My DH had it 18 years ago, but I know things have improved. Eyes that were not considered good for it now are. So, has anyone had this done in the last few years? If so, what do you think?
I have terrible vision, and wear gas permeable contacts. I had to start wearing readers a couple years ago, and don’t enjoy that. I find that I’m wearing my glasses more and more so I can read, and I don’t like that either. DH said he doesn’t know why I don’t do the procedure.
Part was fear of anything going wrong. I now read dry eye can be an issue and I’ve never had dry eyes, so worried about that. My optometrist told me once my eyes were too bad for LASIK, but who knows. I might go and just check it out. I know that my eyes will continue to age, though.
I had it ~25 years ago and have never regretted it. I had the version done before they did the flap procedure - the one done directly on the surface of the cornea (but not RK). I’ve never had any significant side effects and am very glad that I don’t have to deal with contacts.
I’ve known several people who’ve also had it done and also have no regrets.
I don’t know if I would have had it done if I’d read that article though.
I would never do it. My ophthalmologist at the University of Chicago was strongly against it. If you are a candidate for cataract surgery in the future, I would wait and correct your vision at that time.
D was going to have it done just this Tuesday! She texted me early in the morning, linking the above article and expressing her concerns. She ended up postponing the procedure (as I’m sure more than a few people did). She seems to have some problem with her contacts, which they suggested might be an allergy. She’s worn them without problems for 10+ years, but I guess you can develop allergies. Anyway, it remains to be seen whether she will proceed with the lasik or not.
My husband had it done 18 years ago. He’s been thrilled with it. My dad had it done about 15 years before he died (suddenly - active to the end). He was also very happy he had it done. My eyes aren’t bad enough to warrant it but both our kids are pretty near sighted.
My relative is an ophthalmologist and had it done on his eye shortly after it came out, so now he has perfect vision and is nearly 60. He’s very happy, Neither H nor I have been tempted to have it as our eyes are pretty well corrected with glasses (and H also has contacts he wears for driving). I have had dry eyes since I turned 40 and have no interest in my eyes potentially getting even drier! I even had to give up contacts, which I had worn since I was 18!
I had my first LASIK in 2001. Dr. Donnenfeld, the one in the article, is my surgeon. I had a touchup on one eye only in 2006. Everything was great until 2013 when my cataracts became a big problem. I have familial hereditary cataracts and always knew I would need surgery for them some day. Dr. D had told me in 2001 that LASIK could speed up the development of cataracts but I didn’t care. I was going to get them anyway so who cared when. For 12 years, I never had to wear glasses. For me, who had worn glasses from age 2 through 16 and then contacts till 40 (when my eyes changed and I had to revert to glasses), having to go back to glasses was heartbreaking. It brought back all the bad memories of my childhood as “four eyes.” I was depressed until I had LASIK at 42. My vision was 20/800 and it was not possible to do my eyes before that.
Anyway, idiot me didn’t realize Dr. D did cataracts so I went to some other doctor. Even though I paid OOP for an expensive procedure to measure my eyes (required due to the LASIK), this doctor inserted lenses that required that I wear glasses again. In tears and hysterical, I went back to Dr. D. He said I had to wait for my eyes to hear. 18 horrible, depressing mirror avoiding months later, he removed the incorrect lenses and placed in new and better ones. I have since had a YAG procedure on each eye to clear away film.
Now, at almost 60, I occasionally wear 1.25 Costco readers for very small print. My distance vision is great. I feel wonderful and only wish I could have had LASIK earlier.
My H had cataract and LASIK surgery, with Dr. D, last year. He now has to wear sunglasses when he drives the convertible, not because of light sensitivity but because he can now actually see the colors. He is annoyed that I didn’t push him harder to do the surgery earlier.
I am hoping that S17 can have LASIK when he is a little older. He is near sighted in one eye and far in the other and has worn bifocals with prisms since age 10. Dr. D says the procedure for his type of issue isn’t there yet, but it is coming, hopefully.
My experience with LASIK has been wonderful overall.
What you’re describing is presbyopia, or the age-related loss of the eye to focus on close objects. It’s inevitable as you age - literally everybody gets it as they get older. I have 20/20 vision from lasik about 18 years ago, and started using reading glasses a few years back. I amuse myself when watching tv shows to see if older actors whip out reading glasses when the script calls for them to read something - you can tell the director is going for realism when they do.
Anyway, presbyopia sucks big time, but isn’t something lasik can address. Well actually I shouldn’t say that. They can correct your eyes differently - basically one eye with perfect vision for distance, and one eye slightly near-sighted for reading. Contact lens wearers can do the same thing. W experimented with it via her contacts for a couple years but eventually gave it up.
I had different prescription in order to address the presbyopia, but I also gave up and just asked to have lenses for far and use reading glasses to read. Because the half-and-half solution didn’t work. Sorry if your theories suggest that it should, but the discomfort of trying to function at two vision levels really didn’t bring out a satisfactory conclusion.
“They can correct your eyes differently - basically one eye with perfect vision for distance, and one eye slightly near-sighted for reading.”
My eyes self-corrected, LOL. Because that is what I am getting naturally. It only works when the difference is tiny.
Baby kid just plunked down half of her rainy day fund on lasik. Egads. Hope her dry eyes will not be dry forever. She said she got scared after being lost in the ocean while surfing…
After lasik I really just noticed dry eyes first thing in the morning, and if I had to get up in the middle of the night. During the day it wasn’t ever an issue. I just noticed in the last few years (I had lasik around 2001) that my eyes aren’t as dry in the morning anymore. I used to use eye drops regularly in the morning, but haven’t touched them for 2-3 years. Waking up in the middle of the night there’s still a problem though, but definitely improved.
One other side effect you might have is halos around lights at night. The effect varies with the amount of correction needed. So if clear, sharp night vision while driving is very important to you, that might be something to research.
I had a lasik close to 20 years ago and it was life altering. I started wearing glasses at age 9, contacts at 16 and was thrilled to give them up when lasik provided me with 20/20 vision. After about 15 years or so, I noticed that my distance vision wasn’t quite as clear as I’d like when driving at night. Then maybe 3 years ago I periodically had a tough time reading up close. I now have both distance and near glasses that I wear on occasion. I called the doctor who did my original surgery and he said they’re working on a secondary procedure for people like me who no longer have “virgin eyes” and to check back in 5 years. That’s probably about one more year away and I will check in. One of my D’s had hers done 2 years ago and has been thrilled with the results as well.
For anyone considering it, I think one of the most important considerations is experience. As I understand it, the lasers are very expensive and some surgeons just rent or maybe share ownership and just have access to/use the laser, for example, one day a week. I had mine done at a major research university and the surgeon had done thousands with a very low complication rate.
I am on week 2 of exploring one contact to correct my farsightedness. The first week I used a mono vision lens and was quite pleased with the result (not having to wear reading glasses). I did find that I still needed to wear glasses to drive but I don’t mind that. This week I have the multi focal lens that I am experimenting with. They don’t bother me but I don’t find my vision to be that much clearer for up close work. I will give it a couple of more days. I have mastered removing the contact but inserting them is still a chore. I can’t seem to get the contact off of my finger.
I have one contact for near and one for distance, if that’s what you’re asking @conmama. I started with that about 1 1/2 years ago with a smaller difference as an intermediary step, then my eye doctor increased the difference at my appointment last fall. I think the only reasons we used an intermediary step were that 1) I really didn’t need readers at that point; if I gave my eyes a moment to adjust I could read my phone and other tiny text without too much trouble with my existing contacts. 2) I was very worried about headaches and other problems with the differences in the prescriptions despite her assurances my eyes/brain would adjust quickly.
The only issue I’ve ever had is a headache for a couple of days when I switched from a normal desktop setup at work to a Varidesk that I can raise or lower based on my preference to stand or sit. The Varidesk moved my monitor farther back by a few inches and it took a couple of days to readjust. Otherwise, it works great for me and I can’t even recall which eye is for distance and which is for reading without testing it.
I wear gas permeable contacts (and have since junior high) and I don’t know my prescription off hand, but the giant E at the top of an eye chart is a gray box to my naked eyes, if that helps.
When my kids were babies, I used to fall asleep in my contacts often. I developed an allergy to them – GPC Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis – and although we tried drops and different lens the allergy could not be kept at bay.
I went back to glasses full-time for several years (6-8? years) and gave contacts a whirl again. No problems since. I wear Dailies, and need reading glasses (I’m in my mid-50s).
I did a trial of monovision contacts (one eye for reading, one eye for correcting near-sightedness) and it took about 4-5 days for my brain to adjust and “get it”. I used them for two weeks.
I liked the monovision contacts for everyday wear at work and around the house. The deal breaker for me was night driving. I felt my vision was significantly worse with only one eye able to focus on the night roads, and it made me very uncomfortable.
Thanks all, but the multi focal are like your tri focal glasses. Each contact has 3 different strengths within each contact. Unlike glasses, where the bifocal or tri focal is at the bottom for reading, the contacts are in a circle.
The middle is for distance, the next circle around that is intermediary, and the last Circle towards the edge is for reading. I think I will ask my doc about those.
I just had my eyes checked the other day. The optometrist told me that people pay 5k to correct their vision to be like mine. One for far, one for near. I’ve had glasses since age 10, and have worn them full time since my twenties (30+years). Tried contacts, but didn’t like getting them in an out of my eyes. I honestly don’t mind wearing glasses. Though I could go without them, I never do. I would not feel comfortable driving without them due to lack of depth perception.