Since booking my appointment for LASIK surgery, reading about the procedure and its possible complications/outcomes has become a minor obsession. I can’t stop learning and reading about it! These are my eyes afterall–the most important sense I have–and the last thing I want to do is do something to them without fully understanding the consequences.
Browsing the internet for LASIK-related information comes in two main forms: praise and damnation. The praise comes from sites advertising LASIK and damnation comes from sites dedicated to people with post-op complications. Thus, it is very hard to find unbiased information. So far, I have found that usaeyes.org has some of the best material and I’ve been learning a lot from that site.
Overall, the main message I’m getting is that, although advertised as such, LASIK is not a quick-fix. The healing process after the procedure is very slow (6-months to a year) and within that time, people tend to experience various irritations such as dry eyes, starbursts (lights at night have stars around them), halos (lights at night have a blurry ring around them), blurriness, double-vision, and others. The first three are the most common and tend to improve as the eyes heal. Other than these possible complications, there are a couple of other outcomes that are on my mind:
1) Right now I can see 20/15 (better than 20/20) while wearing my glasses. It is not likely that I’ll reach this with LASIK. Granted, I can barely see anything without glasses now, but LASIK probably won’t give me the vision I have when I wear glasses/contacts. Is it worth seeing 20/30ish (worse than 20/20 but still acceptable for driving) without glasses or would I rather continue wearing glasses/contacts and see a crisp 20/15?
2) Nearsighted people (can see up close, but not far away) are less likely to have to wear reading glasses when they get older because their eyes are already focused to see things close-up. In this respect, they have a bit of an advantage over people with normal eyes now (who will likely have to wear reading glasses when they are in their 40s+). Once a nearsighted person gets LASIK, this advantage is lost, and they too will have to wear reading glasses when they get older. So, am I willing to wear reading glasses when I age so that I can be glasses-free right now? Keep in mind that by the time I need reading glasses (~20 years), there may be a way to fix that problem.
These are all things that I am strongly considering. My surgery is on December 5, so I have until then to back out. I have to ask myself, is my current situation of wearing glasses/contacts all the time bad enough to risk these other possible issues? When I know, you’ll know. Check back for updates.
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4 Comments
Hi Patrick.
Interesting view on Lasik,I read the post because I myself has been concidering Lasik surgery, I am far sighted and have worn glasses the past 15 years due to my migraines where getting worse, more often and more painful.
My doctor recommended for me to start wearing glasses, so as to ease the strain on my eyes. And there by avoid the frequency of the migraines. Now I would have liked to have lasik surgery to hopefully get rid of the glasses.
IU suppose it would be worth it, since I am already in the 50ish and by the time I would need glasses again, I might not need them, lol.
Susanne
Good luck with the procedure, if you go through with it. I run a web community that’s equally obsessed with sharing cosmetic procedure experiences like lasik. Once you have the procedure, would love to hear feedback on results and was it worth it. Here’s the link to the lasik review form. http://bit.ly/53SH
Don’t you dare have Lasik surgery! It has been nothing but daily misery from day one. I had eye floaters and light incapacitation from day one. I couldn’t focus on my job and eventually lost it. I have had many nights when I haven’t been able to sleep because of eye dryness. This surgery will absolutely ruin your life if it doesn’t work out for you. I wish I could go back and rethink my decision. I heard nothing but positive things from friends and co-workers. It seems like the people with complications aren’t speaking out enough or are placed on the backburner by the Lasik doctors and FDA. Please, please don’t have this surgery. The folks with complications are very real and the complications rates are higher than reported.
I’m very sorry to hear that your surgery turned out that way. In my research before-hand I did come across cases like yours and it made me very worried about getting the procedure. So far, I have dealt with some dryness and halos at night, but they seem to get better each day. Even if it works out great for me, I won’t promote it as a dream procedure simply because I know it can have very negative side affects. I say, if people are not bothered too much by wearing glasses/contacts, then stick with those and don’t risk the surgery.