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I'm thinking about getting laser eye surgery of some sort before I graduate college (mostly so I can use my parents' insurance for it, since they've got military insurance which I hear covers eye surgery pretty well). I have pretty bad eyes, -5.75 and -6.00 with an astigmatism in at least one of my eyes. I really want to get PRK done since I don't want to get my eyes sliced open. I'm fine with most medical procedures as long as I can look away, but since this is happening to my eyeballs I don't really have a choice. With PRK all they do is force your eyelids open then laser your eyes, right? Or do they do the whole suctioning thing as well? I'm thinking maybe next winter break I'll see if I can get it done since I'll be home with nothing better to do than lay around with my eyes closed.
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Jun 23, 2010 05:00
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I just started a new job that has vision insurance as part of the benefits, and it offers a reduced price on LASIK as part of the plan. I called the nearest place that takes my vision plan for a price quote, and it'd be $3600 for both eyes and I have a $500 off coupon so I've been seriously looking into it. Lately just the act of taking out and putting in my contacts every day is getting really annoying and if I could eliminate that from my routine that'd be swell. Problem is, I just moved and have NO IDEA who's good and who's not. I guess the only way is to go around and visit offices. I'd been going to my old eye doctor for 15+ years so this is weird finding a new one. Would it be a good idea to have my old optometrist fax over my records for the LASIK surgeon to look at, or could they tell if I'm a good candidate just from a regular exam? Or should I hold off on going straight to a LASIK center and find a regular non-LASIK optometrist and see what they think for a more un-biased opinion? Might be a little  but I worry that asking a LASIK surgeon about whether or not I should even get the surgery will lead me to being pushed into getting the surgery because  for them if I do.Edit: There's a place that does eye surgery across the street from my apartment. If I got surgery there, would I be able to walk home or should I still have someone drive me? Problem! fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Jul 4, 2012 |
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Jul 4, 2012 23:47
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I just maxed out my FSA dollars for next year to put towards LASIK  The earliest I can get it done is in March, but I'm already counting down the days till I throw away my last pair of contacts ever. My eye doctor recommends I get Wavefront LASIK because apparently it has fewer of the side effects (bad night vision, light halos, etc). How many of you did it without drugs? Part of me feels like I can handle it without any sedatives, but part of me thinks I may freak out. I managed to survive 45 minutes in an MRI tube unsedated for what it's worth, but I'm also one of those people who can't handle watching medical procedures and when it's happening to my eyeballs I can't really not watch.
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Oct 17, 2013 04:25
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I'm currently wearing -7 contacts in both eyes but my left eye is closer to a -9  Just the idea of being able to wake up in the middle of the night and see what time it is is exciting to me so it's worth being uncomfortable for a few minutes. I just don't want to panic and end up not getting the surgery because of it 
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Oct 17, 2013 18:20
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I've already squirreled away $2500 FSA dollars for it so I only have to scrounge up $1500 out of pocket. I'm for sure going for it I'm just a little nervous about how I'm going to react to having my eyelids pried open and my eyeballs sliced open while being 100% conscious and aware.
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Oct 17, 2013 18:41
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I'm getting Wavefront LASIK on April 11th. My doctor is mailing me a packet of what to expect but it hasn't gotten here yet. Those of you who said you got it said it hurt afterwards, is that normal? How bad does it hurt, like need a vicodin prescription kind of hurt or just a "ow that's annoying better take a Tylenol" kind of hurt? I have a fairly high pain tolerance and I'm willing to put up with a day or two of being uncomfortable/in pain since my eyes suck (-7 in each eye) so it's worth it to be able to see like a normal person again. I'm getting the procedure done two hours from where I live, hopefully the pain isn't so bad I can't just pass out on the drive back. I've started the no contacts period since my pre-op appointment is in about two weeks and I am really failing to see how anyone in their right mind wears glasses when contacts are an option. I've never gone this long without wearing contacts since I started wearing them 10 years ago and jesus christ wearing glasses is annoying. Mostly because I can't wear my sunglasses now and hell if I'm going to pay for a pair of prescription sunglasses to wear for a month.
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Mar 11, 2014 23:35
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Ok, that's good to know. I can deal with that, I think the hardest part will be not touching my eyes afterwards. I may just wear the goggles on the way back sleeping or not. I will need the valiums though, reading up on the procedure I think I can handle all of it except the suctioning your eye into place that makes you lose vision part. I'm pretty sure I'd wig out about that part without happy pills. I haaaaate watching medical procedures but when it's being done to my eyeballs I really don't have a choice
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Mar 11, 2014 23:51
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On a scale of 1 to "I hate myself" how bad will it suck to walk around outside for a few hours the day after if it's sunny out? My work is having an open house thing that's like the one day every other year where outside people can come in and see what we do where I work and my parents really want to go, but it's the day after LASIK. I'll have sunglasses and there'll be indoor places to hang out if the sun is too bright. Also on the front of not getting extraneous crap around your face afterwards, should I deep clean my house beforehand and put my dogs elsewhere for a day or two so I minimize the amount of hair/dander floating around? Or is it only bad if I'm rubbing my face all over the dogs (I wasn't planning on doing that anyway...).
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Mar 12, 2014 02:32
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Had my pre-op appointment this morning, they did the whole thing where they paralyzed my pupils to do a super accurate reading and it turns out I'm -8.5 in both eyes. I'd been wearing -7 contacts and thought -7 was bad. I can't imagine what the world is going to look like when I have perfect vision because what I thought was 20/20 actually wasn't. They said that normally people with eyes as lovely as mine can't do regular LASIK and need to get PRK, but I have unusually super thick corneas so they can use the regular LASIK laser on mine Also my eye doctor said that I should just man up and do it sans sedative, saying that without the sedative I'll focus on the laser better and get better results. Is there any truth to that? Problem! fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Mar 31, 2014 |
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Mar 31, 2014 20:58
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I had -7/-8.5 contacts and I have weirdly thick corneas (to the point where everyone who looked at my measurements commented on it) and just had Wavefront LASIK a week ago. I had my week out followup appointment today and could read the 20/15 line on the chart. Totally worth it. At my appointment today my eye doctor said they usually draw the line between LASIK and PRK at -6, but if you've got thick enough corneas LASIK is perfectly fine. They're not going to do a procedure they're not confident will work. The procedure itself is really weird but it doesn't hurt and is only mildly uncomfortable if you're used to people poking around at your eyes, and they will likely offer you a Valium beforehand to take the edge off. They gave me a tiny dose and honestly I think it might've just been a placebo because I didn't feel loopy at all and I still made it through the procedure just fine. The only part that made me feel a little "AGH EW STOP IT" was when the surgeon flips the eye flap open, mostly because I could see him poking around in my eye. When they're doing one eye, they tape the other one shut (or at least that's how they did it where I got mine done) so for the part where you lose your vision it just feels like you've got your eyes closed. I thought that was going to be the part that freaked me out but it really wasn't bad at all.
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Apr 19, 2014 01:26
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Ingenium posted:I have decided to have LASIK, but now I am trying to decide with who. I had a consultation last friday with a doctor that had done the operation for a friend at work. They offer a 20/20 guarantee or your money back and 18 months of checkups for $4.5K, though they say they have never had to return money on the guarantee. This monday I have learned what my new health care provider is and they offer discounts on QualSight and TruVision, but not the doctor I consulted with. In both cases I wanted to put the LASIK cost in a FSA to not have to pay any taxes for it. This causes a issue though, as I need to declare the amount in my FSA this friday. Do I go with the doctor I have consulted with, or not do the FSA and see what the pricing and review of local QualSight and TruVision are? I am unsure how much I would effectively save through the FSA, looking at my paycheck it seems like it would be around $1k. I got LASIK and used FSA dollars to pay for most of it. I maxed out my FSA at $2500 and only had to pay $1100 out of pocket for my procedure. Since FSA is maxed out well below the cost of LASIK anywhere and you're planning on using it, might as well throw as much money as you can into it regardless of where you're getting it done and save yourself some cash.
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Jun 5, 2014 03:35
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Do you wear contacts? I discovered rubbing wasn't much of an issue for me (I was worried about it too) because I already had a habit of not directly rubbing my eyes because of worrying my contact would pop out. I was super sensitive to not touching my eyes at all post surgery, especially day of, that I'd catch myself before I touched my eyes. Now that I've hit the two month mark where they say it's ok to rub your eyes I still don't. If you're still worried about it you can always wear your super stylish googles till you're comfortable that you won't accidentally rub your eyes.
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Jun 17, 2014 05:31
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I looked like I'd gotten punched in the face for a day or two after surgery, and they definitely didn't tell me that would happen at any point before the surgery. I had a concerned lady in the mall pull me aside and ask if everything was ok and if I needed to talk to anyone.
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Jul 1, 2014 14:43
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I got a Valium. It was a really tiny dose and honestly I'm not sure it wasn't just a placebo because I didn't feel loopy at all.
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Jul 5, 2014 16:48
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Helmholz posted:I'm going in for LASIK in one hour. I'm very nearsighted and have been wearing glasses since I was five. Wish me luck, I'll post my experience/results tomorrow. I'd been in glasses since I was 7 and got LASIK at 24, it took a good solid month at least to break the habit of grabbing at my face to take off my glasses before bed and waking up in the middle of the night going "poo poo I forgot to take out my contacts!!" For those of you with chronic dry eye, Systane Gel Overnight Therapy is amazing. I put a glob or two in each eye before bed and my eyes are fine the whole next day despite staring at a computer screen all day.
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Jul 24, 2014 23:15
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Your regular eye doctor can make the call about whether or not you're a candidate for LASIK, just ask next time you go in for a regular exam and set up a time to get your corneas measured  I had my initial consultation in the fall last year but put off doing the actual surgery till this spring because I wanted to have a chance to sock away more flex dollars to pay for as much as I could tax free.
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Jul 26, 2014 21:59
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As long as you keep using your eye drops to prevent any itchiness you should be fine. My surgeon said the goggles were only really necessary for the first 24 hours or so. I only wore the goggles to bed the first night, they made it impossible to sleep and made my face sweat horribly. I never had any issues with rubbing my eyes in my sleep. The only rubbing issue I had was in the shower, I never realized how much I touched my face/eyes in the shower until I was consciously trying not to touch my eyes. However, I had years and years of conditioning not to rub my eyes directly for fear a contact would pop out, if you only ever wore glasses I'd be a little more proactive about keeping your hands out of your eyes.
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Aug 11, 2014 19:46
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I'm about 5 months out from LASIK and I only need drops once or twice a week at most. I started out needing drops several times a day, so it does get better
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Sep 18, 2014 17:28
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I felt a bit of panic when they cut the flap because OH GOD MY EYEBALL IS OPEN but then it was over real quick. It wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated because I didn't realize the surgeon was going to be right there actually doing the surgery, for some reason I'd assumed they'd stick my head in a device that would be remotely operated and I'd panic and screw it up. I purposely didn't watch any videos or do too much reading about the procedure itself beforehand so I wouldn't be able to visualize what exactly was happening to my eyeballs and that helped a lot I think. I had actually put it off for a few years because just reading how they do it made me feel ill, but I'm so glad I finally stopped being a wuss and did it.
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Sep 22, 2014 03:59
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Tequila Sunrise posted:Anyone had occurrences of long term red-eye after LASIK? I had some bad allergies a month or two post-op with red eyes and I asked my eye doctor about it and they gave me some prescription antihistamine eye drops, mostly to prevent me from rubbing my eyes. Worked pretty well.
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Sep 27, 2014 02:50
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The Locator posted:So if you suffer from astigmatism and are getting older so that your prescription needs a bit of adjustment every couple years, and you need progressive lenses (i.e. I need both short and far vision assistance) is there really any point to getting lasik? I would trust the opinion of a regular eye doctor over a LASIK doctor, since the LASIK one may not evaluate you without bias towards getting surgery. If you want a second opinion I'd get one from another regular eye doctor instead of the surgeon. That said, I had bifocals and an astigmatism in both eyes and still got LASIK successfully. They did tell me I would eventually need reading glasses, but I'd much rather need to have reading glasses than wear contacts/glasses 24/7.
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Nov 16, 2014 04:33
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Also I had an eye doctor tell me I couldn't get LASIK, but she was pretty old fashioned and I don't think had read up on the latest LASIK technologies. It did used to be true that LASIK didn't work very well with astigmatisms, but now with Wavefront and a few others it doesn't matter anymore. I'd given up on getting it done then I moved and started seeing a new eye doctor who was more up to date on that stuff and said there was no problem with me getting it so I did it and couldn't be happier. I was -7 in both eyes with an astigmatism in both, and luckily I have weirdly thick corneas so I could still get Wavefront LASIK instead of PRK.
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Nov 16, 2014 20:39
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Buggiezor posted:My mom had LASIK done 2 years ago now, and she is so so happy. She now only wears reading glasses. Like the kind you buy for $2 in a convenience store. Her vision (I think) is 20/20 and before she was severely nearsighted. I got mine done right before I turned 25. It really depends on your particular set of eyeballs, but most places recommend waiting until your prescription hasn't changed significantly for a year or two.
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Nov 18, 2014 19:28
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I found that I was so hyper conscious of not touching my eyes that it wasn't a problem. The only time it was an issue was first thing in the morning when I was still 75% asleep, and that's when they suggest you wear the goggles anyway. My surgeon said you only really NEED the goggles for the first 24 hours and you should be ok unless you're really going to town on your eyeballs.
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Jan 4, 2015 04:41
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Mine was holding steady for 2-3 years before I got LASIK. I had a rapid decline from 14 till about 20 then it tapered off to a gradual decline before it stopped at -7 when I was 22. I got LASIK when I was a month shy of 25. It's really up to your eye doctor to determine if it's stable enough to get it without needing a re-do later.
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Feb 18, 2015 05:03
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Ask your regular optometrist for a recommendation. Mine had a partnership with a surgeon so I could get all the pre- and post-op stuff done at the office near my house and I only had to travel to get the actual lasering done at a city two hours away (I lived in a small town in the middle of nowhere at the time). Don't be afraid to travel to get it done with a good surgeon if you don't already live in a big city, you'll either have to get someone to drive you or get a hotel nearby but it's your eyeballs and you've only got one set so it's worth it.
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Feb 24, 2015 23:54
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My vision gets a bit blurry if I'm tired or my eyes are dry, I did wake up in the middle of the night with blurry vision after I rubbed my eyes pretty hard and panicked for a few minutes that I'd dislodged a flap but then it went back to normal after a minute or two.
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Feb 25, 2015 01:17
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Deviant posted:He said, as if I had a regular optometrist. I get an exam at wherever's closest to whatever apartment I'm living in at the time, and I order my glasses off the internet. Where are you located? Maybe some goons could recommend where they got theirs done. legsarerequired posted:Deviant, I'm not a doctor, but I am so nearsighted that I cannot read a computer monitor set a foot away from my face. My LASIK operation is quoted at ~$3700. I paid $3600 for mine, and a good chunk of it was paid for with FSA dollars. I think mid 3000s is normal for LASIK, I would be wary of any doctors who are going lower than that and stay away from anyone charging much more. I got Wavefront with -7 prescription in both eyes going in fwiw.
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Feb 27, 2015 03:05
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Can you travel somewhere else for it? I got mine done in Dallas for $3600. Paying twice that is insane.
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Mar 29, 2015 00:16
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legsarerequired posted:I have LASIK on May 1 and I'm super terrified. I had my pre-op today and my vision prescription has changed slightly again but the doctor still cleared me for surgery. They'll give you a valium and you'll cease to give a poo poo. It'll be fine.
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Apr 15, 2015 03:20
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It's a 5 minute procedure for a lifetime of being able to see. You can keep your poo poo together and not panic for 5 minutes. The 5 minutes isn't a figure of speech for a short 20-30 minute procedure, it really is that short. They lay you on the table, zap one eye, switch to the other, zap, done. Your eyes will be irritated for exactly 2 hours then you're done forever. Some level of freaking out is totally normal (which is why they offer you a Valium first) because it's your eyeballs but it truly isn't bad at all. They'll also give you a stress ball to squeeze or a teddy bear to strangle during the procedure. You can look up literally any medical procedure and find horror stories. I'm not sure why you'd do that to yourself if you're already nervous.
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Apr 15, 2015 11:33
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legsarerequired posted:I guess I'm just thinking some more about the risks now that the procedure is coming up so close, haha. I'm not concerned about a laser shooting into my eye, it's more the possibility of having a flap on my face that can apparently dislodge if I do something horrendously clutzy and stupid like falling on my face off my bike. I actually had someone drop me on my face, then fall on top of me, when I was younger, and I'm still dealing with dental/sinus problems that came up as a result, so I guess I worry about things like that. Basically he was a mega-goon who insisted on picking me up even after I told him I didn't want him to, then he began running while he was holding me, he tripped on something, he dropped me, I remember landing and then lifting up my head, and then he fell on top of me and his weight smashed my face back into the concrete. Where in Texas? I got custom wavefront LASIK done in Dallas. I woke up about a month post-procedure rubbing the poo poo out of my eye but did not dislodge a flap. If any klutzy move would instantly dislodge flaps you'd hear a lot of people in real life talking about it and not just on some website on the internet. Usually it's just extreme sports and/or contact sports you have to worry about. If you don't engage in either of those you should be fine.
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Apr 15, 2015 17:02
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ProSlayer posted:Anyone have issues with dry eyes after LASIK? I have chronic dry eye now, my vision is totally fuzzy after a day of staring at a computer screen. My eye doctor told me to use Systane eye drops and they help if I remember to use them. I've been considering going back and getting a more hardcore eye drop like restasis.
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Apr 20, 2015 18:40
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I'm glad I'm not the only one whose vision went fuzzy the first winter after getting LASIK. I was starting to get concerned I needed a touchup but then the weather warmed up and got less dry and suddenly I'm back to 20/20.
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Jun 28, 2015 03:10
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It takes a while for your vision to stabilize. I've noticed my vision is more affected now by the weather than before-- if it's dry out my vision goes to poo poo unless I'm militant about the eye drops for example. If it's still weird in a month or two I'd ask your surgeon about it, but it'll probably sort itself out as your eyes heal.
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Jul 18, 2015 16:03
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I stare at a computer all day and I had Wavefront in -7 eyeballs. I got LASIK done on a Friday and I was totally fine to go back to work on Monday. I just made sure to take breaks from staring at the screen every so often and was religious about putting in my eye drops. The only time I had an issue with the computer was before the surgery when I went in for my measurement appointment where they paralyze your pupils and I couldn't focus on anything. I had the appointment in the morning and tried to go to work after but I just couldn't get anything done because I couldn't focus my eyeballs so I took the afternoon off.
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Jul 22, 2015 23:33
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Tautologicus posted:Here goes nothing..don't like the idea of having a laser mess with my eyes, but that this version seems like a matured technology is reassuring, and I hate wearing glasses for anything. It legitimately took a few years for me to get up the nerve to go get my eyeballs lasered. When I first looked into it I didn't realize how invasive it is-- I thought they just shined a laser in your eye and bam done. As soon as I started reading about how it's done and how they have to suction your eye in place and cut the flap and stuff I just went NOPE I'LL JUST STICK WITH GLASSES THANKS till a few of my friends had it done without issue and I could talk to them about it and decided to get it done. I don't regret it one bit.
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Jul 23, 2015 02:27
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That seems like a question for an optometrist or an ophthalmologist to answer after a thorough exam.
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Aug 6, 2015 04:17
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Culex posted:Sorry for the slightly off-topic question, but I'm curious about Dallas area ophthalmologists that aren't bad? I got mine done at The Cornea Associates of Texas in Dallas, they're not just a LASIK place, they do all kinds of eye surgery. I don't know how they are with other surgeries but I'd recommend them for LASIK at least.
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Aug 29, 2015 14:22
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 09:15 |
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diremonk posted:I've been thinking about getting my LASIK done for a couple of years now, but I think I finally might get it done early next year after I get my taxes back. I've heard if you get LASIK it makes it more difficult to get cataract surgery later in life, which is why my mom elected not to get LASIK since cataracts run in her family. You can still talk to your eye doctor and see what they think, but you might want to hold off and get the lenses implanted directly into your eye when they remove the cataract if you think that's inevitable.
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Sep 18, 2015 23:15
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