Experiences with Lasik? (pain, hair, surgery, doctor)

[SPNARD1]

Hello,
I'm considering Lasik surgery, as I'm sure others are.
Curious as to what people past experiences are, please post your pre surgery eyeglass prescription, and post operation experience/result.

Would like to perticularly hear about farsighted prescription with astigmatism.
Any halos after the surgery? if so, how bothersome are they?

Thanks all

[Suzet2262]

My husband had Lasik over 10 years ago. He never had a problem. His vision is still better than 20/20. He was very happy he did Lasik.

I would also do a lot of research into the Doctor who will be doing your surgery. See how long he/she has being doing Lasik, and what the results were, if the patients were happy with their results. After all, this is your eyes we are talking about.

[texasfirewheel]

You might search for "lasik" threads on this forum, as there have been other questions about it. I posted my very-positive results in one of those threads. I just did the search myself and found 69 threads for "lasik".

[eggalegga]

I've had two LASIK procedures done on both eyes. I now wear a contact in one eye to correct my vision as there wasn't enough corneal tissue for another re-do. When I began this process in 2002, my vision was -8 & -9 in each eye (quite a strong prescription with astigmatism). I feel that the number of "re-do's" or "touch-ups" is seriously under reported. Both my brother and one of my friends have had their's re-done.

After wearing glasses for 7 years, and contacts for 20 years, I was happy to be rid of needing anything to correct my vision. I was disappointed after my first surgery that my left eye needed to be corrected just three months later. Then four years after that, they both needed to be corrected. But at this time, only the right eye had enough corneal tissue for the procedure.

There was no pain in any of my procedures. You only feel the pressure from the device that holds your eye lids wide open. Recovery is amazingly quick if you follow the doctor's guidlines. I kept my proctective shields on every night for a week while I slept. I didn't want to chance my dog bumping my eyes. I had an allergic reaction to one of the post-op eye drops after my second procedure. But that was quickly rectified.

With the availability and comfort of soft, disposable contacts, it really isn't much of a hassle to just wear one lens. My prescription is only -2 and I would definitely go through all of this over again even if I had to wear contacts. My prescription isn't very strong so on weekends, sometimes I forget to put on my glasses or wear my one contact.

One noticable change is the increase in dryness in both eyes. I use a lot of moisturizing drops. But then again, Utah's climate is very dry to begin with so that just adds to the need for eye drops.

[sskkc]

Years ago, we made a long distance move from Florida to New Mexico. I flew in with my then 22mo old daughter, rented a car, drove directly to the property manager's office, signed the lease, picked up the keys and drove to the rental. I then drove to Walmart to pick up toiletries, pillows, an air mattress and a little TV,etc. I was exhausted and not paying close attention to much.

Fast forward to 2 months later. My hair was dry and brittle... despite my constant conditioning. I saw an ad for Lasik for $499 per eye. As my vision was described as 20/400+ with a moderate astigmatism in both eyes, I wore "coke bottles" and was desperate for Lasik. I hated contacts and needed new glasses anyway... my glasses typically ran approx $300 per pair, so I decided to go for it. (My glasses broke the week before and I had to wear my super ugly "spare pair" for those 5 days... the worst part of the whole thing)

The morning after the Lasik, I got into the shower and began washing my hair. Remember that quick Walmart trip? I had grabbed supersize bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Blind as I was, I would pick up a bottle, hold it 2" from my face and if it said shampoo, I'd wash with it and smooth on the other bottle, assuming it was conditioner. This was the first morning, since I was 5-6 years old, that I wasn't showering "blind". It was amazing...

And it was then that I discovered that I had purchased 2 bottles of shampoo during that fateful trip to Walmart.

I had "haloes" at night for about a year after the Lasik... but then again, I had haloes with my glasses too. Be sure to use the thick gel eye solution everyday for the first 5 days, all day and then at night for a couple months. I didn't go anywhere without sunglasses and eye drops for about a year... they're the only eyes I've got and I wasn't going to risk losing them because I was too cheap or lazy to put in eyedrops.

Mine were done in 2004... there were no eyeshields given, but they did give me these huge ugly sunglasses to wear for the first 2 weeks. Also, you can't wear eye make up for awhile after the procedure (like a week or two - well worth it for me).

My only regret with the Lasik was not doing it sooner!

My vision is 20/20 now... 20/15 if I tilt my head just right. I could've gone in for a free touch up, but decided that I'd rather be undercorrected than overcorrected. It's easier to cut a slice of cheese from a full block than to shave one off a leftover chunk.

[allforcats]

Before my Lasik, I needed mild glasses to watch TV, and anything from about 3 feet away to about 10 feet was just slightly askew. After my Lasik, no more glasses and everything became clear. How delightful!! That was five years ago and everything is still clear.

[alicenevada]

I had lasik six years ago. I went from 20/400 to 20/15 in thirty minutes! I would recommend it to anyone who is a candidate! The only downside for me is slight night halos but I had those with contacts too.

[World Citizen]

The OP in this thread asked about Lasik correction for Astigmia... That is what I'm wanting to know about.

I have astigmia in one eye. At one point an eye doctor had me wear a contact in that eye at the same time I wore glasses. My eye is getting bad. (the other eye is fine)

Has anyone had Lasik corrected vision for Astigmia?

I hope I spelled Astigmia right... but you know what I mean!

[Suzet2262]

Originally Posted by World Citizen

The OP in this thread asked about Lasik correction for Astigmia... That is what I'm wanting to know about.

I have astigmia in one eye. At one point an eye doctor had me wear a contact in that eye at the same time I wore glasses. My eye is getting bad. (the other eye is fine)

Has anyone had Lasik corrected vision for Astigmia?

I hope I spelled Astigmia right... but you know what I mean!

My husband did like I said in previous post. He had a slight Astigmia in one eye, and came through Laski just fine.

[World Citizen]

My Astigma in one eye is severe. I almost didn't pass my drivers license test because of it. I am to the point that the fear of a bad outcome is less than the fear of going blind.

Also, people have told me that they want to do both eyes at once. I'm only going to do that eye - just in case.

BTW - Where did that weird link come from in the quote of my post??