Health & Family Laser Eye surgery

I am short sighted and have been wearing glasses most of my life.

The other week, my glasses broke, so I left them with a repairer for a couple of hours, and went glasses free. I am not greatly short sighted, so can get around ok. During that time, I rather enjoyed not having heavy glasses stuck on my nose.

So, it got me thinking about whether I should have laser eye surgery and get rid of my glasses completely. It costs between $2-$2.5k per eye based on some quick research.

Have not chosen a doctor yet, but was thinking Medonick Laser Clinic in Richmond.

Have worn contact lenses in the past, which are good for particular occasions, but I find your eyes just get tired, particularly if you are wearing them for 8 hours, 7 days a week.

Has anyone on PC had it done? What was the experience like? Do you now have perfect vision? Do you enjoy things like surfing and swimming more (where you tend to not wear glasses) as you can see more clearly?

Most interested in getting feedback.

 

I had LASIK done about 2 years ago. I only had a mild prescription and spent most of the time glasses free but did have to wear glasses for driving and to play sports like golf. The surgery didn't quite take me to perfect vision, I still have a slight prescription in one eye, something like 0.25 but no prescription for the other one. So really nothing an optometrist would recommend you get glasses for. I was pretty happy with the results, mostly for all the golf (and other sports) I like to play.

There are different methods available. I got recommended a doc in Sydney and ended up going with them. There's a big thread on whirlpool about this and alot of people there went to a guy that uses PRK rather than lasik. I know guys that have gone to him as well and have also had good results.

Costs wise it can vary a bit. Mostly I'd recommend going to someone with a good record and recommendations over the cost side, particularly as they are your eyes. If you need any further info let me know, I did do a heap of research when I was trying to decide... Even started looking into the different machines they used!

 

I was short sighted (-5) with a very bad astigmatism.
Mrs blacky was nearly blind (-7.5) with an astigmatism.

We both got ours done at about $3k/eye.

If it was double that cost it would still be worth it in my opinion.

Having worn glasses since I can remember and now having better than 20/20 vision is a blessing.
Being able to buy sunglasses which are practical and comfortable. At 10% of what I used to pay... is just bliss.

I have always swam and dived, so didn’t notice that much improvement in lifestyle per se. However I have noticed I’m slightly more ‘scared’ when diving deep clear water. However that may be more of an age issue than being able too see just how deep and empty it is.
My water skiing got worse, however, hopefully I won’t hit any more sailing boats (mis judged that one by ‘this’ much).

The only ‘not perfect’ outcome is that I had a slight ‘halo’ effect at night. Which isnt uncommon. It improved in the months following and I do t notice it at all now (but maybe I just got used to it).

Amazingly it is basically pain free operation. There is some discomfort in the days following (feels like you’ve been swimming in a chlorine pool for too long). But within 24hours you are pretty well back to yourself (minus the glasses!).

If you have the $ available... just do it!
You won’t regret it.

Blacky

 

I had it done nearly 20years ago now, I was short sighted and had astigmatism and both were resolved. I also had the ‘halo’ effect at night for about 6months after but it went away. Best money I have ever spent.

 

Thanks for the response. My eyes are 4.00 and 4.25 so it would be great to get to 0.25. I am reading up on PRK and LASIK. I don’t one can say one particular approach is necessarily better than the other. Seems PRK was the earlier version of laser surgery, and most is now LASIK (based on my limited reading). I assume you felt no pain or discomfort during the procedure?

 

Great to hear. If I can ask, how short sighted were you? I am 4.00 and 4.25. I assume you no longer wear glasses for anything.

 

I was -2.25 and -2.75 + the astigmatism which was the -2.75 eye. My stepmother also had it done about 6 months after I did and she was VERY short sighted. I can’t remember how bad exactly but her glasses had really thick lenses that distorted her eyes and she couldn’t see to find her glasses if she didn’t have them on. They didn’t think they would be able to totally fix her eyes but they thought she would be able to get a much better prescription. They did fix them though, she only recently started to wear glasses again for reading (she is now mildly long sighted).

I don’t wear glasses at all and still have perfect vision. I also had LASIK (so did my stepmom). I did both eyes at once and after watching the video the procedure was a real let down. No big deal at all and I am a wimp. Took about 10mins an eye. Afterwards it felt like I had a hair in my eyes for about the first day and then it was a bit gritty for another day but eye drops totally helped. It took about a week for my brain to realise I could see, things went in and out of focus a bit when I looked at something distant.

 

I flew over to Bangkok and had mine done there about eight years.
One of the best decisions that I've ever made!
Was about half the price for the same thing here and that included flights and accommodation.

 

Not really, just a bit of discomfort but as other mentioned it wasn't much at all.

PRK is a bit more painful from what I had been told and had read. Lasik is a lot less pain... pros and cons for both techniques though. They use the same machines though...

 

That's what I had done. The procedure isn't painful, but the recovery is, especially if you get dry eye, which I did. Takes about four days to get a bit better.
After that, halos stuck around for a while.
PRK, in my opinion gives you the best long term solution.

 

I’ve also had mine done, around 12 months ago in perth! My eye site was rather bad -5.0 and -4.75 in each eye & worn glasses my whole life & had manual handling jobs working out doors (mining)

The procedure you need need to have some trust in the surgeon and technology as the procedure is terrifying, but once done you’ll never look back! It’s one of those things I wish I had done years ago, even more so than buying an IP

 

I'm guessing you went to Sebben for yours? He was my other option I tossed around for awhile.

All the literature I read with follow up data concluded that both were equal in terms of success. Just slightly different techniques with different pros and cons in regards to procedure and recovery.

 

TRSC.
I played rugby at the time and LASIK/LASEK apparently had a risk of dislodging the flap during high impacts, which isn't the case with PRK, as there is no flap.

 

Have you tried hard contact lens ?
You can wear them for a longer period than soft lens

 

Tried all sorts of contact lenses. They were ok but found my eyes got tired, especially if I used them for long periods. I likened them to condoms stuck in your eyes. And like condoms, they do their job, but it is not quite the same.

 

Had mine done back in '95 with similar issues as Kassy. Best money I have ever spent.

My decision moment was going white water rafting wearing glasses and missing out on the experience as couldn't see a damn thing due to my glasses being totally obscured from the water spray.

They changed the focal lenght of each eye to a different setting. One eye is for long range and one eye is set to short range. Brain just adjusted. The big difference was that I lost the ability to see things up really close as I could with glasses previously.

 

Hi all,
I was wondering, for anybody who has had laser vision correction done. As you get older, your ability to naturally focus on objects that are at different distances gets worse. E.g. your ability to focus far might be ok but then you can't see things up close so well.
Is setting one eye to short range and the other to long range the best way to go, or are there other recommendations?

 

When I had it done about 15 years ago they briefly mentioned that option. I thought it was more as the eye ages the eye that is over corrected will become perfect? At the time I didn't pay as much attention or do as much research as I would today, so can't say too much other than they said they could always do it again in 10 to 20 years if needed.

 

I’m 9 / 8.5 so without glasses or contacts legally blind without correction

65 years old

I wear daily contacts and once they’re in I don’t know they’re in . I’m so used to wearing something that I rarely think about it.

Most people don’t tolerate hard lense but sometimes people with an astigmatism need them .

I keep a close eye on what’s happening and wouldn’t go on reco’s from the internet . The comment about machines IS relevant . A few years ago one high profile
had invested in new technology which became somewhat outdated but because of the cost kept on using saying it was “ tried and proven “ . Not sure what he’s doing now.


The other option is having intra-occular lense implants IOLI . Basically taking out the lense inside your eye out and put a new one in .

It’s more major surgery because the go inside the eye , BUT , they’ve been doing lense replacements for ever and I’ve never heard of one going wrong so personally I’d have less concerns about doing that than anything changing my cornea .

The issue with IOLI is that they only do it if you have cataracts , which is pretty common when you get older . My mum and 2 older sisters have had it and were very happy with the result . I can

I’ ve only heard of one horror story with laser correction which occurred many years ago and made the person blind in one eye but a multi millionaire . Supposedly with one of the “ best “ but involve equipment malfunction …

But I’ve had a fair few people have minor issues with the various laser operations . With halo , yes it usually settles but I have seen several people who don’t drive a night after the surgery . Less than perfect correction .

It’s something I’m thinking about . Personally I’ll go to a couple of specialists who don’t do the surgery , who I know , and ask them what issues they’ve seen with it and who would they recommend .

I wouldn’t have done it while still working , but now I’ve retired I’m putting it on my list for more dd .

BTW , I would NEVER go OS for any type of surgery . If you have issues , it’s a nightmare

cheers

Cliff

 

Had both eyes done waaaay back in 1997 at the age of 29 (do the math) ... had to travel to Sydney for the procedure ... best thing ever and no halo effect.

Walked in with clunky prescription that I'd been wearing since I was around 12 years old - walked out glasses free and have pretty much remained so ever since. I do wear very minor prescription glasses for driving now that I'm getting to be an old fart, but it's not a license requirement.

As you get older, the reason your vision gets worse is because the muscles around the eyes stiffen up and don't focus as easily - same with every other muscle, use them or lose them - practice focusing distant then near several times an hour (even if it's simply across the office)