LASIK
I finally got around to getting LASIK done. I’ve been wearing contacts for like 10+ years and, while they didn’t bother me all that much, I just think it’s a higher quality of life to be able to see all the time. Without dealing with a contact falling out, getting dry, etc. So I picked Dr Pham in San Diego and I went with the “custom wavefront” LASIK. Whatever that means. It’s supposedly the most advanced form of lasik being done. I was glad to hear that there was no blade involved in the cutting of the flap, just another laser. The whole procedure went pretty smoothly and I wasn’t nervous at any point. That might have been partially due to the Xanax they gave me when I got there but I wasn’t nervous before that either. There was zero pain involved. The whole thing was a little weird (you can’t see anything really when they lift up the flap) but definitely no pain.
If there was anything that was stressful about it, for me, it was that you couldn’t move at all during some periods. Like when the laser is cutting the flap, the technician is counting down from like 25 and the surgeon was just repeating “don’t move” over and over. It is harder than you think to stay perfectly still when you know you need to stay still or else something could get messed up. So that wasn’t fun. But that whole period was pretty brief so it was over fast and luckily I didn’t move.
Walking out of the LASIK center, I probably had like 20/40 vision. I could read things like street signs but they were a little blurry. The surgeon told me to keep my eyes closed as much as possible for the first 6-7 hours and to go home and go to sleep. So that’s what I did. They gave me a valium to take home but I was still pretty tired/relaxed from the Xanax so I just climbed into bed at like 2 PM. I wouldn’t say I had any pain but my eyes didn’t feel quite right. Imagine the feeling of irritated/watery eyes when you’re sneezy and that’s how I would describe the feeling in my eyes. They were basically just watering a lot. When I woke up at 8 PM, the watery feeling was gone and I was seeing 20/20 like nothing had happened (well, except for the fact that I would see nowhere near 20/20 just after waking up normally). Amazingly fast recovery.
I went in for my followup appointment today and he confirmed the 20/20 vision. He said that my eyes were dry (instantly fixed by some drops he gave me) and that there’s a good chance I would improve to 20/15 once my eyes finish healing (they feel fine to me but obviously they aren’t healed yet, it’s only 36 hours later). The only side effect I’ve noticed so far is some slight halos around bright white lights at night. I haven’t tried driving at night yet so I will see soon if that bothers me.
Overall, highly recommended!
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I know you’ve been waiting a long time to get this done so I’m happy for you that it’s over with. It must be an amazing feeling to wake up in the morning and to be able to see without putting on glasses. Glad it worked out so well for you.
Nancy Martin
August 23, 2010
I’m glad it worked out well for you too. Theres a lot of risk involved with laser eye surgery and i assume its true for the type of sugery you had too. Did you come to the same conclusion and decide that you just really wanted it and it was worth ? Or did you not know?
bigdawg
August 23, 2010
From what I read, the risk is pretty small with the type of LASIK I got. Not sure what makes you think it’s high risk. FWIW, it seems like more people get eye damage from wearing contacts long-term than getting LASIK.
Nat
August 23, 2010
Few videos i saw come to mind..
I was thinking of getting it done & this guy put me off it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPfZnFZT7sQ
Heres another by Dr Mercola:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lk_xD_0wPg
I used to wear glasses (a weak prescription) but don’t anymore. I used to get eye pain that i eventually figured out was related to my wisdom teeth coming in. My eyesight is not perfect. If im at the computer all day and dont take many breaks then try to look far into the distance.. its a little blurry and probably cuz im tired. Apart from that my eyes are fine and i don’t get eyestrain etc.
bigdawg
August 23, 2010
Oh i forgot to add that i started eating very well (lots of raw vegetables) and my eye sight improved as well as learning to relax my eyes through palming and learning to recognise when my eyes are being strained then learning to relax them especially at those times.
bigdawg
August 23, 2010
Those were kind of dragging on but I didn’t see anything to say that LASIK is bad except that the first guy had a bad doctor. There are so many people getting LASIK that it seems inevitable that something is going to get screwed up for some people. IMO, go with the latest type of LASIK, go with a good doctor, follow the instructions, etc and you’ll be fine. Like I said, contacts cause damage too. I had overuse problems with contacts and I wasn’t willing to wear glasses all the time.
Nat
August 23, 2010
Ya you’re right contacts & glasses both damage the eyesight further. Thats one of the reasons why i stopped wearing them also but mainly b/c they look pretty bad and i didn’t like feeling dependant on them. I guess the point i was trying to make is that there are alternatives people should look into before jumping into LASIK and these LASIK risks still exist even with good doctors. The other point i was trying to show is that it’s also buyer beware.
bigdawg
August 23, 2010