My Experience with LASIK Eye Surgery
Prompted by yet another comment from Steve of Pinnacle Trade Show Displays, this time on my product review of Improve Vision, I decided to relate my experience with LASIK eye surgery.
What exactly is LASIK eye surgery?
I don't want to go into too much detail about what it is since there's a pretty good page about it at Wikipedia, appropriately titled "LASIK".
As I've mentioned before, a corneal suction ring (sometimes called a speculum) is used to hold each eye open one at a time while the surgery takes place. The eye doctor, called an ophthalmologist I believe, cuts a flap that is folded back toward the forehead. The laser is used to burn away a microscopic layer of tissue from the cornea and then the flap is reattached. Don't ask me what the flap actually is — I only know that it covers the cornea.
Eye Surgery Fears
In the case of LASIK surgery, the fears are justified. Any sudden movement while the laser is operating can cause irreversible eye damage. It's incredibly important to know the history of the doctor who's going to perform the surgery before you commit. Some things in life can be fixed if an error occurs. Eye surgery isn't usually one of them.
Not everyone is good candidate for LASIK eye surgery. I was over 40 years of age when I had mine and I was cautioned about the drawbacks beforehand. The doctor explained everything thoroughly while my eyes were being initially examined and before I made the decision to go through with it.
The first requirement for LASIK surgery is that the cornea has to be thick enough to have tissue that can be reshaped. My corneas were plenty thick enough, possibly due to wearing contact lenses for 20 years which also helped to keep my eyes from getting worse. When you wear eyeglasses, the prescription almost always gets stronger as you age. My contact lens prescription never got any stronger.
One of the drawbacks of LASIK surgery can be the loss of near vision (for reading and such). I could never read without contacts prior to the surgery, so it wasn't an issue. Fortunately for me, it has had no effect on my reading ability. In fact, I read more now than I ever did.
My Experience
My wife was in the waiting room and watching the surgery take place on a monitor. She told me she a very hard time watching because she was afraid something would go wrong. Here's how it went:
I was placed on an operating table below a huge laser device of some kind. Don't ask me to describe it because I don't remember. The first thing the doctor did was to swab both of my eyes with a numbing solution so that I wouldn't feel anything.
He then put the corneal suction ring on one of my eyes and I don't remember which eye was first. Because of the pressure, that eye couldn't see anything for a second or two. Once in place, the eye was completely immobile and as long as I didn't shake or anything, all was well. I didn't shake. Trust me — I did everything I could to relax and remain motionless. Between individual eye surgeries, my left leg started shaking on its own and the attending nurse did something to make it stop and I don't know what she did other than to hold it still for a moment or two.
The next step was cutting the flap on the eye and folding it back. My vision went from bad to non-existent immediately. All I could see was a blur above me. After he did some preparation, the eye doctor told me it would take no longer than 30 seconds (I don't remember the specific time he quoted) for the laser to finish its job. He told me to stare at the light on the laser and then it activated.
Have you ever burned the hair on one of your arms? That's exactly what I smelled as the laser burned the tissue of the cornea. By the time I realized what the smell was, it was over. The next couple of minutes were spent reattaching the flap and bathing it with some solution. There were no stitches or any of that nonsense involved. Once that eye was done, he moved to start working on the other eye.
The entire procedure, for both eyes, couldn't have lasted more than 20 minutes and that includes the preparation time and the follow-up. He had me read an eye chart immediately and it was crystal clear. Now, I was required to wear some dark glasses because of the light sensitivity until the next day, but I ended up wearing them for about a week. I also had to use special eye drops to promote the healing of the eyes and "artificial tears" until the healing was complete.
Because of my age, it took longer than they expected for my eyes to completely heal and adjust. I had more than the 4 allotted follow-up visits, but they didn't charge me anything extra.
My Eyes Today
I attribute living in the high humidity of the tropics to being able to see at 20/20 vision most of the time. My vision fluctuates, and I can tell, between 20/10 and 20/40. It all depends on how long I've been staring at the computer, how much reading I've been doing and how much sleep I've had.
It's a far cry from my life prior to LASIK surgery when I had 20/400 vision in both eyes and required either thick eyeglasses or strong prescription contact lenses. The surgery cost me $1,800 at the time and I think it was worth every penny. The cost depends on how bad your eyes are to begin with. Mine were really bad.
If you're thinking about having LASIK surgery performed on your eyes, there's nothing I can say to make your decision any easier. I can't recommend or not recommend that you do it. I can only give you advice. Do your homework before you make any kind of decision.
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RT, wow, that was fast!
Nicely written, and thanks for the nod. I'm probably glad I'm not a candidate (being far-sided) as I can be a bit indecisive. Based on that eye picture you selected and your blow-by-blow description, I'd have a hard time risking my eyes, even though it sounds like it's 99% safe, and I'd love to have good vision without glasses or contacts.
Amazing how fast it is, and what a difference it can make. ~ Steve
I'm still undecided, after researching and talking to a few who have gone through it, and now your story. I am pretty blind without glasses, but operations are almost a phobia for me. Getting rid of the glasses would be nice though.
I was unaware you might need glasses for reading. I understand there are 2 different proceedures, one with the flap you mentioned and one without, that involves much more pain but even less risk. I have also talked to one person who only got one eye done at a time, in case the first one didn't meet expectations.
The risk during the operation is still the same, regardless of the procedure. You have to be relaxed and able to remain still for at least a minute.
The flap isn't an issue really. The cornea is what takes the time to heal. After all, it gets burned!
Well, it sounds scarier than it might be, but I'm not going to take risk.
I do have short-sight, but wearing glasses has been a part of me since childhood so I'm not worried too much about that.
Also do they do this surgery with general anaesthetic if the patient feels really scared/uncomfortable?
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No, Hari, they do not. An anesthesiologist is required for that.
Yah, i just had an eye appointment, and my prescription for contacts changed by .25, so he said i am not a candidate yet, i have to go a year without it changing. But, I am still young, almost 25.
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Yeah, your surgery cost $1,800 was worth every penny, it is very cheap. I've heard that if I want treatment abroad for LASIK surgery, I should consider South Africa as a medical tourism destination. Any feedback out there?
I am glad this worked out for you, I am thinking about having this procedure done but have been worried that something could go wrong. My vision they tell me is not bad enough for LASIK, but I have to wear glasses so to me that is bad enough. Anyway thanks for the inspiration !
LASIK eye surgery is risky operation.If you don't treat yourself by prof. surgery you can be blind.Please take care.
My age and experience with lasik sounds very similar to yours though I had a lot more fear than you did I bet. I'm glad to hear it worked out well for you and that you're happy with your decision. Thanks for sharing your story!
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I had LASIK last year and it worked well. The worst part was when they opened the cornea. My eyes are watering now thinking about it. It took a few months for full recovery but now I'm 20/20.
Just on the note were u say "it took two months for recovery, now im 20/20", I would like to know how that came about.. I just had lasik done on both eyes yesterday (31/8) and when i went today for a follow up he said ur vision is a fraction off the margin..He said, it takes two weeks or so for a solid recovery to occur, but now im kinda worried.. What do u think..?. Question. Was their a difference with what you saw day two as opposed to day 15?
Don't you dare have Lasik surgery! I am permanently damaged by debilitating eye floaters, eye pain, and light incapacitation. This surgery is not worth the risks. The Lasik doctors are your buddies until you sign the consent form. They don't care what the outcome is after they get your money. It is a sick industry fueled by lies, hype, and marketing. The patient is not protected by the law or the FDA. This surgery is still experimental and should be reserved for guinea pigs!
LASIK surgery is quite remarkable. My partner Dr. Grossman does co-management with ophthalmologists locally, and with the latest equipment he cannot even see that the cornea was "operated" on.
LASIK is not for everyone though, and it is important to get a good evaluation first. Some after problems can include chronic dry eyes and possibly an increase in eye floaters.
It is also possible to maintain strong vision through diet, nutrition and daily eye exercises. For a free copy of Dr. Grossman's eye exercise booklet, go to http://www.naturaleyecare.com
I am thinkinf of going for laser surgery as i have myopia. Meanwhile I am rather young (23), and from what I have read it is recommended to wait till your vision is stable before going for the surgical procedure. Nevertheless I'll continue reading information on it, to prepare myself for it
Happy to hear that all went fine for your wife as I guess everyone is in a certain manner afraid of having a bad surgery and complications afterwards and is therefore relieved to hear that others had it without any issues!
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I could never ever go through that surgery for the life of me. I can't even put contacts in. Reading about the procedure almost made me pass out!
This is a great story of how the LASIK surgery can really make a huge difference in people's lives. I'm really happy that you had such great success with the surgery, but for many people the cost of this surgery is just too high, hence they need to wear eyeglasses or contact lenses, which have come a long way and are now much more comfortable and stylish from when they were first introduced. Thanks for the great story!
Thanks for the great story glad to hear you had so much success with the surgery, but many people still can't afford this surgery so contact lens and eyeglasses manufacturers need to keep producing more comfortable and stylish vision correction products.
I would be interested to know how your eyes and vision are now doing post surgery.Would you still recommend it?
Thanking You
Dominic
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Interesting account of your experiences. I think it is always really helpful to document this medical procedure as much as possible. In this way you can enable folk who are seriously considering the treatment to make as informed a decision as possible.
Thanks for your contribution.
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LASIK surgery is a hard choice to make. I'm glad to see that your surgery came out successful.
i heard that LASIK surgery is not hundred percent, but i still encourage my friend to go for it for better eyesight.
RT, thanks for sharing.
I've been somewhat interested in the surgery as well considering I'm only 22 right now and already needing glasses when working on the computer unless I want to deal with migraines.
And it really isn't all that expensive especially when you compare it to other surgeries that you can have that require a hospital stay and very long recovery times. I'm still on the fence though and waiting to see if my vision will get any worse. As long as I wear my glasses it doesn't seem to have gotten any worse but I'm not holding my breath.
Yikes, I felt a strange tingling in my stomach reading what you went through. Even though it's nothing like surgery, it still brings that tingling in my stomach whenever I read about or visit doctors.
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