Lasik/PRK surgery recommendations? (Fairfax: eyeglasses, insurance, opthamologist)

[kww]

evening all,

starting some research on the topic for a hopeful procedure soon.. initial findings have me leaning towards PRK..

curious if anyone in the northern VA on CD has had it done recently? search brought up some result from early summer but not much discussion..

located in PWC, but willing to go wherever for the procedure..

thanks in advance!

[sandhill]

I haven't had the procedure, but my mother just had cataract surgery, and I would absolutely recommend the eye surgeon. Dr Nasrullah at Dulles Eye Associates. The practice seems to have a specialty in LASIK, and there's an office location in Fairfax. My mother was referred to this dr by her regular opthamalogist who said he hand-picked the surgeon to refer his patients to. [url=http://www.dceyedr.com

[mdcrim]

Dr. Boutros (yes, the guy that advertises on the radio). He was recommended to me when I was researching. I used him and couldn't be happier. I was pretty much blind as a bat. Now have perfect vision. Seriously life changing. You probably won't meet him until the surgery day. He has what I thought to be a very professional staff. And he's done a gazillion surgeries (which is why so many people I knew recommended him).

[spencgr]

get a recomendation from your opthamologist or optomatrist. I've never had issues with my contacts, so I haven't had the surgery, but my eye doctor said, that if I want to, she will tell me where to go.

[djplourd]

I had PRK about five or six years ago through the military at Walter Reed. I wasn't offered LASIK as an option but I know some folks who had it. Your particular eye situation may necessitate one procedure over the other. In LASIK they make an incision in your cornea to reshape it while in PRK they basically scrub the cornea off (think of an electric rotary tooth brush but with wire bristles!).

Recovery with LASIK is almost immediate while it takes awhile with PRK. I was miserable for several days after my PRK. I spent the first few days in a dark room with a cold wash cloth over my eyes (the light sensitivity is agonizing - don't make the mistake of opening the refrigerator late at night).

[jillybean720]

I had my eyes done about 2.5 years ago now. I researched the different procedures at the time and opted for Lasik over PRK, but, without re-reading a bunch of stuff, I couldn't tell you why I leaned that way. I ended up going with Dr. Boutros (yup, the guy on the radio) as well after reading about Lasik versus their iLasik - I was very uncomfortable with the idea of an actual blade near my eye. That may seem silly when we're talking about LASERS on our eyes, but the blade factor really freaked me out, so I went with the all-laser method.

My cousin used the practice that advertises that they did Tiger Woods' procedure. They did, but they have a LOT of doctors doing the procedure, so you're unlikely to have the same person unless you specifically request it, and they have many offices around the area. With Dr. Boutros, when I had my procedure, I had HIM. At the time, he had only one or two other doctors performing the procedure in his practice, so I felt more secure about having a good doctor after doing some research. They also offer a "warranty" that if your vision gets worse to a certain degree over time, they will re-operate for free, the "catch" being that you MUST go back to them for your annual exams, and you cannot use insurance to pay for those annual exams (100% out-of-pocket). I had my eyes done in my 20s, so I'm fine "paying" my annual exam fee for the warranty.

[vermonter16]

I've just started researching this as well. My neighbor just had it at Lasik Plus and it's only been a few days but so far she is pleased. My concern is starbursts and halos afterwards. I don't have very bad vision but enough to have my drivers license state corrective lenses. I am eventually moving to Vermont closer to the end of the year and I am very active outdoors...which would be my main reason to have the procedure done. Nothing is worse than snowshoeing up a mountain with the windchill at -20 and having your eyeglasses freeze over. I hate it, hate it, hate it. I don't do contacts or of course that would solve that issue.

[jillabean]

I had mine done at Lasik Plus in Tysons about 6 years ago and am happy with it. I do have some halos at night, but to be fair, the doctor warned me about that complication and said I was at higher risk than most patients because my eyes were basically terrible (for years I wasn't even a candidate for vision correction).
But overall, the improvement (to me) is well worth a few minor halos. I hardly notice them anymore unless I think about it.

[snoie]

I was looking into Lasik before I got pregnant and was recommended to The Eye Center (Dr. Boutros). My Dad used them for his cataract surgeries in the past and had a great experience.

[FireDog40]

Originally Posted by spencgr

get a recomendation from your opthamologist or optomatrist. I've never had issues with my contacts, so I haven't had the surgery, but my eye doctor said, that if I want to, she will tell me where to go.

This.

I had to get LASIK for my line of work, but I had worn contacts for 10 years prior. I went to Bascom Palmer, the top eye institute in the country, paid good money and had a great surgeon.

I had to go back to get an adjustment, my eyes were so bad after the surgery. Its been over a year since my adjustment, and while my vision is better since the first time I got it, its still nothing close to what I had when I wore contacts.

While I dont regret getting LASIK (no hassles of contacts and such) I will need to get glasses eventually. If I never had to get it, I never would have. It wasn't the surgeon, just my eyes and how I heal.