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Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery

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Re: Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery

#41

Post by bri3d »

snvzz wrote: post #10
fnands wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anything to look out for for someone considering going for LASIK in the next few months?

Many acquaintances dating decades back to high school days have gone through LASIK. They were lucky enough to be happy at first (not everybody is). Long term, they all regretted it. The statistics agree. I would personally not consider LASIK.

> The statistics agree

Citation? It’s hard to find independent studies on LASIK since it’s big business, which is indeed a good cause for suspicion, but every follow-up survey I can find indicates net satisfaction in the 80-90+% range after 20 years, and the technology has massively improved so I’d expect the rate to go up even more over time.

If we’re doing anecdotes, my father got very early LASIK and is extremely happy he did, over 20 years later his vision is just starting to degrade again and he had only extremely minor halo issues (which are also less prevalent today due to the use of lasers instead of a knife to cut the eye open, leading to less scarring).

I’ve been considering laser eye surgery soon and it seems that all available technologies are decent. Based on my survey, SMILE>PRK>LASIK in terms of outcomes and risk, but SMILE works on a much more limited range of eye issues and PRK requires a somewhat lengthy and uncomfortable recovery period requiring time off work and caretaker support, so LASIK is still a good fallback option.

Re: Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery

#42

Post by Cloudef »

moduspol wrote: post #2

That'd be nice. I had LASIK a few years ago and the number of Windows Vista generic error sounds (BONG BONG) I heard during the procedure was a little unsettling. Ended up working out just fine though, so far at least. EDIT: Given some of the comments below, for reference: mine was done almost six years ago.

I took mine at age of 19, been 13 years now and so far fine. I feel like eyesight during dark is worse than it was during younger age, but during day sight's still good as ever. Operation itself was pretty scary.

Before LASIK i was wearing some pretty heavy glasses, so i think the sight had already hit the worst part.

Re: Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery

#43

Post by SwamyM »

fnands wrote: post #3
moduspol wrote: post #2

That'd be nice. I had LASIK a few years ago and the number of Windows Vista generic error sounds (BONG BONG) I heard during the procedure was a little unsettling. Ended up working out just fine though, so far at least. EDIT: Given some of the comments below, for reference: mine was done almost six years ago.

Anything to look out for for someone considering going for LASIK in the next few months?

This is something I am considering as well, so I am definitely interested in hearing feedback from other users that have gotten LASIK or have looked into it.

If it matters, I have slight astigmatism in both my eyes.

Re: Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery

#44

Post by djoldman »

Getting LASIK never made sense to me given the risks.

Essentially, take a very very low risk of permanent eye problems to not have to wear contact lenses.

I'd rather pay for contact lenses forever, put them in, and take them out every day than risk anything to my vision.

Obviously contacts have risks as well but infinitesimal if used correctly.

Re: Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery

#45

Post by Aurornis »

fnands wrote: post #3
moduspol wrote: post #2

That'd be nice. I had LASIK a few years ago and the number of Windows Vista generic error sounds (BONG BONG) I heard during the procedure was a little unsettling. Ended up working out just fine though, so far at least. EDIT: Given some of the comments below, for reference: mine was done almost six years ago.

Anything to look out for for someone considering going for LASIK in the next few months?

The equipment they use matters a lot.

It's surprisingly automated. The best thing you can do for yourself is call every provider and ask exactly what model machine they will use. As long as the doctor isn't grossly negligent, the one using the most recent and advanced machine will be your best option.

Re: Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery

#46

Post by thfuran »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #16
phyzome wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has some underappreciated side effects, such as reduced night vision. Even if everything else went perfectly, I don't think that's an acceptable side effect for me.

So as a getting-older-over-halfway-done guy, my night vision is already pretty crap. Are you saying it will get even worse?

They reshape an area smaller than a fully dilated pupil, so night vision is affected because you're seeing light that passed through the corrected area and light that passed through the uncorrected area (and the boundary itself might mess things up in a more complicated way). Whether that sort of distortion is "worse" than entirely uncorrected vision is kind of subjective. Also, I think that effect diminishes with age because the pupil stops dilating as fully.

Re: Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery

#47

Post by odie5533 »

djoldman wrote: post #44

Getting LASIK never made sense to me given the risks. Essentially, take a very very low risk of permanent eye problems to not have to wear contact lenses. I'd rather pay for contact lenses forever, put them in, and take them out every day than risk anything to my vision. Obviously contacts have risks as well but infinitesimal if used correctly.

I'm a candidate for LASIK. The upside would be I don't have to wear glasses. But that's just not that big of an upside given the risks.

Re: Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery

#48

Post by odie5533 »

stronglikedan wrote: post #25
tiahura wrote: post #8

Glasses are annoying, and I’m not particularly risk averse, but unless I was completely blind or in excruciating pain, I can’t imagine any scenario in which I would elect to have someone cut, lase, or reshape my eyeball.

For the vast majority of candidates, it's a life changing experience for the better, and well worth the minimal risk. Mine reverted in one eye, but I'm glad I did it regardless and have zero regrets. Just luck of the draw, really.

Who wants to play sand-in-my-eyeballs roulette? If you win you don't have to wear glasses anymore, and if you lose it will always feel like there's sand in your eyeballs.

Re: Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery

#49

Post by clickety_clack »

moduspol wrote: post #2

That'd be nice. I had LASIK a few years ago and the number of Windows Vista generic error sounds (BONG BONG) I heard during the procedure was a little unsettling. Ended up working out just fine though, so far at least. EDIT: Given some of the comments below, for reference: mine was done almost six years ago.

I had it done around 5 years ago. My eyesight was just bad enough that I had to wear glasses/contacts to play sports, recognize people across the street, or read a whiteboard. I hated contacts because my eyes were already on the dry side to start with so they would drive me crazy.

Maybe it’s because my eyesight wasn’t terrible to start with, but I didn’t notice any issues with night vision. I don’t know if I had issues with dry eyes, because like I said they were dry beforehand anyway.

There’s a ton of minor inconveniences that come with glasses that just disappeared, like wearing over ear headphones, putting your head on a cushion when lying down to watch tv, being in a humid/rainy place. I wish I had done it years before.

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