[G] Laser Vision Correction - Page 3

On April 10 2012 05:37 Prolix wrote:
I was in this forum looking at some of the beginner fitness info (Starting Strength and the like), but I can add my comments about Lasik as I did have the procedure on both eyes in March 2010.

Overall I will say the results are great and by default I'd encourage most people to pursue it.

My eyes were in the -4.5 to -5.5 range (myopia/nearsighted), and I had some astigmatism in each eye. I wore glasses from about 6 years old, transitioning to disposable soft contact lenses around 12 years old or so. The astigmatism in my left eye was mild enough that was never even given a toric lens, although I did wear toric on the right.

I also had no other history of eye issues. I was 29 years old at the time, and my contact lens presciption hadn't changed in several years.

From what I was told, both nearsightedness and astigmatism are issues that Lasik can correct very well. I am honestly not sure how Lasik performs in correcting farsighted vision.

There were several appointments to have me look into various machines while computers mapped out exactly how each of my eyeballs looked, etc. They also need to measure the thickness of your cornea, because they need to ablate (remove) some of it to reshape your eye. That is how they achieve re-bending light through your eye, so the focal point is changed and, voilà, you can see clearly.

They will not operate on you if your corneas are too thin. Nice, thick corneas give them plenty of material to work with. Also, you will want to consider if your corneas are thick enough for a second procedure if you go to a place with some sort of 'lifetime guarantee' where they will correct your vision again if it degrades significantly. You won't be a candidate for a second procedure if your corneas end up too thin after the first. FYI.

Other candidate considerations: dry eyes. If you already have them, the trauma of the Lasik procedure can exacerbate the problem. The way they judged me is they asked me how long I keep my contacts in per day. I said 'some days I have them in by 7:30am and wear them until midnight or even later, depending on when I go to bed'. And with that schedule, I had never felt the need for drops in my eyes. Based on that, they said I'd be fine. Fair warning that if your eyes dry out on you much, it may get worse after surgery.

Also: starbursts/halos. I'm not sure what else to call them... some kind of diffraction or refraction -- I don't know what the appropriate technical term is. At night, following surgery, every light source will have a starburst around it, or a halo-like ring. They said it has something to do with light passing through the area that was cut. Technically you have a wound on your eye, and light bounces through that spot in an unpredictable way. As the cut heals, the effects lessen. Some people heal completely back to normal. Personally I still have small starbursts around lights, but it's barely noticeable (actually after awhile my brain stopped paying attention to them), and it was a worthwhile risk to me. The first few nights they are pretty outrageous though, heh. If you do anything life-or-death at nighttime where you think a blur around light sources would be a concern though, you might not want to get the surgery.

Something else, for you nearsighted people: you know how you can take your glasses off or have your contacts out and read a book OK? I mean, that's the definition... you can see things close to you. OK, well, Lasik is going to balance out your vision so you can see well at all ranges. Thus I was told that, as I age, and my eye muscles get less elastic, I won't be able to focus in as closely. And that won't be something that Lasik can correct -- it won't be that I can't see well, my eyes just won't let me see well right in front of my face. So somewhere in the 45-55 years old range I should expect to need reading glasses. I decided that was an OK tradeoff, but everyone should make the call for themselves.

Anyway, I felt my facility had top-notch care. All this mapping info, etc. went into their computers, and would prevent any mistakes like making the wrong alterations to the wrong eye. (When you're under the laser, it is looking for exactly the eye that was mapped out previously -- if it doesn't see things matching up, it doesn't cut.)

Before the procedure, they'll want you to fill prescriptions for a couple eyedrops. One is an anti-inflammatory, and the other is an antibiotic. You will also need to get very specific moisturizing drops. The wounds will make your eyes more susceptible to infection for a time after surgery (hence the antibiotic, as a preventative measure), so they also don't want you just buying a large bottle of eye drops and using it for weeks, as germs can build up on the nozzle. Instead you'll be instructed to get drops that come in small, one-use capsules. In the weeks following surgery, you can eventually go to a bottle, if you want to; however, I figured slightly more expensive drops were far better than a slightly higher risk of infection!

Yeah, on the day of surgery, I finally met my surgeon. I had been under the care of a different opthalmologist for the prior appointments, but this different doctor actually ran the procedure. They had explained all of that to me beforehand... basically my clinic just set up and performed triage on candidates, and one of the actual surgeons would come in only on days where people were ready to go. He did, of course, give me a once-over examination himself, just to 'OK' things personally.

I popped a Valium, although I don't really recall any effects from it. It certainly didn't make me feel worse, and I wouldn't worry about it.

Probably the only uncomfortable part was beforehand when I was first on the surgical table. They do affix something around the orbital area to hold your eye in place. Felt a little funny as they put that on.

I had a completely bladeless procedure, where they use one type of laser to make the small surface incision, and a different one for ablating the corneal tissue. I just laid down on the table, and they swung me back and forth from under one machine to another. There was absolutely no pain. The ablation laser makes a little noise from some suction going on, because it must have a little built-in vacuum to whisk away dead cells that the laser creates. And you hear it clicking away as it makes its little laser bursts.

There was one point in the procedure where the surgeon warned me that temporarily I wouldn't be able to see or my vision would dim or something, but honestly I don't remember it being that bad or feeling weird. I think it might have been after the incision, when they peel back the flap. Can't recall.

Anyway, after the machines were done, they put my flaps down (instant Band-Aid, GO!), put my first round of drops in, and I was good to go. It was really amazing sitting up on the table and noticing the "EXIT" sign above the door right away. I could read it clearly. Your vision really is instantly better.

Post-op, have someone drive you home, and try to take a nap. By the time I was home, I was tearing up something fierce, and if you're going to have any pain it's going to be a slight burning sensation in those first few hours. If you can just sleep through it, it's for the best. I awoke that evening and the pain was completely gone. There was still plenty of irritation though, and you will continue to have that for... I forget what it was... maybe a day or two. Since the surface of your eye is cut, you might get the sensation there's a foreign object in there, like you've got an eyelash or something stuck in your eye. There's nothing you can do about it though. The anti-inflammatory drops are absolute lifesavers those first few hours. Every couple hours when I got to apply new ones... oh, it was so soothing.

I had my surgery on a Friday and was back to work on Monday. You can really do whatever you want to within a few hours after surgery, just DON'T rub your eyes -- they're still healing! Personally I would wipe away any tears, etc. that would go down onto my cheeks or wherever, but I did not touch any closer to my eyeballs than the orbital area. I tried not to apply any pressure or whatever to them. Your eyes will be very tear-y for the first day or so. It's slightly annoying, but I just planned a dull weekend and my eyes felt normal before I knew it.

You'll want to wear sunglasses outside, and they'll give you shields to put on over your eyes with athletic tape at night, so you don't accidentally brush/bump things while sleeping.

Also DO NOT SMOKE for the first couple weeks after surgery. I've been known to enjoy a cigar or hookah now and then, so I just had to avoid that. If you have a cig habit, you're going to need to lay off following Lasik. Your eyes are sensitive to smoke/particulate in the air. Similarly, if you work in a dusty environment, you're going to want to take time off or avoid that somehow. Particles getting into your wounds will increase the risk of infection or maybe cause things to not heal up right (I presume).

That's all I can think of for now. I mean, overall it seems like a very nice approach to vision correction, they really cover all the bases and it's not a difficult procedure to endure, etc. That's why I think it's a good thing and don't have an issue recommending it. And they did correct me down to 20/20.

On May 20 2012 08:10 Bigtony wrote:
Approaching two months out and still feeling very good. I had a scare last Saturday - my left eye was a bit blurry and felt dry, but this was really due to sleeping in an odd way and just having a really dry eye. It went away after a while and some moistening drops. I had forgotten that I sometimes got this pre-surgery after doing a particularly sweaty Bikram class or too long in the sauna/hot tub.

On April 21 2012 16:23 Resent wrote:
God i want to get this done, have the money but my prescription changed a bit at my last eyetest which would make me ineligible right?