Members ivanthetrble Posted February 5, 2008 Members Share Posted February 5, 2008 that is definitely worth it. i've noticed just recently that i need to hold books a little farther away than i used to. is that correctable with lasik? rikshaw, how old are you and what is your distance vision like without glasses or contacts? Lasik can do some things but the natural aging of the eyes that affects near vision (presbyopia) is not correctable with Lasik. As far as farsighted (hyperopic) corrections, you have to be very careful. Farsighted corrections have a higher risk of complications than nearsighted corrections. For nearsighted corrections you flatten the cornea, which is relatively easy to do. For farsighted corrections you have to steepen the cornea and with a laser that can only remove tissue that is a bit tricky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members REMUS Posted February 5, 2008 Members Share Posted February 5, 2008 Let me clarify, at -2.00D-ish you have around a 98% chance of seeing 20/20 or better with one procedure. The chance that you will show some regression and need an enhancement is about 2-3%. If you need an enhancement the chance that you will see 20/20 or better is around 99%. This all assumes that your eyes are otherwise healthy and were seeing well prior to surgery.So how does the procedure work, do they knock me out with general anesthetic?I don't think I could bear having my eye cut/lasered while I was awake What exactly do they do, does the laser burn off damaged cells or something? I have been thinking about saving up for treatment for a long time now, in the UK i'm looking at about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bbl Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 So how does the procedure work, do they knock me out with general anesthetic?I don't think I could bear having my eye cut/lasered while I was awake What exactly do they do, does the laser burn off damaged cells or something? I have been thinking about saving up for treatment for a long time now, in the UK i'm looking at about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ivanthetrble Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 You need to be awake for it, I believe. But it's not bad at all. They apply topical anesthetic about 1/2 hour before the procedure. They apply suction to your eye so it's dry and rigid. The actual "cutting" took about 30 seconds per eye. I didn't feel any pain at all during the procedure. But, when the topical wore off, it felt like sand in my eyes. I went to sleep, woke up at 2am and felt no pain or discomfort. Then I awoke at 6am and it felt like Christmas! I could see 20/20! EDIT: Yes, the laser burns of thin layers of your cornea. Well, first it slices your cornea to create a "flap." The doc lifts that flap (things just go blurry while you stare at a blinking light) and removes the layers of cornea until you're corrected. He closes the flap, sets it, and that's it. Rest. See him the next day for a follow up. This is pretty accurate. You do need to be awake and able to look at a fixation light during the procedure. This helps with getting the treatment centered on the visual axis. The flap is created fairly quickly. The actual time it takes to create the flap is only a few seconds. You will not feel any pain during this portion of the procedure but you may feel a little pressure like pushing on your eye with your fingers. The laser itself does not actually "burn" anything. There is no heat generated with excimer lasers. Corneas in general do not respond well to being heated up. The laser reshapes the front surface of the cornea to help correct the myopia/astigmatism present. Whole procedure takes about 10-15 minutes but I tell patients to plan on being at the surgery center for about 2 hours total the day of the surgery. Your eyes will tend to feel sandy, sensitive to light and a bit irritated for the first few hours after surgery. Most of the time this is gone by the next day. Most patients can drive themselves to their post-op appiontment the next day. It is not for everyone and yes, there are some risks involved with any surgical procedure that you need to be aware of prior to surgery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bbl Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 This is pretty accurate. You do need to be awake and able to look at a fixation light during the procedure. This helps with getting the treatment centered on the visual axis. The flap is created fairly quickly. The actual time it takes to create the flap is only a few seconds. You will not feel any pain during this portion of the procedure but you may feel a little pressure like pushing on your eye with your fingers. The laser itself does not actually "burn" anything. There is no heat generated with excimer lasers. Corneas in general do not respond well to being heated up. The laser reshapes the front surface of the cornea to help correct the myopia/astigmatism present. Whole procedure takes about 10-15 minutes but I tell patients to plan on being at the surgery center for about 2 hours total the day of the surgery. Your eyes will tend to feel sandy, sensitive to light and a bit irritated for the first few hours after surgery. Most of the time this is gone by the next day. Most patients can drive themselves to their post-op appiontment the next day. It is not for everyone and yes, there are some risks involved with any surgical procedure that you need to be aware of prior to surgery. Forgot to add a few things: They gave me my choice of valium or ambien before the procedure. I guess it helped during but didn't help me sleep afterwards. I had to put drops in that night (every 4 hours while awake) and wear goggles taped to my head when I slept. The combo of discomfort, drops, and taping goggles to my face drove me bonkers. But once I dozed off everything was fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mobass Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 For those who have had it done, can you see fine without glasses? I've heard that some people that have it done still have to wear glasses to read. I want to have it done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jateca Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 For those who have had it done, can you see fine without glasses? I've heard that some people that have it done still have to wear glasses to read. I want to have it done. As I understand it, this largely depends on age. I'm in my twenties and have had the surgery, so my sight is almost 20/20 and I don't require glasses or lenses for anything. By the time I'm 50 I can expect to need reading glasses, as I would if I had healthy eyes to begin with. As far as I'm aware that can't be helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jateca Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 Forgot to add a few things: They gave me my choice of valium or ambien before the procedure. I guess it helped during but didn't help me sleep afterwards. I had to put drops in that night (every 4 hours while awake) and wear goggles taped to my head when I slept. The combo of discomfort, drops, and taping goggles to my face drove me bonkers. But once I dozed off everything was fine. Bugger, I was never offered something to help me sleep! Other than that, I basically had the exact same experience. Was completely worth it given the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members REMUS Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 This is pretty accurate. You do need to be awake and able to look at a fixation light during the procedure. This helps with getting the treatment centered on the visual axis. The flap is created fairly quickly. The actual time it takes to create the flap is only a few seconds. You will not feel any pain during this portion of the procedure but you may feel a little pressure like pushing on your eye with your fingers. The laser itself does not actually "burn" anything. There is no heat generated with excimer lasers. Corneas in general do not respond well to being heated up. The laser reshapes the front surface of the cornea to help correct the myopia/astigmatism present. Whole procedure takes about 10-15 minutes but I tell patients to plan on being at the surgery center for about 2 hours total the day of the surgery. Your eyes will tend to feel sandy, sensitive to light and a bit irritated for the first few hours after surgery. Most of the time this is gone by the next day. Most patients can drive themselves to their post-op appiontment the next day. It is not for everyone and yes, there are some risks involved with any surgical procedure that you need to be aware of prior to surgery. erk... sounds worth it, but i'm just worried it might cause problems for me later in life. how long has this technique been in use now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members anothertxn Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 -8.00 and -8.00 here, which makes me the winner thus far, if you want to call it that. I've been wearing contacts since the 5th grade. My eyes actually just got worse in the past year, and I just turned 25, so don't assume your eyes will be stable by 19 or so. Personally, I've not been convinced by the LASIK world yet. I feel like I would be much more comfortable about 20 years from now when there is more long term information, but by that point they'll probably just pop in a new eyeball. Such a magical correction would definitely be a blessing, particularly with my job, but I just have a hard time being willing to take that kinda risk with my eyes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jateca Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 erk... sounds worth it, but i'm just worried it might cause problems for me later in life.how long has this technique been in use now? Around 20 years I think, thought the techniques have been changing and advancing. I'd reccomend a consultation with ultralase http://www.ultralase.com/ It's free, and they gave me good advice, with impressively minimal bull{censored}. The procedure itself was fine for me. With my glasses off everthing was a blur anyway. Just a sequence of strange motions and (paniless) sensations. Only takes a couple of minutes to do both eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ivanthetrble Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 Around 20 years I think, thought the techniques have been changing and advancing.I'd reccomend a consultation with ultralase http://www.ultralase.com/It's free, and they gave me good advice, with impressively minimal bull{censored}.The procedure itself was fine for me. With my glasses off everthing was a blur anyway. Just a sequence of strange motions and (paniless) sensations. Only takes a couple of minutes to do both eyes. Actually, excimer lasers were approved for use in the US late in 1995. The procedure has been pretty widespread for about 12 years now. The original studies and trials started in the late 80s. As far as the reading glasses/age thing goes, yes, if you have lasik you will eventually need reading glasses. Lasik, as long as you are not over-corrected, won't speed up the need for reading glasses. The need for glasses up close is due to the loss of the elasticity of the natural lens inside the eye and lasik only affects the outer surface (cornea) of the eye. Yes, things have improved with time but sometimes I wonder how much improvement there actually has been and how much of it is marketing hype. My wife had lasik 9+ years ago with what is now considered a dinosaur laser, one of the first generation broad beam lasers. She was about -6.00 with -2.00 astigmatism. She has asked me if her results would have been better if she had waited. She is 20/15 in both eyes with no residual myopia or astigmatism (ie: Plano) with no glare, halos, etc and she did not need an enhancement. Not sure how her results could be any better. One piece of advice for anyone considering the procedure, watch out for outrageous marketing claims. There are lasik places who's ads sound more like a sale for furniture than a surgical procedure. Also watch out for high pressure sales tactics such as "limted time offers" and "one time only deals". These are your eyes folks! If you were going to have a knee replacement surgery you would be looking for the best surgeon, not the cheapest or the one who offered financing options. Be smart when doing your research. There are a lot of good surgeons out there but there are also a lot of places that have popped up trying to make a quick buck with little to no experience behind them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xdamagexx Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 $3000 for life time acuity in other words....if my eyes get old as i do...i go in for a tune-up...prepaid that is an amazing deal... wish we could find that for my wife she's only 24 so that would be a great investment. thanx for that bassius...Now for some pic's this thread was getting boring with out any.. here are a couple i found and the bottom one is my personal FAVORITE... hehehehehehe i can see TAllen/JM5/RSB all got their faces squrished against their screen tryn to see the bottom row.. PERV's.. :poke::idea:i used Binoculars:cop: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NeonVomit Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 Everyone in my family is short sighted, but for some reason I have 20/20 vision. Not a day goes by that I'm not greatful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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