Laser eye surgery

[JustJen]

How many of you have had it? What was yours for? Can you tell me about it please?

I realize most people's experience will be with Lasik or similar, generally for astigmatism in order to avoid wearing glasses.

Mine would be different but somewhat rare to find anyone else who might have experience with it here, so please tell me about all laser eye surgery experiences so I at least have a clue what I might be looking at.

Thanks!

[Hyperplex]

Lasik, for extreme nearsightedness. Went down -9.25 in each eye, came up (after recovery) 20/20 in both eyes. Best thing I ever did for myself other than getting married and starting a family. Was expensive but 150% worth it to me.

[JustJen]

Lasik, for extreme nearsightedness. Went down -9.25 in each eye, came up (after recovery) 20/20 in both eyes. Best thing I ever did for myself other than getting married and starting a family. Was expensive but 150% worth it to me.

Can you tell me about pre-op procedure, post-op recovery time, pain,  etc?

[Hyperplex]

I lived in contacts for over 20 years, so I had to wear only glasses for about 2 months prior to let my eyes regain a more natural shape (instead of imprinted because of the contacts). The place I went to did a pre-op evaluation where they perform a regular ophthalmological examination as well measure the thickness of your cornea and map the surface. They discuss alternatives to Lasik with you, such as clear lens replacement and other forms of vision correction. They schedule you for the surgery and you go in, they give you a valium and numbing drops and you lay back under this big contraption with the doctors there. Your eye is immobilized with a suction ring (you feel extreme pressure on your eyeball, but I wouldn't necessarily call it pain; not comfortable but not unbearable) and your eyelids are held open. Your corneas are totally numb and constantly flooded with artificial tears, so other than the odd sensation of the equipment, there's no real discomfort.

My surgery was completely bladeless; instead of a microkeratome blade to create the corneal flap, they use the laser. You hear an electrical hum, feel absolutely nothing, and then the doctor folds the flap back. Your visions goes immeasurably blurry with the flap folded back and the doc says "focus on this little red dot." You hear the "tzk tzk tzk" of the laser and you sort of smell something burning and after about 10 seconds, the doc inspects his work, folds the flap back, and the procedure is done on the other eye. You feel absolutely nothing except for the suction ring.

Once you sit up, your vision is slightly cloudy but instantly improved. After a post-op exam of the doctor's work, you close your eyes and do not open them for 4 hours. You wear these plastic sunglasses home designed to protect your eyes from any excess light. Go home, lay down and take a nap. As the numbing drops wear off, your eyes will start to feel a little bruised/burned and you might have some broken blood vessels in the sclera. Totally normal. You get a regiment of antibiotic and steroidal drops to use for a couple weeks. The first 24 hours after the procedure you wear the sunglasses they give you. After that, you simply where these clear plastic "sport glasses" to sleep to prevent pressure on the eyes. No swimming or submerging in water for 6 weeks and you can't rub your eyes for that time either; have to give the corneal flaps time to heal. The docs schedule multiple follow up appointments with you to go back and assess the healing process as well as to address any repercussions from the procedure (halos, glare, visual artifacting). I had minor glare that resolved as my eyes healed. The whole healing processes takes several weeks but it is most rapid in the beginning. My vision went from 20/80 immediately following the procedure to 20/50 two days later to 20/30 a week and a half later. By the time the docs released me, I was 20/20.

It's really one of the most remarkable things I've experienced. 

[Chino]

I was actually thinking off buying this surgery for my girlfriend as a birthday/anniversary gift. What'd it run you guys? You can PM me if you're uncomfortable posting it.

[Hyperplex]

The worse the starting prescription, the higher the price. Do NOT use those bargain Lasik places that promise "as low as $199 per eye" unless you really want to take a shot in the dark. They are your eyes, don't fuck around and entrust them with a surgery sale. I went to a private practice here that is known for their eye care and exceptional doctors. Some insurance will cover a portion of it IF you go where they tell you to go. I paid full out of pocket and I had been saving for years for it, ever since my eye doctor told me I'd be a good candidate for it.

For me it was over 5k, so not a small expense.

[Bruinsfan25]

Had lasik done almost 7 years ago. Mine was around $3,000 that I paid over 2 years I think at no interest. Totally worth except for when I get things in my eyes that glasses would have stopped but it's a small price to pay. Talk to a professional but I remember my cousin telling me that if a woman wants the surgery to wait until after having children because it can affect the eyes somehow.

[Implode]

My mother had lasik done years ago. Her eyes were sore (was a bit painful in bright lighting) for a few days, but the results were great. She had better than 20/20 vision until her eyes started to fade a little bit from age. That part is inevitable, so if you're thinking of doing it, do it while that's still far enough out in the future!

[JustJen]

I lived in contacts for over 20 years, so I had to wear only glasses for about 2 months prior to let my eyes regain a more natural shape (instead of imprinted because of the contacts). The place I went to did a pre-op evaluation where they perform a regular ophthalmological examination as well measure the thickness of your cornea and map the surface. They discuss alternatives to Lasik with you, such as clear lens replacement and other forms of vision correction. They schedule you for the surgery and you go in, they give you a valium and numbing drops and you lay back under this big contraption with the doctors there. Your eye is immobilized with a suction ring (you feel extreme pressure on your eyeball, but I wouldn't necessarily call it pain; not comfortable but not unbearable) and your eyelids are held open. Your corneas are totally numb and constantly flooded with artificial tears, so other than the odd sensation of the equipment, there's no real discomfort.

My surgery was completely bladeless; instead of a microkeratome blade to create the corneal flap, they use the laser. You hear an electrical hum, feel absolutely nothing, and then the doctor folds the flap back. Your visions goes immeasurably blurry with the flap folded back and the doc says "focus on this little red dot." You hear the "tzk tzk tzk" of the laser and you sort of smell something burning and after about 10 seconds, the doc inspects his work, folds the flap back, and the procedure is done on the other eye. You feel absolutely nothing except for the suction ring.

Once you sit up, your vision is slightly cloudy but instantly improved. After a post-op exam of the doctor's work, you close your eyes and do not open them for 4 hours. You wear these plastic sunglasses home designed to protect your eyes from any excess light. Go home, lay down and take a nap. As the numbing drops wear off, your eyes will start to feel a little bruised/burned and you might have some broken blood vessels in the sclera. Totally normal. You get a regiment of antibiotic and steroidal drops to use for a couple weeks. The first 24 hours after the procedure you wear the sunglasses they give you. After that, you simply where these clear plastic "sport glasses" to sleep to prevent pressure on the eyes. No swimming or submerging in water for 6 weeks and you can't rub your eyes for that time either; have to give the corneal flaps time to heal. The docs schedule multiple follow up appointments with you to go back and assess the healing process as well as to address any repercussions from the procedure (halos, glare, visual artifacting). I had minor glare that resolved as my eyes healed. The whole healing processes takes several weeks but it is most rapid in the beginning. My vision went from 20/80 immediately following the procedure to 20/50 two days later to 20/30 a week and a half later. By the time the docs released me, I was 20/20.

It's really one of the most remarkable things I've experienced. 

That is such a thorough and helpful narrative, thank you so much for the time and effort it took you to type that up. I think some of what you describe would be a bit similar to what I may be looking at. I've also had HRT and OCT done, which measure the corneal thickness and take pictures of the structure of the eye, which it sounds like you described, and I do have experience with the numbing drops at least and know what you mean about how they can do things to your eye and you truly feel nothing whatsoever, though they feel sore later. I'm glad to hear the valium was included - I am sure I personally would need that. 

[JustJen]

Had lasik done almost 7 years ago. Mine was around $3,000 that I paid over 2 years I think at no interest. Totally worth except for when I get things in my eyes that glasses would have stopped but it's a small price to pay. Talk to a professional but I remember my cousin telling me that if a woman wants the surgery to wait until after having children because it can affect the eyes somehow.

I'm glad you included the extra information for those who need it! That's not a small concern for most females, though for me my family is complete so I don't have this worry.

[JustJen]

My mother had lasik done years ago. Her eyes were sore (was a bit painful in bright lighting) for a few days, but the results were great. She had better than 20/20 vision until her eyes started to fade a little bit from age. That part is inevitable, so if you're thinking of doing it, do it while that's still far enough out in the future!

One of my eyes is now 25/20 instead of 20/20 due to aging but also due to myopia being a side effect of my prescription eye drops that I've been on for over a year now, I guess.

Before that the drops I was on gave me permanent darkened eyelids and under-eyes which is frustrating, but that one also had the side effect of longer eyelashes which was cool. But the dark circles stank so I switched to this kind. But my eyes have stopped responding to this kind at the starting dose of one drop 2x daily in each eye, so I've just been told to up it to 3x daily.

I have glaucoma so the drops are to keep my IOP (intra-ocular pressure) low, since high eye pressure is the main risk factor for the glaucoma progressing (glaucoma just means the optic nerves are becoming progressively damaged, sometimes due to high pressure but sometimes not - overall, the cause of glaucoma is unknown and there is no cure). There are a VERY limited number of kinds of drops out there and I cannot take the beta blockers, and I"ve already developed a tolerance to another kind, and this third kind I'm developing a tolerance to as well, hence the need to go to the max dosage of 3x daily.

They want the IOP to be under 20. Over 20 they send you to a glaucoma specialist to assess if you have optic nerve damage yet - I did before I was diagnosed, as most people do. So they try to keep pressure under 20 - closer to 10 - for the best chance at stopping you from going blind. But Mine has been consistently impossible - literally - to get under 20 since I was diagnosed, aside from one 4 week period at the start. When the pressure gets over 30 (3x the low-ideal) they start to really push you to get surgery, fairly soon. Mine are at 32 again and the doctor sat me down for The Talk again yesterday.

I don't want eye surgery. Not laser, not traditional.

With glaucoma, it isn't a fix or a cure or even a permanent help to get laser surgery - it *usually* helps for *up to* 1-5 years *for those who it helps at all*. And once you start the process of surgeries for glaucoma, you sort of have nowhere left to go but the other, more invasive ones, each time one wears off.. I'm 43. 1-5 years is not enough. Not nearly enough.

I wish scientists would work on glaucoma because if I live long enough I *will* go blind with technology how it is now.

Sorry to go on. Just had to give the background and reason for the thread. So, while the laser surgery is different, some aspects will be the same. But it won't be lasik for me. I"m sure nobody else on the forum will have experience with this kind though so please do continue sharing lasik experiences and /or any other similar stories. It may help me over the next 4 weeks while we try to get the pressure down with the 3x daily regimen, because when June 10 comes, if it's not working, I may have some hard decisions to make.

[Nick]

My experience wasn't quite as easy as Hyperplex, but the end results are just as great.

My doctor asked me to do a PRK procedure, because the shape of my orbital bones made the chances of a mistake while making and moving the flap go way up. PRK also gave me the additional benefit of not having to worry about a flap that could get knocked loose for several months, which was huge because of the amount of time I spend playing hockey and volleyball.

That said, Lasik will be much better for most, and here is why: Instead of a flap, they used a chemical mixture to actually eliminate the outer layer of my eye. No pain, nothing like that, but it requires more recovery, which I'll get to later. The actual fixing is the exact same as lasik, and similar to what Hyperplex described, but I'll say this, prepare for it. The laser is loud, and sounds exactly what you'd think it would if I said imagine an evil laser sound. The doctor is constantly on you to focus on the dot and not fight what's happening. It's only a minute, but it's a weird and intense minute.

Now comes the big difference. For the first night I had to lay in a dark room, and an audio book was very nice company for this. The first few days after you can get around, but your eyesight is shit, so you can't drive or anything like that. After about a week I was driving, and after about 2 weeks my sight was back to as good as with glasses. This whole time there is a pretty serious eye-drop regiment to keep to. Final healing is in about 6 months, with good days/weeks and bad times during that span. Now it's not like you wake up some days and can't see, but just a *little* blurrier on some days then others. Then your eye is fully healed, and bam, I wake up every morning with perfect vision.

Got glasses at 7, took them off at 28, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

[Hyperplex]

Not that you don't have phenomenal doctors where you are, but if you are at all interested in investigating specialist places, this is the place that did my LASIK and they specialize in many facets of eye care. I know it means travel, but they have some incredible doctors there including glaucoma specialists. https://www.katzeneye.com/

[JustJen]

My experience wasn't quite as easy as Hyperplex, but the end results are just as great.

My doctor asked me to do a PRK procedure, because the shape of my orbital bones made the chances of a mistake while making and moving the flap go way up. PRK also gave me the additional benefit of not having to worry about a flap that could get knocked loose for several months, which was huge because of the amount of time I spend playing hockey and volleyball.

That said, Lasik will be much better for most, and here is why: Instead of a flap, they used a chemical mixture to actually eliminate the outer layer of my eye. No pain, nothing like that, but it requires more recovery, which I'll get to later. The actual fixing is the exact same as lasik, and similar to what Hyperplex described, but I'll say this, prepare for it. The laser is loud, and sounds exactly what you'd think it would if I said imagine an evil laser sound. The doctor is constantly on you to focus on the dot and not fight what's happening. It's only a minute, but it's a weird and intense minute.

Now comes the big difference. For the first night I had to lay in a dark room, and an audio book was very nice company for this. The first few days after you can get around, but your eyesight is shit, so you can't drive or anything like that. After about a week I was driving, and after about 2 weeks my sight was back to as good as with glasses. This whole time there is a pretty serious eye-drop regiment to keep to. Final healing is in about 6 months, with good days/weeks and bad times during that span. Now it's not like you wake up some days and can't see, but just a *little* blurrier on some days then others. Then your eye is fully healed, and bam, I wake up every morning with perfect vision.

Got glasses at 7, took them off at 28, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Thanks for all of the detail in your post as well! That does definitely make it sound like a much more difficult and time consuming recovery than what Hyperplex described with his procedure but being different procedures of course that makes sense.

I do love the idea of an evil laser sound happening right as it shoots straight at my eye though. That's got to be a confidence builder, to stand up to PEW PEW in the eyeball and come out of it in better shape than you went in when all is said and done. I can imagine how intense it would be though to have my eye doctor tell me to focus on the light and then to hear that and know how much is depending on me holding still and looking at the dot.

[Hyperplex]

To what Nick described: PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) was the predecessor to LASIK (laser assisted in situ keratomileusis) and it still has its advantages, as he mentioned for himself as well the way the cornea is reshaped. There are many improvements to the procedure in LASIK but as mentioned, not every procedure is for everyone. Yet another reason why these "bargain sale" LASIK places are places of evil. None of them would take the time to offer you alternatives that are better suited for YOU; they just want their $199 per eye charge and out the door.

[JustJen]

Not that you don't have phenomenal doctors where you are, but if you are at all interested in investigating specialist places, this is the place that did my LASIK and they specialize in many facets of eye care. I know it means travel, but they have some incredible doctors there including glaucoma specialists. https://www.katzeneye.com/

Thanks! I am checking out the link now. The doctor listed under the glaucoma section has a good medical education history as far as eyesight related medical schools go which is good. I will definitely seek a second opinion before getting any surgery on my eyes and it's good to have some names on hand, so I appreciate you sharing that link with me. I have favorited it so that I can find it when the time comes. I really hope it isn't in four weeks but if it is I will revisit it then and check out details like types of insurance accepted etc.

[Hyperplex]

Also another thing to note regarding the laser used for my LASIK: The program for reshaping your cornea is exactly that, a program. They map your cornea and measure exactly how much they need to remove and from where. The laser/computer takes care of the rest. The machine tracks your eye, and as such, if your eye were to move in any microscopic way that would harm the laser's programmed pattern, it halts immediately. This didn't happen with me, but the doctor assured me if it did, there would be nothing at all to fear.

[JustJen]

Also another thing to note regarding the laser used for my LASIK: The program for reshaping your cornea is exactly that, a program. They map your cornea and measure exactly how much they need to remove and from where. The laser/computer takes care of the rest. The machine tracks your eye, and as such, if your eye were to move in any microscopic way that would harm the laser's programmed pattern, it halts immediately. This didn't happen with me, but the doctor assured me if it did, there would be nothing at all to fear.

That is definitely reassuring! Very good to know. So much better than the image in my mind's eye of a doctor with a hangover and a shaky hand holding an exactoknife over someone's eye while saying "stop moving" to the patient, who is actually laying perfectly still. As you can tell, I have my concerns, however unrealistic.