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Laser eye surgery - the procedure and recovery


baxus

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To avoid derailing the "Exercise and Fitness" thread any further, I thought I'd open the thread on this matter.



If anyone has any thoughts or stories on the matter they'd like to share, they're more than welcome to.


Also, if anyone has any questions, ask away.





Anyway, hope your recovery is going well! How is your vision, now that it's been a few days post op?




My vision is improving daily.


It's still not at 100% clarity, it's blurry at times and distance of the observed object is irrelevant.


I did manage to watch a Stanley Cup playoff match between Anaheim and Chicago without difficulty and I guess that's good enough for the time being. ;)





I'd like to undergo LASIK in the next year or two. I need to look into the post-op before I decide on timing.





At the hospital where I had my surgery, LASIK is the preferred method because recovery is easier and eyesight gets to 100% faster.


The only reason I went with PRK is because the layer of some protective tissue in my eye (I can hear the medical professionals grinding their teeth reading this and I apologize for causing them discomfort :D) was ~20 micrometers too thin and that ruled me out of LASIK.


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I'm glad to hear your surgery went well.



I have been considering this topic for a while now, as I've noticed my eyesight deteriorating during the last decade - I used to have perfect eyesight at ~15, now at 27 I have about 1 diopter on each eye - yes, people with glasses are probably laughing right now, because that isn't much and I don't wear glasses, except while driving or if I'm attending presentation that I need to observe from far away. But I don't fancy wearing glasses (nor contacts), so eye surgery would be a choice somewhere in the future.



Interestingly enough, today I stumbled upon an article about an eyesight correction method involving artificial lenses. It's still in its development stage, but hopefully it will be on the market by the time I come to need it.


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I got LASIK maybe three years ago. Before that I was around -7.5 in both eyes, which I guess made me a perfect candidate for the newer type of LASIK. I have 20/20 vision right now, a little better even, and I love it. Getting the surgery was a great decision, and the recovery was quick. Besides having to sleep with a protective cover on my eyes for two weeks I was fine the day after the surgery. I think I had it done at like 2pm and I was able to drive into my next day check-up at 8 am with no issues. The only caution I would suggest is listening to the doctors when they are prepping you to see if you are a good candidate. They did multiple dryness tests on my eyes and I was within the normal range, but even still I needed drops for about a year afterwards. For someone with naturally dry eyes it could be a pain in the ass, as my doctor told me of people who still elected to have surgery after being told their eyes were too dry and the discomfort they experience as a result.

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I had Lasek done about two years ago. The recovery was quite painful; three days of basically nothing but lying still in a dark room though the recovery after that initial period was very quick. I went from -2.25 in one eye and -2.75 in the other to 20/20. However, over the course of about a year that improvement regressed and I'm now stable at -1.25 in each eye. Basically, whilst the initial results are almost always 20/20, the eye is a sensitive organ and the way it reacts to the recovery can sometimes cause the final results to not be quite as good.


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I had Lasek done about two years ago. The recovery was quite painful; three days of basically nothing but lying still in a dark room though the recovery after that initial period was very quick. I went from -2.25 in one eye and -2.75 in the other to 20/20. However, over the course of about a year that improvement regressed and I'm now stable at -1.25 in each eye. Basically, whilst the initial results are almost always 20/20, the eye is a sensitive organ and the way it reacts to the recovery can sometimes cause the final results to not be quite as good.

Were your eyes just too sensitive to light initially? Just trying to understand the difference in your recovery compared to mine.

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Lasek and Lasik are different procedures with different recovery times. In Lasik they cut a thin flap before reshaping the cornea whereas with Lasek they remove the whole outer layer of the eye then slide it back into place. I do a lot of contact sports and was advised that whilst Lasek's initial recovery time was longer and more painful, the lack of any cutting meant a reduced risk of future injury.


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Lasek and Lasik are different procedures with different recovery times. In Lasik they cut a thin flap before reshaping the cornea whereas with Lasek they remove the whole outer layer of the eye then slide it back into place. I do a lot of contact sports and was advised that whilst Lasek's initial recovery time was longer and more painful, the lack of any cutting meant a reduced risk of future injury.

My bad misread your initial post.

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My vision is improving daily.

It's still not at 100% clarity, it's blurry at times and distance of the observed object is irrelevant.

I did manage to watch a Stanley Cup playoff match between Anaheim and Chicago without difficulty and I guess that's good enough for the time being. ;)

Well that's good to hear :thumbsup:. What was your prescription prior to surgery? I'm at -4.0 and 4.75 in my left and right eyes respectively.

Liffguard, so Lasek is much more like PRK by the sounds of it. Regressing over a year sounds rough, though.

Really I'm still on the fence about LASIK or PRK. I actually qualify for both, but the formation of that corneal flap has me worried about future complications. Then again, PRK is more painful. Doc said both are safe and heavily researched, so I can't go wrong with either (and said he's comfortable with either). Apparently I have up until the day of surgery to decide.

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Well that's good to hear :thumbsup:. What was your prescription prior to surgery? I'm at -4.0 and 4.75 in my left and right eyes respectively.

Liffguard, so Lasek is much more like PRK by the sounds of it. Regressing over a year sounds rough, though.

Really I'm still on the fence about LASIK or PRK. I actually qualify for both, but the formation of that corneal flap has me worried about future complications. Then again, PRK is more painful. Doc said both are safe and heavily researched, so I can't go wrong with either (and said he's comfortable with either). Apparently I have up until the day of surgery to decide.

My biggest issue was eye rubbing. I used to rub my eyes all the time, and was worried I wouldn't be able to stop after surgery which would prevent proper healing. Thankfully I was able to immediately break the habit.

I guess one benefit of making the corneal flap is they can go back in if your eyes ever regress.

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My prescription in -6.00 in my right eye and -5.25 in the left. Laser eye surgery is something I may consider in the future, but I know very little about it. How good is your vision afterwards? 20/20, or still not perfect? If I end up still needing glasses afterwards I won't bother with it.

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Well that's good to hear :thumbsup:. What was your prescription prior to surgery? I'm at -4.0 and 4.75 in my left and right eyes respectively.

I was at my second check-up today. Doctors took the protective contact lenses out and seemed pleased with the way my eyes healed.

My prescription was -2.5 in each eye.

Hopefully, it will be 20/20 when recovery is done.

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Solmyr,

Artificial implanted corrective lenses have been around for a while (decades), the one you linked to sounds like a new technology, though I'm not clear how it would work for someone with really bad vision. The other kind (that have been around a while) are the only standard surgical corrective option for severe myopia, lasik, prk etc all require a significant amount of constant corrective lens use after the surgery. Also cataract surgery is taking out the lens and replacing it with an artificial one and one that's corrective could be used.

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