contacts / laser eye surgery

[mmaria]

I've been wearing contact lenses for about 16 years now. I've never wore a glasses, my vision can't be corrected with glasses. But wearing contacts this long caused eyes sensitivity, dryness etc. f.e. can't sit in front of computer for a long hour and my day job is 8 hours in front of computer
Through all this time different doctors did or didn't recommend me a laser surgery. One doctor says: you must go! another says: I would never recommend a laser surgery!
The thing is that I'm genuine scared of the surgery. I think that is the only ting that scares me that much, not the actual act of surgery (I've seen it a gazillion times on videos) but after the surgery. And if you ask my fear it would tell you NO surgery! But in the other hand I see changes my eyes experiencing and maybe that would be the right choice for me.
Has anyone here been trough the surgery? experiences after? opinions?

 

[SCraig]

Are the gains worth the risk? This is something that you have to resolve for yourself because they are your eyes and the risks are real. Never let anyone tell you that they aren't.

I haven't had LASIK surgery on my eyes, but I have had cataract surgery on both of them. I had to have my right eye done in 2006 and my left eye early last year. Before the first a girl from the surgery center called for some reason, and one of the things she asked was "Are you frightened?" I told her she was damn right I was frightened since I had never before had any kind of surgery done. She tried to help me get over it and said something along the lines of "Don't worry, we do this all day every day and nothing ever goes wrong." I asked her if nothing ever goes wrong then why did I have to sign all those disclaimers, and she had no answer for that.

Well, something did go wrong. I don't know what, I'm not a doctor. All I know from a layman's perspective is that I spent the next 2 years having difficulty seeing out of my right eye. The surgeon called the afternoon after the surgery and asked how I was doing and I told him I could barely see out of my right eye. He said not to worry that it would get better. The next day I had to go see my regular eye doctor and he asked how I was doing. I told him I could barely see out of my right eye and he said not to worry that it would get better. Eventually it did get slightly better but never to a point that was really useful. I only wore glasses for reading beforehand and now, all of a sudden, I had to wear them every minute of every day because everything was a blur without them and not a whole lot better with them.

I listened to my doctor's noise for a long time simply because he was my doctor and I trusted him when he kept telling me that things were getting better, but eventually enough was enough and I went to see a friend. My friend is an Ophthalmic Surgeon and the only reason I didn't go earlier is that his office is about 150 miles from me. He looked at my eye, said "Ah, I see what the problem is" and in about 5 minutes fixed it with his laser system. I went in seeing out of my right eye only with difficulty and came out seeing perfectly clearly.

When I had my left eye done last year everything DID go perfectly. I went in having difficulty seeing out of my left eye and came out seeing great (actually it was later in the day since I had to wear an eye patch home, but you get the idea).

The procedures DO work but at the same time they aren't 100% perfect, I can attest to that. I still wear glasses but I'm back to the point that I really only need them for reading. My eyesight, the last time it was tested, was characterized as a "Ragged 20-20". Not perfect, but very close to it.

A bit long-winded here, and I apologize for that. I just think it's important that people realize that the risks are real. I've been there and I know that for a fact. Think about it long and hard. You only have two eyes and life is difficult when they don't work right. I was lucky in that I have a friend who knew what to do to resolve the problem, but I'm here to tell you that when it came time to have my left eye done I was very, very reluctant to do so.

 

[runnah]

Sounds silly but I want to get lasik so that if I am every in a life threatening situation I can see without having to worry about changing my contacts or losing my glasses.

Everyone remembers what happened to Piggy right?

 

[DarkShadow]

A guy I worked with had laser surgery and now has 20/20. His eyes where blood shot for a while and had to use special drops do to drying for a short time. From what he said it was no big deal. I wish I had that option but because of my vision the eye doc said No for me.

 

[sm4him]

I've worn glasses since I was in the second grade. That was a VERY long time ago.
Even the glasses can't correct my vision to 20/20. I think I get about 20/40 in one eye and 20/60 in the other; I also have massive astigmatism and more "floaters" than my opthamologist says he's ever seen.

I'd LOVE to be able to see better, and I'd *really* love not to see these durn floaters everywhere. But so far, I'm really not a candidate for any surgery, except possibly for the floaters. So far, though, those "risks" Scott mentioned are the primary factor to me. At least right now, I *can* see. What if I have surgery, and I turn out to be one of the unlucky few? When it comes to my sight, I'm just not really willing to risk it.

 

[DarkShadow]

Are the gains worth the risk? This is something that you have to resolve for yourself because they are your eyes and the risks are real. Never let anyone tell you that they aren't.

I haven't had LASIK surgery on my eyes, but I have had cataract surgery on both of them. I had to have my right eye done in 2006 and my left eye early last year. Before the first a girl from the surgery center called for some reason, and one of the things she asked was "Are you frightened?" I told her she was damn right I was frightened since I had never before had any kind of surgery done. She tried to help me get over it and said something along the lines of "Don't worry, we do this all day every day and nothing ever goes wrong." I asked her if nothing ever goes wrong then why did I have to sign all those disclaimers, and she had no answer for that.

Well, something did go wrong. I don't know what, I'm not a doctor. All I know from a layman's perspective is that I spent the next 2 years having difficulty seeing out of my right eye. The surgeon called the afternoon after the surgery and asked how I was doing and I told him I could barely see out of my right eye. He said not to worry that it would get better. The next day I had to go see my regular eye doctor and he asked how I was doing. I told him I could barely see out of my right eye and he said not to worry that it would get better. Eventually it did get slightly better but never to a point that was really useful. I only wore glasses for reading beforehand and now, all of a sudden, I had to wear them every minute of every day because everything was a blur without them and not a whole lot better with them.

I listened to my doctor's noise for a long time simply because he was my doctor and I trusted him when he kept telling me that things were getting better, but eventually enough was enough and I went to see a friend. My friend is an Ophthalmic Surgeon and the only reason I didn't go earlier is that his office is about 150 miles from me. He looked at my eye, said "Ah, I see what the problem is" and in about 5 minutes fixed it with his laser system. I went in seeing out of my right eye only with difficulty and came out seeing perfectly clearly.

When I had my left eye done last year everything DID go perfectly. I went in having difficulty seeing out of my left eye and came out seeing great (actually it was later in the day since I had to wear an eye patch home, but you get the idea).

The procedures DO work but at the same time they aren't 100% perfect, I can attest to that. I still wear glasses but I'm back to the point that I really only need them for reading. My eyesight, the last time it was tested, was characterized as a "Ragged 20-20". Not perfect, but very close to it.

A bit long-winded here, and I apologize for that. I just think it's important that people realize that the risks are real. I've been there and I know that for a fact. Think about it long and hard. You only have two eyes and life is difficult when they don't work right. I was lucky in that I have a friend who knew what to do to resolve the problem, but I'm here to tell you that when it came time to have my left eye done I was very, very reluctant to do so.

Good Read.

 

[mmaria]

Are the gains worth the risk? A bit long-winded here, and I apologize for that. I just think it's important that people realize that the risks are real. I've been there and I know that for a fact. Think about it long and hard. You only have two eyes and life is difficult when they don't work right. I was lucky in that I have a friend who knew what to do to resolve the problem, but I'm here to tell you that when it came time to have my left eye done I was very, very reluctant to do so.

thank you so much for telling all this! It really helped me to be sure in my decision. My family wanted me to go to the surgery but I was against it. I just can't do it. Maybe I'll wait until I can't cope with the problems I have now and then do it.

Sounds silly but I want to get lasik so that if I am every in a life threatening situation I can see without having to worry about changing my contacts or losing my glasses.
Everyone remembers what happened to Piggy right?

OMG! That never crossed my mind! Why, oh why did you wrote that!? :x :scratch: :roll: :cry:

A guy I worked with had laser surgery and now has 20/20. His eyes where blood shot for a while and had to use special drops do to drying for a short time. From what he said it was no big deal. I wish I had that option but because of my vision the eye doc said No for me.

A friends wife had lasik 4 months ago. everything went well and she is super satisfied with the surgery. But again, she had no problems except her diopter.

When it comes to my sight, I'm just not really willing to risk it.

Yeah, me to.
I'm almost blind without my contacts, and not having another option like glasses is really tough situation. when you wear contacts there are times in a day that are so annoying ...ugh... Today f.e. on my job, we visited a wood processing factory and I was constantly blinking trying to clean my eyes out of dust, because dust in eyes hurts.
When I go swimming I must wear last contacts because they'll maybe come off. I can't sleep enough because of dry eyes. I can't write anymore because dry eyes etc etc

 

[Zyr55]

I have the procedure done 4 years ago and it's the best decision I ever made. Before the procedure, I couldn't walk around without my glasses on and now I have 20/15 on both eyes. The procedure took about 10 minutes and the following day I was back at work.

 

[mmaria]

I have the procedure done 4 years ago and it's the best decision I ever made. Before the procedure, I couldn't walk around without my glasses on and now I have 20/15 on both eyes. The procedure took about 10 minutes and the following day I was back at work.

Can you tell me did you just wore glasses? Did you have any other issues except a diopter?
My situation is a bit specific because I only wore contacts, no glasses, for 16 years and 16 hours a day. My eyes are dry and tear drops help just for a second. People who wear glasses usually doesn't have that problem.
I understood that after the surgery one have dry eyes for an amount of time. Your experience?

 

[Zyr55]

I have the procedure done 4 years ago and it's the best decision I ever made. Before the procedure, I couldn't walk around without my glasses on and now I have 20/15 on both eyes. The procedure took about 10 minutes and the following day I was back at work.

Can you tell me did you just wore glasses? Did you have any other issues except a diopter?
My situation is a bit specific because I only wore contacts, no glasses, for 16 years and 16 hours a day. My eyes are dry and tear drops help just for a second. People who wear glasses usually doesn't have that problem.
I understood that after the surgery one have dry eyes for an amount of time. Your experience?

I wore glasses and contact lens for years. After surgery I was prescribed with artificial tears and antibiotic drops to relieve the dryness but after a week I stopped using it because I didn't really need it anymore.

 

[Jean1234]

I opted for the older PRK surgery rather than the Lasik about 5 years ago. I chose that option because there is a lower risk of tears after surgery and I'm always doing something stupid to hurt myself. It took longer to heal, but it was the best thing I've ever done. I couldn't wear contacts so not needing glasses anymore is great. It was worth it just because I don't have to worry about my glasses fogging up while riding a motorcycle, which was one of my biggest annoyances. Maybe two months afterward the surgery, while doing Schutzhund dog training, I caught a paw right in the eye. I don't know if I would have had a tear with the Lasik, but I was happy I chose the PRK just in case.

I was very nervous during my week of recovery, but all the research I had done made me feel better about my decision.

 

[cgipson1]

I had Lasik done in 2006. I love it! Eyes are both close to 20/20, and I don't have to deal with contacts, or glasses anymore (except for reading glasses for up close, since I am an old fart!) No issues here... except at night, I initially had bad light haloing... it is still there, but very minimal now. My night vision (in the dark) suffered a bit also.. not as good as it used to be.

 

[mmaria]

Jean1234 glad to hear another positive experience.

I had Lasik done in 2006. I love it! ... No issues here... except at night, I initially had bad light haloing... it is still there, but very minimal now. My night vision (in the dark) suffered a bit also.. not as good as it used to be.

I have that bad light haloing. scared that it would be more pronounced after the surgery. Night vision well ...ugh..it is good I think. But the time of day when it"s getting darker, maybe a half an hour between day and night I have problems, can't see properly. I don't like to drive in that time of the day. It is awful feeling, haloing of the car headlights ahead of me and that crazy night-day time .