20/15
I've worn glasses and contact lenses for around 16 years of my life. My vision wasn't terrible...my prescription was something like -4.25 in each eye or so.
After my last yearly eye exam, my eyes hadn't changed at all from the previous year, so that basically made me a candidate for LASIK eye surgery.
I had to go through two exams before the surgery:
The first one they scanned my eyes with all their gizmos and mapped out my eyes. They did a typical eye exam to measure my vision. Then they stuck these little stick thingys underneathe my eye lids to measure my tear production. That part sucked. Finally, they numbed my eyes and tested my eye pressure.
The second exam they dilated my eyes and did a few more tests. Nothing painful, just bright lights. I couldn't read for about 5 hours afterwards and my eyes stay dilated until the next day. I was very light sensitive for a little while thereafter.
Then came the day of the surgery. I was pretty nervous to say the least. The idea of my eyes getting shot with a laser didn't sit too well. But the overall process was completely painless, just very uncomfortable.
With LASIK, a small flap is cut over the outer layer of the eye. It's then folder back, the laser hits you for your prescribed amount of time, then the flap is replaced, smoothed out, and that's it.
The flap creation process was the worst part. A suction ring is placed over your eye ball and inflated, making you lose vision in your eye. Then the machine is lowered on you, placing a pretty good amount of pressure over your eye socket. It took about 25 seconds for the laser to do it's thing. It didn't hurt, but I could almost feel the cutting. Very uncomfortable.
After each eye was done, the table I was laying on swung over to the other laser, preparations were done, and I was shot for 14 seconds in one eye, 11 seconds in the other. Completely painless, just very weird. And it smelled like burning hair or flesh.
When the process was done I could barely see because my eyes were tearing up tremendously. I had to sit in a dark room for about 30 minutes with my eyes closed to ensure the flaps stayed in place. The doc came and examined me, all was good and I was out the door.
I had the procedure on Monday. One day later, my vision is 20/15. My left eye feels perfectly normal, but my right eye sort of feels like there's a little sand in it. The suction burst a few blood vessels so it's a little tender. Doc says this is normal though and it'll go away in a couple weeks.
I've got no less than 6 prescriptions. Numerous eye drops, a few pills and pain relievers. But there's absolutely no pain at all. My vision isn't perfect as of yet though. There's sort of a haze around lights at night, but the steroid drops help relieve this and it should go away over time.
I highly recommend LASIK to anyone. It's an amazing procedure, virtually pain free and the recovery time is very fast.
The best part is, all exams, prescriptions, and the surgery itself were free to me since I'm in the military. I didn't have to pay a dime. :-)
After my last yearly eye exam, my eyes hadn't changed at all from the previous year, so that basically made me a candidate for LASIK eye surgery.
I had to go through two exams before the surgery:
The first one they scanned my eyes with all their gizmos and mapped out my eyes. They did a typical eye exam to measure my vision. Then they stuck these little stick thingys underneathe my eye lids to measure my tear production. That part sucked. Finally, they numbed my eyes and tested my eye pressure.
The second exam they dilated my eyes and did a few more tests. Nothing painful, just bright lights. I couldn't read for about 5 hours afterwards and my eyes stay dilated until the next day. I was very light sensitive for a little while thereafter.
Then came the day of the surgery. I was pretty nervous to say the least. The idea of my eyes getting shot with a laser didn't sit too well. But the overall process was completely painless, just very uncomfortable.
With LASIK, a small flap is cut over the outer layer of the eye. It's then folder back, the laser hits you for your prescribed amount of time, then the flap is replaced, smoothed out, and that's it.
The flap creation process was the worst part. A suction ring is placed over your eye ball and inflated, making you lose vision in your eye. Then the machine is lowered on you, placing a pretty good amount of pressure over your eye socket. It took about 25 seconds for the laser to do it's thing. It didn't hurt, but I could almost feel the cutting. Very uncomfortable.
After each eye was done, the table I was laying on swung over to the other laser, preparations were done, and I was shot for 14 seconds in one eye, 11 seconds in the other. Completely painless, just very weird. And it smelled like burning hair or flesh.
When the process was done I could barely see because my eyes were tearing up tremendously. I had to sit in a dark room for about 30 minutes with my eyes closed to ensure the flaps stayed in place. The doc came and examined me, all was good and I was out the door.
I had the procedure on Monday. One day later, my vision is 20/15. My left eye feels perfectly normal, but my right eye sort of feels like there's a little sand in it. The suction burst a few blood vessels so it's a little tender. Doc says this is normal though and it'll go away in a couple weeks.
I've got no less than 6 prescriptions. Numerous eye drops, a few pills and pain relievers. But there's absolutely no pain at all. My vision isn't perfect as of yet though. There's sort of a haze around lights at night, but the steroid drops help relieve this and it should go away over time.
I highly recommend LASIK to anyone. It's an amazing procedure, virtually pain free and the recovery time is very fast.
The best part is, all exams, prescriptions, and the surgery itself were free to me since I'm in the military. I didn't have to pay a dime. :-)
Total Comments 5
Comments
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Back in the days when I was young lad, I used to have something amongst the lines of 20/15 too. But then it quickly degraded, and now I'm down to -2 on both eyes with astigmatism to a point where I can't wear contacts properly. I've seen lasik get done on someone on TV, and the flapping open the eye part made me want to wear glasses all my life, but the new incision-less procedures look like a great alternative.
I bike a lot, and have glasses just plain sucks. I keep losing them at importunate times, trust me, spinning the other half of a 360 tailtap on a bumpy runway ain't no fun.
Glad your operation went well. Did they mention how much it would have cost if you had to pay it?Posted 08-29-08 at 04:48 PM by max302
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The alternative to LASIK is PRK. That's where they basically remove the outher layer of the eye then zap you, rather than create a flap. The recovery time of PRK is a little bit longer though and you have to stay on meds a little longer. It's suppsoedly a little more painful as well.
The idea of the flaps was almost a deal breaker for me as well but given the recovery time, I decided to bite the bullet. I made the mistake of looking on youtube at LASIK procedures and yes, it's pretty darn gross.
As far as cost, I'm not sure. It might well be under $1000 these days. Just gotta take into account prescriptions as well.Posted 08-30-08 at 09:36 AM by ElMikeTheMike
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I might try it when I'm older, I've got Contact lenses, I think my vision is around the same as what yours was before the surgery, seems like its worth it, Contacts can be annoying to put it every morning and take out when you go to bed.
Isn't there a new type of contact that you wear when you sleep, and it reshapes your eyes so that they start to get perfect vision?Posted 09-28-08 at 02:18 AM by Brutuz 
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^ I've never heard of anything like that.
It's only the cornea that needs reshaping since that is what refracts light into the lens/eye. When it's out of whack, your vision worsens.
While I'm here:
It's been a little over a month now and my vision is still about 20/15. Night driving can be a little troublesome with oncoming headlights and small lights like LED's have a halo/haze around them at night. But, it's definitely worth it. A total increase in quality of living.
Posted 09-30-08 at 09:17 PM by ElMikeTheMike
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how is your vision now? pm the answer :]Posted 03-09-09 at 01:09 AM by phospholipid
