Anybody had Lasik ?

[fastfredracing]

Im thinking about it for reading distance vision . Needing readers is really cramping my style in the shop . I spend so much time fiddling around with glasses, cleaning lenses etc .
Cost ? I figured Id get a quicker answer here, than taking surveys online, then getting spammed about it for the next 6 months .
I just had a physical for a CDL, and was surprised to learn that I still have 20/ 20 vision , yet I can't read the numbers on an oil filter without my spectacles on .

[masraum]

I haven't but my wife did.

1 They essentially carve your lens for a specific task, which can then make it worse for a different task.
2 To compensate for ^#1^ they will often tune one eye for close up tasks, and tune the other eye for distance. Your brain learns to compensate. In my wife's case, she is very dominant in one eye, so she had both tuned for distance which actually reduced her near vision. She'd been able to read without readers before lasik, but then needed readers afterwards.
3 As with most of us, as we age, our vision deteriorates, so you can get lasik and be fine for a bit, and then your vision changes and you're back to needing readers (or whatever) again.

Our daughter got it (obviously much younger than us) and had good results.
If my wife knew how things would be afterward, I'm not sure that she'd have got it done.
It's also possible for there to be issues afterwards. I think some folks have issues, especially at night in night driving.

I think there have been a few threads here about it in the past with a fair amount of chatter. You'll probably get a bunch of answers on this thread.

[Rusty Heap]

30 years ago I did, corrected for a best fit.........sadly after 15-20 years I have since degraded where I have fine distance viewing, but read with 2.0 or 2.5 readers still.

I hear radio specials for $1000-1500 an eye.

kinda freaky, they gave me a valium to calm you down, then they cut open your eye lens, have you stare at a red led, DON"T MOVE, and zap zap zap the laser does its thing.

painless procedure, you're done in 15 minutes. I was mowing my lawn that afternoon.......

[Dan J]

Had it done 20 years ago I'd do it again in a heartbeat It's Fantastic
Just do it Freddie!
PS: You'll still need readers when you get old

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Dan J

Had it done 20 years ago I'd do it again in a heartbeat It's Fantastic
Just do it Freddie!
PS: You'll still need readers when you get old

I think ^this^ is most folks experience, but it's not 100%.

[craigster59]

I had it done years ago. I had just started wearing glasses in my early 30’s and hated them. My eyes weren’t too bad and I hadn’t wore readers yet.

Worked great but I definitely have more of a need for sunglasses since then. Now I wear readers but +1.25 so not too bad. Couldn’t go swimming for a couple weeks after LASIK due to possible infection. Glad I did it.

[Scott Watkins]

Best money I've ever spent, almost 24 years ago!

[Dixie]

33 years ago It changed my life. I had an uncorrected dioptric of -11. I think that's around 20/1500. Everything looked like this.
Stupid thick glasses kept me from getting asked out until I got contacts at twenty. It's also why I still feel like I'm a three.

[rattlsnak]

I had it done @ 20 years ago. It will NOT correct you needing readers.. If I recall, it was @$3,000 for lifetime. There were @ 3-4 different price packages based on your eye sight. What I have found that helps me now is when I know i'll be doing something where I'm going to need readers.. I have a pair or clear lens glasses that have the reader bi focal on the bottom so you dont have to take them off when you transition to do other things.

[jyl]

Have not had Lasik, have looked into it many times.

As I understand it:

- Surgery can change the natural focus point of your eyes, but cannot restore their ability to change focus from far to near.
- If you have 20/20 now, then your natural focus is fine and surgery will not help you with your near vision . . . unless you alter one eye to focus up close but lose the ability to see clearly at distance with that eye. I would not sacrifice your 20/20 vision, and would urge you to consult more than one reputable opthamologist before getting sold by some Lasik mill.
- In your biz, seems you sometimes should be wearing safety glasses anyway, and some readers can do double duty.
- You can get contact lenses to change the focus of one eye to near, while leaving the other unaffected. I would try that out before getting one eye altered. I have “distance” and “near” contacts for R and L eyes.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I had it in the 90's. Worked to correct my distance vision for roughly 10 years or so, then I started needing glasses again. They would do a correction for free but I was always told I'd eventually need readers, which I do. I didn't think Lasik was designed to correct close up vision. Now I wear progressives which work fine. The correction surgery isn't Lasik. They can't lift the flap again. I elected to just wear the glasses in the end.

[flipper35]

You can get bifocal contacts.

I am corrected to 20/10 with contacts and don't mind readers so I don't think I would ever consider Lasik as they won't guarantee 20/10 and I if I am doing long term close up work I won't be able to take my contacts out for great close up vision and so will always require readers.

[syncroid]

I have considered getting my eyes fixed but have not done so yet. I do wear multifocal contact lenses. They help, but I still wear readers for close up work.
I have other issues with my eyes that will need to be addressed at some point. I will probably have them fix everything at the same time. Torn retina in the left eye and cataract in the right. Getting old sucks man!

[David Inc.]

I had it done seven years ago. In daylight it's great and both of my eyes are right about 20/20, but at night my right eye has streaks and halos to the point where, if both of my eyes were like that, I wouldn't be able to drive at night. My brain compensates pretty well with my good left eye, but it's pretty wild.

As others mentioned, reading distance fades because your eye stiffens up and can't change shape for near focus (as it was explained to me), so Lasik will either make near sight work or far sight. I'm 39 and I'm starting to notice my near vision starting to get fuzzy.

[matthewb0051]

Had only my right eye done in 2001. I need readers now but still great at distance. Best thing ever.

I've known a fair number of folks that got PRK. Similar results but they paid a hefty price with pain following the procedure. They described it like having sand in their eyes. Also the recovery was much longer than Lasik, like a week or two. Whereas Lasik is essentially same day recovery.

Had a woman that worked for me in Hawaii, her cornea was too thin for PRK and the prescription was too bad for Lasik. She chose corneal implants. Said it worked great but I'm not too keen on basically having a contact lenses imbedded in my eyeball.