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Laser Eye surgery. Opinions?
DarkWarrior
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I recieve letters offering surgery from Ultralase UK pretty much bi-monthly ajd now I have a bit of extra money I've been considering it. I always wanted to get it done but not knowing anyone whos had it done I don't really know how safe it is, and the episode of the Simpsons where Ned's eyes fell out after it kind of makes me paranoid.
I can;t imagine life blind and so my sight is precious enough that I can't risk it if blindness is a viable threat. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of the procedure, particularly with Ultralase since they seem like one of the major companies in the UK that does it?
I can;t imagine life blind and so my sight is precious enough that I can't risk it if blindness is a viable threat. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of the procedure, particularly with Ultralase since they seem like one of the major companies in the UK that does it?
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But yeah, my mom was quite pleased with the results. She said the only unnerving part of the procedure was the actual lasering. Because they are esentially cooking your eyes, she could smell it being lasered.
It's surgery, there's still risk, sure, but I've yet to hear of anyone they messed up on.
However, it is surgery, and it's irreversible. My dad's an ophthalmologist (though he doesn't do refractive laser stuff) and his advice would be to ask yourself if you really need to do away with corrective lenses of some sort. If you can stand to live with contacts and/or glasses, then he'd say that it's not worth the risk, however small.
You also need to understand that you may not walk out with 20/20 vision, and even if you do, it might not last. As people age, vision (particularly close vision) tends to deteriorate.
I wasn't worried about the cosmetic aspect of having glasses, I was just tired of wearing them. Don't really miss 'em, either.
PSN: Broichan
That's not quite true. In some cases, it can be corrected, in some cases it can be reduced. However, in some cases, you won't be able to get an improvement. But still - there's hope!
I went to San Francisco for my 21st and I had to take and carry my glasses everwhere because I don't enjoy wearing them for general use but I didn't want to miss out on the sights for not having them. If there is a good chance my vision could be improved (I wouldn't expect permanently but for a good long decade at least) it'd be an amazing experience to see things clear as day without the glasses.
This is not true.
I had an astigmatism in addition to myopia and I just had PRK in October. I am still having trouble with dry eyes, but overall I am very pleased with the results, other then having to put drops. If I had to choose between PRK and having a cavity filled, I would much rather have PRK. The procedure itself was nothing. I can't believe how cool it is to be able to see. Just know it means many months of tying yourself to eye drops.
If you have any specific questions, let me know.
She believes it was well worth it, despite the problems, and is genuinely happy with having it done.
Her astigmatism is gone and she has 20/15 vision now. She is incredibly happy with it.
Note that it's actually *better* to have it while you're young, because as you age your lenses stiffen, meaning that you typically need some sort of correction regardless of how good your tested vision is. It's lame to spend a few thousand dollars to simply get a lighter pair of glasses, IMO.
That being said, if your eyes are bad, then yes, it can be good stuff. Shop around and see if you can get a good opinion on a good place. Being in Baltimore, my wife could go to Wilmer, which is one of the best, if not THE best, eye surgery places in the country. Her doc is the guy that other docs send their trouble cases too, because he can fix them.
Any place that you go to should have you wear only your glasses for 2-3 weeks prior to your exam to see if you're a good candidate. And the testing should tell you all of the possible problems that you, as a candidate, should run into. They can test for halos and pain, as well as if you can even get it. For example, my wife's dad can't get it because he's too old and his corneas are too thin.
My wife figures that if she needs to get a light pair of reading glasses when she's 50, so what -- she'll have 20 years of perfect, unaided vision and then be able to pick a cute, lightweight, cheap pair when she's old.
But don't just go to a place that's big or advertising. They may be the best, but you should see if it actually is the best. When you're spending thousands of dollars on your eyeballs, you might as well get the best care.
Drops are necessary for all surgeries. The ablation destroys nerve endings, and it takes about 1-2 years for them to fully recover. During that time, your eye can't gauge correctly how wet it is, so your eyes may feel fine but actually be dry. The problem that can arise from that is that you can scratch your cornea or loosen the flap. So you err on the side of too wet by putting in drops frequently, even if you don't feel that your eyes are very dry.
I was told to use the drops for like 3 weeks. 1-2 years? That seems [strike]a bit[/strike] really really really fucking ridiculous.
I can't really see the road when a car has those fucking horrible "natural light" head lights.
But, overall I am supremely happy with my decision to get the surgery.
Actually, many people experience dry eyes many years after their surgery.
My father had it done 4 years ago. He loved it. Got almost perfect vision. However, after a couple years, his eyes began to constantly dry out. He says that many nights, he can't sleep because they feel so dry and he has to get up several times a night to put in eye drops. Apparently this won't go away. And it's relatively common.
I read an article on cnn that said (I think..) that 1 in 5 people aren't happy they had laser surgery several years after getting it.
Because of my dad's experience, I'm holding off until the procedure gets nailed down better.
I thought of something else that'd be nice, recognising people while out and about. People wave or whatever and you dunno whether to ignore them because they must be waving at someone else or wave back because its soemone you know but cant make out properly.
I'm reconsidering it lately as well, the question about the eye drops was a good one. Years ago, that was one of the major complaints was that people had to use eyedrops for months or years afterwards, but this was about a year or two after LASIK came out so it was still a pretty new procedure.
I'd also say that if your eyesight isn't that bad, than I'd probably hold off. My left eye however has gotten to the point of being pretty bad and I'm pretty limited on a lot of the eyeglass choices I have due to the thickness that lens has to be. The right eye is right on the border of where I'd need to eliminate certain frame choices.
Do they still cut the flap on your eye with a physical blade? That part always freaked me the fuck out when I looked at the procedure.
If the risks (however small) are worth it to you, go for it.
Since astigmatism is a type of malformation in the surface of the cornea, it makes sense that it's eliminated from laser ablation, which smooths the surface to be "perfect," or as perfect as possible.
PRK hurts more, both during and after the procedure, but it can be helpful for people who desire the procedure but work or participate in something that could hit your eye, like the construction industry or a contact sport.
Since people's eyes are a little different, some people heal up right away, others have naturally dry eyes and, since their eyes have just been zapped, should use drops for a longer period. A good surgeon will tell you if your eyes are naturally dryer (or wetter) prior to the procedure.
As for the unhappiness, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that it's elective surgery, so many people decide to get it done without doing much research into it. Compound that with the fact that it's expensive ($3000-$6000 in the US) making it more affordable for those who are older, despite the fact that the older you are the worse your eyes are naturally, and it makes sense that some people would be unhappy with it.
There are also some news articles of people who have constant pain -- of course, you read their story and discover that the surgeon told them "you run a high risk of having constant pain" and they get the surgery anyway.
My wife's eyes cost over $5000. I'm skeptical of any place that offers it for under £400, although I'm not sure if they charge more in the US to compensate for our more expensive health system.
I can't put contacts in so the post-op thing deters me, as well as the 'no guarantees' thing. 4000 euro for a pair of lighter glasses? etc.
Good luck!
She can't go anywhere without having a bottle with her and I know it's subtle, but I don't like eye drops already so having to put them in numerous times a day every day would drive me bonkers. Maybe check if anyone else in your family has had it done? My rationale was that if she had it and has to do the eye drop thing then I probably would too since we have the same genes.
I didn't have any pain during the PRK procedure at all. I had a little discomfort for about a week afterwords. If you wear contacts, it felt like I had been wearing my contacts all day outside in the wind. The doc told me in advance to take a week off. I could have been back in 4 days. YMMV.
There is also a substantial amount of time involved. I had a pre-op appointment, the surgery day, the day after follow up, a week later, a month later, and three months later (tomorrow). So plan ahead for that too. They put bandage contact lenses on that come off at the end of the week appointment.
The procedure took about 20 minutes, but with all the waiting and prep time at the clinic, it took about half a day... At first everything was pretty blurry but after a couple hours, my vision was back to what it was without glasses... Then after a day my vision was about 90% of what it was with glasses. After a week I could see just the same, if not better, as when I wore my glasses.
Very very happy I got the surgery. I'm 29 and so I figure I may as well do it before I get older and it's not worth it.
Lasik does not have contacts for the post-op, as your eye is technically intact -- the flap suctions down naturally, and you just wear an eye-guard for the first couple nights while sleeping and are told to not rub your eyes for anything (hence the eye guard).
If you can get lasik, most surgeons will prefer to do that instead of PRK, as the risk of pain is greater. As Silvertree points out, a greater risk doesn't mean "it will hurt," but that there is the possibility of pain during recovery.
Ultralase. I get letters and emails from them all the time. Of course it says FROM £365 or so per eye, its still close to £1000 I guess.
^Eggytoast, £365 is like 700 dollars per eye so its not MEGA cheap.
I'll ahve to talk to a GP or something as the only thing that concerns me is the eye drops thing. While I would prefer 20/20, I'll take wearing my glasses now and again to using eye drops every day for 3 years. Though most stories in here seem to be older persuasions needing the drops so much.
They actually still offer that in most places.
I had it offered when I got mine done last year around this time.
If you simply need to wear glasses, and have a light prescription, you can still have it done, but it's typically not as "worth it" as someone who has horrible eyes. My wife's eyes were so bad that her vision was no longer measured as 20/xx, but rather just by the diopters. And she had astygmatism. She wasn't able to wear glasses comfortably because the lenses were so strong that it was almost like looking through a fisheye lens.
She could only realistically see through the use of contact lenses, and had to stop wearing gas permeables (hard) a couple years ago. She then transitioned to fancy soft contacts, but developed an allergy to the preservative in the soft contact solution, giving her numerous styes and other inflammation fun. Given her inability to see well with glasses, she was more than pleased to discover that she was a good candidate for lasik.
Now, my sister was in the same boat you are -- eyes are a little bad, she had to wear glasses, but was sick of wearing glasses/contacts. She had her eyes done and loved it, but doesn't feel as strongly about it because, for her, it was simply convenience -- less time in the morning. For my wife, it was truly a quality of life issue.
That doesn't mean that you can't get it done, of course -- they probably appreciate cases that are straightforward, and you're less likely to run into problems.
No rush mind you as I'd have to see what it cost and get an actual doctors opinion of Ultralase and their cohorts.
So assuming the glasses still working means my eyes haven't changed much, I should be ok.
edit: spoilered, some might find it a little disturbing