quote: Somewhere around the -7 range is when you start having trouble reading w/o corrected vision. Only one word is in focus and the rest is blurred. Yuck.
Huh. My prescription is -5.00 in one eye and -6.00 in the other. Until a few years ago, it was -4.00 and -5.00.
I haven't been able to read (not without great discomfort and a LOT of squinting) since I first had glasses (-2.50 and -2.75, IIRC).
One of the prerequisites, at least when I got it done 3 years ago was that your prescription needs to stay constant for 1-2 years. I think you should still be within limits. Also remember Lasik does not remove the need for glasses ever again, your corneas still harden and thus reading glasses may be inevitable.
Apparently there have been some leaps and strides into fixing that problem too however. My own father got special lasik done, (we went in at the same time) where one eye was done to see far off objects and the other to view things close up. Sort of like laser bifocals. For the first few weeks he was thinking, "Oh God what have I done to my eyes!" but eventually his brain adjusted to the new format and now he swears by it.
Good luck in getting it done! I think its quite safe now and very worth it. They don't even have to use knives anymore at the beginning of the procedure.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I had Lasik about 7 years ago now, and still have better than 20/20 vision. I love it. I wore glasses since first grade, the surgery was without a doubt the best thing I've ever done for myself.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
I have contacts, but I rarely wear them because they don't do a very good job of correcting my astigmatism. I'm a little afraid that if I got Lasik, it would be like wearing my contacts all of the time.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I had horrible astigmatism, and the Lasik corrected it well. Much better than contacts - even the special ones for astigmatism.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote: Somewhere around the -7 range is when you start having trouble reading w/o corrected vision. Only one word is in focus and the rest is blurred. Yuck.
Huh. My prescription is -5.00 in one eye and -6.00 in the other. Until a few years ago, it was -4.00 and -5.00.
I haven't been able to read (not without great discomfort and a LOT of squinting) since I first had glasses (-2.50 and -2.75, IIRC).
One of the prerequisites, at least when I got it done 3 years ago was that your prescription needs to stay constant for 1-2 years. I think you should still be within limits. Also remember Lasik does not remove the need for glasses ever again, your corneas still harden and thus reading glasses may be inevitable.
Apparently there have been some leaps and strides into fixing that problem too however. My own father got special lasik done, (we went in at the same time) where one eye was done to see far off objects and the other to view things close up. Sort of like laser bifocals. For the first few weeks he was thinking, "Oh God what have I done to my eyes!" but eventually his brain adjusted to the new format and now he swears by it.
Good luck in getting it done! I think its quite safe now and very worth it. They don't even have to use knives anymore at the beginning of the procedure.
O_o
I wasn't talking about getting LASIK -- I am too concerned about potential problems. I was talking about not being able to read without my contacts (or glasses). Interestingly, my oldest, whose prescription is virtually identical to mine at her age, only wears her glasses in class. Not to read books, or much of anything else.
And these days I have 30-day lenses, and I'm pretty happy with those. A lot can change in 3 years. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I had Lasik done about 3-4 years ago (it's horrible I can't remember which year I had it done). I didn't have any problems after the surgery and my vision is still 20/15 and 20/20. I had mild astigmatism which it supposedly corrected (it was so mild, I didn't really even notice it). The only vision problem I have is halos at night (but I had that before and it's supposedly caused by my dry eye, even though I have punctal plugs).
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Has anyone besides me had RK? (radial keratotomy) I like the results of my RK. It's cheaper than Lasers, and my vision is, if anything, better now than when i had it done about 12 years ago.
Posts: 3354 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I've been wanting to get corrective surgery ever since I first heard about it. My mom worked as a nurse for several years at an office that did RK surgeries, and she assisted in them twice a week. But then LASIK came out and people stopped talking about RK.
My brother had LASIK (it was paid for as a college graduation present from my parents) about 6 years ago and hasn't had a problem. In fact, we discovered that his contacts greatly aggravated his allergies, so much so that, nowadays, he hardly notices when he reacts to pollen.
My parents gave me some money at graduation that was intended to go toward LASIK, but a week later they asked me for money to help pay for my summer grad school classes. I had to give them back the gift money, and then some more.
Anyway, I did the switch from hard contact lenses to soft just about a year and a half ago. Since then, my eyes have stabilized to be at -4.0 (both of them!) with a slight bit of astigmatism, and my eye doctor has since referred me to a LASIK surgeon. Now I just need to find the money.
Maybe I'll go ask mom and dad.... Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
My prescription has changed just a little bit in the last couple years. Well actually, it's been the same for the last two years, but I need to go back I think and get it changed again. The doctor last time I went said it hadn't quite changed enough for me to get a better prescription, but I know I can't see as well as I could two years ago.
Everyone on here seems to have had wonderful experiences with LASIK, but the potential complications are just scary beyond reckoning. Can I ask, to those of you who had it done, what went through your head when you weighed the potential risks and benefits? I know it gets safer every year, and they develop new technologies and lasers every year for it, so I wonder if waiting is better.
Though I did read one study that said vision problems as a result of contact lenses will happen to 1 out of 100 users, but that problems with laser eye surgery would happen to 1 out of 10,000 users, so maybe by sticking with contacts I'm already picking the riskier choice.
Did anyone have anything other than LASIK done? like LASEK (the newer one) or the other options? And really, no one has any complaints about it?
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, I had lens replacement because of cataracts. Couldn't do LASIK or any of the other things, for various reasons.
Despite being 30 years younger than the average cataract patient (and certain naughty jokes that become redundant very quickly) I'm very happy with the outcome. I have to use reading glasses to, well, read and write in the computer and stuff, but I can read some of the 20/20 line without any correction (great when you consider I was 20/40 with the best correction they could give me before-- barely good enough to keep my license).
Not that many here will be facing that sort of thing, but I thought I'd offer the story, just in case.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think that most of the risks boil down to the doctor/facility doing your procedure and your dedication to your own health (in doing the follow up stuff required). Since I was dedicated to my health and the doctor and facility were well-qualified and had a good track record, for me the large benefits outweigh the small risk. Sure it was scary as hell during the actual procedure, but I'm still glad I went through it (and I loved that they had stuffed a stuffed animal for me to hold during the procedure - I probably mauled the poor thing). I honestly have no complaints about it. It's one of the best things I've ever done!
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
There's now Crystalens which eliminates the need for any kind of glasses after cataract surgery. With it, a person has perfect vision all the time. Its success rate is at 98%+. Which doesn't help Olivet unfortunately, but I'm hoping it arrives in Sri Lanka soon enough for me.
I'm not as young as Olivet, but I'm still unusually young for having cataracts, as is my sister and my brother. We're just a weird family. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think my dad got those with his recent cataract surgeries.
ludosti, while that may well reduce the risk of such complications as infection, I'm fairly certain the statistics indicate that it does not much reduce the risk of such things as over/undercorrection, halos and other artifacts in the visual field, and gradual change in eyesight after the procedure.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
