My 19 year-old son wants Lasix for very legitimate reasons. Said that it would be great to be able to play sports and see things. I read a wikipedia article which mentioned significant risks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LASIK Am wondering how common they are. Also, I will pay something more to get a good doc if that helps to reduce the risks.
OT Lasik Surgery
- Thread starter dailybuck777
- Start date
Had it 19 years ago and it was great. I don’t recall a high percentage of risk at all. The surgery was less than five minutes and they didn’t put me out.
My wife had it done back when it was relatively new. Her eyes eventually reverted back. I know others who had it done and it's the best thing they ever did.
I would certainly pay extra for a good doctor. Lasers on your eyes isn't something to go cheap on.
I would certainly pay extra for a good doctor. Lasers on your eyes isn't something to go cheap on.
I had it done 5 years ago and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. At 46 my vision is better than 20/20.
Wife and I had it done. Best medical decision I’ve ever made by far.
however I’d look into whether they’ll do it at 19. I don’t know but I remember reading and hearing when I got it done 8 years ago that they’re reluctant to do it on patients that are still developing. Something to the effect of they can do it but they might grow out of it as their eyes are still growing. Don’t quote me on that though. If they’ll do it though, absolutely do it. My quality of life is much better.
everything carries risks. I didn’t have any issues and don’t know anyone who has. Especially since they went to lasers instead of razors doing the cutting. The cuts are much more precise Allowing for much quicker healing. I was back to work in a few days.
however I’d look into whether they’ll do it at 19. I don’t know but I remember reading and hearing when I got it done 8 years ago that they’re reluctant to do it on patients that are still developing. Something to the effect of they can do it but they might grow out of it as their eyes are still growing. Don’t quote me on that though. If they’ll do it though, absolutely do it. My quality of life is much better.
everything carries risks. I didn’t have any issues and don’t know anyone who has. Especially since they went to lasers instead of razors doing the cutting. The cuts are much more precise Allowing for much quicker healing. I was back to work in a few days.
My wife had it done and is very happy. Only drawback is that her eyes are a little sensitive to bright sunlight.
Just my 2 cents, but I would wait until later in life. I had it done at 26 and my sight still changed and got worse (now 38). Granted, my sight is/was bad, but don’t be too eager to get it done.
My wife had it done 2 years ago. Changed her/our life for the better. No daily hassle of glasses and eye irritation from contacts for her and her vision is now phenomenal. We spent 5K on a good Dr and that includes a "free" touch up surgery in 10 years. No regrets.
At this time hundreds of thousands of cases have been done. The opthalmologist should review the case and inherent risks, and answer your questions to your satisfaction. My wife had it done about 19 years ago. She now needs to wear reading glasses. This I believe is common as you get to age 50 or so. From the start, she and many others often see a starburst like appearance of approaching cars headlights. It took some getting used too. I don't know if this is still a common occurrence. It used to be very common. She also suffered from a retinal tear, which the retinal specialist said this may have been related to the LASIK. He thought there was an increase correlation in retinal tears with LAISK procedure patients over time. Also another good question to ask.
At one time, my brother managed a LASIK center. The highest satisfaction rate was seen in patients who had the worst vision to begin with .
It is a common procedure that has been done frequently with minimal risk.
Good Luck.
I had mine done in 2003 (39yo) it was a great decision. Only draw back now I have to wear glasses for reading but it beats wearing glasses/contacts all the time. It was probably going to happen as I got older anyway. I believe your eyes have to have little or no change over about a 6 year period before a reputable doctor will do it.
I had it done in 2007. Same as Air Force 1 though, one of the best decisions I've made in my live. It changed my life. I couldn't see the big E on the eye chart. The next day I was 20/20. I need readers now and a slight correction for distance, which I basically ignore.
I think it's a pretty creepy surgery though. It's not like you can close your eyes at all. Best part is that it only takes seconds.
I think it's a pretty creepy surgery though. It's not like you can close your eyes at all. Best part is that it only takes seconds.
I had it in 2000 when I was 28. Best decision of my life since I played a lot of sports and played in the water with my kids.
20 years later, I still have about 20/20 vision but need reading glasses occasionally.
20 years later, I still have about 20/20 vision but need reading glasses occasionally.
Best decision I ever made in 2001. Couldn’t see the big E on the chart. Wore contacts for 30 years.one eye for distance 1 for close up. Still 20-20 at age 71. Best thing ever happened for skiing,swimming, biking etc. Check with an established and reputable Dr. They may prefer your son waits a few more years based on eye development. Haven’t needed glasses at all.
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Make sure you get lifetime adjustments included. I had mine done around 6 years ago via PRK because my eyes had flat spots. I now need both eyes to be adjusted.
Fyi I had monovision done. My dominant eye is for normal/distance and my weaker eye is for reading. It works great except for putting. It throws off your perception of a straight line. I use a big line on my ball for direction and only look at the hole for judging the distance.
Fyi I had monovision done. My dominant eye is for normal/distance and my weaker eye is for reading. It works great except for putting. It throws off your perception of a straight line. I use a big line on my ball for direction and only look at the hole for judging the distance.
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I've been wrestling with this for years. I was going to do it two years ago and my wife's cousin just lost sight in his left eye from the surgery. They do one eye at a time for this "one in a million" situation (their term). You have to sign a release so there was no remediation option. I do believe it is a very low probability but that kept me hassling with my soft contacts. I have many, many other friends and family that have done it and recommend it without reservation. BTW, I use the contacts where one sees far away and the other eye sees close by for reading. I just had to change my prescription and my dr said that your eyes get better as you get older (at least mine did) so wonder what would have happened with lasic. This has kept me from reading glasses. Let us know what you decide and how it turns out.
Had it done a long time ago can't remember the year. I am now 52 and just now starting to wane. This is the first year I have needed a little help up close in dim light.
I will say when the cut the flap and everything goes completely black it is a little freaky.
I have had zero problems. Followed Dr. orders and the next day my vision was perfect and even got a little better over the next month.
I will say when the cut the flap and everything goes completely black it is a little freaky.
I have had zero problems. Followed Dr. orders and the next day my vision was perfect and even got a little better over the next month.
I had LASIK about 15 years ago. Vision was great until about 3 years ago, when I had to go back to glasses (near sighted). Not a big deal and worth every penny.
***consult with an expert
***consult with an expert
Buck: I had corrective eye surgery done in the summer of 1984, at a time when Lasik did not exist and Radial Keratotomy was the procedure that was used. The cornea is pretty much dome shaped when a person's vision is good, and becomes a bit more peak shaped as a person becomes myopic. Shallow incisions in a radial pattern (i.e., circle) around the cornea flatten out the peak (i.e., returning it to the optimal dome shape), and improve vision. My RK was performed by my opthamologist using a diamond stylus (essentially a knife). I had both eyes done, and had 20/20 vision for roughly 25 years. Then, about ten years ago, as I began to suffer from Presbyopia (a gradual, and slight hardening of the cornea that affects most people starting in their 50's), my vision began to get worse. I needed contact lenses again.
What I did NOT know, because it was not known back in 1984, was that RK surgery makes the surface of the cornea more unstable. This instability increases with the depth of the cuts made in the original RK. The RK cuts on my right eye must have been deeper than on my left eye, as they have resulted in some slight scarring on the surface of my right cornea, which regular contact lenses irritate. I now use "Scleral Lenses" on both eyes. A bit of a hassle, but doable. My (corrected) vision in my right eye is nowhere near the 20/20 it is in my left eye.
I tell you all this because you should definitely ask your son's opthamologist if the Lasik procedure is known to have any negative side effects, either currently or down the road. I don't believe it does, because they pull back a flap of cornea in order to do the procedure, rather than making cuts on the surface of the cornea. But you should definitely ask about this. Lasik has been around long enough for doctors to know whether it presents any risks of corneal instability or scarring.
What I did NOT know, because it was not known back in 1984, was that RK surgery makes the surface of the cornea more unstable. This instability increases with the depth of the cuts made in the original RK. The RK cuts on my right eye must have been deeper than on my left eye, as they have resulted in some slight scarring on the surface of my right cornea, which regular contact lenses irritate. I now use "Scleral Lenses" on both eyes. A bit of a hassle, but doable. My (corrected) vision in my right eye is nowhere near the 20/20 it is in my left eye.
I tell you all this because you should definitely ask your son's opthamologist if the Lasik procedure is known to have any negative side effects, either currently or down the road. I don't believe it does, because they pull back a flap of cornea in order to do the procedure, rather than making cuts on the surface of the cornea. But you should definitely ask about this. Lasik has been around long enough for doctors to know whether it presents any risks of corneal instability or scarring.
Thanks for all of the very good and helpful comments. My son did his own research and said that many people recommend waiting until you are 25 and your vision is not changing. His vision has changed in the last 2 years. He probably wants to hold off now, but I will continue to research. Any additional comments or insights are welcome.
I think that’s very wise decision from your young man. As I said, your vision can still get worse as mine did. That said, I wanted to clarify that I thought the surgery itself was well done and safe. I would definitely recommend it. I’m waiting until my vision doesn’t change for awhile to have mine adjusted.
Thanks for the very detailed helpful summary and discussion.
As always, a very informative and educational thread, thanks to all who contributed. I certainly learn something different here every day.....good and bad!
I had it in 2007. It was a painful experience for the 24-48 hours afterward for me. Even with that I would do it again. I’m 64, have 20/20 vision, and in spite of staring at a computer for 10 hours a day, I require no reading glasses of any kind.
With this procedure, experience counts. You want to go to someone who has done thousands of these procedures before they do it on you.
With this procedure, experience counts. You want to go to someone who has done thousands of these procedures before they do it on you.
I was not eligible for Lasik, so I went with the only true alternative: Implantable contact lenses. These are contacts place under the top layer of the eye. There are many advantages of ICP over lasik but costs way more. Had it done 15 years ago and still going strong. The big plus is that they can be removed and a new one added if your eyesight begins to fail with age. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I have not had Lasik done but I have had laser surgery done on my eyes. One thing to keep in mind is that the Lasik done today are better than the ones done 5, 10, or 20 years ago with better technology and more experienced docs. When you really get into the details, the lasers themselves can be difference makers and one brand can produce better more predictable results than another depending on the specifics of the procedure, the differences will be subtle but still different none the less. Find the most experienced doc with the best/newest equipment that is appropriate for the procedure being done, i.e. some lasers are better for near-sighted vs far-sighted with or without astigmatism. The best vision centers will likely have multiple lasers to choose from, the Doc I went to had three different lasers to choose from.
Things to look into, does the doc use a blade or blade-less procedure, look for "wavefront" or "wave-guided" or "custom" lingo.
Here's a good website to start your research.
https://www.allaboutvision.com/visionsurgery/
ps... it's amazing some the technology advances available these days. One example for those who have lens replacements due to cataracts, they can adjust the power of the lens post surgery using uv light.
On a separate medical matter, I agree. I had laparoscopic surgery last year that removed 4 inches of my colon. Had very mild discomfort for 20 minutes coming out of surgery and ZERO and I mean zero pain after that. Additionally, the cancer in the one big polyp of concern was eliminated and everything has looked good since then.
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I had it done in Nov. 1998 when I was 26. I opted for 20:20 in each eye instead of monovision (20:60 in weak eye and 20:20 in the dominant). When I did my research you wanted a doctor who had done ~5000 eye surgeries to get the best results. I found one in Charlotte at The Laser Center (TLC), a national chain that carried a lifetime warranty as long as you got one eye exam per year and documented it (any doctor was fine). Once you have the surgery it takes several months for the eyes to stabilize. After three months one of my eyes needed a touch up procedure, no big deal and since then I haven't had any problems. Because I didn't choose the mono option I was told in my mid forties I could expect to need reading glasses as my lenses hardened with age, a normal aging process for everyone. Sure enough, last year I started needing reading glasses, which is no big deal. I still consider getting the surgery one of the best things I have ever done. Any questions, fire away.
Db, I agree 100%. I had a complete right knee replacement three years ago and had NO pain or discomfort at any time in the recovery or rehab process. Who’d have ever thunk that 15-20 years ago?
Wow. You topped me. I remember about 20 years ago talking to an orthopedic surgeon about hip replacements and me being amazed by the doc saying his patients could play golf with no problem.
Had it about 17 years ago, in my early 40’s. Vision was very poor ( Wore coke bottle glasses At 6 years old). Vision became 20/15 in both eyes immediately. Turned out to be a great decision. ***full disclosure: very small amount of peripheral vision was lost.
a Dr who was part of the original FDA lasik testing panels, who has done 10,000 or more of these surgeries did mine. Find someone like that to do this. The good ones can examine the patient and tell you if you show characteristics that would lead to halo vision, dry eyes ....
Ask people you know who have had it done ... get their view of their DR and experience.
do your homework. This is surgery and a big decision.
20+ years since I had mine. No issues. Very happy I did it.
I play a lot of golf.....but with the same golf problems I had before the surgery!
Which is why I’m unfortunately a 16 index.Honestly, the only hard part of my surgery was giving up Fonzie the basset hound to a member of my rescue group for 19 days, my doc didn’t want any risk of him getting too playful and maybe hurting me. Was a joyful reunion for both of us when he came home!
I had it done 20 years ago when I was 44. I had what they call monovision in that I had one eye corrected for reading and one for long distance. Best thing I have ever done. I don't need corrective lenses to this day. My only recommendation is to wait until your eyes have finished changing and then get the surgery (Mid-40's).
