dry eyes (allergies, live, price)

[louisvillemom]

I have dry eyes from Lasik eye surgery. I was wondering if anyone has dry eyes and if the dry air made your eyes worse if you for instance moved from somewhere else? For some reason though my eyes are better in the winter here and of course the indoor air is dry in the winter. I have bad problems in the summer and fall.

[sskkc]

I used the "gel" eye drops overnight after I had Lasik for about 3 months ... we lived in Albuquerque at the time, an equally dry climate. I carried eye drops with me everywhere for about a year then slowly it eased off. I do still have to wear sunglasses when I'm outside or driving, even when it's cloudy... my eyes are still very sensitive to sunlight.

How long ago did you have them done? It's been about 4 years for me. I used to wear "Coke bottles"... now I barely even think about it.

[SaxLuva]

I had RK done in 95. At the time I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Now that the years have passed I have come to learn that my eyes were over corrected and am now farsighted. I have problems with my vision clarity coming and going, I can no longer drive at night and my eyes are dry most of the time. I certainly hope that the Lasik doesn't present the same problems to ya'll in the coming years. I can't say I regret it, but it has caused me the loss of ability to do things I used to enjoy.

[sskkc]

When you have Lasik, they tell you upfront that it can only correct astigmatism and nearsightedness. It will not prevent you from becoming farsighted as you age either.

The possibility of wearing reading glasses later in life is NOTHING compared to have 20/400+ vision for 80 years. At least, not for me.

[louisvillemom]

I had my Lasik in 2002. I still have problems and just wondered if the dry air in Colorado would make it worse; although I do believe my eyes are worsened by allergies and air pollution. I wish I hadn't done the lasik but it is too late now. I didn't do enough research beforehand and just trusted the doctor. He said he had never had one patient unhappy. Ha! That should have been a red flag. I wish I could have my eyes back like they were.

[Neditate]

I had Lasik 2 years ago. I still need eyedrops in the morning and at bedtime. It's much better now than the first year. I was putting drops in every hour or two. I used Refresh Tears until my eye doctor recommended using eyedrops without a preservative. Now I use GenTeal. You can usually get a 2 pack at Costco for a good price.

[JAF1976]

I had lasik in 2005 and have no regrets, probably the best money I ever spent. My night vision is really good now way better than the glasses were. Vision went from 20/60L to 20/15, right eve went from 20/200+ to 20/25. My eyes do get a little dry after 15+ hrs of driving, or if Im tired. I usually just tough it out, I never have drops.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by sskkc

When you have Lasik, they tell you upfront that it can only correct astigmatism and nearsightedness. It will not prevent you from becoming farsighted as you age either...

Oh really? Well "they" don't know what they are talking about. If the doctor isn't a cheap-skate and at least uses a decent laser like the VISX, it can and does correct for farsightedness by using the slit along with the BSM (BS and Hyperopia Module) to cut a virtual island into the optical zone of your stroma on the cornea to make your eye steeper, and thus correct for farsightedness.

How do you think they do a retreatment or "enhancement" when they overcorrect you? It's not a popular a surgery and perhaps not even as effective or even an option depending on the residual corneal thickness, that's why it would behoove them to purposely undercorrect you a little bit if you're a myope, then do an enhancement down the road and flatten it a bit if the patient complains enough.

ADD: [Please don't get any ideas about this Saxluva, you've been blessed in that you were spared the invasive Flap creation that makes the cornea that much more prone to infection and a number of other complications and side effects. Of all the corneal surgeries, RK would seem to be the best overall. It's just too bad they overcorrected you. If you're 45 or older, your need for "longer arms" may come from the condition presbyopia as mentioned above and can perhaps be taken care of should you ever get cataracs and get those inner lenses replaced]

This is my opinion, but I think it's a bad surgery except for the best candidates (high myopes with enough corneal thickness to leave at least 250 micrometers after the correction + slit blade thickness and any regression after healing) that are also not prone to dry eye.

I really commend people for coming out and telling the truth about their regrets about the surgery to maybe at least make potential candidates think about what they're doing. For those of you that love your proceedure, you're not alone. This is part of the reason why this elective and for some-vain proceedure took off like it did. But realize that what may have worked for you is not the case for everybody.

More about this in the Health forum, but I see that it's a good topic in the Springs forum because our altitude and dryness may needlessly get blamed for an otherwise risky surgery for some. In my opinion!

[SaxLuva]

[quote=McGowdog;4953932]Oh really? Well "they" don't know what they are talking about. If the doctor isn't a cheap-skate and at least uses a decent laser like the VISX, it can and does correct for farsightedness by using the slit along with the BSM (BS and Hyperopia Module) to cut a virtual island into the optical zone of your stroma on the cornea to make your eye steeper, and thus correct for farsightedness.

How do you think they do a retreatment or "enhancement" when they overcorrect you? It's not a popular a surgery and perhaps not even as effective or even an option depending on the residual corneal thickness, that's why it would behoove them to purposely undercorrect you a little bit if you're a myope, then do an enhancement down the road and flatten it a bit if the patient complains enough.

ADD: [Please don't get any ideas about this Saxluva, you've been blessed in that you were spared the invasive Flap creation that makes the cornea that much more prone to infection and a number of other complications and side effects. Of all the corneal surgeries, RK would seem to be the best overall. It's just too bad they overcorrected you. If you're 45 or older, your need for "longer arms" may come from the condition presbyopia as mentioned above and can perhaps be taken care of should you ever get cataracs and get those inner lenses replaced]

Thanx for the advice, but I'm well over 45 and have no plans for further surgery. I made the decision knowing there could be problems down the road because it was so new at the time. I had about 8-9 years, free of corrective lenses and now only wear them when my arms aren't long enough. My eyes do get dry and tired but I also contribute some of that to age.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

Oh really? Well "they" don't know what they are talking about. If the doctor isn't a cheap-skate and at least uses a decent laser like the VISX, it can and does correct for farsightedness by using the slit along with the BSM (BS and Hyperopia Module) to cut a virtual island into the optical zone of your stroma on the cornea to make your eye steeper, and thus correct for farsightedness.

How do you think they do a retreatment or "enhancement" when they overcorrect you? It's not a popular a surgery and perhaps not even as effective or even an option depending on the residual corneal thickness, that's why it would behoove them to purposely undercorrect you a little bit if you're a myope, then do an enhancement down the road and flatten it a bit if the patient complains enough.

ADD: [Please don't get any ideas about this Saxluva, you've been blessed in that you were spared the invasive Flap creation that makes the cornea that much more prone to infection and a number of other complications and side effects. Of all the corneal surgeries, RK would seem to be the best overall. It's just too bad they overcorrected you. If you're 45 or older, your need for "longer arms" may come from the condition presbyopia as mentioned above and can perhaps be taken care of should you ever get cataracs and get those inner lenses replaced].

Originally Posted by SaxLuva

Thanx for the advice, but I'm well over 45 and have no plans for further surgery. I made the decision knowing there could be problems down the road because it was so new at the time. I had about 8-9 years, free of corrective lenses and now only wear them when my arms aren't long enough. My eyes do get dry and tired but I also contribute some of that to age.

I was referring to catarac surgery, but ok. If I ever get cataracs down the road, I'd be open to that surgery. That's a very successful surgery that can prevent blindness.