Comment Worked for me (Score 2, Informative) 1104
I had Lasik 5 years ago, at age 29. Was about -3 sphere in one eye, -3.5 sphere plus about -1.5 cylinder (astigmatism) in the other. Needed glasses or contacts to do most anything, and don't much like contacts.
My wife is an optometrist, does pre-op/post-op care for Lasik (but not the surgery itself -- you need an opthamologist for that), and had interned at a laser eye surgery place and seen it done lots of times. So I had lots of information. Not sure if I'd have done it otherwise.
We went with a doctor she'd worked with, who she knew was very good, and who was willing to cut me a friends-and-family discount. That said, you want the best doctor you can find, not the cheapest. Ask how many times he's done this particular surgery. You want an answer in the hundreds. (Yes, that's somewhat unfair to the young docs, who need to learn on someone -- but let it be someone else.)
Certain characteristics, like thin corneas, make you a poor candidate for the procedure, and increase the risk. Ask.
The Lasik made my right eye perfect, but left a bit (0.25) of residual astigmatism in my left. My "bad" eye is perfectly good for seeing small text on a TV across the room, just not perfect.
The day of the surgery was no fun. Slice slice zap zap then dark glasses. I recovered quickly, though, and was back to work in a couple of days.
Some people have more glare problems at night after the surgery. I don't.
Some people's eyes change over time. Mine haven't noticably. My wife's vision got a lot worse after pregnancy, partially undoing the effect of her Lasik. Some doctors will do free reenhancements.
Everyone gets more farsighted as they get old. Lasik won't fix that. I'm 35 with almost perfect vision, but when I'm about 40 I'll start needing reading glasses for close work. Sucks to get old, but it beats dying. (Some doctors will do monovision Lasik -- deliberately leaving one eye undercorrected so you can use one eye more for close work and the other for far -- but I started nearsighted in both eyes and they won't deliberately overshoot and make you farsighted.)
Overall it was well worth it for me. Send me an email if you need more info.
My wife is an optometrist, does pre-op/post-op care for Lasik (but not the surgery itself -- you need an opthamologist for that), and had interned at a laser eye surgery place and seen it done lots of times. So I had lots of information. Not sure if I'd have done it otherwise.
We went with a doctor she'd worked with, who she knew was very good, and who was willing to cut me a friends-and-family discount. That said, you want the best doctor you can find, not the cheapest. Ask how many times he's done this particular surgery. You want an answer in the hundreds. (Yes, that's somewhat unfair to the young docs, who need to learn on someone -- but let it be someone else.)
Certain characteristics, like thin corneas, make you a poor candidate for the procedure, and increase the risk. Ask.
The Lasik made my right eye perfect, but left a bit (0.25) of residual astigmatism in my left. My "bad" eye is perfectly good for seeing small text on a TV across the room, just not perfect.
The day of the surgery was no fun. Slice slice zap zap then dark glasses. I recovered quickly, though, and was back to work in a couple of days.
Some people have more glare problems at night after the surgery. I don't.
Some people's eyes change over time. Mine haven't noticably. My wife's vision got a lot worse after pregnancy, partially undoing the effect of her Lasik. Some doctors will do free reenhancements.
Everyone gets more farsighted as they get old. Lasik won't fix that. I'm 35 with almost perfect vision, but when I'm about 40 I'll start needing reading glasses for close work. Sucks to get old, but it beats dying. (Some doctors will do monovision Lasik -- deliberately leaving one eye undercorrected so you can use one eye more for close work and the other for far -- but I started nearsighted in both eyes and they won't deliberately overshoot and make you farsighted.)
Overall it was well worth it for me. Send me an email if you need more info.
