Ask HN: experiences with Lasik eye surgery (programmers especially)?

I've had Lasik eye surgery about 2.5 years ago.

I had around -2.0 vision in both eyes before the surgery and almost perfect vision right now.

The only complication I have, and will probably be an issue for you as well, is dry eyes. The long hours staring at a screen with almost no blinking combined with the lack of moisture in an air-conditioned office will definitely dry your eyes (For me it happened even before Lasik).

The only thing you should consider is that Lasik is permanent, which means your cornea will always be weaker than before the surgery (The flap never fully heals - http://lasikcomplications.com/flapdislocation.htm).

This can be an issue even years after the surgery, and you should look into alternatives (Like PRK) if you do alot of dangerous physical activity (Full contact martial arts etc.) or any activity that you can get hit really hard in the facial region.

The procedure was rather painless, in-and-out in less than 30 minutes. My eye did tingle a little bit, felt sometimes like little pin pricks, but they were really short lasting. Went back to work the next day.

Make sure you go by the doctors orders to the letter (E.g don't scratch your eyes or the region even if it REALLY ITCHES).

And it obviously changed my life for the better, No need for glasses, my self-esteem went up and i am more confident. And i am not the only one, my experience has affected a couple of close friends and family and gave them the courage to do the surgery themselves, and they have also said it has changed their life.

I would do it; but my eye doctor says basically I'm stuck with either my current near-sightedness, or I could get Lasik and trade it for far-sightedness. Oh well. I don't mind wearing glasses, and being near-sighted means that I don't have to wear them when in front of the computer, which is about 18 hours a day.

Just throwing it out there that even though Lasik is relatively commonplace, there are still surgical risks associated with it.

Back in 2000, my dad had Lasik surgery. There was a complication (I don't recall what, exactly, offhand), and he ended up having to have a total of five surgeries by the time it was all "fixed." Oh, and he still ended up with contacts.

I wear glasses myself, and eventually hope I'll have enough confidence in a procedure to risk it. I'm not telling you not to do it, just be aware that this is a real surgery and involves risk just like any other.

I had the procedure done almost 10 years ago and it has been a pretty positive experience for me. The biggest negative impact has been dry eyes similar to what lockem mentioned. I can't go without eye drops (just generic Visine) in the morning. Also - my night vision has suffered. Be sure to check whether or not you would suffer from these "halos". In low light, bright points of light appear to have a fuzzy halo around them. I really hate driving at night now due to that.

Other than that, it was a good choice for me. The coolest thing was that the doctor purposely over-corrected my vision, so for the first several months I could see clearly at a ridiculous range. In a few months everything normalized and I still have better than 20/20 vision at this point.

One last thing - invest in a nice pair of shades before the procedure if you decide to go through with it.

I'm reposting my comment from here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1883313

I had Lasik surgery 6-7 years ago, and I had a bad experience with it. I went to a highly recommended surgeon in my area. I had the procedure done using a machine that didn't have eye tracking, so I had to look straight ahead and not move my eyes during the procedure. I must have done something wrong because my eyesight had some...issues.

All the visual anomalies they'll warn you about in your consultation (halos and starbursts), I had in spades. They were so bad I had trouble functioning in dark settings. So walking around at night was difficult, watching movies was awful, and so forth.

My vision DID kick ass though otherwise.

My surgeon had me coming in regular to monitor my progress, and when things weren't getting better scheduled a touch-up (all included in the initial cost). After the touch-up, all the problems were resolved, and 6-7 years later my vision is still pretty damn good. I don't need glasses, but my vision took a tiny dip a year after the surgery and maintained the quality ever since.

So with all that said, would I recommend Lasik? Absolutely. First, the technology has come a long way since then. Two, my brother had the surgery the same time I did from the same surgeon, and his turned out fine the first time. Third, having perfect vision is something I'm still thankful for all this time later.

tl;dr - I had Lasik surgery twice. First time gave me problems seeing at night, a subsequent touch-up fixed the problems. I still recommend the surgery, but when they say problems can happen, BELIEVE IT.