Shoutbox

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Originally posted by Adeptus
You asked for opinions.  I am not interested in the surgery at all, because contact lenses work very well for me.  Acuvue now has two-week disposables that are approved for and safe to wear overnight.  I don't bother with taking them out for shower either (in theory you are supposed to) and have had zero problems in 5 years.  If you are now stuck with glasses, I would highly recommend trying contacts before you even think about surgery.

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Same, although I prefer those you use for the whole day and take out before getting into water or going to sleep. Each of them last about 4 months, or even a whole semester if you're careful with it =P

What's your eyesight loss degree btw, if you don't bother to say it.

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Originally posted by Chancer
So you might need sun glasses

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lol, that kinda defeats the purpose

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Originally posted by Adeptus

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What are its bad effects? Can it lead to blindness by any chance?

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The only way it can lead to blindness is if the procedure is screwed up very badly and even then you would only lose one eye.  It is always done one eye at a time and you have to have correctable vision in both to be eligible.

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It depends on the surgeon of course, doesnt it?

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Originally posted by Adeptus
The perfect outcome won't have any downsides.  With less than perfect outcome it could correct your near-sightedness, but introduce halos, glare and similar issues.  Some people lose the correction after several years (as methos mentioned) and either end up with glasses again or need to have it re-done.

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That is what I dont like about it, it's like a cycle. And, two years is not that long (referring to menthos' post).

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Originally posted by Adeptus
You asked for opinions.  I am not interested in the surgery at all, because contact lenses work very well for me.  Acuvue now has two-week disposables that are approved for and safe to wear overnight.  I don't bother with taking them out for shower either (in theory you are supposed to) and have had zero problems in 5 years.  If you are now stuck with glasses, I would highly recommend trying contacts before you even think about surgery.

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Yes, wearing contacts is a sensible solution indeed. I know alot of people who do wear contacts and are very relieved about it. Problem is, I am always wearing glasses and still my eyesight is getting worse as time passes.

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Originally posted by djdannyp
At the end of the day it's a personal choice.  It's not something I need to consider, but my boss had it a few years ago and absolutely raves about it, said she's so glad she did it.

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That is what exactly confuses me, some people are very happy about it and others highly discourage it.

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Originally posted by djdannyp
But for every success story you'll read there'll be ones where it didn't work out.  Maybe try to find out the success rates of the particular surgeon who'd be doing the operation?  But even then there's no guarantees

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Good point for sure. But, at the end no guarantees as you have mentioned.

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Originally posted by Chancer
Basically, they cut a slice of your cornea, burn a precise area and then "glue" the cornea back. They won't sew anything.
After the surgery, you'll have to be careful, don't touch the eye, keep it clean, etc. After a few days it'll be OK.

If it's done correctly, and you have no complications, you'll have a perfect sight for long years.

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If it's for long years then it is worthy in my opinion.

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Originally posted by Chancer
One of the major side-effects is that your eye might be very sensitive to light. So you might need sun glasses almost every time you go outside, or driving, etc. It's "mandatory" right after the procedure, but some people still need them after a long time, some just get used to them...

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That's not good, from normal glasses to sun glasses. See what I mean by a cycle now.

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Originally posted by ShawnZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXw4qqQqTrY

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Unfortunately, "This video is not available in your country."

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Originally posted by Chrono

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Originally posted by Chancer
So you might need sun glasses

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lol, that kinda defeats the purpose

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agreed.


Last but not least, thank you all for your information and opinions.

I'm definitely getting one. I don't have that much though (1.5 and 1.75), and the effects of the surgery are said to be permanent. You've to realize there's different doctors. I don't see how a person could possibly have worse vision after the surgery than before... could be personal reaction, or a bad doctor.

It is recommended you get the surgery at age 24 though since that's when the eye stops changing.. you can get the surgery starting at 18, but my optometrist said it'll be better if I wait till 24, which is why I haven't had it done yet.

I don't like my contacts much, so I can't wait


(Oh and, personally, my uncle had the surgery a long time ago and his vision is still perfect.)

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Originally posted by blessedguy
What's your eyesight loss degree btw, if you don't bother to say it.

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-1.25 on both eyes with 0.75 astigmatism in the left eye only.  That doesn't warrant special contact lenses so I just get half of of it (rounded up) on the sphere, resulting in -1.25, -1.75 prescription.

For those who are not familiar with what the numbers mean, this is minor.  Indoors, where few things are further away than 5-10 meters, I can easily forget whether I am wearing the contacts or glasses or not.  I can drive fine without any correction in daylight, although it becomes a little more challenging in the dark.

Apparently, I was given a -0.75, -1.0 prescription for glasses when I was 6 years old, but my parents decided it wasn't necessary back then.  They thought it would turn into a social issue, I could see well enough, and I didn't know anything different.  I finally got some at 15, when it was starting to be more of a problem and I had more say in the matter.

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Originally posted by Moh
Yes, wearing contacts is a sensible solution indeed. I know alot of people who do wear contacts and are very relieved about it. Problem is, I am always wearing glasses and still my eyesight is getting worse as time passes.

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If your prescription is already bad enough (what we here call "coke bottles") that it can't be corrected with the convenient, disposable kind of contacts and you need custom-made hard gas-permeable type, the cost and the hassle of handling them correctly might be a problem.  However, that would also make you a poor candidate for LASIC.

If you can use generic disposables and the only issue is that your prescription changes fairly quickly, that's less of a problem with contacts than it is with glasses.  You go through them anyway.  Once a year or so you might get a new prescription and you will just restock with that.

Something else that hasn't been mentioned in this thread so far is orthokeratology -- special contact lenses that you wear only while sleeping, which have a lasting effect of reshaping the cornea.  You'd put them in before going to bed and I assume they probably make your vision (while wearing them) worse than it already is.  However, the reshaping effect should last for the day after, and over time, the strength you need actually goes down, not up.  This is actually a good non-surgical alternative to LASIC for some people.

Anyway, just get what you need. About 20% of the population require some sort of vision correction, so this is not anything to feel bad or handicapped about. Contrary to the beliefs of my moron parents, I've never seen a boy with glasses who didn't look fine with them -- if that is the only option for you, don't worry about it, just pick some good frames.

I don't see whats so bad with glasses / contacts, its a part of life? Why does everything always have to be corrected by surgery, i know i definately never plan to have the surgery unless i become very tired of glasses in the future and it would vastly improve my eye site. As long as i can still see without my glasses as well i probably don't see the point in getting it. But as someone said, its all personal choice.

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Originally posted by Rolando
I'm definitely getting one. I don't have that much though (1.5 and 1.75), and the effects of the surgery are said to be permanent. You've to realize there's different doctors. I don't see how a person could possibly have worse vision after the surgery than before... could be personal reaction, or a bad doctor.

It is recommended you get the surgery at age 24 though since that's when the eye stops changing.. you can get the surgery starting at 18, but my optometrist said it'll be better if I wait till 24, which is why I haven't had it done yet.

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Ahhh, still about five more years for you, good luck . I know about the 18 part but never knew about the 24 part. So, do the results mainly depend on the doctor?

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Originally posted by Adeptus

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Originally posted by Moh
Yes, wearing contacts is a sensible solution indeed. I know alot of people who do wear contacts and are very relieved about it. Problem is, I am always wearing glasses and still my eyesight is getting worse as time passes.

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If your prescription is already bad enough (what we here call "coke bottles") that it can't be corrected with the convenient, disposable kind of contacts and you need custom-made hard gas-permeable type, the cost and the hassle of handling them correctly might be a problem.  However, that would also make you a poor candidate for LASIC.

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No, it's not that bad. But, I dont want it to get worse than it is now.

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Originally posted by Adeptus
Something else that hasn't been mentioned in this thread so far is orthokeratology -- special contact lenses that you wear only while sleeping, which have a lasting effect of reshaping the cornea.  You'd put them in before going to bed and I assume they probably make your vision (while wearing them) worse than it already is.  However, the reshaping effect should last for the day after, and over time, the strength you need actually goes down, not up.  This is actually a good non-surgical alternative to LASIC for some people.

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Never really heard of it, so I dont know anything about it.

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Originally posted by Adeptus
Anyway, just get what you need. About 20% of the population require some sort of vision correction, so this is not anything to feel bad or handicapped about. Contrary to the beliefs of my moron parents, I've never seen a boy with glasses who didn't look fine with them -- if that is the only option for you, don't worry about it, just pick some good frames.

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I totally agree with you there.

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Originally posted by Eddie
I don't see whats so bad with glasses / contacts, its a part of life? Why does everything always have to be corrected by surgery, i know i definately never plan to have the surgery unless i become very tired of glasses in the future and it would vastly improve my eye site. As long as i can still see without my glasses as well i probably don't see the point in getting it. But as someone said, its all personal choice.

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I dont have anything against glasses or contacts but as I have mentioned before, the part that I hate is that I barely take off my glasses and my eyesight still gets worse after a year or so but it does get worse. And, I think it would be the same using lenses. That's all.

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Originally posted by Moh
the part that I hate is that I barely take off my glasses and my eyesight still gets worse after a year or so but it does get worse. And, I think it would be the same using lenses. That's all.

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I don't think that LASIC eye surgery would fix this problem. It merely attempts to give you a clean slate to start from, it does not prevent further loss of eyesight.

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Originally posted by Volv

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Originally posted by Moh
the part that I hate is that I barely take off my glasses and my eyesight still gets worse after a year or so but it does get worse. And, I think it would be the same using lenses. That's all.

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I don't think that LASIC eye surgery would fix this problem. It merely attempts to give you a clean slate to start from, it does not prevent further loss of eyesight.

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That is the reason I was asking about its advantages, I've read somewhere that it leads to perfection and STABILITY of vision. I actually kind of doubt the stability part. Thanks Volv.

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Originally posted by Moh
I dont have anything against glasses or contacts but as I have mentioned before, the part that I hate is that I barely take off my glasses and my eyesight still gets worse after a year or so but it does get worse. And, I think it would be the same using lenses. That's all.

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Wearing glasses does not mean that the vision does not get worse.

Eye contacts are a good solution if you need my opinion.