Best LASIK Surgeon? (Seattle, Vancouver, Bellevue: buying, price, dangerous)

[joy_ful]

My family and I recently relocated to the area (Eastside) and I am considering getting LASIK. Who in the Seattle area has the best reputation? For example, who do the doctors use for themselves?

[Cinema Cat]

Do NOT do Lasik. Google "lasik nightmare" or "lasik goes wrong" or "lasik suicide." Even if the original lasik surgery goes well, it permanently weakens the corona, increasing the risk of complications should you ever need any kind of eye surgery (say, for cataracts). No, I've never had lasik. Never will.

[MafHoney]

And for the millions of people who have had LASIK, it's been amazing. Sure, some people have issues, but if you've been doing research you know that the % rate is extremely low.

I had mine done at Sharpe Vision in Bellevue. Everyone there was great and it was insanely fast. The price is also competitive with the area.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by MafHoney

And for the millions of people who have had LASIK, it's been amazing. Sure, some people have issues, but if you've been doing research you know that the % rate is extremely low.

I had mine done at Sharpe Vision in Bellevue. Everyone there was great and it was insanely fast. The price is also competitive with the area.

It's a risk analysis. Depends on what one calls "complications", as to the % of issues.

Gibberish terms like "safe" and "cool laser" really don't do the industry any favors. To the former, corneas are sliced open, severing the nerves and everything else to create the flap. That's mostly done via laser these days, though formerly via blade. The latter term, well: a laser that is "cool" would be a first, considering that the coherent, single-wavelength beam of intense light excites (vibrates) then incinerates whatever it hits, given sufficient power. In this case, in extremely short pulses for targeted tissue destruction.

I examined the merits and pitfalls, exhaustively, in 2010. Talked to Bellevue LASIK, and Northwest Eye Surgeons in Seattle, both with surgeons quite familiar in the procedure by-reputation. Both made me comfortable with the concept, in-detail.

For my own reasons, however, I did not move forward: my corneas are on the thin side, and that among other things stacked it against me for an optimal outcome. Grave concerns about dry-eyes, on my already "slightly" dry eyes, tipped the balance in my particular case.

Going in eyes-open on what may or may not happen, in terms of complications/side effects, I think OP will do well.

[RVD90277]

I had lasik about 5 years ago. It's been pretty good. I wouldn't say that I'm one of those people who say that it's the best decision of my life and a complete life changer, etc. But I also wouldn't say that it's a nightmare, etc.

Pre-lasik I had to wear glasses for everything. My eyes were -4.5 or so with astigmatism. I had contacts but never liked dealing with cleaning them, etc. I had disposable contacts too but they kind of bothered my eyes. I usually wore glasses and I could see fairly well.

Post-lasik I have a lot more eye strain that I used to. At the end of the day after spending all day on a computer, my eyes are tired and my vision gets a bit blurry. My eyes feel dry sometimes. I never had eye strain when I wore glasses but I'm guessing it's kind of normal since before my glasses did a lot of the focusing work for me while now my eye muscles work harder.

As for finding a good lasik surgeon, I didn't skimp on price. I think that in general the technology changes every few years so the best doctors are always investing in buying the latest hardware. They basically get new machines every 2-3 years and these laser machines are expensive. In my lasik, they used 2 laser machines...the first one to create the flap and the second one was to actually do the lasik. These laser machines are built like tanks and basically last forever.

These doctors then sell off their previous machines to other doctors who use slightly older technology. Since they invest a lot less in hardware, they charge much less.

These doctors sell their slightly older hardware to other doctors who use their slightly older hardware, etc. and it goes down the chain.

The last stop are doctors who are using equipment that has been handed down and sold every 2-3 years for multiple cycles so these machines are pretty cheap.

Combine this with a lot of appointments and you can charge much less. There are some doctors that have appointment every 20 minutes from 8am-6pm mon-sat nonstop...these guys can charge around $1k for the surgery.

The guys at the top of the chain typically charge around $6k for the surgery. They also typically only schedule surgeries a few days/wk in the afternoon and space them out because they aren't all about volume.

I know guys that went to the really cheap places and they're perfectly happy with their lasik. I know other guys who went to the expensive places and they had complications so they had to get it re-done, etc. so YMMV.

As for specific docs in Seattle, I don't know. I got mine done in LA.

[Seacove]

I got mine done years ago in Canada because that's where it was done then. I needed glasses then for distance and it was fast and easy. Now I need glasses for reading sometimes but distance is still fine.

[Blondebaerde]

I remember taking a very close look (pun intended) at all of this in 1998, when Vancouver BC was one of the better ("best" is entirely subjective) places for PRK at the time. LASIK was pretty new then, as I recall. Not long after, the procedures became widespread in the U.S. I "think" PRK is far less common these days, but has its place for certain types of patients, still (probably like me, with borderline-thin corneas, for example).

PRK made me a bit nervous, then and now. The concept, that is. I dunno: as last person says, some have great outcomes, others do not. I am genuinely thrilled, and a bit envious (hey, it's human) for those persons. I know one well, friend of mine's wife: she's doing great, more than ten years later.

But I'm also genuinely thrilled, and not a bit envious, that I have 20/17 BCV with my plain dumb old glasses with a pretty-stable prescription since c. 1992 (-2.25 and -3.75, R and L eyes resp.). Boy, glasses never seemed so cool to me, on-reflection, for that kind of crispness. Hell, where I work, looking like a bit of a bookworm/egghead with glasses actually increases my cred ever-so-slightly. Just how it is.

The age I'm at now (cough) reading glasses are coming. Doctor said last December, "you're a toss-up on them now" but without my distance glasses I still see fine close-in. Had I had LASIK or PRK, set for distance, I'd have been in reading glasses a few years ago.

That is not good, or bad. Entirely expected, and probably listed up-front for either of the surgeries as a logical outcome.

The two firms I mentioned earlier in the thread were/are top end, by another poster's criteria: latest equipment and techniques. At least they were, in 2010. While very close to pulling the trigger, back then, I too decided not to short-change any part of the process, though as also mentioned by another person I'm genuinely not sure if "latest equipment (expensive)" correlates positively and ALWAYS with "reduced negative outcomes or complications." That makes the decision process even more muddled.

A local guy advertises on some of the Seattle radio stations (AM, for sure) about all the thousands of procedures he's done. I gather he'd be one of the "20 eyes per day" kind of doctors. All things considered, today: not sure if I'd be more, or less, concerned about that kind of attitude (volume = experience) vs. the hand-holding, latest-greatest tech that appealed to me more four years ago.

Lot to think about here for OP.

[spotlesseden]

Originally Posted by RVD90277

I had lasik about 5 years ago. It's been pretty good. I wouldn't say that I'm one of those people who say that it's the best decision of my life and a complete life changer, etc. But I also wouldn't say that it's a nightmare, etc.

Pre-lasik I had to wear glasses for everything. My eyes were -4.5 or so with astigmatism. I had contacts but never liked dealing with cleaning them, etc. I had disposable contacts too but they kind of bothered my eyes. I usually wore glasses and I could see fairly well.

Post-lasik I have a lot more eye strain that I used to. At the end of the day after spending all day on a computer, my eyes are tired and my vision gets a bit blurry. My eyes feel dry sometimes. I never had eye strain when I wore glasses but I'm guessing it's kind of normal since before my glasses did a lot of the focusing work for me while now my eye muscles work harder.

As for finding a good lasik surgeon, I didn't skimp on price. I think that in general the technology changes every few years so the best doctors are always investing in buying the latest hardware. They basically get new machines every 2-3 years and these laser machines are expensive. In my lasik, they used 2 laser machines...the first one to create the flap and the second one was to actually do the lasik. These laser machines are built like tanks and basically last forever.

These doctors then sell off their previous machines to other doctors who use slightly older technology. Since they invest a lot less in hardware, they charge much less.

These doctors sell their slightly older hardware to other doctors who use their slightly older hardware, etc. and it goes down the chain.

The last stop are doctors who are using equipment that has been handed down and sold every 2-3 years for multiple cycles so these machines are pretty cheap.

Combine this with a lot of appointments and you can charge much less. There are some doctors that have appointment every 20 minutes from 8am-6pm mon-sat nonstop...these guys can charge around $1k for the surgery.

The guys at the top of the chain typically charge around $6k for the surgery. They also typically only schedule surgeries a few days/wk in the afternoon and space them out because they aren't all about volume.

I know guys that went to the really cheap places and they're perfectly happy with their lasik. I know other guys who went to the expensive places and they had complications so they had to get it re-done, etc. so YMMV.

As for specific docs in Seattle, I don't know. I got mine done in LA.

I would never try to save few k to go the a cheaper doctor for this kind of things. I think people need research the doctor, make sure they use the latest/best technology, make sure they don't have any accident before.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by spotlesseden

I would never try to save few k to go the a cheaper doctor for this kind of things. I think people need research the doctor, make sure they use the latest/best technology, make sure they don't have any accident before.

Yeah, I'd be weary of the Doctor advertising cut rate Lasik surgery.

[Gabbythecat]

I went to the UW. Excellent experience; although I was examined by several students and residents, the actual procedure was done by the head of the department - an experienced, highly qualified doc.

I would not have had it done except my vision was so bad (20/600) and very bad astigmatism. Frankly, I was lost without my contacts/glasses, which seemed kind of dangerous in emergency situations. That was 30 years ago, and I'm sure that the procedure has improved since then. But I have no regrets. I wear glasses for distances/driving, but that's it.