How has your lasic held up over the time since you had the procedure? What is it now 1 - 2 years? Any problems? Need corrective lenses at all? How old are you now? My brother is thinking of having this done. He is 47. He will have both eyes done for distance.

I had mine done almost a year ago and I love it.  My vision is 10/20 left and 15/20 right, which is a VAST improvement over 20/550 both.  I couldn't be happier.  I don't even think about glasses or contacts.  I'm actually surprised how fast I got over the fact that I don't need contacts or glasses.  I just don't notice it.

I had it done about a 1yr and half ago. Will be 2yrs July of this year. Still happy as a lark. Just had military physical and read 20/15 line. I was 20/275 before. Have had no other problems. The only one still persisting is my sensitivity to sunlight. I have to wear shades when it is sunny out or I get headaches. I am 34yo. Do not, repeat do not go with bargain basement doctors. You get what you paid for. Hope that helps.

What did the Military have to say about you getting the procedure done?  I have thought about it a lot, but don't want adverse reaction from them.  I was always under the impression that they don't like it.  I'm Air Force, in the Officer program.

I am in the Navy Reserve, they just wanted copy of the medical file and name of doctor. Don't know if that the same for active.

LASIK disqualifies you from flying in the Navy.  However, LASIK is being performed in certain Naval medical centers for some combat operatives (EOD) other than pilots.

Can't comment on the Air Force.

Did you ask your doctor if that was ok?  Two guys I work with had LASIK surgery done at a local chop-shop (my optometrist's word for the place), and they are overly sensitive to sunlight even after a year of recovery.  If we're driving west in the evening, I always have to do the driving.  The doctor who performed the operation and each of their optometrists told them in no uncertain terms to not wear sunglasses.  One rides a motorcycle, so he wears almost clear sunglasses when riding.  The clearest explanation I've heard was from one of their doctor's.  He said that your pupils expand more when there's less light let through to the center of your eye through the sunglasses.  Then more light can actually be let through into your eye around the edges of the sunglasses and around the (wider, because of the sunglasses) opening into your eye.  You don't notice it, because the bright light is near the edges of your vision, but it can still give you a headache.  So, unless you wear the ridiculous looking 100% coverage sunglasses (that you sometimes see men my age wearing), you're going to do more damage than good.  I went through this with my wife's migraines for years.  Sunglasses made them much, much worse.  Getting rid of her sunglasses helped.  Any comments?  I'd like to know, because my great-nephew mentioned he was thinking about LASIK.z

LT, My bro lives in Fla & is gonna have the procedure done in Winter Park (Orlando). He said it was around $400 per eye. I wonder if that's a "Bargain Basement" place? He is a motorcycle enthusisast as well & wears sunglasses when riding. I wonder if that will be a problem.

Zoom, I can hardly believe all the shitty luck you seem to be around. Ammoman, SLED & the ccw, the .32 pistol the disenetgrated, your buddies with light sensitivity, plus many I've forgotten. Thanks for the tip about the light man. Let me know if you need help in Columbia or want to shoot in a CMP match. I'll bring the rabbits foot and the horse shoe, you bring the 4 leaf clover.

I believe that it was factor that precluded one from employment when I applied for a job with FBI but I think the USMS accepts the procedure conditionally.  I assume that it was based on the affect on your night vision.  

I had both my eyes done about 6 years ago when I was 17.  Both have held up extremely well.

BUT

My night vision is far worse now.  I also have a problem with "starbursts" on lights at night.

Bottom line is if the doc had told me of the effects on my nv I wouldn't have done it.

I was thinking of having it done, but have one question; Is your vision better than it was with glasses? if it is the same, i would rather hold off. I'm sure the procedure is fine, but I'm comfortable with glasses.

Graves14, when I looked into having mine done about 6 months ago, 3 places told me I had to be at least 23 because you're eyes keep changing.

Keving67

Someone posted this link last year when people were talking about Lasic.

[url]www.surgicaleyes.com/imageyechart.htm[/url]

My eye doctor says I'm a great candidate, but I'll wait.  I don't mind contacts.  I would probably need reading glasses after the surgery and that would suck.

That description of wjy sunglasses are a bad idea for light sensitive patients is excellent. Thanks.    

It makes sense.  You can look NEAR the sun, with it in your field of view, with no problem, but as we all know it's quite unpleasant, in fact due to our reflexes it's nearly impossible, to look right at the sun.

Veddy interestink.

CJ

The best place in the state is $2,299.00 per eye!  OUCH!  It does cover all costs from pre-op till 2 yrs later, but man that's expensive!

Why would I make up a story involving eye surgery...I'm not that pathetic.

When I had it done, it was 2 grand an eye.  Graduation present.  It also involved having a little circular razor cut a flap open on the eye, and then they did the surgery underneath that.  

Watching a razor cut your eye open isn't much fun.  

The ironic thing is that my left eye was always far worse than my right eye...now my left eye is perfect, but I need to wear corrective glasses when shooting.  That gets annoying.

I was all for the surgery till I overheard a guy in a restuarnt saying that it totally destroyed his night vision. I hate wearing contacts but I'd rather not lose my night vision.

Gun-Fan
When I did my research on cost, 2yrs ago, the median price was $900 per eye. That is all inclusive. Meaning all pre and post procedure visits are included. The question that needs to be asked is how many procedures has the doctor done? Most doctors will include numbers of  procedures they've only assisted in. I will be leary of docs that have less than 5yrs experience. Having an experinced doctor do the surgery minimizes side effects. Aside from light sensitivity, I had night blindness, which lasted about a month after the surgery.

Zoom
The light sensitivity is when it is really bright outside like in the summer time. If I do NOT wear shades I get headaches. My eyes get fatigued, similar to staring at a computer screen all day. My eyes are fine if I WEAR sunglasses. I do not get headaches then.

Hey, I had my lasik done about 3 yrs ago by Dr. Murphy at Johns Hopkins, the no. 1 rated hospital in THE WORLD! At the time it cost me $4,500 (they gave me a $500 discount because the procedure was still new...) and with the results, I would have paid twice that amount! I remember when I went there they had just done a bunch of SEALs who were testing the procedure.

A friend of mine had both eyes done for $2-2,500 by a former Johns Hopkins doctor a year ago and is just as happy. Man, it is a major change of life like finding your first pubie, the first time you shaved, getting laid for the first time, it's major! They should build a temple to the guys who invented Lasik surgery.

I have had no problems with the exception of haloing when I'm really tired and my eyes are dry and scratchy. I see fine at night, no sensitivity to sunlight, no pain in the pool, no nothing. Neither does my friend.

On the other hand, when I walked out of the Wilmer Eye Center a woman who'd had the exact same process I had was in INTENSE pain. I guess it all depends on who you are and maybe how "intrusive"(?) the procedure is. I had absolutely no pain, no discomfort other than being slightly freaked by the whole process. I'm glad I didn't see it on video beforehand!

Anyway, my vote is a big definite "GO FOR IT"! Don't go to any of these Mall butchers though. They go for a weekend course and hang up their shingle. Go for someone who's got a PROVEN track record and if possible trained or worked at Johns Hopkins (Wilmer Eye Institute).

i just turned 35 and had my surgery a year and a half ago and i'm constantly amazed every day.you want to talk coke bottle leses + astigmatism?!i say research your doc and go for it.

I think the biggest barrier is that it is not permanent.

After age 40, Presbyopia sets in to most eyes & that can/may be a problem for some people that have had LASIK.

I've heard good & bad.  One of the best (if not the best) Opthamologist's in my area stopped doing them because of the few cases that did not turn out well.  That says alot to me.  

Be sure to do your research on the net & talk to others that have had it done.  

The surgical eyes website was the site that turned me AWAY from LASIK.  Its just not a risk I'm willing to take...I enjoy shooting too much & contacts still work fine for me.

When I no longer have a choice, I may reconsider it.

Let me say that to me $400 per eye sounds 'dangerously low'.

I realize that price isn't necessarily an indicator of quality, but that is well below the standard price that people I know have paid lately (approx $2400 total).

My wife had it done 3 years ago and has been *extremely* happy with it, no starbursts, no night vision problems, etc. The dryness took about 3-6 months to go away, but she has allergies and has always had dry eyes. In her words, it's the best money she's ever spent on herself. (It was about $4500 when she had it done)

You also need to realize that Surgicaleyes.com is one of the 'anti' Lasik sites, and I personally think there is an unreasonable amount of hysteria in some of the posts. That said, there are risks and you should be aware of them.

Go here for a slightly more even-tempered view:[url]www.fda.gov/cdrh/lasik/[/url]

Talk to people in your area that have actually had it done, and find doctors that they are happy with. Don't rush into it, get a doctor who is using a quality laser and has *lots* of experience (you don't want to be one of his 'trainer' patients).

You really, really, really don't want to fu[k up your eyesight so take your time. It's a relatively safe procedure and with realistic expectations and a good doctor, you'll almost certainly be happy with it.

Gun-fan,

$400 an eye sounds low to me also.

Around here the going price is about $1500 an eye.

There may very well be a big difference in regional prices. But I would do a lot more checking before I commited..

I had mine done a year ago this month and I ride a motorcycle.  Couldn't ride for about 2 weeks.  FL also requires eye protection for motorcyclists, so I bought a pair of the Nike Interchange sunglasses.  Comes with dark and amber sets of lenses.  I ordered clear ones from Nike.  BTW, my vision went from 20/200 and 20/70 to 20/20 and 20/15, left and right eyes, respectively.  I also have blue eyes which are light-sensitive anyway and you should be wearing sunglasses.  But the best thing about the surgery is the ability to wake up and see the clock on the VCR across the room without having to look for my glasses.  The only downside was that I used my glasses as 'eye-protection' for some projects, like working in the yard or working on the cars/trucks/bike, but I can definitely live with that.

Where & who did your procedure? This has even become interesting to me after these threads.
Scott

I live in Tampa, FL.  I went to a place called The Laser Vision Institute.  The Dr.'s name is Dr. Livernois.  They were very professional.  You spend more time going through tests and measurements than the actual procedure, which only takes about 15 minutes, and I was out and about the next day.  I had originally responded to an ad that stated a price of $499 per eye.  When I got there and they did the basic eye exam, mine was going to cost $999 per eye.  I told them about the ad and they showed me the fine print concerning different prescriptions, but they gave me 10% off, so I ended up paying $1796 total.  I believe it was worth every penny.

Here is there website [url]http://www.laservisioninstitute.com/html/index.html [/url]  There is even a location in North Charleston.

IF anyone has vision coverage through VSP, you may be eligible for coverage on Lasik through an approved doctor, of course.

MC Man,
What was your vision with corrective lenses?

Not quite 20/20, but I was tired of the glasses anyway.