyes get fatigued at times toward the end of the day and my vision gets blurred along with my eyes being dry (which never happened prior to the surgery). I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it but weigh the risks and decide if you can accept the chance of it going wrong.

Had LASIK about 10 years ago. I’d do it all over again even if I had to pay for it.

I’m 65 and distance vision is as good as it was right after the surgery.

Need readers but I needed them before the LASIK.

I had it done in my early 30s as well. Best money I ever spent. The only time you should need to take off of work would be the day of the procedure. By that night, you'll be fine. I went to work the next day and also drove to my follow-up appt that day as well.

Good luck!

I thought of doing the same thing for 25 years or so. Contacts worked so good that I felt I had little to gain by going under the laser.

I recently had cataract surgery and I am 20/15 and happy.

Good luck with your decision.

Best money I ever spent. Going on ~4 years now and no contacts or glasses. Walked in at 0800 the day of my surgery and walked out 30 minutes later. Took a nap for an hour or so when I got home (wife drove), and I was fine an hour later. Went to work the next day, no problems.

Shop around, I had three consultantations and the price was $1,400 - $7,500. I spent $1,400 and probably have the same results if I had spent $7,500.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
I’m one of those who didn’t have a good experience. Before you do it do a web search for LASIK gone bad and read some stories about when it doesn’t go right. I can see without glasses but four years after spending 5k at a respected doctor I’m at the point where I need them again. I also now have dry eyes and my eyes get fatigued at times toward the end of the day and my vision gets blurred along with my eyes being dry (which never happened prior to the surgery). I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it but weigh the risks and decide if you can accept the chance of it going wrong.

Is this very common, and are there any preexisting conditions for certain people that make it more likely? I've been considering it for years, but would want an extremely low risk potential.

Congrats. I had Lasik done in 2002. Took a week to recover. Had a touch up in 2016. Was back to work in two days with no issues.

Not sure if I want to do it again if I needed it.

Totally worth it. I paid $3300 for both eyes in 2002. My touch up was free.

I had Supralase (PRK) done, was originally looking to get Lasik performed. However went to 4 different doctors to get their opinions. 3 said I was an excellent candidate for Lasik. The last one performed some tests on me. Measured the thickness of my cornea, also did a dry eye test, and also asked me if I did any sports and if so what sports.

He disqualified me for the following:

1. My cornea was borderline too thin.
2. I was borderline with dry eyes.
3. I did contact sports such as martial arts, etc.

He told me that with Lasik, there is a very small chance that the FLAP will come off in a high G-Force situation such as car accident, head being punched, etc. If that happens it is very painful and you would need a cornea transplant. He said it is rare, however it has happened. Also he said that is why the military will NOT perform or allow people with lasik only PRK and only themselves perform PRK no lasik. However that may have changed now. He also told me to go to the website http://www.lasikdisaster.com/ and read all the problems as these can happen. He also told me that any doctor that guarantees that you will have perfect vision after the procedure, to run away as even he does not guarantee. I over heard him speaking with another patient that had a -10 diopter for both eyes and he told the patient that there was no way he can get him to 20/20 unassisted. He might be able to get him to 20/80 or better after the surgery and will still need glasses or contact. The patient decided to get the procedure as his glasses will now be less thicker and heavier and was worth it for him. So my suggestion is to please research and go to as many doctors you can and ask questions. I hope this helps. God Bless


PS: Yes I did get the Supralase (PRK) laser surgery performed back in 2006 and have been happy with it ever since. My vision fluctuates with both eyes from 20/15 to 20/30 depending on the time of day, etc.

I forgot to add, if you already have dry eyes and get Lasik it may or will get worse. With Lasik I was told that when cutting the cornea for the flap, the nerves also are cut, so with the flap never really healing, their body can't tell or feel that their eyes are dry, etc. Again this is just what I have been told by someone and also ready somewhere.

Also when you get to the age of 40+ you may or will need reading glasses.
God Bless

quote:

Originally posted by Outnumbered:

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
I’m one of those who didn’t have a good experience. Before you do it do a web search for LASIK gone bad and read some stories about when it doesn’t go right. I can see without glasses but four years after spending 5k at a respected doctor I’m at the point where I need them again. I also now have dry eyes and my eyes get fatigued at times toward the end of the day and my vision gets blurred along with my eyes being dry (which never happened prior to the surgery). I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it but weigh the risks and decide if you can accept the chance of it going wrong.

Is this very common, and are there any preexisting conditions for certain people that make it more likely? I've been considering it for years, but would want an extremely low risk potential.

I’m not sure, prior to LASIK I only heard good reports from people who had it. When I had problems after surgery I heard from people who knew someone where it didn’t go well. There was even a coworker who went out on medical retirement due to being legally blind after the surgery. There’s a doctor in Florida who specializes in people who have problems due to LASIK.

Got Lasik in 2014, best medical thing I've ever done.

quote:

Originally posted by acidjazz:
Did a laser eye consultation with an ophthalmologist who's apparently one of the best in the world

I had it done almost 20 years ago (1999) and have zero regrets.

You are absolutely right in having it done by one of the best qualified docs. I have a friend who works in this field (his company makes the surgical laser machines for the Lasik procedure). He told me that virtually every case he's heard of where people had issues, it was because they went to some "bargain" Lasik outfit.

Had mine at 35. Greatest thing I ever did. Went through the eye change at 43. I was back in contacts but not anything like It was. I could almost forget to put them in but tv is fuzzy. Reading is fantastic without contacts...need cheaters with them.

The one I am getting is PRK not Lasik, it's a new PRK called TransPrk or SmartSurface where I am going. The recovery time is longer than Lasik but the results are great, risks are lower, and no cutting or flap. Apparently it's all touchless, just pry my eyelids open and all done by laser.

I just did it about 2 months ago, very happy with it.

I had LASIK in 2007 and afterward had 20/15 vision for 2 years, 20/20 vision for 5 years, and 20/25 vision for 2 years. It was great being able to see when I woke up in the morning, not having glasses fog up, and not having all of the GD smudges from the protective coating on glasses. I also enjoyed the crap out of having real sunglasses.

One of the weird things after LASIK was how sensitive my eyes were to wind as I had been an everyday glasses wearer since sophomore year of college.

I ended up having to go on Restasis for a year after LASIK because my eyes weren't producing enough natural tears.

I was told that when I reached 40 that I'd likely need reading glasses. Unfortunately, they were wrong and when I was 42 I needed distance glasses. A year later, I graduated to bifocals.

Would I do it over? yes.

Am I disappointed I lost my distance vision? yes.