PRK/LASIK eye surgery?

[poppydog]

When my husband had his surgery (medically necessary) they fixed one eye to be 20/20 and one to be not as good so that when the aging eye presbyopia hit he would be able to compensate at least for awhile. He was near sighted before surgery.

Lenses do get less flexible as you age. I had a very slight astigmatism, but it didn't bother me when I was younger I guess because my eyes were young and flexible. As I aged I could finally no longer compensate for it and my vision dropped from 20/20 to 20/40. It's okay but I do have glasses now that I use for driving. I am not required to use them, but they just make it all sharp. My near vision is getting a little worse, but I don't HAVE to have reading glasses yet. Just can't get printed matter as close as I used to be able to. I can still read the date on a penny, though, just not up close. I have to read it from about 18-20 inches.

[PrairieGirl]

Does anyone here do WAV-front EPI-Lasik procedure? Or the procedure customized for your eyes by creating a map
of their topography (rather than relying on your subjective assessment of improvement using this big, bulky machine?) Not sure if these are two different procedures or not. I need recommendation/current cost information. Just so sick of wearing contacts/eyeglasses. The regular switch between regular and reading glasses is such a pain.

[RedZin]

Any of you who have had any form of LASIK do it to dry eyes?

My eyes are incredibly dry and I went for a consult years ago with Dr. Dornic and he was of the opinion that they weren't too dry to have the surgery. They are too dry to wear contacts regularly and I have astigmatism, so that pretty much ruled out wearing progressive contacts in the first place. I'm pretty sick of glasses.

[Rich6896]

I've had both. Lasik about 17 years ago, then a free PRK touch up in 2012.

Lasik....You wake up 20/20
PRK....I had one eye done at a time. It took awhile to get to 20/20 and I had minor complications.


PRK was annoying. I felt like I have something stuck in my eye for weeks. I found it difficult to stop myself from unconsciously rubbing my eyes.


BTW I had PRK the second time because my DR didn't like the idea of making a second flap.

[pharmboyinSD]

My wife suffered from dry eyes and got LASIK done at Duke. Her dry eyes got worse after surgery. It is a known adverse effect that gradually subsided after 7 years. She always carry single-use ampules of saline. She feels the benefits outweigh the adverse effects.

I had a botched LASIK happen on my right eye, from a San Diego Clinic who provides LASIK for local professional sports teams (maybe that s why all the teams in SD suck). The machine that laser cuts the 100 micron flap only cut the flap ~20 microns, even though it is automated. When the doctor tried to flip the flap, he stated the flap crumbled like wet tissue paper...

Every procedure has it's risks. LASIK has a faster recovery period than PRK, but PRK does not create a corneal flap. Please note the flap never heals, and there is limited research on the long term ramifications, because the surgical companies lease out the instruments and they contractually force others to approve any research/manuscripts that leverages their instruments. The lack of information and risk is a main reason why PRK is approved for Air Force pilots but not LASIK. I eventually had PRK done on both eyes. It was a 3 week recovery, but worth it for me. I can now go swiming/snorkeling, play sports without the need of contact/ glasses to enjoy my limited time on this Earth with my wife