Reply to: laser eye surgery

[TimberWolf]

You all must be CRAZY

i have worn glasses since i was about 5 (started off with the big plastic NHS ones) and like most glasses wearer's i have a big fear of anything near my eyes..... i would never get this done unless you could be put to sleep.

I once watched (from behind a pillow) a program about it where they showed you clamping open the eye, making a small cut on the eye and folding back a piece of something, then shinning a laser in it whilst pumping liquid over your eye.

I think the feeling of not being able to blink or the fear of moving my eye by accident and it burning something it should do is a big fat NO for me.

I didn't go through the bullying at school to give up on my glasses now....they are with me for life.

You saw LASIK (flap and ZAP), where the top fifth (approx 0.1mm) of the cornea is folded back, laser energy applied and put back and you're done. Except you now have flaps for life. More popular nowadays is all-laser treatment where the flap is created with a laser rather than a mechanical blade. This too is pretty gruesome to watch (the flap goes white as bubbles form underneath). There are plenty of these videos on the net. With LASIK, aside from a clamp you mention to keep open the eyelids during zapping, a suction clamp is used on the eyeball to keep it steady while the flap is created, and that thing is pretty nasty. It literally sucks.

The other laser alternative are the surface techniques that just reshape the top surface of the eye. Minuscule amounts of material are ablated, perhaps 16 microns or less per diopter being treated.

Even the most basic of laser systems track eye movements, though occasionally you do hear reports of off-centre ablations and I'm not sure how these come about.

[Cooperinliverp00l]

You all must be CRAZY

i have worn glasses since i was about 5 (started off with the big plastic NHS ones) and like most glasses wearer's i have a big fear of anything near my eyes..... i would never get this done unless you could be put to sleep.

I once watched (from behind a pillow) a program about it where they showed you clamping open the eye, making a small cut on the eye and folding back a piece of something, then shinning a laser in it whilst pumping liquid over your eye.

I think the feeling of not being able to blink or the fear of moving my eye by accident and it burning something it should do is a big fat NO for me.

I didn't go through the bullying at school to give up on my glasses now....they are with me for life.

[Paddy]

You are being ripped off at those prices. IIRC an ex-bird of mine had a buy one get one free from boots - about £600.

Yeah and a friend of mine got it done at Boots and they turned up the laser too high and his eyeball exploded. Got a glass eye now,

[TimberWolf]

The thing that puts me off getting it is your eyesight adjusts as you get older, so the chances are you'd need it done again.. and again.

Prescriptions over a 10 year study period have been shown to be pretty stable but the eyesight still changes with age or disease as normal. Also after the age of 40 20/20 vision may not be optimal since you loose the ability to accommodate. After that age it's a compromise whether to have glasses (or contacts) for distance or for near, or increasingly a monocular prescription.

[Board Game Geek]

The thing that puts me off getting it is your eyesight adjusts as you get older, so the chances are you'd need it done again.. and again.

I thought about that too. After all, people who wear normal spectacles still require eyesight tests, and their prescription can change with time.

Now cyber eyes, that'd be cool. I could get my lenses done permanently.

[TheBigYinJames]

The only thing that disturbs me is the number of opthamologists and opticians who wear glasses with prescription lenses in them.

The thing that puts me off getting it is your eyesight adjusts as you get older, so the chances are you'd need it done again.. and again.

[SueEllen]

4 years on, I'm still not blind.
Result

You want the 10 and 20 year epidemiological results published in some medical journal. (They should be able to do 10 year results now.)

The only thing that disturbs me is the number of opthamologists and opticians who wear glasses with prescription lenses in them.

[Cheshire Cat]

I had eye surgery 4 years ago @ optical express on Shaftesbury Ave. £1200 for both eyes. In and out within an hour. Actual procedure took about 5 mins, from going into the "operating room" to coming out wearing some bandages and sunglasses.
Gave me some sleeping pills, went home, woke up next day with slightly "gritty" feel to my eyes, and mild photophobia, but better vision.
The next day, grittiness gone, eye sight much better.
Next day, perfect vision. Photophobia gone too.
4 years on, I'm still not blind.
Result

[diesel]

The only LASIK flap trauma research I saw months ago involved high energy trauma, not high momentum, e.g. a thumb in the eye. Without wishing to be alarmist (since LASIK has many plus points too) the LASIK flap never really heals in a conventional sense. I can dig up references if you like. It heals well enough for most purposes, but I'm dubious about being fit for contact sport. Even with the minimal healing occurring after LASIK, greatest strength isn't achieved for 3 years after surgery. You also effectively loose more of the structural strength of the eye, since even laser clinics aren't allowed to use that in their calculations.

.

You are correct in that it would take a high moving obstacle stuck against the eye to dislodge the flap. I think i would just be concerned about such in my training even when wearing contact lenses. But thats a risk one takes in such sports. I probably have greater risk of doing a back injury or breaking a bone than eye injury. I think if its close contact sports e.g. judo then the risk is even higher. I do aikido and karate and contact is not as close as judo all the time. Although there are a few moves i would properly only do after many months to ensure my eye is totally healed. I found a really good weblink on eye healing rates on google, dont have the link here but will post it when home.
thanks

[Lockhouse]

Scares the willies out of me, I'd rather just continue to pop my glasses on, it's not too hard I hardly ever miss nowadays.

Eyesight is so important, Im not keen to mess about with it based on the advice of those that profit from the procedure.

WHS

My parents both had their lenses replaced in their late 60's due to cataracts - I'll hang on until then thanks.

[TimberWolf]

This can't be right - I've seen adverts on TV quoting £395 per eye.

That's only to get in the front door.

[G8_Summit]

been quoted prices from £2900 to £3900.

This can't be right - I've seen adverts on TV quoting £395 per eye.

[tay]

The wife had LASEK 2 weeks ago.. she was -6.5 in both eyes IIRC.

Went fine, and now she has 20/20

She went to Optical Express in Harley Street, biggest bonus is that they free chocolate bars and SKY tv in the waiting room for me. Bonus!

They seem to have pretty good aftercare, and the surgeon was one of the worlds guru's in it. Venter I think his surname was. Another bonus is that they are pretty strict on who they will treat and while we were waiting, saw 2 people get full refunds as the surgeon decided they were not suitable for treatment. The wife was tricky as she had large pupils and highish prescription, but it turned out great.

[TimberWolf]

Timberwolf, thanks for reply.

I have done loads of net research and talked to a few people who train martial arts and had LAS. They all gone for LASEK. LASEK seems to be preferred choice if one is doing a sport which involves frequent head blows e.g. boxing and prof. rugby. They say after about 5-6mths the flap has made a very secure adhesion to the eye that i will take a severe blow to the eye to dislodge, which is likley to cause other eye damage too. With intralase these days it has reported that flaps have few complications and improved healing than with the blade approach.

I have spoken to 2 clinics and a surgeon who said LASIK is fine. But i am not 100% decided it has to LASIK. I just was not happy with the thought of the longer healing time with LASEK and wearing those contact lenses for several days post op.

thanks again

The only LASIK flap trauma research I saw months ago involved high energy trauma, not high momentum, e.g. a thumb in the eye. Without wishing to be alarmist (since LASIK has many plus points too) the LASIK flap never really heals in a conventional sense. I can dig up references if you like. It heals well enough for most purposes, but I'm dubious about being fit for contact sport. Even with the minimal healing occurring after LASIK, greatest strength isn't achieved for 3 years after surgery. You also effectively loose more of the structural strength of the eye, since even laser clinics aren't allowed to use that in their calculations.

On these and other issues, you might want to take a quick gander at these articles:

LASIK versis LASEK, etc
http://www.usaeyes.org/lasik/faq/lasek.htm

Monovision
http://www.usaeyes.org/lasik/faq/lasik-monovision.htm

Comanagement
http://www.usaeyes.org/lasik/faq/lasik-comanagement.htm

With regard to co-management I had two different surgeons, the second for a re-treatment. It was okay though.

[diesel]

I'd look more into LASEK if I were you, especially since you have an interest in contact sports. Why have a flap you don't need? With regard to the Ultralase lifetime guarantee, I recall feeling at little unsatisfied with it at the time, but don't recall why now. Perhaps it was something to do with it not covering issues such as dislodged flaps or something. Not that that kind of thing happens very often.

Timberwolf, thanks for reply.

I have done loads of net research and talked to a few people who train martial arts and had LAS. They all gone for LASEK. LASEK seems to be preferred choice if one is doing a sport which involves frequent head blows e.g. boxing and prof. rugby. They say after about 5-6mths the flap has made a very secure adhesion to the eye that i will take a severe blow to the eye to dislodge, which is likley to cause other eye damage too. With intralase these days it has reported that flaps have few complications and improved healing than with the blade approach.

I have spoken to 2 clinics and a surgeon who said LASIK is fine. But i am not 100% decided it has to LASIK. I just was not happy with the thought of the longer healing time with LASEK and wearing those contact lenses for several days post op.

thanks again