Laser vision correction

[Triple J]

What's another option?  I'm in some sort of combat sport.

PRK.  Instead of a flap they remove the surface layer of cells instead, which re-generate.

With either option your eyes will be sore for a month or so.  Not sore in general, but sore to the touch.  I've noticed it when the collar of my t-shirt brushes my eye.  It's not bad, but I'm guessing a punch would hurt a lot more.

[blue tiger]

I also hate the idea of the flap. I've read up on it and will go with what my Doc advises. There is a Lasik/PRK place here in INDY that has a nationally recognized eye doc that does their procedures. He may be my first stop. If I don't chicken out. I also have contacts and don't care for them euther.

[NAKID]

Then consider PRK.  Instead of a flap, the surface cells are removed.  They then re-generate, leaving the eye in it's original condition.  A little more painful and a little longer heealing time though.

PRK.  Instead of a flap they remove the surface layer of cells instead, which re-generate.

Also, be advised that with PRK, you will have to wear protective contacts for about 2 weeks. PRK will essentially feel like a whole lot of corneal abrasions without the lenses. You will be considerably more photophobic that with LASIK, and as others have said PRK will be noticably more painful than LASIK...

[tallduc]

I did a bunch of research in 2001 for LASIK and read all the medical journals.  My take was to find :
1. a reputable doctor who has done lots ( like in the 1000s)
2. has the latest equipment ( usually US is behing FDA approval timelines compared to Europe or Asia)
3. preferably at a facility that publishes research. ( means that they teach others , i believe teaching enhances the skill of the practioner)

So i selected Wavefront ( was very new back then in US) using the smallest spot lasers and found doctors in India that specialise in Lasik ( they do more in a day than most doctors in a month) who where also pioneers in the field ( their names came up as presenters at many conferences).  Advantage of India was the Wavefront system and cost . My entire trip  in India for me and my mom( from Malaysia)  for a week cost less than just one eye in SF using older tech

I got a nice vacation and my eyes are doing great- i wish i had done this years ago.  No side effects and i do not miss glasses or contacts with the paraphernilia. 

[DoubleEagle]

I have about 3000 bucks in my medical flex account. Barring any sickness I should have the same loot left come November. Any advice. Taking of the glasses to put on / remove my helmet is a pain. I would also love to be able to see the alarm clock and no longer deal with presription shades and such.

I always wear sunglasses when I ride . Granted you have to put the helmet on 1st , then the glasses. Then when I take off my helmet the glasses come off 1st , but I don't find that to be any big deal. Some sunglasses with metal frames ( like some Oakleys ) I can't wear because the frames need to bend when I put the glasses on , but there are plenty of others including Oakleys that work fine.

[Smokescreen]

I'm 24 and have -8.5 in both eyes and want to have this done in the next couple of years due to having to wear contacts for the last 15 years. My mom had it done a long long time ago (I think 15+ years) and is just now getting to the point that she needs reading glasses.

A couple things.  I've read some stuff on here that's patently untrue, but to cover your Q first, you are a high myope, you might not be a candidate if your corneas aren't thick enough.  So you need to see a Doc if you are interested.

To address some mentioneds earlier.  The cornea doesn't harden as you get older, the interocularlens does. 

In LASIK, which is a very particular procedure, a flap about 100microns is ablated via an ultrasonic vibrating blade, or via laser (Intralase).  the flap is folded back, and the corneal bed underneath is ablated via laser pulse (hundreds sometimes)

there are, as in any procedure, possible side effects, in this case, including loss of the eye...  And if you ride a motorcycle in the twistys, there is the off chance of crashing and ending up paralized or dead.  You odds are better in the laser surgery...

There are no sutures used, not because there can't be...  There can be.  I've assisted in suturing and removing sutures from the cornea, its very unpleasent.  It's done freehand and in the case of removal, it's done with a small needle...

The reason no suture is used is because the Corna adheres to itself quite well, and within hours is quite happily reattached.  There are scars post LASIK, they are 4-6mm outside your central vision cornea and only ever cause glare issues.  At last check, my ophlamologist couldn't find any indication I'd had LASIK, so they can go away. 

I've seen mostly good cases, and a few bad, but I like the procedure enough that I've run the VISX Laser for a number of dear friends...  That should tell you something.  One of them had neovascularisation of his corneas because of contact lens use.  In other words, his corneas were opacifying.  Another was a -11 myope.  The Doc explained he wouldn't get better than 20/40 uncorrected with LASIK, he got 20/30...  His riding has improved.

I would advise to anyone who doesn't have to wear glasses, not to wear sunglasses in your helmet.  It's not healthy in a crash.  Wear a tinted shied.  Bring a clear one to, if need be.  Or get the pin on photoreactive films...  But don't wear glasses in your helmet....

I suppose I should justify these things I've just said.  I'm a student just now, but before this, I was an ophthalmic tech.  For five years I gave eye exams, then assisted in Laser and other eye surgeries for another five years, obviously including LASIK.  If you are in the LA or SB area, I can point you in the direction of a good surgeon. 

In response to the first post, how old are you?  If you are nearing forty, you might want to talk to me first, but if you've a decade or two, LASIK is a pretty slick option.  Around forty, though you can push it if you "exercise" your inter ocular lens begins to haden, and then ceases to accomodate at all.  When this occurs, if you are a 20/20 vision person, you lose the ability to see near without correction.  Believe it or not, there are even ways around this.  But more on that when someone brings it up...

[DY]

Believe it or not, there are even ways around this.  But more on that when someone brings it up...

Stem Cells?  Eye Implants?? 

[trenner]

This procedure just scares the crap out of me.

Major hee-bee-jeebees going on here.

No kidding.  It's loads of fun to be awake during the procedure, because of the squirm factor.  And the singular experience of having numb eyeballs.

Strangely, the micro-keratome part (where the flap is sliced) alarmed me more than the laser bit (where bits of your eye are blasted away).  Still, I'm absolutely 100% delighted that I went through with it.  And now I have a cool video, of the procedure.

I've run the VISX Laser for a number of dear friends...  That should tell you something.

This same sort of (good) attitude was the deciding factor in me approving my surgeon.  I asked the surgeon whether he felt that the procedure was routine for him.  He said, "no, not exactly routine, but I did recently perform it on my wife, and that ought to tell you something about my confidence that I'm repeatedly doing it the best that it can be done."  SOLD.

[somegirl]

I had Lasik with wavefront done about a year and a half ago, cost me about $4k.
My surgeon had previously done my optometrist's eyes years before, so I thought that was a good recommendation.

I had been quite nearsighted (about -7, -7.5 diopters) with significant astigmatism in both eyes.

After the surgery, I was at 20/15 in both eyes.

Healing included a few months of dry eyes (needing re-wetting eye drops) during which I did have some halos at night (due to the dry eye).  That is all gone now.

BTW I do contact sports (karate).

I will eventually need reading glasses, as everyone (with or without the surgery) will (unless you get the "monovision" option where they correct one eye for distance and one for close-up vision).

I'd recommend going and getting evaluated for the procedure.  It didn't cost anything for the evaluation, and I learned a lot more about it.  I had thought about it for several years and put it off because it made me nervous, but eventually I decided the benefits would be worth the risk (plus the additional experience and technological improvements that had occurred along the way).

I had to wait for several months before having the surgery done, as I had worn gas-permeable (rigid) contacts for many years.  They needed me to go without them for a while, so I changed to soft contacts, then glasses, to prep for the surgery.

For me, it was definitely worth it.

[Sinister]

BTW I do contact sports (karate).

No you don't.    Do you spar?  Do you regularly get punched in the face/head?  Hard?  I've heard a lot, from fighters and those in the fight game, LASIK is not good for fighters.

[ADG]

I had LASIK done ten years ago and my vision is still 20/15 in both eyes, compared to 20/500-525 before the surgery.

[Smokescreen]

Contact sports members might consider LASIK with Intralase, but I'd advise finding a doctor who uses Intralase and discussing the particulars.  In short however, since Intralase obliterates a single cell layer the flap turns out to be more like a manhole cover than a sliding flap.

If you DON'T do contact sports, there is a non Laser option that leaves the patient with accomodation indefinately.  This works by replacing the interocular lens of the eye (this is the part of the eye that hardens and causes loss of accomodation) with one of differing power that rides on "hinges" allowing the IOL to move when the cilliary muscles of the eye prompt it to in a similar manner to how a non-presbiopic lens does.

Eye Implants aren't viable yet because we've not found a way to reconnect or regenerate nervous cells.

Anyhow, hope this helps!!
W

[dropstharockalot]

I think the flap does heal a bit...it isn't just the stickiness of the eye.  After about a week it would take a very  major incident to move it, and after 24 months my doctor won't fold it back for touch-ups anymore (he does PRK if needed). 

+1.  And more than a little bit.  I went for an update two years after the procedure was completed, and the doc that did the update couldn't tell I'd had the surgery.

I had it done when I was 27.  It has been a life-changer.  i went in knowing that I'd need reading glasses in my 40s, but I'm sure by then I'll know it all and have no more need for books.  Heh.

It does have limitations - many branches of the Armed Services may limit or deny your participation, and most professional and amateur contact fighting organizations (think boxing, UFC...) won't allow participants that have had the surgery.

[Sinister]

...and most professional and amateur contact fighting organizations (think boxing, UFC...) won't allow participants that have had the surgery.

Is it the promotion or the state athletic commissions, which deny fighters?

[cmorgan47]

scares the living crap out of me

don't know why, but anything having to do with touching eyeballs scares the living crap out of me
always has

can't use contacts, can't put eye-drops in, and it takes the optometrist about 10 tries to do the glaucoma test cause i flinch every time

i can't even watch someone put contacts in

that said, my mom had the monovision and loves it... needs a pair of glasses with one real lens to drive at night sometimes