Has anyone gotten laser eye surgery? Is it terrifying? Any suggestions?

[EvolveOrConvolve]

I'm considering it, but it's terrifying to think of someone slashing away at my eyeball with a razor-sharp and hot laser beam. But, I think I'm finally sick enough of the glasses to go through with it.

Anyone else here had the procedure? Any truly bad experiences? Did they offer any sort of anesthetic? Are you awake while they're cutting your eyeball? Will my eyes go bad again?

Any thoughts would be appreciated as I'm pretty ambivalent, but really want to go through with it so that I don't have to wear glasses any more. Can anyone reassure me that the procedure isn't as brutal as I'm imagining it is, or at least enough reassurance to get me in for a consultation with a doctor?

[babylonsister]

1. Ask your eye doc first. Ours discouraged my DH from getting this

surgery because of the shape of his eyes. He's 'just' far-sighted from old(er) age. :P

[EvolveOrConvolve]

4. My eye doc was the one who recommended it to me

when I was in for my last eye appointment. I've been near-sighted since about 4th grade with very little change in my prescription since about 10th grade. He thinks I'm the perfect candidate for the surgery, but I'm just a little nervous...

[angstlessk]

2. my old boss had laser eye surgery..and though he swore by it..he always looked askew

at paperwork..as if he could see it clearer if his head was to the right ... looked damn scary to me...since then I have said NO WAY!

[EvolveOrConvolve]

8. Do his eyes water a lot now, too?

I haven't heard about the cock-eyed vision thing - I would have to assume that something like that is an isolated problem. But, I've heard a lot of complaints from people I know about their eyes watering a lot more after the surgery.

[angstlessk]

23. I am not sure..after seeing him..I prefer glasses..that is all I know!

[HeresyLives]

3. I wear contacts, but I looked into this,

when laser eye surgery first started. At that time it eliminated your night vision apparently, so I passed on it. I don't know if they've solved the problem yet.

[petersjo02]

10. Well, I've had Lasik more than a few years ago,

and I drive at night without any problems. One of those urban legends. Talk to the ophthalmologist who would do the surgery and get the facts.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

12. I hear a lot of information like this

My eye doc says that the surgery will actually help my night vision, which is terrible right now. The problem is that I hear so much anecdotal evidence that it becomes hard to sift through the fact and fiction.

[Staph]

5. I haven't had the surgery,

but I looked into it. I am very near-sighted (can't read the big E at the top of the chart!), but as I've reached the half-century mark, I'm getting presbyopia as well. I need reading glasses with my contacts, and my regular glasses are now bifocals.

The doctor who presented the pros and cons of the surgery made sure that we knew the downside -- that laser eye surgery won't correct presbyopia. Without contacts or glasses, I have excellent near vision, up to four or five inches away. I decided that having the ability to read the alarm clock without glasses was not worth giving up that very fine close-up vision.

YMMV.

[petersjo02]

6. Go for it.

Had Lasik surgery maybe 10-12 years ago. No pain. I could see more clearly when I left the building. As I recall, I spent the better part of the next day dozing on the couch, and then back to business as usual for me. Your eye is anesthetized, it doesn't take very long, you will see more clearly immediately. Dump the glasses. In my case, I was told that if the eye ever needed a tune-up procedure, it would be done at no cost. I've never needed to go back. Hope this is useful information.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

11. So were you anesthetized?

I absolutely hate anything touching my eyeballs, even my own fingers. Hell, putting in eye drops is a challenge for me. I'm just wondering how uncomfortable it's going to be if I'm awake and aware.

Thanks for the feedback - that's kinda what I wanted to hear (I need some positive reinforcement). :hi:

[petersjo02]

18. Not completely anesthetized,

but you'll be heavily sedated and won't know or care if/when something does touch your eyeball. The surgeons take into account that many people are very sensitive around and about their eyes. You will be well cared for, and afterward will wonder why you waited so long. Disregard the anecdotal stuff. As an example, every newly pregnant woman will tell you that, as soon as others know about the pregnancy, they're bombarded by horror stories about pregnancy and birth process.

[CurtEastPoint]

21. They will sedate you if you ask or appear to need it. I didn't and it was fine.

They deaden your eyeball (sounds gross) and all you see is a bright red light and feel pressure. Oh, and a slight smell of like hair burning (which is actually your eye but don't freak!) As soon has he put the flap back over the first eye I could see great. It just blew my mind how this worked. I asked the dr. 'What if I sneeze or something?' and he explained that the laser/gizmo does 2000 (or some crazy number) of measurements per second and if the eyeball moves it stops. Any surgery has risks but I felt so confident and they were doing a great business, and as I said, word of mouth did it. I asked at work (2000 employees) for recs and I had about 4 or 5 for this one place so they got my business.

[enlightenment]

20. I had mine done a couple of years ago.

Light sedation (a happy pill) and well-trained staff to keep the anxiety level down. They do the drops and whatever else and they're experts so don't worry about that part.

The hardest part for me was having to watch the light (they use it to keep your eyeball centered) and that was a mental thing, not a physical one.

I did see better, immediately (and I was blind as a mole), but had problems with one eye when the 'flap' folded over. Hurt like the devils own. After 24 hours I was back in whinging and complaining - they gave me some numbing eyedrops and that took care of it (the flap heals itself, I just managed to irritate the lid of my eye).

I had problems with dry eye for about a year, but that's resolved itself.

The absolute worst part? Because I'm older, I was getting to that 'need readers' stage, but didn't realise it because I was so near-sighted. I just took off my glasses and the poor near vision translated to great reading vision.

Now I can see everything else, but have to wear readers. It's a trade-off I can live with and I'm glad I had it done.

Oh - full follow-ups and if I need revision, it's free for life.

[newfie11]

7. My daughter had this done 2 years ago.

She is very happy with it and didn't think the procedure was bad. I worked for a radiologist that had it done about 4 years ago and had the same outcome as my daughter.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

13. It makes me feel better knowing that a lot of doctors have the procedure done

In fact, every doctor I know IRL has had the procedure done, so it must be okay.

[newfie11]

25. This doctor has to have good eyesight

Her living is reading x-rays and if she cannot see she is out of work.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. My doctor advised against it for me

I have progressive myopia, and my eyeball will continue to elongate. Laser surgery would only be a temporary fix for me. My mom, who has the same condition, had cataract surgery, and they corrected her eyesight at the time. Now she's back to wearing glasses. This is why it is really important to go to an ophthalmologist (an MD with special training in eyes), not just an optometrist, before you make up your mind.

[CurtEastPoint]

14. See your dr. Get word of mouth recs. I had it 2 years ago and was SO nearsighted

and when I left I could see so well. It all 'settled in' in about a month or so and I have had (thank God) no problems. PLUS I was using reading glasses all the time. Now, I only use them when I go to bed and the book is on my chest. It was great.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

15. Luckily, my eyes are in perfect physical health - just a lot of nearsightedness

and that's why my eye doc (optometrist) recommended getting it done. I like his recommendation because it didn't also come with a recommendation to visit one of his opthalmologist friends, and he wouldn't make any recommendations until I pressured him. He eventually gave up the fact that he'd had the surgery done, and told me where he did it at. It's a more expensive place, but if an eye doc trusts his eyes to the place, I probably will too.

Thanks!

[lindisfarne]

16. There are horror stories. They're not really common but it can happen. Use google to

find the kinds of questions you should be asking of the doctor doing it.

There are different procedures & what is best depends in part on your eyes.

I personally would not do it at a discount operation - I'd pay more to have it at a well-established facility (perhaps attached to a university medical school) or not have it at all. I've thought about this as well and am still sitting on the fence. For me: I'd probably only have one eye done and then wait close to a year and have the other one done. I'd spend a lot of time researching what kinds of information I should be gathering from the opthalmologist (things like their complication rate, compared to others, etc. The information is out there via google. I just haven't looked into it for a while).

[CurtEastPoint]

22. Ditto on being wary of the ones who advertise heavily and are pushy. Mine was affiliated w/Emory

so I felt confident.

[TNDemo]

17. I had it six years ago.

I am on the fence about whether I would have it again or not. I had a -9 correction in each eye so they had to cut away a lot of cornea with the laser to correct it, so a lot of nerves were cut (they kinda don't mention this preop) and so I have had dry and irritated eyes since. They are okay in the morning but by the end of the day I can really feel it. Also you lose that really good up-close vision you have when you are very near-sighted and I miss that a lot. I have to say I have enjoyed not having to wear glasses or contacts (which I didn't wear well) in social situations, though I still wear glasses for driving or movies since I have monovision (pretty much have to after 40). Just have to decide what is the most important for you.

[customerserviceguy]

19. I had the precursor to LASIK

which was called radial keratotomy. Did my eyes back in 1983. It worked fine for about the next seventeen or so years, then I started needing reading glasses, and went to full-time bifocals (no-lines ones, of course) a few years later.

Even though the effects were not enough to last a lifetime, I am still glad I did it. Having the laser surgery today would have made it practically a no-brainer. There were only several thousand people in my area who had RK in 1983, and I wasn't able to directly talk to any of them, although I did talk to relatives and friends of RK patients.

Today, the operation is quite straightforward, its more science than art, as it was in the day when I had it done.

[Nay]

24. It is not as bad as you think. It's actually very quick, if you have a good

doctor -- a minute or so. They give you a Valium beforehand so you are mellowed right out. Your eye is propped open, anaesthetic drops put in, etc., and I was fine with it all. You're in recovery for a half hour or so.

Make sure your doc will give a free redo if your eye goes out of focus. Only 10% do, but mine was one of them. I had to have a 2nd operation, and that did the trick. There is no way for the doc to tell if you will be one of the ppl whose eye does that, and it is not the doc's fault.

The only thing I regret is that my near vision for reading, crafts, etc., is gone and I have to use glasses for that. But I really like hiking, etc., with no glasses.

Don't go with the cheapo operations -- get your eye doc to recommend a place.

[Warpy]

26. I've had manual keratotomy

which involved my sitting stock still in an exam chair while the surgeon whittled cuts into my donated cornea. It was a more drastic procedure with far deeper cuts and, once I got over the ick factor, wasn't bad at all.

One thing you might do before you go in is research the success rate of that particular doctor and what complications can occur. I know people who have had great success with it and other people who will use drops for the rest of their lives and have their night driving restricted. Look before you leap.

[Abq_Sarah]

27. I wasn't a candidate for lasik

due to the degree of myopia combined with astigmatism but I was a candidate for implantable lenses. I had visian lenses put in a couple of years ago and couldn't be happier with the results.

[blue neen]

28. I had the surgery done 2 years ago and have never seen better in my life.

I'm extremely nearsighted (contacts were -7.5!) and also have astigmatism. They had actually just refined the laser equipment to fix eyesight as severe as mine when the doctor suggested it.

I'm over 50, so I also had the presbyopia going on. We decided to try the monovision: left eye undercorrected for reading purposes, right eye corrected for normal distance vision. It took about 6 weeks for the brain to adjust to the difference in the eyes, but it worked! I don't even have to wear readers now!

They will give you a mild tranquilizer like Alprazolam, low dose because they don't want you to actually be asleep. There are drops put in your eyes to anesthetize them locally, so you really don't feel anything. Like another poster said though, you do experience the funky smell.

One thing that helped was that the assistants would say, "Now this part will take 2 minutes", or whatever the time frame was. That helped the time to go a little more quickly.

My doctor only does the procedure out of Eye and Ear Hospital in Pittsburgh. It made me feel a little more secure that the procedure was actually being performed in a hospital, not in someone's office somewhere. I don't think I could have done that!

You asked "Will my eyes go bad again?" The surgery does not protect you against retinal detachment, which is always a risk if you are severely nearsighted. In fact, I've had 2 of those---one before and one after the surgery. It also doesn't protect against getting cataracts as you get older.

For the benefit that I received from this surgery, I would definitely do it again. It's so nice to wake up in the morning and be able to read the clock without reaching for my glasses. :)

Good luck!

[gwashington2650]

29. Do it

It's much better than open-eye surgery.