Considering LASIK

Disclaimer***This has nothing to do with expat concerns, I just feel like whinging. 

I have been wearing glasses most of my adult life. I've toyed with contacts, but am too lazy to mess with them on a regular basis. I have never actually *minded* my glasses so much until recently, and now I am considering having LASIK done.

One of the things that kept me from considering it before was my job. I use a microscope to look at cells, and I was afraid that if something went wrong or I had a longer healing time or whatever, that I would be penalized at work for not doing my maximum load everyday. Here the work environment is completely different, and I know that they would be able to find something else for me to do in the unlikely event that I had any short term problems.

Anyone done this or know someone who has? Horror stories? Success stories? Would YOU do it?

First, I have to say I love your glasses.

Second, I've never had the surgery.

However, I come from a family with a bad history for eye diseases. My grandmother was legally blind, my grandfather had glaucoma, and my father had cataracts on both his eyes. Even our dog was blind. I've also had a good 20 friends and coworkers who have had the surgery. Not one of them had any problems. One was even a bridesmaid the day after her surgery. The only "problem" I have seen was with my dad. His surgery was successful but he still needs to wear reading glasses. But, he was told beforehand he wouldn't have perfect vision and his was more than just vision correction.

If I ever have a need for it, I would probably do it but I would make sure I did a little research on the surgeon beforehand. Good luck with your decision!

I would seriously consider this except that my eyes are so bad that it is not recommended for me.  Like really bad.  I have a friend who had it done in the US and she has had some problems...she also had pretty bad eyes, not quite as bad as mine.  She was thrilled when she first had it done - she and I were like the first kids to get contacts when we were little, and she was just so sick of it all that she got the surgery done.  But now I think she said it's wearing off or her eyes are getting worse...I will talk to her and see what the story is.   

I've known several people who have had it done and they all swear it's the best thing ever.  From what I understand, if you don't need anything more than the basic procedure you can be back to your normal life in about 12-18 hours.  One of my coworkers had it done in the afternoon and was back at work the next day.

I honestly don't know if I'd do it or not.  At my last appointment, my optometrist told me that I'd soon be wearing my glasses all the time, so I've really been thinking about it.  I like my fun frames, but if (and when) I have to wear them 24/7 I may think differently.  Assuming, of course, I can get past my insane fear of things touching my eyeballs.  Eep!

Until then... <--- me, happy in my glasses

My sister had it done and after wearing glasses/contacts for the vast majority of her life she's free of them....and says that it's been the BEST thing she has EVER done for herself and she highly recommends it.  She was scared to death at first but hasn't had any problems whatsoever and loves the fact that she doesn't need to fumble around first thing in the morning to see.   

I can count at least 7 of my friends who have had it done.  Two of them most recent and they both are soo happy.  I wear glasses and contacts and id LOVE to get Lasik, but will wait another 2ish years before doing it (mostly cost and I want it done in SF) 

I'm sick of wearing contacts and glasses and cant wait to wake up in the morning and be able to see without reaching for glasses!!!

Call me paranoid or a luddite, but I'm not going to get surgery that nobody knows the long-term effects of. There's no knowing how people who've had the surgery will fare 30-40 years after their surgery and my vision is something I can't bring myself to gamble with.

Scar tissue changes over the years, so there is a possibility that the scars could start thickening or disintegrating (or something), and in the worst case that could result in loss of vision.

I'll just stick to my glasses for now.

Luddite!  Actually I kind of feel the same.

I had a close friend have this done and yes it's nice not to have to wear contacts and glasses, but he still has to wear glasses when his eyes get very tired.

He also has the side efffect of being very sensitive to light and night time driving is a bit of a problem. 

Overall though he is happy as larry. 

I just will hang out with my glasses and contacts until more research comes in.

I know someone who had it done, and she still needs to wear glasses. They said they wouldn't be able to operate a second time because something is too thin (I can't remember the technicalities of it), so although her vision improved somewhat, she still needs her glasses, and has diminished night vision and sensitivity to light, which she hadn't had before.
Sounds like a raw deal to me.

I just will hang out with my glasses and contacts until more research comes in.

I feel the same.  I am just too worried about something bad happening and I have dealt with glasses/contacts for so long that it's really not that much of a hassle any more.  Yes I would LOVE to wake up and be able to see!  My eyes are so bad that I can't even see the biggest E on the eye charts.  But if something were to go wrong...not worth it.

I got LASIK last December, so I am at just over 10 months right now.  It is one of the best things I have ever done.

I didn't go in blindly (no pun intended), I looked at the horror stories and the bad experiences and knew very well what could go wrong and how wrong it could go.  The biggest factor seemed to be experience.  I found a doctor that has performed over 6,500 procedures.  By the time you reach that point you pretty much have seen everything.

I also had the right eyes for it.  You want eyes that don't over dialate as well as you don't have too much of a correction factor that might thin the cornea too much.  I was right in the middle of everything, which made me feel personally comfortable.

To some of the other comments we are approaching 25 years of Laser eye surgery.  I don't really think long term effects are "unknown" in the sense that suddenly after 20 years of having the surgery your eyes pop out.  The biggest issue that has been noted is that the eyes age normally which causes you to eventually need reading glasses.  Other long term things that done seem to go away is a reduction in night vision and a certain degree of starring and glare at night.

I had starring and glare at night, but it improved until about the 3 month mark and then leveled off.  Now only one I am seriously tired does it effect my vision to the point where I even notice it.  I ran into similiar issues when I wore contacts.

Another common issue is dry eyes.  I probablly have slightly more dry eyes then before, but my doctor got me on a regiment of restatis right after the surgery which help conteract the effect.  Right now I don't take any drops, but do carry around a bottle of artificial tears in my attache just in case but haven't used them in 3 months or so.

My advice is that it isn't for everyone, but investigate it and see if you are a good candidate, because it was the best thing I ever did for myself!

You want eyes that don't over dialate as well as you don't have too much of a correction factor that might thin the cornea too much. 

This is my problem and I think was part of my friend's problem - too much of a correction factor.

I would hate to lose my vision and I still consider it to not be around long enough to do it myself. DH use to work on cars of a Lasik doctor and offered to do us for almost free and we both choose not to. Even though he was the doctor to a few of the Green Bay Packers football players we chooose there was still to much risk. I worried I would never see my kids get older and if it went bad there was no going back. I worry to much and would hate to be blind.

I spoke to my eye doc about it and he said that most of the eye doctors dont have the proper equipment to run tests on people who have had lasik done - tests meaning to check for glaucoma...they are just now realizing that you need special machines to check peoples eyes who have had lasik

also that the scar tissue mite be a problem later on when you need cataract surgery

im still debating on whether to have it or not....

Wow! Great replies!

Thanks for all the perspectives, even the luddite ones!

I already have slightly bad night vision so I wonder if it would get worse or stay the same. Dry eyes I could prob deal with. As to possibly losing my vision someday, I can't worry about that really. I'm prob more likely to get killed driving in London.  I'm also one of those given the choice between losing my sight or my hearing, I'd choose sight.

So much to consider.....