OT: Laser Eye Surgery???

Has anyone here had this done? Can you tell me about it?

I'm sick of my glasses and am considering this but I don't know too much about it nor do I know anyone who's had it done.
I have been doing research online but that's really just confusing the snot out of me, lol ....so can anyone help shed some light on this for me??

Thank You!!!!!

Holly

Just keep in mind that all you are doing is "resetting" your eyes. You will slowly go back to needing glasses again as nature continues taking the same course that it was before. Oh yes, it tends to mess up your night vision while driving. Star effects and such from bright light sources at night.

Talk to your Opthamologist about some of the newer technologies that are becoming available now. There are a couple which are reversible. This means you can have it done and not need glasses, and then when your eyes start to get bad again, you can remove the device and get a new prescription. The two that I know of are corneal ring implants and permanent contacts.

I've been waiting for those two technologies to become commericial and the price to drop a bit before doing one of them.

i haven't had it done but will be within the next year!

i have colleagues who have had it done, and they all suggest going to laser surgeons who use the latest technologies, even though the older technologies are much less expensive ($1800 for both eyes, old technology, vs $3800 for the latest technology). the state of the art laser methods remove much less of your cornea than the older technologies of just a few years ago, allowing you to have "adjustment" surgeries up to 3 times in the future if your vsion fluctuates over time. also, the new technology minimizes the nighttime vision artifacts that people complain about after laser surgery. that said, my older sis had the surgery about 4 years ago with the older technology (new back then!) and she claims it was the single best thing she ever did for herself (she had a diopter of -8, so she always struggled with really thick glasses). 4 years later and she's still 20/20.

Thanks you two!


Holly

My husband had his done about 8 years ago (his friend happens to be the leading research eye dr. in the mid-west) so he had it done when it was first out. He had about two days of itchy eyes and has had 20/15 vision ever since. He now needs reading glasses at night (but he's also almost 45) but hasn't had any decline in his distance vision. His friend (the dr.) has offered to "touch up" his eye that has the 20 vision to make both eyes 15/15 but we've never really had the time to go back and do that -- and frankly my husband doesn't need 15/15 vision and the disparity doesn't bother him.
With all that said, talk with your local dr. for more info as to what surgery is right for you. As a previous poster had mentioned the newer lasers are even more accurate and being someone who is in a health related field --- often you get what you pay for -- so don't base your decision on cost alone.
Also, if cost is an issue, look into carecredit they offer a line of credit for medical/dental proceedures and may offer it for eye surgery as well (if you can use it for plastic surgery I would hope they would extend it for eye surgery) Just my two cents worth.....

My SIL had it done last month. As far as I can tell she doesn't regret it at all. lol

My sister (Holly, btw) had it done on her 20th birthday. Her eyes have always been pretty bad and she has wanted it since she was 18. She was back to college classes the next day and loves it. She can get hers corrected for free if they ever get worse again (they suggested that for her because she is SO young) but they said that that would be many years away.

I have thought about it for if my eyes ever get worse since I can't wear contacts, but I would probably wait till I'm done having kids. Right now my eyes aren't bad at all and I only wear glasses to drive at night because I hate them and I passed the test without them at all.

Good idea to wait until you're done having kids. I don't know how true this is, but a friend told me that the docs recommend waiting because pregnancy can distort your vision.