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Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery

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Re: Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery

#31

Post by tristanj »

amonith wrote: post #7
ekianjo wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what are the reasons to regret it?

Taran (ex LTT member) has an excellent video on it as he unfortunately experiences negative side effects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQDAXSbwhR0 Edit: I misremembered, he got PRK, but he does talk about consequences of both methods.

Taran had very strong myopia, with his eyes at -10.00 and -8.50 before the operation. It's not surprising he's dealing with vision issues like starbursts now. The higher the degree of myopia, the more material in the eye they need to remove, which means a higher chance of side effects.

My friends I know who got LASIK had low/medium myopia and didn't end up with long-lasting side effects like Taran. And the starbursts are much smaller and less noticeable in size.

Re: Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery

#32

Post by BrannonKing »

I had LASIK twenty years ago and have regretted it every day. Before that I had a -2 prescription that was perfectly correctable. I still have a -2. However, in the late evening my vision gets much worse, as the iris expands. And it's uncorrectable. I'll never be able to see stars again. I struggle with large halos when driving at night, and I lost some edge detection abilities. The cause was that the laser used had a smaller diameter than my lenses. The doctor who examined me beforehand mentioned this as a potential problem, but I was so excited to have perfect vision that I didn't listen. Also, I continued programming while healing. I needed a lot more far-sight time, so I'm told.

Re: Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery

#33

Post by khazhoux »

diggan wrote: post #27
moffkalast wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> From the report: "In [FDA] studies, ~15% of patients experienced night vision symptoms that were worse or significantly worse than preoperative night vision symptoms. Approximately 20% of patients experienced dryness symptoms that were worse or significantly worse than preoperative dryness." View complication table from report. Says it right there?

As someone who never had any issues with my eyes, is worse night vision and/or increased dryness something that is considered "life-altering complications"?

Another person posted that they lost the ability to see stars due to visual aberrations. That’s really sad. And it’s not uncommon, apparently.

Re: Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery

#34

Post by raverbashing »

khazhoux wrote: post #33
diggan wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who never had any issues with my eyes, is worse night vision and/or increased dryness something that is considered "life-altering complications"?

Another person posted that they lost the ability to see stars due to visual aberrations. That’s really sad. And it’s not uncommon, apparently.

They also mentioned they ignored potential red flags and didn't follow correct post-op care, so blaming the technique seems like barking up the wrong tree

People seem to google "lasik best prices" then wonder why their experience sucks?

Don't go for the first google links when researching something, avoid sensationalistic BS

Re: Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery

#35

Post by _visgean »

graboid wrote: post #12

Did anyone here do the eye surgery where they make a cut and slide in a permanent contact lens? My eyes are too bad for lasering, but this method would apparently still work. The doc tried to sell it to me as the better method irrespective of how bad your eyes are, since it is reversible (you can remove the lens).

My mum had it and she is quite happy with it.

Re: Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery

#36

Post by assimpleaspossi »

My wife and I had lasik in 1998 or 1999. My vision before then was 20/200. I still have 20/20 in one eye and 20/40 in the other. The reason for the disparity was on purpose. It allowed me to be able to read without reading glasses until a few years ago when my close up vision got worse.

I've had no issues whatsoever in all these years except a slight increase in the halo effect at night just recently.

My doctor was one of the early researchers in lasik and still does the procedure today.

We paid $2500 per eye.

Re: Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery

#37

Post by raverbashing »

mgrandl wrote: post #13
ekianjo wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what are the reasons to regret it?

There is no way to prove it, but I am pretty sure I developed Keratoconus due to Lasik.

Because most likely that was only the trigger

Keratoconus has a strong genetic component. And should have been screened (using the corneal scan) prior to surgery

But of course a surface that is frail is going to become more frail after surgery

Re: Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery

#39

Post by khazhoux »

raverbashing wrote: post #34
khazhoux wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another person posted that they lost the ability to see stars due to visual aberrations. That’s really sad. And it’s not uncommon, apparently.

They also mentioned they ignored potential red flags and didn't follow correct post-op care, so blaming the technique seems like barking up the wrong tree People seem to google "lasik best prices" then wonder why their experience sucks? Don't go for the first google links when researching something, avoid sensationalistic BS

The question had nothing to do with that. It was whether LASIK can have life-altering complications. The answer is Yes.

But to your point: I will assume the HN who posted here was smart, and that the procedure was performed by a licensed professional within a standard risk profile, using equipment that was functioning as expected.

Re: Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery

#40

Post by kettleballroll »

diggan wrote: post #27
moffkalast wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> From the report: "In [FDA] studies, ~15% of patients experienced night vision symptoms that were worse or significantly worse than preoperative night vision symptoms. Approximately 20% of patients experienced dryness symptoms that were worse or significantly worse than preoperative dryness." View complication table from report. Says it right there?

As someone who never had any issues with my eyes, is worse night vision and/or increased dryness something that is considered "life-altering complications"?

As others have said, it depends. What is weird to me is that the citation doesn't state whether these side effects are permanent. I also had LASIK, and did experience severe dry eye afterwards, but it went away within a month or two. I still have halos/bad vision at night, but I don't consider it life-altering. I would have the operation again in a heart beat.
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