Lasik Surgery

[-Jrabbit]

I have a friend who has halo effect and dry eyes. I have another friend who had to go back for a re-do before results were acceptable. So it's not a 100% successful procedure.

I won't do it. I'm not skittish; I just won't gamble with my sense of sight.
Contacts work fine.

[Lorizael]

Contacts? Oh god, it's on my eye all day long! What's wrong with glasses, people?

[Kinjiru]

Just keep in mind that no one knows the long-term effects. And we won't, for another 10 years.

That said, it is a very common procedure now (world-wide) and success rates are quite high. You definitely don't want to skimp though - in case something doesn't quite work, you want to feel comfortable with what they are going to do for you.

[ColdPhoenix]

I don't like the hassle of contacts, the way they dried out on me towards the end of the day, when they occasionally get screwy in your eye and you have to sort them etc

Glasses are annoying while playing sports, when you can't find them in the morning or after a shower, if caught out in the rain and while having fun with girls...

Also, it's nice being able to see in the shower, wake up in the middle of the night and be able to read the clock without going right up close, get up in the morning and be ready to just do whatever straight away, and so many other little things that you don't notice until you get the surgery done.

[Gibsie]

Yeah, all that stuff. The thing that drove it home for me was actually being able to see what barbers were doing to me while I was having a haircut!

I didn't go for the wavefront thing, the very minor halos do not bother me whatsoever, no more than the kind of relfection you might get while wearing glasses.

(Shoulda gone down Shaftesbury Avenue instead of TCR, coulda got your eyes done for half the price!)

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by ColdPhoenix
Also, it's nice being able to see in the shower, wake up in the middle of the night and be able to read the clock without going right up close, get up in the morning and be ready to just do whatever straight away, and so many other little things that you don't notice until you get the surgery done.

QFT.

I wore glasses since I was 5 (had teh surgery when I was 22). For over a month after the surgery, I would wake up every morning and look around for my glasses.

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Gibsie

(Shoulda gone down Shaftesbury Avenue instead of TCR, coulda got your eyes done for half the price!)

I would strongly advise against shopping price for this procedure. It's your vision, so don't be a cheapskate. From what I've read, most of the problem cases seem to emanate from the bargain-priced, assembly-line operations.

[rah]

I've worn glasses my entire life. I'll wait for the cataracs to start then the insurance company will pay to have it done.

[Gibsie]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
I would strongly advise against shopping price for this procedure. It's your vision, so don't be a cheapskate. From what I've read, most of the problem cases seem to emanate from the bargain-priced, assembly-line operations.

Wow nice strawman buddy! But no, I didn't actually get my eyes done by the local Chinese import specialist, as I have claimed in the past I'm not talking about going to India or Budapest to get it done on the cheap instead, but a company with as much experience as Ultralase, that doesn't feel the need to charge thousands of pounds simply because it can.

I did go for my original examination at Ultralase, and a treatment that was originally estimated at £1600 was increased to £2400 simply because they thought they could get away with it. God forbid if I went for the "even better" version they were touting! By definition, if a company is happy to rip you off by a thousand bucks, then it's not someone you should be trusting.

[ColdPhoenix]

I'm guessing you went to Optical Express? There's not a huge difference in price between them, about £500, for similar procedures. Maybe I would have had as much success with one of the less expensive treatments but from reading up on the different treatments I could see that there was a greater chance of complete success with the more expensive one. It's not that much extra cash and I knew that if I was seeing halos for the rest of my life I'd be pretty pissed off in 10 years time that I could have spent a grand when I was younger to have stopped it.

As for Ultralase vs Optical Express, both very good, professional practices. I went for Ultralase because my colleagues had gone there and had great things to say about them and they had (slightly) better reviews on the review site I looked at.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Lorizael
*twitch* No one is shooting lasers in my eyes. Gah! I'll live with glasses.

QFT.

[Zkribbler]

The last time I was at my eye doctor's, I asked about Lasik (which he does). For me, he recommended against it, and said I'd be much better off waiting a few years and then having lens transplants.

[LordShiva]

They don't even put you under. They squirt local anesthaesia in your eyes, and then you see this little knife cutting and pulling back a flap in your cornea, and a then bright light shining into your pupil

[Zkribbler]

Oh no! I've heard all about floating out of your body and then seeing a bright light at the end of a tunnel. Iiieeeeeeee!

[Mrs. Tuberski]

my sister had it done and the dr kinda of botched the job. make sure the dr is good at the procedure