Lasik Eye Surgery

[TripleAAA]

I've read some of the other posts on Lasik, but I was more specifically interested in the actual surgical process.

Was it highly uncomfortable, painful? I've seen and heard that they put drops in your eye that "freeze" the eye so you don't feel anything. How long were you in the actual surgery room for?

For myself, my eyes are highly sensitive (never been able to do contacts) and I'm worried I'm going to freak out when they keep my eyelid pryed open for that long. Do you have the urge to blink or want to close your eye the whole time?

Also I've heard some places offer a sedative to relax you...I'd probably need the max dosage.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Had mine Nov 2002.

[*] Theres no "freezing involved". They keep your eyes pried open the whole them time with a device. As far as having the urge to to blink I didnt because the sedative was allowing me to relax and let the doctor do his job. You dont want youre eyes to be fscked up because you freak out. Freaking out is not a reflex, its an irrational fear most commonly undertaken by children.

[*] It was a two stage process. The first process was cutting open the flaps. When they came down you are completely blind. Then you are hooked up to the laser and they zap your eyes. I didnt keep track of time, but Id say it was about 10 minuets.

 

[treemonkey]

If you can't tolerate contacts because your eyes dry out then lasik is not a good idea. check out surgicaleyes.org. They have a discussion board.

 

[TripleAAA]

Originally posted by: FelixDeKat
Had mine Nov 2002.

[*] Theres no "freezing involved". They keep your eyes pried open the whole them time with a device. As far as having the urge to to blink I didnt because the sedative was allowing me to relax and let the doctor do his job. You dont want youre eyes to be fscked up because you freak out. Freaking out is not a reflex, its an irrational fear most commonly undertaken by children.

[*] It was a two stage process. The first process was cutting open the flaps. When they came down you are completely blind. Then you are hooked up to the laser and they zap your eyes. I didnt keep track of time, but Id say it was about 10 minuets.

Thanks for the info. What about the fact that you can't "naturally lubricate" your eyes by blinking? Do your eyes feel dried out or anything while they are open that long?

As for the blindness thing...is it completely black?

I've never been able to get contacts in my eyes because I have this strong blinking reflex when something foreign hits my eye

 

[msparish]

You're worried about getting Lasik because your eye will be held open? I could understand being scared of having a scalpel taken to your eye...having your eye held open is the least of your worries. And as a previous poster said, if your eyes are already dry, probably not a good thing. My dad still has to use special eye drops several times a day nearly 3 years later...and he had no problem with dry eyes.

 

[TripleAAA]

Originally posted by: msparish
You're worried about getting Lasik because your eye will be held open? I could understand being scared of having a scalpel taken to your eye...having your eye held open is the least of your worries. And as a previous poster said, if your eyes are already dry, probably not a good thing. My dad still has to use special eye drops several times a day nearly 3 years later...and he had no problem with dry eyes.

Its a number of things including the cutting of the eye that scares me. I'm just trying to weigh the risks with the benefits. For me personally, I've been wearing glasses since I was 2 years old and if the surgery went well (like it seems to in "most" cases), it could be a extremely dramatic improvement in my quality of life.

 

[BDawg]

I had it done over 2 years ago. It was the best $2400 I ever spent.

My eye was cut by a laser, razors are very outdated.

I have blue eyes, so they're also sensitive. They keep your eyes hydrated, so there's no discomfort from dryness.

The procedure, at worst, could be considered very irritating. There is absolutely no pain at all.

And yes, it's a dramatic improvement to quality of life.

 

[Pakman]

I had mine done in January. I was kinda worried I'd freak out too. I'm the type of person that has a hard time even putting in eye drops. It doesn't hurt at all. They put these clamps in your eyes that hold them open. I didn't get the sedative. They say they tend to get better final results when they don't use them. The actual surgery takes probably 15 minutes tops. The only thing you have to keep concious of is not to rub your eyes for about a month. My final results were 20/15 vision in both eyes. The only side effect I notice is that when I get tired at night or in the dark, it's hard to focus on things up close if I've been staring at things far away such as TV. Other than that, no other complications. It's really not even that big a deal actually.

 

[TripleAAA]

Anyone else want to share their experience? Thanks

 

[xit2nowhere]

I've heard the biggest pain comes few hours later, especially when you go to sleep. That's why they give you a blindfold to put over your eyes when you sleep.
I talked to one of my coworkers who did it, and he said pain was so terrible he literaly wanted to claw his eyes out.
Not sure if anybody else had such discomfort.

 

[TripleAAA]

Originally posted by: xit2nowhere
I've heard the biggest pain comes few hours later, especially when you go to sleep. That's why they give you a blindfold to put over your eyes when you sleep.
I talked to one of my coworkers who did it, and he said pain was so terrible he literaly wanted to claw his eyes out.
Not sure if anybody else had such discomfort.

Yikes...havent heard that from anyone I know.

 

[TheNinja]

I did not take the sedative, but they do offer it I believe.

The actual surgery does not really hurt. It is kind of annoying and you feel pressure on your eye, but there is not really any sharp pain. Basically, after they put the numbing drops in your eye you cannot fell them really touching your eye. You can see the laser and feel a little pressure behind your eye, but as far as things toucing your eyeball you don't really feel it. And it isn't too dry during the surgery, they keep it lubricated. My actual surgery took like 7minutes for both eyes.

The bad:
the 4-6 hours after the surgery were pretty painful. It felt like some sharp foreign object in my eye whether it was open or closed
night vision is a little blurry yet
dry eyes at the end of the day somethings (however read under good)

The good:
the dry eyes and WAY better than having dry eyes with contacts so it's actually not bad at all
no glasses or contacts
i can travel, go camping, go overnight somewhere, fall asleep ,etc without having to take contact solution and glasses along
I can't imagine going back to contacts everyday, and I couldn't handle glasses b/c I like to do phsyical activities and such


Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY!

 

[Runes911]

They still "cut the flaps on your eyes" ? I thought they didn't have to do that anymore since they (updated?) the procedure...

 

[KillerCharlie]

Previous Lasik thread with poll

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: TheNinja
I did not take the sedative, but they do offer it I believe.

The actual surgery does not really hurt. It is kind of annoying and you feel pressure on your eye, but there is not really any sharp pain. Basically, after they put the numbing drops in your eye you cannot fell them really touching your eye. You can see the laser and feel a little pressure behind your eye, but as far as things toucing your eyeball you don't really feel it. And it isn't too dry during the surgery, they keep it lubricated. My actual surgery took like 7minutes for both eyes.

The bad:
the 4-6 hours after the surgery were pretty painful. It felt like some sharp foreign object in my eye whether it was open or closed
night vision is a little blurry yet
dry eyes at the end of the day somethings (however read under good)

The good:
the dry eyes and WAY better than having dry eyes with contacts so it's actually not bad at all
no glasses or contacts
i can travel, go camping, go overnight somewhere, fall asleep ,etc without having to take contact solution and glasses along
I can't imagine going back to contacts everyday, and I couldn't handle glasses b/c I like to do phsyical activities and such


Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY!

Basically, what ninja said. I had mine done 3.5 years ago, and LASIK was good for my vision the first couple of years, no problems except night driving was a little tough depending on the glare.

In the past year and a half, my eyes have regressed back to a -1 in each eye, not sure why. I can still drive ok but have trouble reading street signs and what not. Which means I'm going to have to go and get an enhancement which I'm dreading.

During the surgery, you won't feel anything, eyes are held open. After it's done, your eyes are very sore and I was highly photosensitive. You also will need antibiotic drops for the first 4 weeks, which kinda sting a bit. Basically, all you're going to want to do for the first week is sleep.

 

[kranky]

My wife had it done in January and she's very pleased with the vision adjustment, but not real happy about needing to put drops in her eyes to keep them moist. They had said it was a potential side effect. She even got some plugs inserted at the time of surgery which were supposed to help with the dryness.

She doesn't wear glasses any longer but her vision isn't 20/20. The only thing that she avoids is driving at night in unfamiliar areas because she can't read the signs. But if it was really an issue, she could get glasses for those times.

She doesn't want to get the enhancement if it will make the dryness even worse, but we don't know if that's how it works or not.

 

[LeadMagnet]

from 20/300 to 20/10 an loving it for 2+ years now. I just did some research to find which machine (and firmware) did the best job at the time and then found the most experianced doctor using it in my state, and payed the $1800/eye.

I was given a valium. It was uncomfortable, but not painfull. The worst part was when the mechanisim (razor) made the cornial flap. When they purt the flap back and brushed it on with a q-tip that was a little unnerving.

The best thing I did was stayup the night before then after I got home from the DR I took some drugs (nyquil) and passed out for 24 hours till my follow up the next day. It felt wierd (gritty for a while), and I had mild "starbust" effect around bright lights at night for 6 months.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
from 20/300 to 20/10 an loving it for 2+ years now. I just did some research to find which machine (and firmware) did the best job at the time and then found the most experianced doctor using it in my state, and payed the $1800/eye.

20/12 is the best you can get...

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: kranky
My wife had it done in January and she's very pleased with the vision adjustment, but not real happy about needing to put drops in her eyes to keep them moist. They had said it was a potential side effect. She even got some plugs inserted at the time of surgery which were supposed to help with the dryness.

She doesn't wear glasses any longer but her vision isn't 20/20. The only thing that she avoids is driving at night in unfamiliar areas because she can't read the signs. But if it was really an issue, she could get glasses for those times.

She doesn't want to get the enhancement if it will make the dryness even worse, but we don't know if that's how it works or not.

I don't think it'll make the dryness worse, mainly because once your nerves endings are damaged by the laser that should be it. The main issue (with LASIK) is the thickness of your cornea, if you have a thick one (like me) then enhancements should be a breeze. Right now using soft dailies when I really need to have 20/20 vision, like driving at night.

 

[TripleAAA]

Thanks for the comments. I think I might continue to wait it out and see if they can improve the technology a bit more.

Guess I'll try to make the transition to contacts. Last time I tried them was about 10 years ago and I didn't like them at all, but you gotta figure they've improved significantly since then.

 

[fenrir]

I had mine done in April. I went with Lasek as I wasn't totally comfortable with the Lasik procedure. Lasek takes longer to get your final results, but I am at about 20/30 right now. Before the surgery, I couldn't read the chart at all. In fact, they did the 'how many fingers am I holding' and walk towards you until you can tell. I could tell at about 7 feet.

The only discomfort I experienced was on the 2nd day after surgery. It just felt like something was in my eye and irritating it. It was gone by the next morning.

The surgery is very simple. The eye drops numb your eye, so it is no big deal. If you think you can handle the surgery and putting drops in your eyes, then go for it. I know the places around me offered a free initial consultation so you can get more information and see if you even qualify for the surgery. I went to three different places for the initial consultation and went with the place I felt most comfortable with.

Matt