Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or surgery • Hacker News Board

Re: Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or surgery

#21

Post by apt-apt-apt-apt » Mon, Jun 01, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC

OutOfHere wrote: post #17

apt-apt-apt-apt wrote: post #15

There's a niche in TikTok content about corneal neuralgia. People who got LASIK, but the nerves didn't heal right afterwards. The result is permanent, severe eye pain for the rest of their lives.

Yes, Lasik is pretty bad if you think about it. Between that, serious dry eyes, and continued changes in the eye's prescription, it is not a good answer at all.

My prescription recently changed and I would have needed contacts again. Permanent solution to a potentially changing problem doesn't sound good.

Re: Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or surgery

#22

Post by elektor » Tue, Jun 02, 2026, 1:32 AM UTC

StillBored wrote: post #12

I'm surprised that these articles never method Orthokeratology (Ortho-K), which are basically retainers for your eyes and reshape the cornea at night and wear off if not worn regularly. I've considered it just based on that basis for the last 10 years but still haven't done it because I don't know a single person who has.

I think Ortho-K is meant for kids as a preventative solution. It would be too late for us adults.

I also have never actually met someone who has used it.

Re: Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or surgery

#23

Post by SV_BubbleTime » Tue, Jun 02, 2026, 1:57 AM UTC

FriedPickles wrote: post #14

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no case where you need reading glasses and weren’t going to before lasik. That’s a myth and completely unrelated. You need reading glasses because muscles at your eyes lose the ability to pull tight and focus up close. LASIK is a correcting of the lens. Entirely different systems. If you put off lasik because you thought you would need readers, congrats, you could have been seeing sharp at distance this whol…

There are several errors here. When the eye ages, the lens stiffens, effectively decreasing the focal range . For nearsightdness, Lasik alters the cornea and moves the relaxed focal distance outward. It's possible that a nearsighted person wouldn't need reading glasses even as their focal range decreases, but would after Lasik.

I’d love to see peer reviewed large group study for it. Plenty of claims, and never seen actual evidence. There may be some, I’m open minded.

I think bad to the years before lasik and remember the thousands of pairs of readers I saw older people with.

Re: Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or surgery

#24

Post by no-lan » Tue, Jun 02, 2026, 1:08 PM UTC

elektor wrote: post #22

StillBored wrote: post #12

I'm surprised that these articles never method Orthokeratology (Ortho-K), which are basically retainers for your eyes and reshape the cornea at night and wear off if not worn regularly. I've considered it just based on that basis for the last 10 years but still haven't done it because I don't know a single person who has.

I think Ortho-K is meant for kids as a preventative solution. It would be too late for us adults. I also have never actually met someone who has used it.

I got Ortho-K lenses last year, and I'm over the age of 40. Seeing all day long without contacts or glasses is incredible. They're actually better for dry eyes than dailies, as you wear them for less hours