[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Lasik (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 9/26/2015 5:27:37 PM EDT
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I know the thread has been done time and time again, but my eye doc finally told me that I could start looking into it (he had encouraged me to wait until my mid 20s so my vision could stabilize), although he told me the clinic would have to determine if I was a good candidate or not. My vision was never the best but took a nosedive in college, and I have been wearing glasses for about 4 years now. I hate them.
PRK or lasik? I've done some reading and the idea of the "flap" being able to come loose sort of gives me the heebie jeebies with PRK. Is bladeless lasik better or worse? I realize few people will have done both to compare, though. Did you insurance pick up any cost? Mine advertises a discount. I'm assuming cost to be 3500-4000ish, or somewhere in that neighborhood. Is that off base? |
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I had the Lasik with the flap cutting procedure done about 13 years ago. Best thing I ever bought. At the time, totally blade free Lasik was not around. The flap seals itself up immediately after lasering, but I think I'd go totally blade free if I had the option.
I paid 1800 per eye back then. |
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I know the thread has been done time and time again, but my eye doc finally told me that I could start looking into it (he had encouraged me to wait until my mid 20s so my vision could stabilize), although he told me the clinic would have to determine if I was a good candidate or not. My vision was never the best but took a nosedive in college, and I have been wearing glasses for about 4 years now. I hate them. PRK or lasik? I've done some reading and the idea of the "flap" being able to come loose sort of gives me the heebie jeebies with PRK. Is bladeless lasik better or worse? I realize few people will have done both to compare, though. Did you insurance pick up any cost? Mine advertises a discount. I'm assuming cost to be 3500-4000ish, or somewhere in that neighborhood. Is that off base? If you can get PRK over lasik/lasek, I would. And your cost figure is about right without discount. It's around $1200-2000/eye nowadays. BCBS has a 15% discount if you use one of the centers they partner with. |
| I had PRK. Other than dry eye for about 6 months, I am gtg. The only thing that freaked me out was the sound of the saw when they cut the flap. I was ready for everything except that, and with them already having put the suction on my eye it made it worse. I got an insurance discount as well, bcbs. |
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I had PRK about 10 years ago. If you have astigmatism, you have to get PRK. At least that's what I was told when I had it done. Recovery sucked for me big time but it is sooooo worth it. Cost was close to 2k an eye. Free enhancements for life. I also got $500 for referring a friend.
If you get PRK, plan on doing absolutely nothing but hiding in the pitch black for at least three to four days. |
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The military took care of my PRK surgery. It was one of the best things ever. It was a relatively easy surgery and recovery.
I showed up the day of the surgery and they called me and another person in at the same time to sit in a room. They put numbing drops in my eyes over the course of maybe 15-20 minutes to the point where I couldn't feel them putting drops in anymore. After that, they sent me into the surgery room where I laid down in a chair. They did some prep on my left eye and put a guard in between my eyelids to keep them open. I could tell it was there but there was no pain or discomfort. Then the doctor used basically what is an electric toothbrush to remove the outer layer of the eye. It doesn't hurt but you can feel a vibration in your eye. It is discomforting but nothing major. After that, I stared at a red dot while the machine calibrated itself to my eye's natural motion and movement. They then fired the laser into my eye and with each click I could see my vision improving. They then placed some drops in my eye and put a protective contact lens over it then moved onto the next eye to repeat the procedure. When he used the tool to remove the outer layer of my right eye, I could feel it a lot more than the left eye. The doctor put more numbing drops in and waited a few minutes for them to take effect. Once the surgery was complete, I could see everything clearly. I'm not sure what civilian practices will give you for medication but I was given some strong Motrin, some good pills (not sure what kind but I think Hydrocodone), Refresh brand eye drops, and some vials of a thick lubricant. I was told to stick with the Refresh eye drops and use as much as I wanted. The Motrin should be taken every 4-6 hours and the other pills only if needed. I stuck to the Motrin on schedule religiously. The Refresh eye drops was used anytime I got up out of bed. I only had to take the "happy pills" twice. That was on the second night when my eyes weren't in pain but they were very itchy and I was having a hard time sleeping. I actually remember that was the night of the last Presidential election and I woke up to hearing that 0bama had been reelected and not a single fuck was given because I was floating in the clouds. The doctor recommended that I not use the lubricant unless as a last resort. Basically he said if the "happy pills" were taking too long to kick in, place a bag of frozen peas over your eyes. By day 4, I was feeling fine and moving around the house a little more. It was still difficult to stare at a tv or computer screen for any length of time. Day 5 they removed the protective lens from each eye and I was good to go. My vision would get better, worse, better, worse, better, worse, etc for the next few months until my eyes fully healed. Some days it would feel like there was velcro on the inside of your eyelids when I woke up but the Refresh eyedrops solved that problem. Driving at night was a little weird for the first month with the glare from the headlights of other cars but nothing too difficult. They also give you steroid drops for your eyes that you will be using for about 3 months. All in all, my surgery was easy and an excellent choice. My right eye healed at a slower rate then my left eye but I believe I'm now 20/20 in my left eye and 20/25 right eye. I can't remember ever being able to see this good before in my life and my surgery was about 3 years ago. I haven't had any issues since then. |
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I had the Lasik with the flap cutting procedure done about 13 years ago. Best thing I ever bought. At the time, totally blade free Lasik was not around. The flap seals itself up immediately after lasering, but I think I'd go totally blade free if I had the option. I paid 1800 per eye back then. Similar story for me, about 11 years ago. The contacts I had been wearing for years were having an adverse affect on my eyes. According to my optomitrist at the time, my eyes werent getting enough oxygen due to them, which was causing blood vessel overgrowth. I either went back to glasses, or risked them growing into my field of vision. The way glasses sit on my nose give me major headaches, even the very lightest frames. So to me, I really didnt have much of a choice. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. |
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I had PRK. Other than dry eye for about 6 months, I am gtg. The only thing that freaked me out was the sound of the saw when they cut the flap. I was ready for everything except that, and with them already having put the suction on my eye it made it worse. I got an insurance discount as well, bcbs. They don't cut a flap for PRK. That's LASIK. |
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Best money I ever spent.
Had it done in 2000. Had really bad nearsightedness and astigmatism. Five feet away I couldn't read an alarm clock in the morning. 15 years later still 20/20 in one eye, and about 20/30 in the other. Slight astigmatism came back in that eye, and its common if you have fairly bad astigmatism. It's all about picking the right Doctor. There are a lot of hacks out there. |
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I had PRK done. I had terrible near and far vision without glasses/contacts in. It was so bad that my left eye would turn inward from the strain of trying to focus, almost looked like a lazy eye. Despite this I was 20/15 corrected.
After the PRK healed I am 20/20 in one eye and 20/25 in the other. It's a huge improvement, but it feels a little worse because I was used to 20/15 corrected and now distant objects seem a tad bit fuzzier than they used to. For some reason my vision gets really bad at dusk. I have to squint to read street signs. Once night falls it clears up again detail wise but I see halos around any light source. Overall it was a great decision. I see a little worse than I used to with corrective lenses, but not having to deal with contacts or having to buy prescription sunglasses is worth it a hundred times over. I highly recommend it. |
| I had mine done because the Army was such a dick about wearing contacts in the field or deployed. I got mine done with the flap. I went in at 20/400 and walked out at 20/80. Next day at the follow up I was 20/15. One of the best choices I have ever made. I spent about 4 grand. Shop around, get the right surgeon. Cost should be secondary to surgeon skill. |
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Quoted: Not worth the risk. Trust me. All surgeries have some level of risk. Look at the overall risks and benefits and the particulars of your surgeon. I got LASIK 10 years ago. My only regret is not doing it sooner. Still 20/10 in both eyes. |
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Will docs do one eye at a time with full recovery for the first eye before doing the second? That's the only way I'd risk it. Read the thread from here a while back about the member who killed himself after lasik gone bad.  Yes I did PRK right eye one year to see if I like it did the second the next year. |
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I had lasik done about three years ago. I'm 53. I went from about 20/180 to 20/20, though the vision in my right eye is better than my left. I went from being very, very myopic (nearsighted) with serious astigmatism to having perfect vision for a man of my age.
That means I can see clearly at a distance - any distance past about six feet. Closer than that, and I need reading glasses to see. The last pair of prescription glasses I bought cost more than a decent scope, and they didn't even come with a reticle. Now I have a half-dozen pairs of glasses scattered around my house, office and vehicles. They cost about $10 each. I had hoped that lasik would allow me to shoot handguns without corrective lenses. No such luck. But when I wake up in the morning, I don't need to find my glasses to see what time it is on the alarm clock across the room. I paid about $2k per eye. Worth it. |
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I had lasek done by the .mil in June and it's probably the best thing I've ever gotten from the .gov. I was -5.5/-5.75 and couldn't even see the E on the eye chart. The day after surgery I was 20/20 and am currently 20/15 left eye and 20/20 right eye. I do see halos around lights but I had those before the surgery.
BTW I'm 27 |
| Had PRK via the .mil When I first inquired into it I asked about the differences in the procedures but found out the doctor would decide what was best based on an eye exam and current prescription. For the PRK, I just stared at a red light for a bit and had both eyes done at the same time. |
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I got PRK in the Army in 2008 and my vision stayed essentially the same. It was extremely painful for me as well for some reason. I followed all the instructions to the letter with drops, aftercare, etc and the whole thing was a bust.
So now I wear contacts and glasses on a 50/50 rotation. Question though as I see we have at least 1 Doc commenting: Is it safe to get Lasik or PRK after an initial PRK attempt? I've been considering Lasik this time although I'm hesitant as going blind when be less than ideal. |
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This is an eye surgeon that fixes previous surgeries.. Quoted:
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I know a few eye surgeons... their kids all wear glasses. So? This is an eye surgeon that fixes previous surgeries.. Lasik and the like are only viable when the eyes "settle down" and stabilize. According to my eye doc that doesn't happen until the mid 20s for most, but some who need small corrections may do it a little earlier. So yeah, duh, of course his kids wear corrective lenses. |
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I had Wavefront blade-less LASIK in 2005.
The results were better than what we thought they would be (20/15 in the good eye, 20/20 in the bad eye). Around the same time, my cousin had bladed LASIK from a different office & he was not happy at all - he also said he felt the blade cutting in during the procedure. (I also watched a video of the bladed version & it isn't pretty.) The bad part is that, 10 year later, I have glasses again (which I don't use, but I have them). The good part is that the last eye doctor that I went to said she would have never known I had it done because she couldn't see the flaps or the scarring. Since the place I went to has a lifetime guarantee I will eventually go back there & see what they say. Insurance didn't pay anything - but they offered 0% financing. Total procedure was either $4250 or $4500. The bladed version is cheaper. I took 2 weeks off from work to heal as they said I could not take any chance of getting hit in the head & dislodging the flap. |
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Will docs do one eye at a time with full recovery for the first eye before doing the second? That's the only way I'd risk it. Read the thread from here a while back about the member who killed himself after lasik gone bad. Initially I was told that this was the only way they would do it for me - bad eye first, then wait for it to heal. The day I got to the office for the procedure (they had 6 offices, but only 1 was doing Wavefront) the actual surgeon told me that was nonsense & he did them both. |
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Quoted: I know a few eye surgeons... their kids all wear glasses. |
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Will docs do one eye at a time with full recovery for the first eye before doing the second? That's the only way I'd risk it. Read the thread from here a while back about the member who killed himself after lasik gone bad. I remember that. I think his name was notsubby or notstubby, or something like that. He had lasik and was so debilitated from the results, he lost his job and had to move back in with his parents. He killed himself a few years later. If I remember, he said he couldn't see at night from the halos, and his dry eye was so crippling, he basically couldn't see during the day. |
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It will be 15 years this November since I had mine done.
I had my eyes examined in August, because I need to wear glasses to read, and the only change is that I need glasses to read. Everyone is different, you might have success like I do, or you might not. Find a good doctor, and get several opinions if you have any questions. |