Ot - Laser Eye Surgery

[dcfromva]

But would your vision have deteriorated like that if you had had laser surgery?

I haven't had it myself - just wondering!

VSL,
You know I have been wondering about this myself. I had my surgery done in Feb 2000. I have not had any deterioration from when I had the surgery done (except for the reading glasses which was expected due to getting older). Before I had the surgery, it seems like everytime I would go to the my eye Dr., he would give me a stronger prescription....

-DC

 

[VSL]

VSL,
You know I have been wondering about this myself. I had my surgery done in Feb 2000. I have not had any deterioration from when I had the surgery done (except for the reading glasses which was expected due to getting older). Before I had the surgery, it seems like everytime I would go to the my eye Dr., he would give me a stronger prescription....

-DC

I'm very suspicious of opticians (and dentists, for that matter!)... I wear contact lenses myself (laser eye surgery is way out of my price range for a few years yet!), and I honestly believe that my eyes got like this from holding books and bringing the computer screen to close to my face (ie, my eyes adjusted to deal only with things close to them). Surely then when you need glasses you keep doing this (not 'exercising' your eyes to see things further away).

I've often wondered about naturally improving your eye sight again.
I remember reading in one of those books that if you sprained your ankle and the doctor told you that you'd never walk again, you wouldn't just accept it. You want RICE it and do some gentle strengthening exercises to build up the muscles around it again. But we just accept it when an optician says that our eye sight is deteriorating, and that's that.

Hey, I'm no expert on the subject, but it does make me wonder..

 

[AMaloy314]

As far as eyes deteriorating after Lasik, I'm not sure of the answer. But, I can tell you that one of the things that would have ruled me out as a candidate for the surgery was my eyes not being stable. In fact, the first time I was scheduled for a consultation, I was told that I couldn't have the surgery because my baby had only been born 3 months previously and I was still nursing. Hormones can change your eyesight and they told me that I had to have stopped nursing for 6 months before I would eligible to try again. Since DS#2 was born 16 months after DS#1, it was a couple of years before I got back for the surgery. They again made sure that I had not been nursing in the previous 6 months, so I'm guessing that it is still standard procedure.

 

[Shelly]

Had to jump in here. I have PRK 11 years ago. Had 20/20 vision for 9 years. Then started noticing just a little decrease in vision I was a minus -1.00 in one eye and -1.5 in the other got an enhancment last year and have been fine ever since. So yes you may need an enhancement after many years that is why it is a good idea to get a doctor that gaurentees for life. If I had known then that I would need an enhancement after 10 years I still would have went for it, that's a pretty good deal to me. considering I was blind as a bat...
Also anyone with kids, my dd has eyes like mine terrible needed glasses in 3rd grade. I got her this wonderful thing called ortho-k(granted you need to find a good doctor to do this) they are hard contacts that she puts in when she goes to bed(overnight while she sleeps they flatten her cornea) in the morning she takes them out and can see 20/20 all day. It is the closest to lasik for kids that you can get. It is wonderful for kids in sports! It also keeps her prescription stable so she doesn't get such a strong precscription that she couldn't get lasik one day if she wanted. This is just the best thing we have ever done! All her friends have started with this also, no problems at all.
It is pricey, but so worth it.

 

[VSL]

Shelly - can you get those for adults?

 

[Shelly]

yes, as a matter of fact. I wore them myself for about a year until I could get my enhancement.
It is a little difficult to find a doctor that does it. Thru my experience I found quite a few doctors that said that ortho-k doesn't work. my dr. said that they
say that when they don't know how to do it, or won't take the time to do it.
It involves a map of the eye and then some trial and error by a good patient dr.
My daughter was lucky and it was perfect with the first pair of lenses. I needed three different pair but it worked. You get the lenses and then wear them overnight and then first thing in the morning with them still in you go to the dr. for him to look at them on your eye. If all is good you come back in an evening to make sure your vision is still 20/20, if it is they are fitting properly, if not then
you need to tweek the fit and get a different pair.
Once you have a pair that works for you, you would only come in once a year like you normally would.
These contacts are wonderful, My daughter is on the swim team and softball teams and we have no worries, she just wears them when she sleeps. And sees perfectly w/o contacts or glasses all day long. She even sees fine not wearing them one night on occassion. Although they don''t recommend that.
She has worn them for three years and her prescription has not worsened which is the big plus in all of this.

 

[Shelly]

Oh gee, you didn't need my long winded explanation. here is a link from my
dr office about this see for yourself.
http://www.3d-eye.com/3d-eye/clients/active/atwell/3deye.php?goto=CLCM

 

[VSL]

I'll definitely be looking into those! I'll have to find out if anywhere in the UK does it.

 

[Shelly]

The link I provided might tell you where to get this done I'm not sure.

 

[VSL]

Thanks! Much appreciated

 

[jjnv]

Had to jump in here. I have PRK 11 years ago. Had 20/20 vision for 9 years. Then started noticing just a little decrease in vision I was a minus -1.00 in one eye and -1.5 in the other got an enhancment last year and have been fine ever since. So yes you may need an enhancement after many years that is why it is a good idea to get a doctor that gaurentees for life. If I had known then that I would need an enhancement after 10 years I still would have went for it, that's a pretty good deal to me. considering I was blind as a bat...
Also anyone with kids, my dd has eyes like mine terrible needed glasses in 3rd grade. I got her this wonderful thing called ortho-k(granted you need to find a good doctor to do this) they are hard contacts that she puts in when she goes to bed(overnight while she sleeps they flatten her cornea) in the morning she takes them out and can see 20/20 all day. It is the closest to lasik for kids that you can get. It is wonderful for kids in sports! It also keeps her prescription stable so she doesn't get such a strong precscription that she couldn't get lasik one day if she wanted. This is just the best thing we have ever done! All her friends have started with this also, no problems at all.
It is pricey, but so worth it.

Hi Shelly,

I am very interested in finding out more about Ortho-K. I did a google search and find this web site http://www.ortho-k.net/. There is one doctor in my area. I just wonder if every doctor that performs the ortho-K is on that web site. The site mentioned the cost is $1500-$2500. Is that a one time cost?

I had lasik last December. I do not think my vision is perfect now. But it is good enough. I love the freedom. My 10 year old DS wears hard contact lens for a year now. It helped him a lot with sports and stablized his prescription. But he lost 3 lenses so far. Also he does not know what to do when his eyes start to hurt in school. I think I would much prefer to have him wear contacts at night if possible.

Thanks,

Jane

 

[dcfromva]

Thru my experience I found quite a few doctors that said that ortho-k doesn't work. my dr. said that they

This is really interesting. I went through Ortho-K about 25 years ago, but back then they didn't have contacts they wanted people wearing at night. As soon as you stop wearing the contacts, your eyes gradually go back to the previous uncorrected vision. I had to give up my hard lenses because when we moved into a new area I developed allergies and could only tolerate soft lenses. It sounds like they have perfected the technique over the years!

-DC

 

[Shelly]

I'm not sure about finding the doctor in your area, sounds like a good site.
I went thru the vision source website which also had the link I provided.
The cost that you saw can vary but yes it covers all the trial and error lenses it takes to get it just right and the follow up appointments. You do have to purchase new contacts each year. The cost will vary ours are $400. some doctors have service agreements so if you lose a lens or something you pay less. Some doctors give two sets of lenses. After you wear them for awhile though you start collecting backup lenses by getting your new lenses each year. Save the old ones in case one breaks or something. So after the first big fee it is just a yearly new lens expense, which it would be anyway if you wore lenses.

 

[jennifer293]

My mom had this done almost 2 years ago. She couldn't see a foot in front of her before the surgery and now she has perfect vision. I would recommend it!!! The only problem she did have was after the surgery they give you these sunglasses (hers looked kinda goofy) and they told her to wear them all the time. Well she and dad decided they were gonna go to Dollywood about a week after the surgery and she didn't want to wear the glasses in public, well she ended up getting a pretty nasty infection in her eye. Not sure if the sun caused it or dust particles or what but it looked like she had been hit in both of her eyes they were all swollen. Be careful on that note. I think hers was like 1800.00 per eye or something like that. Her insurance wouldn't cover it!!

 

[dennise]

Update

Had Surgery Done One Week Ago Today, Made Out Fine. Vision Is Quite Clear And Getting Better. Still Will Need To Use Reading Glasses, But That Was Expected.

 

[sankra]

I had lasik surgery last March on both eyes. I needed a slight enhancement done on my one eye and had it done in December. I am very pleased so far with the results. I was almost legally blind without any corrective lenses (20/800 in one eye and 20/700 in the other) and had worn contacts for over 20 years and glasses beginning when I was in grade school. It was a big expense. It was around $2,800. Then again, I don't do anything special for myself like manicures, spa stuff or the like, but glasses and contacts and their care were a big enough expense. I went through my opthomologist's office. Some laser centers offer financing plans. Mine I had to pay it all up front on a credit card. Use a card where you get money back or other incentives. I will need reading glasses at some point, but thus far I'm doing ok. Those you can pick up at the local drug store cheap. I would recommend to it anyone who has very poor vision. It has given me a better outlook about myself. It's a wonderful feeling to wake up in the morning and be able to see (and not have everything look like a big blur) and be able to really see your children without having to put on something to see their faces clearly. If you are a candidate, I would say go for it. Just be sure to go to someone who is reputable and that you know where some of your friends might have had it done. Good luck to you!

 

[bdb7607]

I've got mine scheduled for Friday

 

[goin2disneyagain]

I had Lasik in June 2002. It was the best thing I ever did. My vision is still perfect and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I did a lot of research before I did it. I made sure I found a good doctor. If I ever needed an enhancement I would be covered. Several people at work used the same doctor and he came highly recommended and he was great. He continued to check my eyes for 1 year after the surgery. One facility I had visited in my research sent you off to another doctor for post-surgery care, even for the post-op check up. I didn't like that. That was part of the reason I chose to keep looking and I am so glad I did because I found a great doctor.

 

[m&m's mom]

OK, it has now been a month and maybe I did not make a mistake after all.
I think I was just so scared the last few weeks. The Dr. just drilled it into my head that if I even so much as touched my face the 1st week I could end up blind. They even said to brush my teeth "gently". Don't even open your outside door w/out having your goggles on, Do not go near a fan of any kind for 3 months (try doing that in TX!) etc...
Well no dry eyes and no haziness and good vision so I guess it was worth it after all.