I sometimes wonder about Lasik. But you only have only one pair of eyes. It's weighing a small improvement in daily life vs an uncommon but serious deterioration in daily life. When one of the people who originally approved it at the FDA is saying he regrets it that says something.
Lasik’s Risks Are Coming into Sharper Focus
191–200 of 239 posts
Re: Lasik’s Risks Are Coming into Sharper Focus
#192I had LASIK a little over a year ago and it turned out very well for me, due in part to having a great doctor and due in large part to all of the research that I did before having the surgery. However, one thing I emphasize to everyone considering it is that (despite the marketing) it should be considered a major elective surgery with a possibility of serious complications, and that anyone considering it should weigh…
> I believe that negative outcomes are greater when someone goes to a "patient mill" vs a good doctor
A dangerous belief to propagate without any data, insofar as it again trivializes the risk, i.e. "I'll be fine, I picked a good doctor". What makes a "good" doctor? More expensive? More likable? Nicer offices?
For medically necessary procedures, data can be a bit of a double-edges sword, as it might make some doctors shy away from more difficult cases. For elective surgery, this actually sounds like a win.
Re: Lasik’s Risks Are Coming into Sharper Focus
#193Thankfully others have already pointed out this article's lack of journalistic merit or rigor. As a follow-up, I'd like to state:
I don't wear glasses or contacts anymore thanks to LASIK. After 30 years of squinting, jamming fingers in eyes, staring through fogging/scratched/dirty/broken lenses... I have better than perfect vision each morning when I wake, "naturally", thanks to a quick and near painless surgery. Forget flying cars, THAT is the future, now. It is absolutely life altering. Amazingly good.
Certainly, there is risk. Certainly, not everyone is a good candidate. Selecting a surgeon who is credible and who will say "no" to you is critical. You need to do your homework! How many surgeries have they performed, what is their reputation, are there complaints(how many?), how long have they been established. Price, that is the last, dead last factor. Why save a buck for something you'll do only once and whose outcome is permanent?
I'm not a LASIK shill. I wasn't paid to type this out. I am just really, really happy to be able to see. I can't imagine not getting this procedure done. Having some asshat tell you lies to rile you up or confuse you about the risks or outcomes is a disservice. Both myself and my partner went to the same surgeon, and had both eyes corrected. Both of us have perfect vision and no complications. I'd absolutely do it again.
Re: Lasik’s Risks Are Coming into Sharper Focus
#194I had LASIK a little over a year ago and it turned out very well for me, due in part to having a great doctor and due in large part to all of the research that I did before having the surgery. However, one thing I emphasize to everyone considering it is that (despite the marketing) it should be considered a major elective surgery with a possibility of serious complications, and that anyone considering it should weigh…
> I believe that negative outcomes are greater when someone goes to a "patient mill" vs a good doctor A dangerous belief to propagate without any data, insofar as it again trivializes the risk, i.e. "I'll be fine, I picked a good doctor". What makes a "good" doctor? More expensive? More likable? Nicer offices? For medically necessary procedures, data can be a bit of a double-edges sword, as it might make some doctors…
"What makes a "good" doctor?"
Exactly the crux of the issue- I've only been to one doctor for getting my LASIK procedure, so I'm not sure what the best combination of data points would make a "good" doctor.
For me, I researched all of the doctors in my area, read reviews on many different review websites (specifically paying attention to people who had complications and what they said about the doctor's follow-up attitude), picked a couple of doctors who looked right for me, and then had consultations with each of them.
I also paid attention to which doctors didn't downplay the negatives of the surgery- because some doctors absolutely play up the "it'll be great and it's totally safe and nothing bad ever happens!" and some are way more realistic about it being a major surgery with a serious risk of complications.
Re: Lasik’s Risks Are Coming into Sharper Focus
#195I had LASIK a little over a year ago and it turned out very well for me, due in part to having a great doctor and due in large part to all of the research that I did before having the surgery. However, one thing I emphasize to everyone considering it is that (despite the marketing) it should be considered a major elective surgery with a possibility of serious complications, and that anyone considering it should weigh…
> I believe that negative outcomes are greater when someone goes to a "patient mill" vs a good doctor A dangerous belief to propagate without any data, insofar as it again trivializes the risk, i.e. "I'll be fine, I picked a good doctor". What makes a "good" doctor? More expensive? More likable? Nicer offices? For medically necessary procedures, data can be a bit of a double-edges sword, as it might make some doctors…
I'd also argue that doctors who cannot offer a reasonable standard of care should not be licensed.
Re: Lasik’s Risks Are Coming into Sharper Focus
#196I had LASIK a little over a year ago and it turned out very well for me, due in part to having a great doctor and due in large part to all of the research that I did before having the surgery. However, one thing I emphasize to everyone considering it is that (despite the marketing) it should be considered a major elective surgery with a possibility of serious complications, and that anyone considering it should weigh…
I had LASIK almost 20 years ago, from one of the leading practitioners in the then-fairly-young field, and I scrupulously followed the post-op regimen, yet I still experience noticeable halos and starbursts with lights at night, and my eyes are considerably more sensitive to the sun (I basically can't tolerate being outside in the daytime for any length of time without sunglasses, whereas I never even owned a pair of…
"a reputable surgeon doesn't guarantee lack of side effects."
Absolutely! Side effects are possible for anyone getting the surgery, and like I said in my parent comment (or hoped to say), everyone should weigh the potential pros and cons to decide if the rewards outweigh the risks. For me, I already had terrible night vision (due to my astigmatism) and sensitivity to light, so after reading about potential side effects I determined to go forward with the surgery.
Also, I believe that advances in the LASIK procedure over the years have mitigated a lot of the side effect risks (though not reduced completely), so people getting the surgery today will have less side effects then you did getting the surgery 20 years ago.
Re: Lasik’s Risks Are Coming into Sharper Focus
#197I had LASIK a little over a year ago and it turned out very well for me, due in part to having a great doctor and due in large part to all of the research that I did before having the surgery. However, one thing I emphasize to everyone considering it is that (despite the marketing) it should be considered a major elective surgery with a possibility of serious complications, and that anyone considering it should weigh…
> Articles such as the one here tend to gloss over patient adherence to post-surgery self-care, which is one thing I believe makes or breaks successful LASIK (in my personal experience and from what I have read). This means eye drops on schedule round the clock, antibiotic eye drops on schedule round the clock, eye protection at night for the first week, avoiding dusty conditions for however long the doctor prescribe…
Right, so does that mean the post-surgery care that I was recommended is on the "extremely conservative" end and your doctor was more lax, or does that mean your doctor wasn't as well-read as others, or something else? Like the comment up-thread, how does one pick a good doctor for something like Lasik, which is seen as a minor medical procedure but is absolutely a major surgery?
Re: Lasik’s Risks Are Coming into Sharper Focus
#198I had PRK about a year ago, and I'm very happy to have done so. I wore contacts / glassses for about 35 years prior, and I don't miss them at all. I have experienced some of the post-op complications mentioned in the article, but I'm not a good data point there because of many confounding factors: my age means that I'm starting to experience things (allergies, presbyopia) that would have happened regardless of the surgery.
I wanted to mention something else that I experienced post-op, which is more relevant to HN: anger at websites that don't support zooming! My temporary foray into the world of low-vision web browsing gave me a new appreciation for people who have to experience the web like that every day. If your website's header grows to fill my entire screen as I zoom, I'm not buying anything from you.
Re: Lasik’s Risks Are Coming into Sharper Focus
#199We should also "focus" on preventable myopia, which is so common, especially in Asia (For example, in Korea, 96% of younger population suffered from myopia, which is insane). If I have kids, I will make sure to let them play outside in the sun daily, in order to get enough exposure to the bright sunlight. As for me, I didn't get a lot of exposure to sun when I was in my early teens, when I developed myopia. I should'…
I played tennis competitively as a teen. So that was about 1 to 2 hours a day, every day in the Florida sun. Still developed myopia by the end of high school though. . .
That's why studies look at aggregate data and not individual anecdotes. Individuals vary from the trend.
Re: Lasik’s Risks Are Coming into Sharper Focus
#200As a subscriber I love the New York Times, but like many articles in the Wellness section this is low quality. The article starts off with: >A recent clinical trial by the F.D.A. suggests that the complications experienced by Mr. Ramirez are not uncommon. Nearly half of all people who had healthy eyes before Lasik developed visual aberrations for the first time after the procedure, the trial found. And then five minu…
I don't agree with your logic or conclusions (even ignoring the factual inaccuracies pointed out by others). Those two "observations" you linked are in no way mutually exclusive and it may very well make it the same/better for some people and irreparably worse for others.
Side note: Anecdotally, my late father had the exact same issues as what is presented early in the article. Needed eye drops every 30 minutes to an hour and his quality of life dropped dramatically as a result of lasik.