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Many LASIK patients may wind up with glare, halos or other visual symptoms
- olliej 10y agoUh, yes? These are known and common side effect and has been for years. How is it news?
- jamesgeck0 10y agoThe news is that they may be more common than previously thought.
- neilc 10y agoFrom TFA: > The results [of a previous study], published in October 2014, showed that some patients developed problems that adversely affected their day-to-day lives, such as difficulty driving at night or in sunshine. But it was such a small number — less than 1 percent — of the patients in the study. > On Wednesday, the group released a follow-up report in JAMA Ophthalmology that provides more sobering information. The study suggests that the percentage of people who undergo LASIK and wind up with new visual symptoms — such as double images, glare, halos or starbursts — may be much higher. > One interesting component of this study was that the survey showed that the percentage of people with symptoms may be much higher than what has been previously reported in studies involving direct interviews with health-care professionals.
- PaulHoule 10y agoThere is a new study that has quantified the effects better.
- edgesrazor 10y agoI had it done nearly 10 years ago and ever since, my eyes are much more sensitive to light and I do see halos around lights at night. That said, I'd still have it done again without a second thought - the benefits for me far outweigh those drawbacks.
- anmilo 10y agoAgree, I did mine around 8 years ago, and I have halos around street lights when driving at night. I'm absolutely still glad I did it, and I would do it again if/when my eyes ever get worse someday.
- Tharkun 10y agoI've seen halos for as long as I can remember. Never had any eye surgery of any kind, and doctors tell me my eyes are fine. It's kind of annoying, but no big deal. Wish I knew what caused it though.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- sinneduy 10y ago> glare, halos or other visual symptoms As someone with LASIK, I'm not actually sure what these mean.... My gut reaction to reading this is, "Wait... do I have those?" That being said, I do think its fair to say that we haven't studied the potential side effects of LASIK as much as you'd like to, but the fact remains that in doing so, you are accepting that there are risks. If the risks aren't worth it to you to remove your eye impairments, then don't get LASIK?
- dandelany 10y ago> If the risks aren't worth it to you to remove your eye impairments, then don't get LASIK? Erm... obviously. Hence why it's important to run studies like this to understand what the risks are.
- keepper 10y agoAnd this is why I bit the bullet, and went for the longer healing, but less side effect Lasek[1] (although this applies to PRK as well) It was a "fun" 3 weeks of healing ( versus 1-2 days for lasik ), but PRK based procedures have substantially less of these side effects. edited: to note that i had lasek done. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorefractive_keratectomy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorefractive_keratectomy
- amenod 10y agoDifference: http://www.lasereyesurgeryhub.co.uk/lasik-vs-lasek-vs-prk/ http://www.lasereyesurgeryhub.co.uk/lasik-vs-lasek-vs-prk/ EDIT: did you get PRK or Lasek?
- keepper 10y agoYea, I had Lasek ( although from what i understand, there's even quite a bit of variations of what is defined as "lasek"). Local Dr in NYC is a huge proponent of it, and well, went for it. ( he's unfortunately known for his "odd personality traits", but as a doctor, he's top notch... ) re: recovery, I think 3 weeks was the time I felt OK enough, and better than i ever did with contacts/glasses. It definitely was a months long recovery.
- rosstex 10y agoWhat kind of recovery symptoms did you experience?
- enjo 10y agoThe most painful week of my life was the week following PRK. Constant scratching and burning in my eyes. In the end my vision never came in properly. I have halos and slightly blurry vision, but the experience (almost a decade ago) was so painful that I refuse to get it fixed. Hugely regret it.
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- yladiz 10y agoWhat do you expect when a laser cuts into your eye? Joke aside, I'd like to know not just that these things happen but if the person who is experiencing these issues is more or less happy compared to before the corrective laser eye surgery. There are always potential complications to surgery but often times the outcome, including the complications, are positive for the patient. I know one person who needs to rest their eyes as it gets later in the evening/night because their eye apparently swells or is noticeably more difficult to focus due to the way the surgery happens but is generally okay otherwise (my understanding is that the laser cuts a flap under the iris or some part of the eye near the pupil and that cut may not always heal properly, leading to various issues).
- officialchicken 10y ago> What do you expect when a laser cuts into your eye? Technically, it's a femtosecond laser that's sculpting the surface of the lens of your eye using ablation (i.e. pulse of laser light disintegrates an area the diameter of laser). A "3d scan" of your eye (tomography) done prior to surgery is done while sitting to create the surgical plan. But the lasik procedure is performed while laying down. And since the shape of your eye is a lot like a water balloon... the shape of your eye changes between sitting and standing. A more accurate surgical plan / tomographic profile could (in theory) lead to better patient outcome simply by having both procedures done while standing.
- cosmie 10y ago> I'd like to know not just that these things happen but if the person who is experiencing these issues is more or less happy compared to before the corrective laser eye surgery. I had PRK done a few years ago (my prescription was too strong and my eyes dilated too widely for LASIK). Before I had that done, I had a strong astigmatism and nearsighted in both eyes. It was bad enough that it was "surgeon's discretion" whether or not to perform the procedure - the ophthalmologist doing all of the prep visits warned me several times that the surgeon may refuse when he reviewed the file. I've got almost all of the lingering issues the article mentions, plus a few more. The most annoying is a muscle-memory tendency to "hyperfocus" when I look at objects at certain depths of field, like my eyes used to do in order to compensate for the nearsightedness. It's usually imperceptible as it corrects itself immediately, but it stumps autorefractor machines and the eye muscle fatigue causes headaches. I'd still get it done in a heartbeat. My alternative was a world of semi-clarity that had a ~2ft radius around myself, that very rapidly devolved into a world of multi-colored blobs as the world around me blended together. Without glasses, I couldn't see or do much of anything; I had them on from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep. The ever present anxiety of "does doing that risk my glasses/contacts" (particularly anything water or beach related) and "do I have enough backups" was stressful. Stress that I didn't even notice until, about 3 months after my surgery, I realized I hadn't so much as thought about my vision for weeks. I just took it for granted I could see stuff. Sometimes I'd see it with halos, sometimes I'd see it with a bit of glare, but I could damn well see it. In HN speak: Think of glasses/contacts as a critical external dependency to your system, one which you have no control over. If it goes down your whole stack goes down until it comes back. Your entire system will be exhaustively and defensively designed to ensure the stability of that dependency. You're so busy protecting that dependency that you never get around to adding new features that might, possibly, somehow cause that dependency to go down. LASIK/PRK gets rid of that external dependency at the cost of a few mild (but known) exceptions that you may have to handle. tl;dr: 10/10 would do it again
- whatever_dude 10y agoResults may vary. But I had it about 10 years ago and while the glare/halos are noticeable (especially at night) they're a very minor thing. Would still have done it.
- RantyDave 10y agoTell me about it. I'm stunned what a hugely amateurish pastime lasik turned out to be. One of my eyes was an entire diopter out and had to be reworked. I get nasty kinda splodges at night (a mere halo would be delightful). And had someone told me my view of the night sky would be ruined forever I might've thought differently about it.
- Yhippa 10y ago> And had someone told me my view of the night sky would be ruined forever Due to halos around celestial objects? I've never thought about that aspect and is a very good point.
- ajkjk 10y agoI got LASIK as soon as I could pay for it after getting a decent software job out of school. Found contacts pretty annoying and wasn't interested in wearing glasses full-time. I think it was a holdover insecurity from childhood, associating glasses with being a 'nerd' -- I had worn them since 2nd grade. By the end of college I still didn't like the way my glasses looked on me and avoided wearing them whenever possible. It's been a few years since the surgery now. The side effects are minor. My night vision has degraded somewhat: halos around lights can make depth-perception while driving slightly difficult, and I can't distinguish shapes in the dark as well. Not a big deal, mostly just slightly annoying when camping. But I now realize that I miscalculated. I've become somewhat more fashion-conscious since college and now see that it would have been much easier and more cost-effective to actually find some glasses that made me look good. If I knew what I knew now about 'looking decent' I wouldn't have done it.
- Jayschwa 10y agoYou could wear glasses that don't refract? I have some friends who do that, and I've considered the same.
- gwbas1c 10y ago> The side effects are minor: my night vision has degraded somewhat: halos around lights can make depth-perception while driving slightly difficult, and I can't distinguish shapes in the dark as well. Not a big deal, mostly just slightly annoying when camping. Strange, I have those same side effects from getting older! That happens to everybody with age. I look forward to the day that I can stick some stem cells in a vat, come back in a month or two, and have some brand-new eyeballs.
- Hydraulix989 10y agoI just got custom wavefront LASIK done at Stanford, and I'm very happy with the procedure. Yes, I see halos at night, but they are "there" -- they don't bother me at all. If anything, it's like the overused HDR bloom effect in video games in 2005. I can still see and drive perfectly fine at night. They're also going away. It's been a week since my procedure, and they have been going away every day. It can take 3-6 months for vision to stabilize. I didn't want to wear glasses, and now I don't, and I'm happy.
- nitrogen 10y agoThat sort of happens when first wearing glasses, too. I think it's like an unsharp mask filter applied by the brain to compensate for blurriness, which it has to unlearn over time.
- Jayschwa 10y agoI wonder how this compares to similar, but different procedures. I had PRK done 7 years ago, and it was probably the best $4000 I ever spent. It went perfect for me - no new issues. However, I did it one eye at a time, just in case! PRK differs from LASIK in how the top layer of the cornea is removed. In LASIK, a flap is cut and peeled back, then put back in place at the end of the procedure. In PRK, the top layer is scraped off and has to grow back in, a process that takes several weeks and can be somewhat painful.
- goeric 10y agoSomewhat painful? Try the most miserable four days of my life (not sure where several weeks came from but mine only took four days). I had LASIK in one eye and PRK in the other (not as any sort of test, there were medical reasons, I would have preferred to have LASIK in both). The LASIK eye took roughly four hours to heal to point of no discomfort and the PRK eye took four days. My PRK eye sees about 20/15, and my LASIK eye sees about 20/20. I would 100% do it all over again if given the choice.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- DannyBee 10y agoI'm really interested to understand which of these have just had spherical correction models applied (ie non-wavefront). Given that most of these in the article are higher order effects, it only makes sense that if you simply ignore higher order error, you get bad results.
- RandomInteger4 10y agoBetter than being blind. My dad had been just letting his cataracts go, since he's the stereotypical stubborn person who doesn't like to go to the doctor till it's too late. So, one morning he woke up and panicked because he was effectively blind. He somehow managed to get a hold of my sister (I was away from home; she lived in the same neighborhood luckily) who helped him get an appointment for LASIK. Long story short, he ended up with nearly 20/20 vision afterwards.
- woofyman 10y agoHuh? LASIK isn't a treatment for cataracts. The surgeon removes the lense and implants an artificial one. https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-cataract-surgery https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-cataract-sur...
- RandomInteger4 10y agoWell, fuck. I stand corrected. My Dad says shit that he makes up in his own head by reinterpreting what others have told him and I just believe him without bothering to verify unless I know it's incorrect; and even then sometimes I just don't bother. For instance, in this case he probably saw or heard the term LASIK so much by advertising that it just stuck in his head and he glazed over whatever the doctors were telling him when he went in, and he's been repeating that same thing ever since. I believed him, because I don't have eye problems and was never curious enough to look further. Shame on me.
- Grishnakh 10y agoWhat your dad got is an IOL: intraocular lens. These things are pretty amazing these days; they can correct myopia and astigmatism, eliminate cataracts, and eliminate the need for reading glasses too because the new lens is focus-able (in the ones that are "accommodating"). I'm thinking of getting these in 5-10 years, since I'm just starting to have problems with reading now; by that time, new artificial lenses will be a perfect solution to my eyesight problems I can expect to have at that age. Your dad sounds like one of these annoying non-technical people who hears one technical term (e.g. LASIK) and then applies that in blanket fashion to anything remotely related. He probably calls Android phones "iPhones", and he probably calls laptop computers "iPads", and he probably calls the Internet "AOL".
- anexprogrammer 10y agoReports of this, and having a friend suffer from similar effects after laser eye surgery years ago, have always kept this as a "look again in a few years" thing for me. As I've aged, my prescription has got stronger (I'm long sighted), and I've realised these effects can be caused by stronger spectacles too. Long term contact lens use can also commonly cause symptoms. With hindsight I wish I'd just gone ahead in my 20s or 30s!
- dumbfounder 10y agoI got Lasik about 7-8 years ago and they said I could have issues described in the article for several months and in some cases it could affect your night vision for a few years (which it did). The symptoms subsided over a few years. My vision is now awesome. Were other people warned of these potential (temporary) issues?
- Axsuul 10y agoI had a great outcome, dare I say ideal? Knock on wood... I got Wavefront LASIK more than a year ago and it feels like I was born with perfect vision -- I seriously have no side effects. Seriously, what are halos? I couldn't describe it to you even if I tried. The first few months were pretty dry (to the point where I had headaches) but that eventually subsided. If you're in the market for LASIK and actually do your due diligence, it's pretty common to see people who are dealing with side effects. My advice is to (1) don't cheap out and feel comfortable with your doctor, and (2) adopt a healthy lifestyle to let your eyes heal. LASIK was one of the best investments I've ever made. I think most people who've had the procedure will say the same.
- thegavsie 10y agoThis is me. I had LASIK in a highly rated surgery in London about 18 months ago where the care and after care was exceptional. I had halos for about 1 month after, but that was it. My eyes were dry for a week or two, but again they soon went back to normal (I recommend Blink drops - amazing). I was left with 20/12 vision and couldn't recommend having it done more.
- bbayles 10y agoI got my eyes fixed with LASIK a while back. I noticed glare and halos for a while, but they subsided. Overall I've been very satisfied with the how it went. I wish that more medical procedures worked this way.
- ygra 10y agoWhat makes LASIK differently from other medical procedures? Don't those work, too?
- bbayles 10y agoI've never had a medical procedure work like this. The office was transparent and prompt about everything. Every other encounter with the U.S. medical system I've had has been a confusing mess. When I first visited the office they went over why I might not want to do the procedure. Once they confirmed I was still interested, they did human and machine measurements and tests of my eyes, and showed me the results and told me what they meant. They took care to explain their error correction procedures. After they'd done their tests they told me what the procedure would cost and scheduled it right away They explained what I'd need to do after the procedure (eye drops and followup visits) and what that would cost. The day of, they saw me promptly. They did more verification, and then the procedure. They made sure I understood my instructions for post-op care (correcting my misunderstanding about some eye drops). The procedure cost what they said it would, and at each followup appointment I was seen promptly and kept in the loop about my status.
- glenra 10y agoLASIK is purely mechanical and generally well-understood and the improvement is directly measurable and involves applying a particular fix and then you're done. Dentistry can be like that too. As can some orthopedic stuff like setting a broken bone or replacing a hip. But most of the rest of medicine isn't like that. Suppose you have high blood pressure or low blood pressure or balance issues or cancer or joint pain or acid reflux or arthritis or a lack of energy or are overweight. Doctors can give advice and prescribe treatment for any of those but most of it doesn't work very well. The best case might involve continuously taking pills and changing behavior for the entire rest of your life. There's very little where the doctor says "just do this one thing, let me turn this knob over here, and you're all better." In a lot of cases they can't even tell what's wrong, much less how to fix it, much less precisely how much it's going to cost to fix it. In large part because LASIK is optional and usually not covered by insurance, it tends to be a FAR better experience than most other medicine. The pipeline is ridiculously optimized to make the operation fast and efficient and cheap and transparent. It would be awesome to have the equivalent of LASIK centers for every other kind of medicine, rather than the sort of confuseopoly we've got.
- grezql 10y agoI had LASIK i 2013. This was right after I got new job. I took the most expensive option because I didnt want to risk my eye because of few pennies. Outcome: I could see perfectly day after. I had halo during nights but this gradually faded away to something insignificant. I cant speak for all people, and I cant comment on how this will end up in 5 or 10 years but I am really happy I did this. I used to wear contact lenses that went dry after half a day. If I spent the day out I had to bring with me couple of pair of lenses + 1 more for safety. Why so many? Some lenses no matter how I try to fit on my eye just glided down and fell. I used to spend 5-10 minutes every morning just to get them to fit. It was such an daily obstacle. Aircon blowing from the car? Lens dry. Now I dont even think about the LASIK surgery or lenses. I just moved on with life
- ohstopitu 10y agoI have -7.5 and -8 on my L/R eyes and I've considered LASIK multiple times growing up (got my glasses when I was ~3 yrs). But recently (After getting a job), I've grown less and less attached to the procedure and don't intend to have it in the foreseeable future. (complications and side effects make me feel that what I have right now it is not too bad).
- proee 10y agoI had custom LASIK done about 7 years ago where they cut the "flap" with a laser. After a month my vision stabilized but it was still not good enough, so they did a second "touch up" operation. I've had great vision ever since. I even had an injury to my eye where a tree branch came full force into my eye, and there was no damage to the "flap". I have had very little if any glare or halos symptoms. Given this, in hindsight I would probably go with PRK because it seems to give the eye more structural integrity and possible more post-operation options? In speaking to an opthamologist recently, she mentioned that lense implants are her preferred choice.
- Namrog84 10y agoAlthough I had PRK done the first time(2010). I havejust had it done a 2nd time this week for 1 eye. I didn't know this until recently, but apparently PRK is the only option if its been 1+ year since your first surgery (regardless of what your first time was). I never liked the idea of the flap, so among many reasons, I had gone with the option without a flap the first time.
- ekns 10y agoI had surgery with my first salary more or less when I was 21. It took a year or two for the halo effects to disappear. My night vision feels like it's like "4x" worse than it it was but it is really hard to tell. Seeing in the dark is difficult in the first place and I don't have any hard data.
- Void_ 10y agoI'm so glad people are talking about this! Here's a question for you: If LASIK involved a 1/10,000 chance of losing ten thousand dollars, would you do it? How about hundred thousand? One million? I would probably stop here - would wan't to be in one million debt. So what's functioning eyesight worth to you? Because to me it's more than $1m, more than billion, more than all the money in the world. I wouldn't risk it even if there was one failed case to millions. Anyway, this is my setup: 1. Contacts for sports/social activities 2. Lightweight glasses for work (like Snowden in his iconic photo). Don't like to wear this in social setting. I would feel nerdy. 3. Fashionable round glasses with that spotted texture. Can't get used to the plastic glasses, so I don't wear them a whole lot, but no problem wearing them in social setting.
- kybernetikos 10y agoI started doing a similar calculation http://kybernetikos.com/2007/06/08/plastic-surgery-to-make-other-people-look-better/ http://kybernetikos.com/2007/06/08/plastic-surgery-to-make-o... while I was at waiting for surgery which just goes to show how irrational I am. I think most people just hear the good things about it and don't properly evaluate the risks. I know I didn't.
- mikeash 10y agoContacts aren't risk-free either. By choosing to wear them over glasses for sports and social activities, you're making the same basic choice, perhaps with different numbers. (I say this as one who chose contacts over surgery, and I use them exclusively, no glasses.)
- phkahler 10y agoMy optometrist confirmed what I've worried about for decades. We are finally at a point where there are older people who had LASIK 20+ years ago and it's not good. It complicates cataracts. It's also less effective to start with for people over 40. Glad I never got it. But then I had a thought. Since I'm past the age where my lens has hardened - can't focus up close - I asked if I could just get cataract surgery NOW. He said yes, and the lenses won't get cloudy later and I might never need glasses again. I asked about focus up close and he says there are some magical progressive lenses they can use - I'm not sure how that works and neither was he. Only problems: 1) It's 5K per eye and not covered by any insurance because its cosmetic. I think that's well worth the price. but 2) I have astigmatism which can be corrected but they have to get the lens within a couple degrees of the correct rotational angle or you'll need glasses anyway. He said there's about a 2-4 percent chance of that even with the best guy doing it. So it's still glasses for now.
- jimmywanger 10y agoYeah, I got it done a couple of years ago. I splurged and spent 7200 on possibly the most reputable place in the area, and they took great care of me. The best advantages for me is that I can just wake up and go, and I can buy sunglasses/safety glasses easily, without spending lots of money on custom lenses. Plus when I wake up, I can just look around and figure out what time it is. I don't really see downsides here, I'm sure that other people have worse experiences, but my experience has been a) don't skimp and b) be happy.
- ncannon 10y agoI have worn contacts 7 days a week for over 20 years, can't stand wearing glasses. Modern daily disposable contact lenses are so easy, probably takes me total of no more than 25 seconds a day to deal with them and once they are in I have great vision and cannot feel them at all. I literally cannot tell whether I am wearing them other than the fact I can see properly. Last time I did the math on LASIK the cost was equivalent to about 5 years worth of lenses. The convenience and flexibility of lenses outweighs the risks of LASIK for me.
- Thaxll 10y agoModern dailies are very expensive, if you wear them almost every days it's 1k+/year in lenses.
- jacalata 10y agoMine have always been free after insurance.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- ncannon 10y agoI use 1-day Acuvue Trueye which are about $600/year after rebate and before any insurance coverage. IIRC LASIK is around $1500-$2300 per eye depending on which generation of technology is used.
- ryuker16 10y agoEvery software company offers eye insurance. Even without, it was 1k a year.
- lukasbarton 10y agoThere is a new D2C company out there called Hubble. They don't offer custom base curve or correction for astigmatism, but I was able to get one year's worth for $265.
- cardine 10y ago
- sandworm101 10y ago>> The study analyzed outcomes for two groups of LASIK patients. In the first group, which included 262 Navy personnel with an average age of 29.1, it was 43 percent reporting new symptoms. I'm in the middle of a multi-year application process for a job in the armed forces. They are VERY suspicious of all laser eye surgeries. I had several tests specifically looking for evidence of surgery. They didn't find any, but they did find a tiny scar in my cornea left over from when I was a teenager. My point: think long and hard about laser eye surgery if there is any change that you may want to work with or for any armed service. You cannot hide these procedures. Flip side: If they implement a draft, lasik might get you a pass.
- 77pt77 10y agoWhy that level of paranoia?
- lnanek2 10y agoIn the military, you may be subjected to high G forces, which can reopen the LASIK flap cut into your eye.
- sandworm101 10y ago(1) G-forces. But it isn't just airmen, or people jumping out of planes. The 'flap' procedures leave a scar in the cornea. That scar is a weak point. Any impact, even being punched in the face, can crack along that weak point. They have seen a few of these over the decades. For pilots, the word is that flap procedures could see you limited to rotary-wing aircraft rather than jets. (50+% of military cockpits are in helicopters. It isn't that great a limitation unless you have TopGun dreams.) (2) Future correction. Pilots cost upwards of 5mil to train. Maybe in 5/10 years your eyes aren't good enough any more and they want to send you for corrective surgery then. They want to know where they are starting. (3) Catching cheats. There are a huge number of questions re eyes. They want to fish out anyone who may be fibbing about their medical history. A liar is worse than any medical condition. Basically, if you are caught you will be blacklisted for all the services.
- jmartinpetersen 10y agoI had a SMILE (which is the next generation procedure) operation done a year ago. I went from -9 with heavy astigmatism on both eyes to around -0.5 on one and -0.15 on the other with a slight astigmatism. It was two awful weeks of pain because of eye drops I am allergic to, but worth every moment of it. See, I've worn glasses since I was a kid. At age 8 my prescription were more -6. I ended up being a goalkeeper on my soccer team because I kept getting my glasses smashed. When I got older, I found out I couldn't use contacts because my eyes were always too dry. My glasses cost af fortune, I only had one pair and when it broke, I had to do it without for weeks. So I became cautious. I knew the surgery existed. But for a lot of years I hesitated. I feared what if the surgery went bad, what if I went blind. Or my vision deteriorated. I use it evey day for my job. So even with the promise of a free, corrective surgery (thank you, public health care) I chose not to. But last year I realised that if I ever were to have this surgery and not wear glasses at all for a while, it was now. Because in ten years I'll have reading glasses. So I went for it, and now I'm certain I'm bringing my own kids when I exit the public pool. My eye sight isn't as perfect as it was before (120 %), but I had a corrective LASIK operation done two months ago on the "worst" eye, and it's above average now. Even though it's worse than it was, it's been an awesome trade off.
- outworlder 10y ago> I found out I couldn't use contacts because my eyes were always too dry How are they, post surgery?
- rabboRubble 10y agoSame question... I already have a minor case of dry eye. I've heard LASIK makes for dry eye and both my ophthalmologist and I are in agreement LASIK is a bad idea.
- jmartinpetersen 10y agoThe first SMILE procedure seemed much easier on my eyes, at least for the first days. Then it was horribly ruined by an antibacterial eye drop that we later found out that I'm allergic to. The LASIK procedure gave me a dry eye but they, sensible enough, switched me onto another eye drop, so it's hard to compare. A couple of months after, the LASIK eye is slightly more dry than the other. </anecdata>
- outworlder 10y agoI get asked constantly why I haven't done LASIK yet. My response, which is usually met with incredulous eyes, is that I find it too risky. Starbursts and halos are bad enough, but some people do not get them. And halos can be mitigated to some extent, you can just avoid performing the procedure if pre-surgery exams find out that your pupil is too big. Not sure if starbursts can be avoided. It must suck if your job involves staring at a screen all day (as mine does). What is more concerning is the damage to the cornea. First, there is dry eyes. It's not a question if you are going to get dry eyes or not, is how much and if it will be enough to still maintain sufficient lubrication. The nerves are damaged when the flap is created, not all return. And that is serious, people have committed suicide over dry eyes. Then there's the flap. The fact that a doctor can lift the flap again years after the procedure is very concerning. The cornea has a complex fibrous structure that never heals after the flap is created. You just have to hope that you are not subject to strong G forces. Or trauma, more generally. At least the pre-surgery exam battery is complete enough nowadays that we can predict ablating too much of the cornea so that the eye's structural integrity is no longer compromised. This was at the expense of a few early adopters, though. There is also the question of how the operated eye is going to age. There is just not enough data. If issues arise, these are usually blamed on older equipment. "Oh, that was a Nth generation Laser, it [did not have enough resolution, did not create the flap, was not wavefront, whatever]". Well then, when is the tech going to be "enough"? Last I checked, the resolution still wasn't too great. The cornea would look like the surface of the Moon under a microscope. If I decide to do it eventually, it will be a LASEK. At least there won't be flap-related issues. A few weeks recovering time is nothing if it means avoiding entire classes of issues for the rest of my life.
- ChuckMcM 10y agoI landed on the same side of the risk/value equation. Although my ophthalmologist showing me a picture of a guy who's eyeball exploded from a skiing accident may have also influenced me (I like to ski, and I do, on occasion experience rapid unscheduled deceleration associated with attempting to ski on my face :-)
- deeteecee 10y agoAccording to my previous eye doctor, most patients just fail to fully cooperate with and follow the conditions that exist before and after the LASIK surgery and that's why they end up with bad side effects.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- vertebrate 10y agoIs anyone here using ortho-k lenses? I've replaced my usual soft contacts and been wearing them for half a year now and it's so much easier on the eyes. Although I still see slight halos and by the evening my vision is noticeably worse, I can't complain. And I have an option to undo all this, unlike some poor LASIK patients.
- fps 10y agoHad lasik about 5 years ago (at 30) and still believe it was a great decision. Yes, I don't have great night vision, but wearing glasses or contacts had the same effect (but much, much worse), so overall it's a win. Not having to deal with glasses or contacts is such an improvement, it was worth every penny.
- DCKing 10y agoI too longed for the day that I could have laser surgery. My eyes didn't particularly enjoy soft contacts, and I did not like wearing (even fashionable) glasses. But I held it off because of the downsides, such as relapses in eye prescription strength, the constant need to water your eyes and permanent visual artifacts. That and the not inconsiderable price. Very glad that I basically chickened out, because instead I discovered overnight vision correction contacts [1]. They are hard contact lenses you wear during the night, and they reshape your cornea during the night so that your my/hyperopia just dissappears during the day. During the day, it allows you to function with normal vision without any aid whatsoever. It's really quite amazing for me. Downsides are a halo effect (but one that actually diminishes to the point that I don't notice), and the fact that you have to wear contacts during the night, but I much prefer that to wearing any during the day. I can happily recommend trying this before considering more permanent solutions such as eye surgery if you fit in the eye prescription range that it works for. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthokeratology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthokeratology / apparently marketed as "Ortho-K" in NA?
- antisthenes 10y agoYour post is the first downvote I'm giving on HN. I'm pretty sure Ortho-K gave me astigmatism. It does not work for higher ranges of myopia and touting it as better alternative is disingenuous at best. Night driving was downright impossible and the halo effects were so strong that I would be a menace for anyone on the road. I strongly urge people to consider it very carefully, because the impact can be as significant as a surgery.
- DCKing 10y agoSorry to hear it. I've updated my post to make some of the wording more subjective. The halo effects are indeed quite strong in the first weeks (took my eyes about 6 weeks to fully adjust), but they have practically disappeared for me and I feel very comfortable night driving now. I appreciate that different eyes and different care can cause wildly different results and experience.
- ryuker16 10y ago
- mullingitover 10y agoData point: I had LASIK ten years ago. No halos or glare, but my eyes were a little dry for six months afterward. Unfortunately, now the effects are completely reversed and I'm back to the same exact prescription as I had to begin with. It's not that bad, in fact I can get by without glasses about 90% of the time, but it was a complete waste of $4500.
- antisthenes 10y agoWow, that sounds awful. Care to share a bit more detail? What was your prescription before LASIK? If you could get by without glasses 90% of the time, why did you have it done in the first place?
- aemreunal 10y agoI also underwent SMILE about 1.5 years ago. I had ~3.5 myopia in both eyes with ~1 astigmatism. Prior, I was using contacts for about 4 years, as well as glasses on off days and nights (after I came back home). My eyes were a tad bit drier than average (my eyes required lubricant eyedrops after a few hours of computer use if I wasn't well rested, for example). Compared to contacts, my eyes are actually much less dry now. Contacts dried my eyes a lot. My eyes used to start getting dry and scratch by late afternoon/early evening. Compared to using glasses, it either is the same dryness or less dry. SMILE was a huge improvement for me, both for correcting my eyesight and slightly improving eye dryness. For those who are considering: I was initially suggested PRK due to the potential downsides of LASIK but learned about, and ultimately opted to, SMILE. My mother had LASIK done at age 45 and she still is very happy with it. I had about a day of post-surgery burning sensation in the eyes but nothing afterwards. In the grand scheme of things, it was the easiest surgery I've ever had (and I had a few). If you can afford it and SMILE is an option from a decent doctor, it will be one of the best investments you'll ever make.
- Namrog84 10y agoI had done a ton of research back when I first had Prk done on both eyes in 2010. At that time. The military only allowed waivers for prk for pilots and I wanted to be a army helicopter pilot. My doctor and nurses kinda told me (secretly) later that most everyone opts for Lasik and that they thought prk was better and had less complications. Beyond the moderately more upfront discomfort. That long term the stats were better for prk. It took a bit before I stopped regretting it(from discomfort). Eventually I came around to thinking it was best decision. My quality of life has gone up a lot(not having to deal with glassses/contacts) Simply being able to see the clock in the middle of the night. And I recently had it done a 2nd time on my right eye. Currently try in healing now (2 days ago) it was significantly less bothersome this time. No idea why. And while I never had any noticeable night time driving issues. I think this is probably a decreasing concern in that in a few years with the rise of autonomous cars. Most of us won't night drive anyways.
- danra 10y agoI've been using daily contacts for years until I had a minor irritation in my eye for a few days, went to see a doctor, who told me I have an infection and I'm in real danger of losing my eye. Got antibiotics and luckily everything turned out OK. I got the impression that eye doctors are not big fans of contacts, and that my situation wasn't uncommon. Had a LASIK shortly afterwards, worked out OK, so far of course. I'm sure it has risks, but I haven't seen proof those are worse than contacts'.
- ryuker16 10y agoContacts got a lot better.
- ryuker16 10y agoFor the unaware, you can now get 1 month sleep in contact lenses. No removing every night! Shits works!!!! I own an online eye glass store and rarely wear my own frames.
- geocar 10y agoI've gotten custom/wavefront LASIK on two separate occasions. The first time, left eye came out perfect: 4k hd quality, better than blu-ray. Right eye however had noticeable visual aberration running diagonally that made it impossible to read for long periods. I adapted, but after a year I went back for a top up. My second LASIK was easier, and my vision seemed promising. However, a few weeks later, I suddenly and without notice found my eye leaking like a sieve for maybe an hour. Needless to say I was a bit more than freaked out, but I got better fast, and over my next two visits to the LASIK centre found "nothing to be wrong". While my vision started to deteriorate, they thought it might recover after the swelling had subsided. Six months later, and for my most recent catchup, they noticed a "corneal wrinkle". Got everyone in the joint to take a good look at my eye, and then they've lifted me up again to try to "smooth everything out". So far so good. 5/7 would do again.
- bluSCALE4 10y agoThis is my opinion but the way LASIK consultations go, the results aren't clearly shared. From my understanding, the doctors should know with fairly accurate determination whether the laser you're paying for will result in light diffusion: they dilate your eyes so they know the diameter of your pupil and they know the diameter of the laser. The wider the laser, the more likely light won't pass damaged or original tissue. So I feel the operators know the odds they you'll experience defects but don't tell you. Instead, they "recommend" larger lasers. Personally, if defects are a certainty, then that information should be shared. The language used in these consultations make the buyer feel that the results are not certain, that no defects will likely happen when in fact, the operators know full well what defects you'll likely experience. That said, I wish I had taken my chances with PRK.
- dingleberry 10y agoi know it's off topic; however, i'd like to share my eyes improvements. 0. light is important. mouse in complete darkness develops nearsightedness (-20 diopters iirc). outdoor kids got better eyes. -> nowadays i turn all my screens on full brightness level. 1. vary sunglasses for different ranges. for example, i was at -4. i used -4 for driving car, used -2 for coding and used -1 for phones instead while still comfy. 2. under sun, wear less power. notice during the day, i was still comfy wearing -3 for driving car and naked eyes for phone. the reduction can go as far as -2. 3. if you can't do less near work, wear plus lens. plus lens therapy is a long term investment. it's slow; however, there's no side effect. i'm now at the point that i can drive motorcycle and coding with naked eyes. i started around new year, so it's almost a year. it's okay. it took me three decades to get to -4, a year is nothing. NB: for 1 & 2, you can experiment using your old glasses. don't be afraid to use your old lenses. the worst that can happen to your life is that you get a slightly blurry vision for a minute. for 3: plus lens therapy. i prefer it to lasik, which has side effects and can degrade anyway. it's not instant, that's the feature -> if anything go bad, i can stop and things revert back gradually. with lasik, it's binary. you can't go back if shit happens. to be fair, lasik is not instant too, you need months for recovery.
- athenot 10y agoA good way to check for item (0): 1. Point your camera phone to your computer screen and compare the brightness with the surroundings. The 2 levels should somewhat match. 2. Adjust as needed. Often it is a matter of having proper lighting in the room. Most camera phones have very low dynamic range, so you'll instantly notice if the screen is way brighter (or darker) than the surroundings.
- Overtonwindow 10y agoI got LASIK in college. My side effects were minor except for the fact it wore off after 10 years. Now I'm back to wearing glasses since you can't wear contacts after LASIK.
- noveltyaccount 10y ago> The researchers cautioned that the study may not generalize to the LASIK population as a whole because of its small sample size and short follow-period, which was typically three months. The short follow-period is a problem with the study. I had halos for the first few months and dry eyes for the first year. Nowadays (~4 years later) everything is fine.
- vbezhenar 10y agoMy vision is constantly getting worse every year. I can just change glasses. I thought about surgery, but what I would do next year? Surgery again?
- socialist_coder 10y agoWavefront/custom LASIK completely removes or greatly reduces these side effects. If you are getting LASIK now, you should not settle for anything but wavefront LASIK. The reason is, regular LASIK applies the same "fix" to the entire cornea, and the further from the center you go, the more this "fix" will be off by. So in low light situations when your pupils expand, they are now letting in light from the outsides of your eye where the fix is not as good, and you get blurriness, halos, or glares. It's quite simple to understand and really makes it obvious that you should only get Wavefront LASIK at this point.
- pnw_hazor 10y ago50 YO here. I started wearing prescription glasses a few years ago. And readers a few years before that. Now, normally, I wear progressive lenses (far, middle + close) that enable me to read, drive, watch TV, etc without switching glasses. But for extended computer work I still fall back to plain readers. Also, back before I started wearing the prescription progressive lenses, I had to use reading glasses to read my phone -- that was a pain. The progressive lenses are great just for this reason. I don't think established Lasik tech will alleviate my need for reading glasses, so there doesn't seem to be much point now to go forward with surgery. There are new procedures that purport to correct nearsighted/reading problems. But they are new (to me at least) so I want to wait and see how they perform over the long run. On the other-hand, I experience some issues, such as diminished night vision, halos, and other stuff, that are related to wearing glasses today (mostly caused by reflection, smudges, and glare I guess). So, the common issues caused by surgery would probably be acceptable to me if I could figure out a way to stop needing reading glasses.
- TomMasz 10y agoI wore contacts for over 30 years. I had astigmatism and only one brand of contacts worked for me. That was great until the company discontinued them and their suggested replacements didn't work for me. I had LASIK and I've experienced none of the problems most people have. I used artificial tears for a couple of months after and now just occasionally. I would do it again in a heartbeat even though I need reading glasses.
- 5ilv3r 10y agoThis isn't hacker or startup related. It's just amazon news being upvoated by.... Well hang on, now that makes me wonder. Does Bezos make more or less money by people getting laser eye work done?
- GoRudy 10y agoI had LASIK done two years ago, one of the best things i've ever done for myself. Couldn't be happier despite a few small side affects, quality of life has improved.
- falcolas 10y agoI wear contacts, and I have glare, halos, double vision, and dry eyes. I can also run the risk of losing several hundred dollars in the blink of an eye. Having to deal with my hard contacts on a daily basis is a royal PITA, and expensive as hell (special saline, contacts are several hundred each, also need hard contact cleaning and storage fluids). If your eyesight sucks, you're just SOL, period. You have a plethora of bad choices available to you: Glasses, which aside from their stellar looks can break, get scratched, lost, and hurt to wear with headphones. Contacts, which require constant cleaning and care (especially if you need hard contacts). Lasic, which is a medical procedure with all of the attendant potential side effects. That said, if Lasic were an option for me, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
- alvah 10y agoI had LASIK done in 2005 (Perth, Australia). I was warned about the side effects (e.g. halos, night vision) before the surgery. I still consider it the best $5k I have ever spent. I'm 43 now and my eyesight is still perfect (I used contact lenses for years prior to the surgery, -7.0 in both eyes). My night vision is not as good as it was before the surgery, but compared to the complications I had with contact lenses, and the problems wearing glasses caused me as a kid, I'd get the LASIK again every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
- __david__ 10y agoSame experience with me (California). I was -7 or so in both eyes and now am about -.25. I got it at least 12 years ago and the improvement and quality of life increase is far greater than the $3k or $4k I spent. Throwing my coke bottle glasses in the trash on the way out of surgery filled me with an immense emotional satisfaction that I couldn't have predicted. Just sitting up from the operating table and seeing faces and making out the design on the wallpaper put a huge smile on my face.
- jitendrac 10y agoI spent only $450 for Lasik (India)!!! That is for the customized lasik operation based on very shape of my eye!!
- glangdale 10y agoI have terrible vision and have been short-sighted since first grade. I wear daily contact lenses now and this is fine for me. For those experiencing dryness with contacts, be sure your ducts aren't clogged - I had this problem for a while and a warm wet washcloth held gently to the eyes for 20-30 seconds a day helps unclog them. LASIK and PRK make me nervous as I do a contact sport (BJJ). I really don't like the thought of a weakened eyeball under these circumstances: my doctor pointed out years ago (when I first considered this) that I have a "healthy but deformed" eyeball. Given the fact that occasionally someone might wind up squishing down on my head with a great deal of force, the thought of having a bit of scar tissue there is not comforting. As it stands I lose a contact lens on the mats every couple of months (yay, disposables).
- IanCal 10y agoI wish I'd never done it. My night vision is full of terrible halos, something I wasn't warned about and completely ignored after the surgery.
- Reason077 10y agoI haven't had LASIK, but I've always been bothered somewhat by glare/halos when outdoors at night. In the last few years, it's become worse due to the super-bright LED street lamps that are going in everywhere. Not only are they brighter but they don't seem to bother putting shades/lenses/diffusers on them, so the LEDs themselves are directly in your line of vision. Horrible!
- artmageddon 10y agoI've been considering PRK for quite some time, but am a little iffy on it due to the recovery time. I see some people saying it takes 3 weeks, others saying 7 weeks for a full recovery. Like many others here, I'm a developer so I have to look at a screen for a significant portion of the day for work. Do these recovery times mean no working at all, or just that it may be strained? I don't really get enough vacation time to be off work for that long :/
- peatmoss 10y agoFor me, I was okay to code with larger fonts, frequent breaks, and lots of eye drops (good for healing anyway) after about 7 days. At one month I was 20/15, and no issues. Omega 3 supplements help healing by helping tears coat better--can knock days off the re-epithelialization period. You should take those religiously. I'm very happy I got PRK. Allergies, convenience, seeing my dirty shower; all better.
- latchkey 10y agoI just got my eyes done about 5 months ago at the office of the best doctor in San Francisco. My vision is 20/15 and I think the operation was a complete success. I had PRK done, but that is irrelevant in the discussion. Interesting that I couldn't find any mentions of the actual laser used. The newer EX500 laser doesn't have this issue. According to my doctor, the problem with the older lasers is that they would flatten out the cornea. The flat edge is what causes the glare/halos. The newer laser actually rounds the edges so no more issues. https://www.myalcon.com/products/surgical/wavelight-refractive-suite/EX500-Excimer-laser.shtml https://www.myalcon.com/products/surgical/wavelight-refracti...
- thehesiod 10y agoI did ReLEx SMILE at https://www.smileeyes.de/?L=1 https://www.smileeyes.de/?L=1 since I didn't want a full flap and didn't want the pain of Epi-LASIK. First run they left some epithelial cells in the pocket which caused astigmatism. They fixed that with a flush. I'm left with some astigmatism of the left eye and overall 20/25 vision. It also took ~1 year to "stabilize" as I was having a lot of spouts of blurriness. Overall liveable but I guess I'd probably do the Epi-LASIK instead and just deal with the week+ of discomfort. I also noticed that I think the lens can still move as if I rub my eyes too much it seems my vision gets blurry but eventually "snaps" back.
- jitendrac 10y agoI got Lasik on 13th oct(40 days before), I am quiet satisfied with the result. The only side effect is early morning dry eyes and minor fluctuation in vision of left eye. According to doctor, I will recover them soon. By the way i got complete 6/6 score!!!
- dx034 10y agoI think many people forget the risks of using contact lenses. The risks of being blind after LASIK are extremly low, the risks of blindness due to an eye infection with lenses is higher (had a source for that, can't find it at the moment, on mobile). Even if you're very careful, you can never avoid to get bacteria on the inside of your lense, with potentially horrible effects. From personal experience: My girlfriend had LASIK a few months ago. We went for a slightly more expensive clinic, for the ease of mind. They tested extensively to make sure everything's alright before the surgery. The surgery itself was good. One eye was perfect after 1-2 days, the other one had problems that slowly disappeared. She had 20/20 or better immediately, but one eye stayed a bit blurry for 4-6 weeks, probably as she reacted bad to the steroids after surgery. Turns out she's allergic to steroids which she didn't know before. Luckily the doctors detected high eye pressure very soon, switched to other drops and lowered it. The right eye is still somewhat more sensitive than the left, although that's something she only feels after long days in front of the screen. Driving at night is also harder (but possible), although she'd always had problems with that. Overall a great experience, for her not thinking about lenses or glasses outweighs any inconveniences she has now. Waking up and being able to see, diving without the fear of saltwater in the eyes, coming home late and not remembering to get lenses out are all amazing benefits for her. It's still surgery, all surgeries have risks and need healing. Some people can leave the clinic after LASIK and see perfectly, for others healing takes a bit (my gf had to wait nearly a week before she could use a computer for several hours). But if you get it done in your late 20s you have a high chance of not needing glasses for several decades, sth very valuable.
- mezod 10y agoWell, pretty timely to have this today. I'm getting LASIK in less than 24h. Perfect to have second and third thoughts -.- For anyone in the same situation I recommend to read all the way through the comments. The first ones are incredibly negative, and they keep getting better towards the end. I've used glasses since forever. And never really worried too much about them. From the aesthetic pov I didn't care at all. Glasses have obviously some inconvenients, not going to list them now, but those never really troubled me. I just woke one day with the idea that I could as well get rid of them because getting new glasses/sunglasses every x years was going to cost more than just LASIK. This reasoning sounds incredibly stupid right now that I have to face the risks. I got my eyes checked at Barraquer in Barcelona, and it's them who recommended me into it. Apparently, it's here where they developed LASIK, so I guess that's a big relief, not exempt of risk. Feels good that we are on the map for something science related though, so I guess I'm just finding more excuses to feel confident for tomorrow :P Hopefully I can keep reading HN in the future...