Laser [lasik] eye surgery?

TJ- · Jul 13, 2005, 02:08 AM

Anyone here had this done? I got an appointment to get my eyes tested to see if im eligable... Lookin at $3200 for both eyes. But obvisously i dont want to go blind...

Lets hear some of your experiences if you have got it done or know someone who has...

YAYitsAndrew · Jul 13, 2005, 02:29 AM

Figure out how much longer you expect to live, might be cheaper to get daily contacts

Geminiwave · Jul 13, 2005, 02:32 AM

mmm...I'm considering getting it done.

I'm sick of being blind.

TJ- · Jul 13, 2005, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YAYitsAndrew

Figure out how much longer you expect to live, might be cheaper to get daily contacts

I got contacts now, the whole point of getting the surgery is not to have the trouble wearing contacts and glasses. Plus contats are damn expensive. Bout $350 a year...

Injecting heroin

Zelig · Jul 13, 2005, 02:41 AM

I don't know a whole lot about laser eye surgery... I'd be reluctant to have it done though. I'd first read up about it, and make sure I wasn't going to regret my decision.

I've read a few articles about it harming night vision... but like I said, I don't know a whole lot about it.

Customgamer1 · Jul 13, 2005, 03:05 AM

My Grandma had it done a few times and it works. The doctors are very well trained in it and it goes very quick and for the most part it's painless.

YAYitsAndrew · Jul 13, 2005, 03:45 AM

How long does it last? I don't know much about the surgery.

If you get the two week contacts you can really stretch them (I wear mine for a month or longer, until they bother me). I spend probably around 160-200 a year on contacts.

At your estimated contacts rate, ten years of contacts equals one laser surgery. Make sure you get at least that.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jul 13, 2005, 04:10 AM

You normally only get one eye done!
becouse your other eye is already trained for reading!

Of couse ther is risk you'll go blind if they mess up all the better
reason to do just 1 eye. Then later the other if at all.

How long it lasts? depends some never need anything done again.
But then again I running off info years old!!!!!

It'd be nice but I'm waiting untill it becomes cheaper, more common,
when i can afford it and when my eyes get worse...

Lakevren · Jul 13, 2005, 06:30 AM

Glasses.

They aren't that bad, jeez. Trouble? What trouble? I've been wearing mine for more than 10 years. No trouble except for the rare breaking.

Now contacts, those are work.

Oh and with Laser Eye surgery, if you have astigmatism, forget it. No chance it can be done (or so I heard last time. Don't quote me on that).

Geminiwave · Jul 13, 2005, 07:38 AM

And Lakevren said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakevren

Oh and with Laser Eye surgery, if you have astigmatism, forget it. No chance it can be done (or so I heard last time. Don't quote me on that).

CDsDontBurn · Jul 13, 2005, 10:02 AM

my dad wants to get it done.....and so does my ex-gf (if she hasn't already.....haven't heard from her pretty much since the break up

). but i do hear that the benefits are great, and are worth the risks of getting the surgery done.

in life there are risks, if you don't take them they you will never know the true outcome.

***Veridian3*** · Jul 13, 2005, 12:28 PM

People who get it done on all these makover shows seem to love it so thats always a good start. Out of the hundreds i've seen on those shows i cant remember any where they didnt get a benefit.

I know one "real" person who had it done and they were in pain for days afterwards, really hated it but they are fine now and can still see.

Logla · Jul 13, 2005, 01:00 PM

A few pointers here guys and this is something I feel passionate about because I grew up with my Dad having SERIOUS problems with his eyes.

1. Have you ever noticed that many optitions, eye surgeons (I have seen one or two in my time) wear glasses and haven't opted for corrective surgery.

2. Laser eye correction uses a relatively new technology - do you want to be a guinea pig?

3. I know 2 guys that had it done for cosmetic reasons - one of them now cant drive at night because he suffers from the night light blindness that Zelig mentioned - This cannot be corrected with lenses and certainly not with more laser surgery.
1 guy out of 2 has problems - I dont like those odds.

4. Customgamer1, you mention that your Grandma had it done a few times. Was this done to repair a specific eye ailment such as a cataract.
My dad had a corneal transplant and the lens of his eye replaced at the same time because of a cataract. He has had the new cornea reshaped through the laser treatment to fit his eye. He then had glasses fitted to compliment the corneas new shape. Within 24 months, the glasses have to be changed because his eye has changed shape since the last laser treatment.
Everyone's eyes change shape with things like age so when the eye has been reshaped to work today, who's to say your eye will be the same shape in 5 years time? Just remember that laser treatment works by burning off parts of your eye so it can only be once or twice.

Think long and hard about what could happen.
Think also about what else you could spend that money on.

Asmoday · Jul 13, 2005, 02:52 PM

My girlfriend had her eyes done like 5 or 6 years ago, and she says it was worth every penny.

Sandok · Jul 13, 2005, 03:09 PM

Heard only bad things but that was when the tech was new... Who knows now?

Matth · Jul 13, 2005, 08:59 PM

Remember that the rate of problems is given "per eye", so the chances of having a problem in one eye when both are done, are double the figure quoted.

I am short-sighted, to a considerable degree, but my glasses (plastic lenses, lightweight frames), generally last me until they suffer an accident.

I couldn't be doing with all that fiddling with contact lenses, and having seen a bit of the surgery on a TV program, I so do not want to go there - I'd rather do "Fear Factor!"

YAYitsAndrew · Jul 13, 2005, 09:10 PM

It took me a long time to make the jump to contacts, but I would never go back. It's not a cosmetic change, you regain peripheral vision. With glasses you can only see things if the lens lies between your eye and the object. With contacts the lense moves with your eye so there is no way to look around the contact.

You'll struggle with them for about a month. At first it took me upwards of 20 minutes to get them in, mostly because I was afraid to touch my eye. That time rapidly dropped and after a month I could pop em in without a mirror. Same with taking them out. If you have a problem sliding the contact out try lightly pinching it, that's what I ended up doing when sliding didn't work.

Of course there are the obvious cosmetic benefits (not everyone can wear glasses right) and a confidence bonus.

edit: Oh! And you can lay down easier because you aren't pressing against the glasses frames which can end up hurting you or the frames. Crashing in contacts is bad (they're dry when you wake up), but nothing beats snuggling up with a pillow and being able to see the tv comfortably.

Logla · Jul 14, 2005, 09:42 AM

Can I just mention that sleeping with contacts in is very very bad.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0329132050.htm

Ubergrendle · Jul 14, 2005, 04:18 PM

I can't wear contacts... I have astigmatism which is bad enough that my contacts need to be 'weighted' which never works. Also allergies are bad enough that contacts are impractical in the spring and fall for me.

Long hours looking at a computers screen too leads to eye fatigue...glasses are the way to go for me.

I'd get the laser surgery if I new it would last, had confidence the loss of night vision wasn't a risk, and that there were no long term side-effects. But with a good 40-60 years ahead of me, I'm not willing to take that risk yet.

Too bad, since I'd like to be able to wear non-prescription sunglasses.

TJ- · Jul 27, 2005, 04:53 AM

Went in for the consultation today, ive got 576 microns of eye tissue to spare. Only 70 microns are needed for the laser...

Now they want $4800 even though its $3200 on the net, that doesnt cover medication, theatre costs and other crap needed... I think im going to pass til the price comes down.

nuG · Jul 27, 2005, 05:17 AM

eat a bunch of shrooms. you ll see better than you ever have in your life.

TJ- · Jul 27, 2005, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nuG

eat a bunch of shrooms. you ll see better than you ever have in your life.

Yea i want to see people and cars, houses etc. Not monsters and talking fences like last time...

Jul 13, 2005, 02:08 AM	#1
TJ- DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Infinity Posts: 3,679 Rep Power: 0	Laser [lasik] eye surgery? Anyone here had this done? I got an appointment to get my eyes tested to see if im eligable... Lookin at $3200 for both eyes. But obvisously i dont want to go blind... Lets hear some of your experiences if you have got it done or know someone who has... __________________ new sig comming soon

Jul 13, 2005, 02:29 AM	#2
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	Figure out how much longer you expect to live, might be cheaper to get daily contacts __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Jul 13, 2005, 02:32 AM	#3
Geminiwave I Have lovely Breasts Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In the closet... Posts: 5,395 Rep Power: 64	mmm...I'm considering getting it done. I'm sick of being blind. __________________

Jul 13, 2005, 02:41 AM	#5
Zelig HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 3,187 Rep Power: 71 System Specs	I don't know a whole lot about laser eye surgery... I'd be reluctant to have it done though. I'd first read up about it, and make sure I wasn't going to regret my decision. I've read a few articles about it harming night vision... but like I said, I don't know a whole lot about it. __________________ --

Jul 13, 2005, 03:05 AM	#6
Customgamer1 Fell off the tech wagon Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,273 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	My Grandma had it done a few times and it works. The doctors are very well trained in it and it goes very quick and for the most part it's painless. __________________ Asus Laptop: 2.5 Intel Core 2 Duo, 4gigs DDR 2, Windows 7 64bit! Windows 7 > OSX!

Jul 13, 2005, 03:45 AM	#7
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	How long does it last? I don't know much about the surgery. If you get the two week contacts you can really stretch them (I wear mine for a month or longer, until they bother me). I spend probably around 160-200 a year on contacts. At your estimated contacts rate, ten years of contacts equals one laser surgery. Make sure you get at least that. __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Jul 13, 2005, 04:10 AM	#8
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	You normally only get one eye done! becouse your other eye is already trained for reading! Of couse ther is risk you'll go blind if they mess up all the better reason to do just 1 eye. Then later the other if at all. How long it lasts? depends some never need anything done again. But then again I running off info years old!!!!! It'd be nice but I'm waiting untill it becomes cheaper, more common, when i can afford it and when my eyes get worse... __________________ Last edited by The_Neon_Cowboy; Jul 13, 2005 at 06:36 AM.

Jul 13, 2005, 06:30 AM	#9
Lakevren MedicalEntropy Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: New Jersey Posts: 294 Rep Power: 0	Glasses. They aren't that bad, jeez. Trouble? What trouble? I've been wearing mine for more than 10 years. No trouble except for the rare breaking. Now contacts, those are work. Oh and with Laser Eye surgery, if you have astigmatism, forget it. No chance it can be done (or so I heard last time. Don't quote me on that). __________________ [COLOR=darkorange][COLOR=SeaGreen]Opteron 170 @ 2500 MHZ (In Need of Better HSF)[/COLOR] [/COLOR] [COLOR=darkorange][COLOR=Yellow]DFI LanParty UT SLI-DR Expert[/COLOR] [/COLOR] [COLOR=red]HIS IceQ3 X1900XT @ 680/785 [COLOR=YellowGreen]Corsair XMS Pro DDR 400 1GB[/COLOR][/COLOR] [COLOR=royalblue]CoolerMaster WaveMaster Case[/COLOR]

Jul 13, 2005, 10:02 AM	#11
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,796 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	my dad wants to get it done.....and so does my ex-gf (if she hasn't already.....haven't heard from her pretty much since the break up ). but i do hear that the benefits are great, and are worth the risks of getting the surgery done. in life there are risks, if you don't take them they you will never know the true outcome. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Jul 13, 2005, 12:28 PM	#12
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 5,028 Rep Power: 182	People who get it done on all these makover shows seem to love it so thats always a good start. Out of the hundreds i've seen on those shows i cant remember any where they didnt get a benefit. I know one "real" person who had it done and they were in pain for days afterwards, really hated it but they are fine now and can still see.

Jul 13, 2005, 01:00 PM	#13
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	A few pointers here guys and this is something I feel passionate about because I grew up with my Dad having SERIOUS problems with his eyes. 1. Have you ever noticed that many optitions, eye surgeons (I have seen one or two in my time) wear glasses and haven't opted for corrective surgery. 2. Laser eye correction uses a relatively new technology - do you want to be a guinea pig? 3. I know 2 guys that had it done for cosmetic reasons - one of them now cant drive at night because he suffers from the night light blindness that Zelig mentioned - This cannot be corrected with lenses and certainly not with more laser surgery. 1 guy out of 2 has problems - I dont like those odds. 4. Customgamer1, you mention that your Grandma had it done a few times. Was this done to repair a specific eye ailment such as a cataract. My dad had a corneal transplant and the lens of his eye replaced at the same time because of a cataract. He has had the new cornea reshaped through the laser treatment to fit his eye. He then had glasses fitted to compliment the corneas new shape. Within 24 months, the glasses have to be changed because his eye has changed shape since the last laser treatment. Everyone's eyes change shape with things like age so when the eye has been reshaped to work today, who's to say your eye will be the same shape in 5 years time? Just remember that laser treatment works by burning off parts of your eye so it can only be once or twice. Think long and hard about what could happen. Think also about what else you could spend that money on.

Jul 13, 2005, 02:52 PM	#14
Asmoday Demonic Join Date: May 2002 Location: In the cold, dark north... Posts: 5,198 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	My girlfriend had her eyes done like 5 or 6 years ago, and she says it was worth every penny. __________________ How You can help Hardwareheaven by using Digg

Jul 13, 2005, 03:09 PM	#15
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 0	Heard only bad things but that was when the tech was new... Who knows now?

Jul 13, 2005, 08:59 PM	#16
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	Remember that the rate of problems is given "per eye", so the chances of having a problem in one eye when both are done, are double the figure quoted. I am short-sighted, to a considerable degree, but my glasses (plastic lenses, lightweight frames), generally last me until they suffer an accident. I couldn't be doing with all that fiddling with contact lenses, and having seen a bit of the surgery on a TV program, I so do not want to go there - I'd rather do "Fear Factor!"

Jul 13, 2005, 09:10 PM	#17
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	It took me a long time to make the jump to contacts, but I would never go back. It's not a cosmetic change, you regain peripheral vision. With glasses you can only see things if the lens lies between your eye and the object. With contacts the lense moves with your eye so there is no way to look around the contact. You'll struggle with them for about a month. At first it took me upwards of 20 minutes to get them in, mostly because I was afraid to touch my eye. That time rapidly dropped and after a month I could pop em in without a mirror. Same with taking them out. If you have a problem sliding the contact out try lightly pinching it, that's what I ended up doing when sliding didn't work. Of course there are the obvious cosmetic benefits (not everyone can wear glasses right) and a confidence bonus. edit: Oh! And you can lay down easier because you aren't pressing against the glasses frames which can end up hurting you or the frames. Crashing in contacts is bad (they're dry when you wake up), but nothing beats snuggling up with a pillow and being able to see the tv comfortably. __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Jul 14, 2005, 09:42 AM	#18
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	Can I just mention that sleeping with contacts in is very very bad. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0329132050.htm

Jul 14, 2005, 04:18 PM	#19
Ubergrendle Semper ubi sub ubi Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Toronto Posts: 702 Rep Power: 51	I can't wear contacts... I have astigmatism which is bad enough that my contacts need to be 'weighted' which never works. Also allergies are bad enough that contacts are impractical in the spring and fall for me. Long hours looking at a computers screen too leads to eye fatigue...glasses are the way to go for me. I'd get the laser surgery if I new it would last, had confidence the loss of night vision wasn't a risk, and that there were no long term side-effects. But with a good 40-60 years ahead of me, I'm not willing to take that risk yet. Too bad, since I'd like to be able to wear non-prescription sunglasses. __________________ Veteran of the PC Microchannel / EISA wars of the late 1980s.

Jul 27, 2005, 04:53 AM	Thread Starter #20
TJ- DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Infinity Posts: 3,679 Rep Power: 0	Went in for the consultation today, ive got 576 microns of eye tissue to spare. Only 70 microns are needed for the laser... Now they want $4800 even though its $3200 on the net, that doesnt cover medication, theatre costs and other crap needed... I think im going to pass til the price comes down. __________________ new sig comming soon

Jul 27, 2005, 05:17 AM	#21
nuG is having a sexy party Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: East Coast Posts: 1,779 Rep Power: 0	eat a bunch of shrooms. you ll see better than you ever have in your life. __________________ [COLOR=Black][/COLOR]