8 ms·
I 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 gla
by ajkjk 10y ago
I 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.
- thatswrong0 10y agoI'm 24 w/ astigmatism and I have those same problems. Night vision and halos / starbursts.
- Void_ 10y agoI had this exact same feeling whenever I wore glasses. Just suddenly feeling nerdy. Then I got one of those round, cool-looking glasses that really go with the shape and my face, and it changed everything. I love wearing glasses now. (Btw. they are Ace and Tate, the European Warby parker.) So, finding glasses that you absolutely love is crucial. PS: I also have a nerdy pair for coding, they are weightless and super comfy for computer. Don't feel confident in them though.
- pfranz 10y agoI'm past school and haven't had LASIK, but am still thinking seriously about it. I wore contacts for awhile, but have been sticking to glasses for the past few years. I don't mind the fashion part, but wearing glasses (or contacts) gets really annoying with anything to do with water--swimming or even rain. I'm also a bit paranoid I'm going to lose or break them when travelling or camping (I should buy a backup). I find dirty lenses distracting and it's a huge pain to keep glasses clean. I also find using SLR cameras annoying. I can adjust the diopter to get it in focus, but I have to take my glasses off when I hold it to my face. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
- Yhippa 10y ago> wearing glasses (or contacts) gets really annoying Add sports in general and VR goggles to that list
- TeMPOraL 10y agoIndeed. I blame having to wear glasses since primary school for my general dislike of sports. And all the VR gear I ever tested is not compatible with glasses (also weird to use without). Even watching 3D movies in cinemas is... tricky.
- robin_reala 10y agoI climb in glasses fine, and my PSVR seems completely compatible with my frames. YMMV?
- unexistance 10y agosome 3d glasses in cinemas seems to fit my glasses just fine, Sony-made AFAIR
- pfranz 10y agoOh yes! I can't believe I neglected that. I often work on VR project at work. Prior to that I often worked in stereoscopic film which had the same problem.
- barkingcat 10y agoI used to hate getting new glasses when I was a kid. But now that I'm an adult with my own income and health insurance, I just go get the exact same frame with the exact same lenses from the same manufacturer, but with an updated prescription every two or three years. Once I found something I liked it was much easier to keep wearing the glasses.
- jly 10y agoI've been wearing glasses for my horrible vision since early grade school and now well into my 30s. I don't know why anyone would wear them if there is an option not to. They constantly smudge, fog, awful in any weather situation, etc. I carry a microfiber cloth with me at all times just to be able to clean them. What a nightmare. It's fine if you wear non-refractive glasses as a fashion accessory because those can just be taken off when inconvenient. When you can't drive or barely walk without them, it's another story.
- mikeash 10y agoThis is what drove me to use contacts full-time. It was so frustrating keeping my glasses clean. They'd smudge, and I'd clean them, and it wouldn't be all gone, and I'd clean them some more, and then it would be OK for a bit, and then I'd get something on them, and.... I decided not to go with LASIK just because it doesn't seem worth the tradeoff. Contacts take me about thirty seconds per day to insert and remove, not a big deal. Just making up the LASIK recovery period would take a long time. Plus the risk of permanent side-effects. Contacts have those too, but it can be substantially mitigated by using them properly (always washing hands, never sleeping in them, always changing them at the appropriate time, etc.). I totally understand why people might see the tradeoffs differently, of course.
- fps 10y agocontacts irritated my eyes if I wore them for more than 12 hours. I'd have to decide if I was going to go out in the evening or not, and if so, I'd wear glasses during the day. If I wore them more than 12 hours, I'd have to wear glasses for the next few days because of the irritation. Don't get me started on what happened if I fell asleep with them in my eyes. the last 4 or so years before lasik I mostly wore glasses except for special occasions where I'd wear contacts.
- a_shane 10y agoThis is basically me. I wear contacts for "special occasions" but have really been considering lasik recently. What has your post-lasik experience been like?
- gaius 10y agomy night vision has degraded somewhat: halos around lights can make depth-perception while driving slightly difficult This is why the (British, at least) military isn't keen on it...
- Retric 10y agoI have great vision, but sometimes wear polarized sunglasses when driving especially at night to cut down on glare. You might want to try the same thing.
- throwanem 10y agoYou wear your sunglasses at night, so you can see the light that's right before your eyes?
- athenot 10y agoThe danger with that is not seeing a deer that's about to bolt in front of you on the road. And in an urban environment, it's easy to not see a pedestrian who is wearing dark clothes.
- Retric 10y agoThe issue is contrast not total light levels. https://www.polarization.com/water/water.html https://www.polarization.com/water/water.html So, it can actually be much easier to see someone with dark clothing when I have sunglasses on.
- w8rbt 10y agoWe all second guess ourselves. The long term impacts of lasik are not fully known yet. It may turn-out to be just fine over the long haul. Don't beat yourself up too much.
- mastre_ 10y agoLet me start by saying that I only have minor vision issues, primarily from astigmatism ("my skull squeezing my eyes into an unnatural shape"). My correction in each eye is < -2.00, I think one of them is -1.25. I see fine for most purposes. Thankfully, it's nearsightedness, which means I do not need any correction to work on computers (this is obviously a biggie). I use retina displays at higher-than-default simulated resolution (i.e. smaller everything) w/ no issue. I tried contacts when I used to play soccer because you can't wear glasses due to safety concerns (for yourself). They were fine, but I have a natural dislike for putting things anywhere in/on my body unless absolutely necessary, and just the though of putting something in my eyes repulses me. I only wore them when I played, and would wear glasses by choice any other time. For the most part, I see pretty well w/o correction -- I wear glasses because I really, really enjoy the sense of vision and want it to be as crystal clear as possible in order to experience it to its fullest. When I moved to California and I passed the driver's lic vision test w/o glasses, which surprised even me. I still wear them every time I drive, because again, not just for safety, but I really enjoy seeing as clear as my sensors (eyes) can resolve - it's a signal-to-noise/quality concern. I never once thought about not wearing glasses because of how they look. If that's a concern, there's so much choice out there these days that there's a style for everyone. I prefer as small and light as possible so I wear half wire frame in flexible titanium. I mostly put them on when I drive, but, and this is a big but: ProTip: You can/should get corrected permanent sunglasses! These are the best thing since before, and after, sliced bread! I do happen to have more sensitive than average eyes, but I'm never outside w/o my permanent Rx sunglasses. You can get really good/cool looking ones, I'm into sports so I wear a sporty frame. Not a concern to me, but "nobody knows" they are actually vision glasses too during the day. I then wear the clear ones at night/when watching TV or a performance, anytime I want to see maximally clear, particularly at a distance. Believe it or not, this is not that much, for example I don't need them at a dinner party. On LASIK: until such a time that my vision requires major correction I'm not even considering it. The system I've developed works really well for me, and I think if and when I will need it the technology, and potentially solutions, will be superior at that point.
- ajkjk 10y agoI know, now, that there are glasses that work for basically anyone out there. In college I couldn't find them. It never occurred to me to look in places besides the optometrist's store. It never even occurred to me that my self-identify was compatible with wearing 'trendy' glasses (in this case, squarish and maybe colored plastic frames instead of thin round metallic ones). I've found frames that complement my face since getting LASIK. Sometimes I wear them ironically to parties.
- peter303 10y agoThe nerd-look is hot these days. Drives the other sex crazy.