Getting Lasik Eye Surgery soon...few simple Q & A.

[Solodays]

I'm thinking of getting Lasik soon. I've been searching this forum and founded quite a few useful threads and founded that quite a few people are satisfied with the outcome. but there are still couple of simple questions i still have in mind and did not founded in the "Search"..


1: It stated that once you have Lasik surgery, you will never have to wear glasses in your life time, the only thing you'll need to worry about it ageing in the 40's which will required glasses again to read up close, besides that your vision will still remain crispy thought out your life time.



2: Is lasik the most popluar out of all the surgeries correction out there?



3: how many different Lasik correction sugeries are there anyways? seems like too many to count. PRK, custom lasik, etc...


4: whats the difference between custom lasik and lasik? I 've heard custom lasik is better. what's the pro and con between Custom Lasik and Lasik?



5: I can get Lasik for $300 per eye. it was advertised in the sunday paper almost every week. here's their website http://lasikvisioninstitute.com/ it listed that the guy has proformed over 25,000 surgeries.



6: back in the old days where glasses are not even invented, how do people with nearsighted or farsighted see?



7: what is High Definition surgery? i've seen this ad on TV. I think it's the same as Lasik, not sure.



8: what is the best season to have Lasik?


That's all for now. Thank You.

 

[Ender]

$300 per eye may sound good on paper, but I doubt you'll get quality service. The best type of Lasik is the "no touch" kind where they use lasers to make a corneal flap and then a blue laser to sculpt the cornea. It's "custom", I suppose, but it costs about $1500-$2000 per eye. That's the best type of Lasik.

Besides, you don't want to decide on the right Lasik technician from merely browsing through the newspaper. You'll probably have to go around to different offices and ask each of them some questions like what their method is etc.

 

[slick230]

When looking for someone to go mucking about with your EYES, the bargain bin isn't the best place to focus your search. Remeber, you get what you pay for, and if you go the cheapo way, you might get someone like Doctor Nick from The Simpsons approaching your peepers with a rusty butter knife.

 

[Solodays]

but the guy has proformed 25,000+ surgeries.

 

[trmiv]

If there is one thing I wouldn't look for a "hot deal" on, it's eye surgery. When I get mine, I'm not bargain hunting, I'm looking for the best doctor in my area.

 

[slick230]

Originally posted by: Solodays
but the guy has proformed 25,000+ surgeries.

Hey, you do what you feel safe with. I'm just saying if I were looking for the surgery, I would shop around a lot more before I went with the $300 per eye guy, no matter if he did 25,000 operations or not.

 

[DaWhim]

Originally posted by: trmiv
If there is one thing I wouldn't look for a "hot deal" on, it's eye surgery. When I get mine, I'm not bargain hunting, I'm looking for the best doctor in my area.

hell yea, I would spend more money on it.

 

[TechnoKid]

The $300 is under ceratin cicumstances and for certain qualifying patients. Im sure it says "as low as $300..." When you go in to the doctor to actually get a pretest done, they will let you konw of whats best for your case (everyone has different eyes), and the estimated costs.

Laser eye surgurey is not 100% all the time, sometimes you have to go in for a follow up, or continue to wear glasses or other corrective leness to achieve 20/20 or better.

 

[Solodays]

even at $300, isn't all these docs trained and approved to do these surgeries? if not then they wont even last a week. so why worry?

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: Solodays
even at $300, isn't all these docs trained and approved to do these surgeries? if not then they wont even last a week. so why worry?

laser eye surgurey is considred a cosmetic surgurey, at least i consider it to be. Of course they are trained to know how to operate teh equipment, and i'm sure they have a background in optometry or opthamology, but the approval comes from the patients

Why worry? i'm sure you'd say the same thing if they botched your freakin eyes, they cannot do full eye transplants yet my friend.

 

[amdskip]

One of my dad's good friends had it done when it first became popular. He is now one of the statistics that has had major problems. He had surgery to make his eyes better after the first surgery and they became worse to the point that he was legally blind and was wearing glasses and contacts to see. He has had cornea transplants now and things are pretty good but not great. You probably didn't want to hear something like this but it is a real thing.

 

[Solodays]

what you mean by full eye transplants? and you know why they charge only $300 while other charge much more?

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: Solodays
what you mean by full eye transplants? and you know why they charge only $300 while other charge much more?

Have you gone in for a consultation yet? When you do, let me know how much they are going to charge you for your eyes. I have spoken to a couple laser eye specialists from Kaiser and UCLA eye center and they each tell me the the $300 advertised by ceratin companies is for special circumstances, do you know if you fall into those categories?

Why are you so set on paying $300? If its more are you going to still get it done?

edit: and as for your #6, glasses, or lenses were invented a long time ago. there application for glasses came later however. Text

 

[blahblah99]

Originally posted by: Solodays
even at $300, isn't all these docs trained and approved to do these surgeries? if not then they wont even last a week. so why worry?

Because there isn't a black & white boundary on whether the Lasik surgery will be 100% successful without complications.

The result of it is depends on a lot of factors such as cornea thickness, pupil size, etc etc. A patient can be a candidate for lasik even though their eyes properties are on the borderline of acceptability. And sadly, some of the Lasik doctors are in it just for the money.

 

[PKPunk]

Originally posted by: Solodays
even at $300, isn't all these docs trained and approved to do these surgeries? if not then they wont even last a week. so why worry?

300 bucks an eye is a B.S. bait and switch price to get you in the door. I had lasiks done in the Bay area by a doctor who's done 25k eyes. He ran an ad that said 499 per eye but when I got to his office to he said the 499 operation is for people with no astigmatism and your eyes are no worse than -1.50 and the 499 price is for the operation with an older laser which has a smaller cutting diameter than the newer lasers. Anyway I ended up getting the surgery by him anyways, he charges 2k per eye for the HD lasiks and 1,400 for regular lasiks.

I'd say expect to pay at least 1000-1500/eye for the surgery. And when the doctor quotes you the price remember you can negotiate with him. With the free consults you actually have alot of bargaining power because if you don't get the surgery from his office he'll be out the time and money of the consult.

 

[Sysbuilder05]

5: I can get Lasik for $300 per eye. it was advertised in the sunday paper almost every week. here's their website http://lasikvisioninstitute.com/ it listed that the guy has proformed over 25,000 surgeries.


Yeow...you REALLY need to check this guy out,he's not mowing your lawn his shooting a laser into your eyes. You lawn could grow back,your eyes...eh you get the picture.

Ya know there's people who sell computers REAL cheap. Sounds good until you really look at whats inside.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: Sysbuilder05


5: I can get Lasik for $300 per eye. it was advertised in the sunday paper almost every week. here's their website http://lasikvisioninstitute.com/ it listed that the guy has proformed over 25,000 surgeries.


Yeow...you REALLY need to check this guy out,he's not mowing your lawn his shooting a laser into your eyes. You lawn could grow back,your eyes...eh you get the picture.

Ya know there's people who sell computers REAL cheap. Sounds good until you really look at whats inside.

my feelings as well, cheapest lasik (bladed lasik) I'd consider would be $500 per eye and only from a verifed surgeon, check his records the place that does it for $500 per eye now, charges around $1500 per eye for intralsik (all laser guaranteed 20/20 or better)

 

[CtK]

you should ask friends or family members where they got theirs done
then go talk to each DR for consultations
i got quoted about $700-$1000/eye and my eyes arent even that bad (left 1.25, right 1.75)

still doing research

 

[Antisocial Virge]

I had friends go to the one of the cheapest guys in town. Like $300 and eye and that was 4 years ago. They both loved it and had no problems. Lasik advertising is sounding horrible. Higher prices do not mean better quality. Same as the number of procedures does not mean better quality. Who do you think does the most Lasik procedures? The really expensive guy or the cheaper guy? I bet its the cheaper guy.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Antisocial-Virge
I had friends go to the one of the cheapest guys in town. Like $300 and eye and that was 4 years ago. They both loved it and had no problems. Lasik advertising is sounding horrible. Higher prices do not mean better quality. Same as the number of procedures does not mean better quality. Who do you think does the most Lasik procedures? The really expensive guy or the cheaper guy? I bet its the cheaper guy.

it depends. my brother does about 25 surgeries / week. he charges $1000.00 for pair. is he the highest? no. is he the lowest? no.

here is the thing, i would recommend going to him over one of the "chains" because he personally does all the surgeries and he is absolutely the best.

 

[desy]

I think spring might be the best time, lots of humidity in the air to help the healing process

Before there were glasses, accidents used to be the number one killer, might be a corolation there

I'm surprised in the big price variance, old laser, new laser still takes the same overhead time and resources. why wouldn't you just do them all with the newer technology they still have to warranty the work and the new stuff would lead to less claims?
I can see them wanting to pay off new equipment why not just sell the old stuff off?

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Ender
$300 per eye may sound good on paper, but I doubt you'll get quality service. The best type of Lasik is the "no touch" kind where they use lasers to make a corneal flap and then a blue laser to sculpt the cornea. It's "custom", I suppose, but it costs about $1500-$2000 per eye. That's the best type of Lasik.

Besides, you don't want to decide on the right Lasik technician from merely browsing through the newspaper. You'll probably have to go around to different offices and ask each of them some questions like what their method is etc.

i disagree.

the problem with using lasers to cut the flap is that it cauterizes as it goes and reduces the healing afterwards.

you have to remember the flap stays on and has to be flipped back over to cover the work done and it has to heal. blades still have there uses. just because it's laser does not make it better.

 

[torpid]

Don't take this the wrong way, solodays, but how old are you? Some of your questions, responses, and statements are quite naive. I highly recommend you actually try to find information from more than just anandtech. Half of your questions, if not more, would already have been answered, and you would not doubt people who are saying that you should not look for the cheapest price in lasik, you should look for the most trustworthy doctor.

Just a quick note, your first item is completely incorrect. No one will make a guarantee like that. If they do make that guarantee, steer clear of that company, because they are not trustworthy. Any doctor who is trustworthy will say that you will generally have 20/40 vision or better, but they will not guarantee that you will no longer need lenses of some sort, and there are always risks, etc.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: torpid
Don't take this the wrong way, solodays, but how old are you? Some of your questions, responses, and statements are quite naive. I highly recommend you actually try to find information from more than just anandtech. Half of your questions, if not more, would already have been answered, and you would not doubt people who are saying that you should not look for the cheapest price in lasik, you should look for the most trustworthy doctor.

Just a quick note, your first item is completely incorrect. No one will make a guarantee like that. If they do make that guarantee, steer clear of that company, because they are not trustworthy. Any doctor who is trustworthy will say that you will generally have 20/40 vision or better, but they will not guarantee that you will no longer need lenses of some sort, and there are always risks, etc.

agreed, and a lot of good and honest physicians will recommend a slight undercorrection vs an overcorrection. they can overcorrect you to 40/20 but you will have more complications down the line.

 

[gsellis]

I had LASIK. I do not have 20/20 vision. Near-sighted one eye, far the other. Irregular astigmatism in both eyes. But, I can see without glasses. Just a pain in the A..


Just know that it is not always perfect and there are real risks

Surgical Eyes