Experience or opinions on Lasik or PRK surgery?

Question

I'm considering Lasik. Do you have any experience with it? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?

NotJustAnotherGuy · Accepted Answer

PRK is the best. Here's why:

1.) It's preferable for people with chronic dry eyes-- Severe dry eyes is actually a very common long term complication of LASIK patients.
2.) In LASIK the cornea is peeled to create a flap that never fully heals-- this is very well proven and if you have an eye injury (metal shavings from work, sports contact, etc..) you could dislodge that cornea flap and surgery will be necessary. It might sound worse than it is. Of the documented incidences I've read, vision was able to be restored and pain and discomfort removed after 2 or 3 surgeries. In the few documented incidences where the cornea flap is lost altogether, the patients were completely and entirely fucked, not to mention probably had the worst year of their life.
3.) PRK has the same results as LASIK but offers a full recovery, opposed to a weakened cornea that LASIK leaves you with.

The only pro of LASIK is that the recovery times are significantly better, and I mean SIGNIFICANTLY. You get peak acuity sooner (in a month opposed to about 6 for PRK) and initial healing is faster too (you can drive right after LASIK; PRK can take up to a week to be able to safely drive again). But the end result is better for PRK-- significantly less occurrences of dry eyes, no weakening of the cornea.

I've researched this a lot because I plan on getting eye surgery-- I believe I'll be going with PRK. The extra recovery time is a nuisance, but I have chronic dry eyes and I can't imagine making them more dry! I also, frequently get saw dust in my eyes at work, and rub them vigorously afterwards-- and there's lots of metal shavings since I have to cut and grind a lot of aluminum, I shutter just to think of the pain, and surgical costs! if I got LASIK and then rubbed my eyes too hard.

Levin · Accepted Answer

I had lasik. I find out later that it never heals properly so you shouldn't get punched in the face; not that I ever intended to, but I've since taken up martial arts. Anyway, all this is my fault, due to lack of proper research. There does seem to be some inherent risk, and some lack of empirical understanding about the long term affects though. Maybe lasek would be the better option? I wouldn't like to sway you either way. I don't really regret it though. Having terrible eye (5 or 6) is utterly miserable. It's wretched and time consuming when you can't even see your face in the mirror in the morning. When I had the procedure done, I could see two lines below 20/20 vision. Now my vision has degraded I feel somewhat. So probably need glasses to correct being unable to see the tiniest detail in the distance. Driving glasses essentially. It's all a bit wretched this isn't it? Getting old, the body falling apart. Having to sit at a computer all day in many working environments likely doesn't help. Gosh, I'm whiny today, eh?

Kiwedin · Accepted Answer

I got Lasik done this past January and it was great. I would definitely recommend it. The procedure itself took about 4 minutes. Super quick, easy, and painless. I felt fine afterwards, but it does get uncomfortable the day of the surgery. After you get home your eyes will bother you more. That part wasn't fun, but it wasn't painful. It just felt like I was being blinded by the sun except I was in pitch black. I ended up just sleeping through it though, it's better that way since you can't open your eyes anyway lol. The next day my eyes felt a bit sensitive to sunlight, but the pain was gone and my vision was amazing. For something so drastic as giving your perfect vision, it's not a bad experience. I was expecting to be in pain for days, but I was only uncomfortable about 2-3 hours after my procedure and felt better by the time I woke up. They said I might get dry eyes, but I haven't experienced anything of the sort. All good comments from me :)

bubble_tea · Accepted Answer

I think it depends how shortsighted you are. I don't think you should bother if you have to still wear contacts and glasses afterwards.. just with less dioptres.
I'm kind of scared of the halo effect in the dark too. So whichever procedures with less side effects gets my upvote.

abundantlyrich · Accepted Answer

I have heard that it fixes the short sightness but you'll again have to wear glasses for close up reading.

TripleAce · Answer

Its a really tricky question!

I personally wanted it really bad, I was very close, just had to pay and I was good to go... But I backed out for a few reasons.

First let me say, for the right candidate it works pretty well. BUT the perfect candidate is not always a sure thing, even if everything checks out at the exams!

Reasons why I backed out
1. I almost never see optometrists that do Lasik, safest is still glasses
2. True complication rates are almost 20%, thats 1 in every 5 will have an issue
3. They take a healthy eye and make it less healthy, by weakening the structural integrity itself
4. It seems to increase the rate of near vision, which everyone gets as they age, but Lasik candidates seem to need glasses faster
5. They guarantee perfect 20/20 BUT they don't guarantee clarity, Its very common to have 20/20 vision but not actually 'see' clearly like double or triple vision BUT still 20/20...
6. Dry eyes is a big issue, just look at all the post Lasik dry eyes drops on the shelfs for sale, you think its just there for fun?
7. They are not honest most of the times, I told them I had dry eyes, just because the day I went for the exam they weren't dry, I was automatically a good candidate... dry eyes post surgery has ruined peoples lives... its horrible
8. The flap they cut, the healing process is not predictable which is why 1 in 5 people have issues
9. The same FDA guy who approved it, wants it banned! Yup, look it up... The companies separated adverse effects and complications in 2 categories, making it look like adverse effects are only less than 1%, it was closer to 20%!
10. Most people still need glasses after surgery... lol
11. Long term studies have not been released yet

So yea those are 10 valid reasons to be careful with Lasik

Lasik have contracts with local optometrists to send patients to them post surgery for check ups... Everyone has an incentive for you to do it...

BUt again for the perfect candidate, it does work

DooMguy · Answer

Lasik? No, just no No, no, no, no, no, no, no please no believe it or not. It's possible to improve your eyesight naturally, glasses and contacts aren't needed, neither is Lasik. You gotta trust me on this one bell girl. You trust me right?

Kinstrome · Answer

It's not for everyone. If you want to see if you're eligible, find someone impartial who will actually tell you whether your eyes are going to be okay with Lasik. Some doctors won't check for anything and just do Lasik on you anyway.

Someone else said eyes naturally improve back to normal vision. I haven't seen evidence for this, including talking to my optometrist. Eyes can improve a lot, but as far as I know they don't naturally go back to 20/20. If it were possible for that to happen, I would sure as hell like to know.

TadCurious · Answer

I had LASEK (with an "E" not an "I") done in January. I'm really happy with the outcome. I'd worn contacts for years, and glasses before that. LASEK is the procedure my eye doctor does not, instead of LASIK (which I think is an older procedure). Your vision is blurry for a while after the procedure, but at this point I'm seeing things really well, both close up and far away.

JustinCaseUDontKnow · Answer

My cousin had corrected vision so she wouldn't need wear glasses it went good for her i believe she had lasik.

Watermelonoma · Answer

i plan on getting some sort of corrective eye surgery myself in the future, but i haven't done quite enough research on it yet. My friend just got it because he's joining the army, and it seemed to be pretty quick and painless for him.

Outofthegrey · Answer

I have to suggest being born with 20/10 vision. Worked out well for me, plus no chance of complications! More realistically though, go PRK.

hypno-trip · Answer

I had Lasik and now don't need to wear glasses so i recommend it. it's very quick and overall painless. It was scary though since I couldn't close my eyes while they pried it open and shot lasers at it.

justbeinghonest · Answer

I can't wait to get my vision improved. Glasses suck and contacts do too.  What is the PRK thing?

Tokana · Answer

I'm considering the same thing. I hate wearing contacts cause you always have to remember to remove them right before bed.

Random_chick_2384 · Answer

I'm not sure. But I wanted to see what everyone else said so I voted c.

Ihav2fart · Answer

I want to get Lasik when my vision goes to the 3. s  I'm at 2.25 atm. :(

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