7 ms·

A risk of ending up with halos is not worth it.

by eps 10y ago

xienze 10y ago
Or worse. It's the reason I'll never have the surgery... the risk is very small but if something were to happen to my eyesight it would be devastating. Glasses aren't so bad.
- grinich 10y ago
  The complication risk of modern LASIK is actually nearly identical to wearing contacts every day.
  - gambiting 10y ago
    Sure. But halos seem pretty common - every person I know who got LASIK done in the past 10 years experiences got them to some extent, my dad almost had a nervous breakdown because for the first year after the surgery the halos were so bad he couldn't really drive at night - they sort of faded away with time but he said they were always there and in hindsight, he wouldn't have selected surgery.
    - JumpCrisscross 10y ago
      Either of you have sources on these frequencies?
      - gambiting 10y ago
        I would be a bit difficult to give source on my personal friends and my dad, it's an anecdote :P Treat it like everything on the internet said by a random person - with caution. Just because everyone I know who got LASIK done has halos doesn't mean it's commonplace - could be just a coincidence.
      - grinich 10y ago
        Findings from the Casey Eye Institute: http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/casey-eye/clinical-services/laser-vision-correction/lasikvscontacts.cfm http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/casey-eye/clinical-se... It's also worth noting that LASIK has improved drastically over the past 10 years. Bladeless procedures, wavefront imaging, femtosecond lasers, etc. http://ophthalmologytimes.modernmedicine.com/ophthalmologytimes/news/looking-back-and-ahead-lasik-s-potential http://ophthalmologytimes.modernmedicine.com/ophthalmologyti...
    - wuschel 10y ago
      Was is a particular technique or doctor? Just wondering re the quality of treatment.
      - nommm-nommm 10y ago
        This was on HN some months ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13024352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13024352
    - dotancohen 10y ago
      > every person I know who got LASIK done in the past 10 years experiences got them to some extent Were they all treated at the same local clinic perchance? The problem might be with the clinic or doctor.
      - gambiting 10y ago
        Nope - in fact, they weren't even done in the same country.
    - phil21 10y ago
      Certainly a risk. This is one of those areas where watching the latest tech development is worthwhile, as it's moving rapidly. I got a laser-only procedure done about 5 years ago now, and it's been the best decision of my life. I had halos for about 6-12mo, but I also had minor halos before the surgery too - so I really haven't noticed much of a difference. One thing you should either really really do, or really really don't do (I still can't decide) is walk the Vegas strip at night the day after surgery like I did. You will have major halos/starbursts at that point, and it's the closest to a random private laser show as I've ever gotten in life. I suppose drugs may be less risky and cheaper though...
  - creshal 10y ago
    And that's why I wear glasses.
- Freak_NL 10y ago
  It's also just not necessary for most of us four-eyes. The costs of the surgery appear to be about what I would pay for 40 years worth of glasses (I buy a new pair once every four years or so), so it won't safe me money — or not a lot. I'm so used to glasses that I might not even be more comfortable or live a more convenient life (and glasses are simply part of my identity after nearly 30 years of wearing them). So there is very little (to no) incentive to actually get surgery to correct my eyesight. But the surgery is not without risks, as small as they may be, so there is a disincentive. I can imagine that this is different for people who wear lenses because they are slightly more cumbersome.
jsymolon 10y ago
I went from glasses and astigmatism to LASIK and halos. I would still do it again and recommend it. The quality of life improvement is tremendous and the amount of money saved on not getting the glasses re-done every year offsets the cost of the LASIK. Halos, really only at night, is corrected by wearing a yellow tint "sunglass" aka shooters glasses while driving. Plus my SO really doesn't like my driving, so i chill out in the passenger seat anyway. They feel more in control and i can get some sleep.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  This makes no sense, unless you were a kid why would you have to get your glasses "re-done" every year? I've been wearing the same prescription for a decade and the same plastic frames for seven years. I go to the ophthalmologist every two years to get my optic drusen looked at and my corrected vision is fine. If I didn't go for my drusen I would have no reason to go. If your vision is so unstable that you were getting a new prescription every year then you are an likely a very poor candidate for LASIK and your LASIK vision would just revert anyways. The only time I had to get a new prescription every few months was when I was a child so my vision was changing rapidly. >Halos, really only at night, is corrected by wearing a yellow tint "sunglass" aka shooters glasses while driving. Please do not wear these glasses while driving. They are dangerous [1] [1] https://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=113228 https://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=113228
  - ohbleek 10y ago
    I'm not sure where you get your Informaton but for one, in order to re-order contact lenses you must have a current rx (within 1-2 years) and it is standard to get an eye exam every year. Many people have eyesight that progressively gets worse and require a new rx yearly.
    - pc86 10y ago
      > Many people have eyesight that progressively gets worse and require a new rx yearly. And many people have had the same prescription for 4-5 years or more, and don't have eyes that continue to get worse. I think the GP's point was that either your eyes continue to get worse every year, and you need new glasses, and LASIK probably won't last forever, or you don't, and LASIK is a one-time expense that will take quite a while to break even on in a strictly financial sense.
ada1981 10y ago
If you get LASEK vs. LASIK halos aren't a problem. I had LASEK done perhaps 8 years ago, and my eyes went from 20/400 to 20/15 overnight. The entire procedure was incredible including an HD prescription profile generated by scanning your entire eye. The process is $4k-$5k but with financing comes down to about the same you spend on glasses or contacts annually. No risk of halos as there is no "flap" cut like with LASIK, no chance it will come loose, and more accurate vision than you could ever achieve with lenses. The quality of life upgrade is incredible, no scratchy eyes, no falling asleep and waking up with stinging eyes, and for sports it's incredible. I can't explain what going from 20/400 to 20/15 is like, but basically I walked around manhattan for 6 months feeling like I was on LSD in awe of being able to see the mortar between bricks on the tops of buildings. I found the best LASEK surgeon in the country and have brought in friends / CEOs from other states and introduced them with incredible results. If anyone wants more info, an intro, etc. let me know and I can probably get you $500 or $1k off if you end up doing it.
- MR4D 10y ago
  To add to this, not only does the current technology not have halos, but your peripheral vision will increase as well. I had mine done a few years ago on a state of the art machine (at the time), called the Allegretto Wave Laser. No blades - just one laser to cut the flap, and another to shape the lens. Result - in 17 seconds (per eye time of the laser doing it's work), I went from 20/400 with a bad astigmatism to 20/15. A week later it had improved to 20/10 in one eye, and 20/12 in the other. Overall, it took 5 minutes or less of time laying down, including all adjustments. This year celebrates 10 years without glasses, and I am finally needing to start looking at reading glasses for some situations (small print at a close distance). The great thing is that I have thick corneas, and they can actually shape them again to get rid of that as well - which I'll do in a couple years when I hit 50. The only greater miracle I have had is the birth of my son. If you can, I highly recommend it.
- bsmith 10y ago
  I'm interested in why you think this person is the best. Email in profile.

A risk of ending up with halos is not worth it.

by eps 10y ago

A risk of ending up with halos is not worth it.

Or worse. It's the reason I'll never have the surgery... the risk is very small but if something were to happen to my eyesight it would be devastating. Glasses aren't so bad.

grinich 10y ago
The complication risk of modern LASIK is actually nearly identical to wearing contacts every day.
- gambiting 10y ago
  Sure. But halos seem pretty common - every person I know who got LASIK done in the past 10 years experiences got them to some extent, my dad almost had a nervous breakdown because for the first year after the surgery the halos were so bad he couldn't really drive at night - they sort of faded away with time but he said they were always there and in hindsight, he wouldn't have selected surgery.
  - JumpCrisscross 10y ago
    Either of you have sources on these frequencies?
    - gambiting 10y ago
      I would be a bit difficult to give source on my personal friends and my dad, it's an anecdote :P Treat it like everything on the internet said by a random person - with caution. Just because everyone I know who got LASIK done has halos doesn't mean it's commonplace - could be just a coincidence.
    - grinich 10y ago
      Findings from the Casey Eye Institute: http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/casey-eye/clinical-services/laser-vision-correction/lasikvscontacts.cfm http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/casey-eye/clinical-se... It's also worth noting that LASIK has improved drastically over the past 10 years. Bladeless procedures, wavefront imaging, femtosecond lasers, etc. http://ophthalmologytimes.modernmedicine.com/ophthalmologytimes/news/looking-back-and-ahead-lasik-s-potential http://ophthalmologytimes.modernmedicine.com/ophthalmologyti...
  - wuschel 10y ago
    Was is a particular technique or doctor? Just wondering re the quality of treatment.
    - nommm-nommm 10y ago
      This was on HN some months ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13024352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13024352
  - dotancohen 10y ago
    > every person I know who got LASIK done in the past 10 years experiences got them to some extent Were they all treated at the same local clinic perchance? The problem might be with the clinic or doctor.
    - gambiting 10y ago
      Nope - in fact, they weren't even done in the same country.
  - phil21 10y ago
    Certainly a risk. This is one of those areas where watching the latest tech development is worthwhile, as it's moving rapidly. I got a laser-only procedure done about 5 years ago now, and it's been the best decision of my life. I had halos for about 6-12mo, but I also had minor halos before the surgery too - so I really haven't noticed much of a difference. One thing you should either really really do, or really really don't do (I still can't decide) is walk the Vegas strip at night the day after surgery like I did. You will have major halos/starbursts at that point, and it's the closest to a random private laser show as I've ever gotten in life. I suppose drugs may be less risky and cheaper though...
- creshal 10y ago
  And that's why I wear glasses.
Freak_NL 10y ago
It's also just not necessary for most of us four-eyes. The costs of the surgery appear to be about what I would pay for 40 years worth of glasses (I buy a new pair once every four years or so), so it won't safe me money — or not a lot. I'm so used to glasses that I might not even be more comfortable or live a more convenient life (and glasses are simply part of my identity after nearly 30 years of wearing them). So there is very little (to no) incentive to actually get surgery to correct my eyesight. But the surgery is not without risks, as small as they may be, so there is a disincentive. I can imagine that this is different for people who wear lenses because they are slightly more cumbersome.

jsymolon 10y ago

I went from glasses and astigmatism to LASIK and halos. I would still do it again and recommend it. The quality of life improvement is tremendous and the amount of money saved on not getting the glasses re-done every year offsets the cost of the LASIK. Halos, really only at night, is corrected by wearing a yellow tint "sunglass" aka shooters glasses while driving. Plus my SO really doesn't like my driving, so i chill out in the passenger seat anyway. They feel more in control and i can get some sleep.

nommm-nommm 10y ago
This makes no sense, unless you were a kid why would you have to get your glasses "re-done" every year? I've been wearing the same prescription for a decade and the same plastic frames for seven years. I go to the ophthalmologist every two years to get my optic drusen looked at and my corrected vision is fine. If I didn't go for my drusen I would have no reason to go. If your vision is so unstable that you were getting a new prescription every year then you are an likely a very poor candidate for LASIK and your LASIK vision would just revert anyways. The only time I had to get a new prescription every few months was when I was a child so my vision was changing rapidly. >Halos, really only at night, is corrected by wearing a yellow tint "sunglass" aka shooters glasses while driving. Please do not wear these glasses while driving. They are dangerous [1] [1] https://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=113228 https://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=113228
- ohbleek 10y ago
  I'm not sure where you get your Informaton but for one, in order to re-order contact lenses you must have a current rx (within 1-2 years) and it is standard to get an eye exam every year. Many people have eyesight that progressively gets worse and require a new rx yearly.
  - pc86 10y ago
    > Many people have eyesight that progressively gets worse and require a new rx yearly. And many people have had the same prescription for 4-5 years or more, and don't have eyes that continue to get worse. I think the GP's point was that either your eyes continue to get worse every year, and you need new glasses, and LASIK probably won't last forever, or you don't, and LASIK is a one-time expense that will take quite a while to break even on in a strictly financial sense.

ada1981 10y ago

If you get LASEK vs. LASIK halos aren't a problem. I had LASEK done perhaps 8 years ago, and my eyes went from 20/400 to 20/15 overnight. The entire procedure was incredible including an HD prescription profile generated by scanning your entire eye. The process is $4k-$5k but with financing comes down to about the same you spend on glasses or contacts annually. No risk of halos as there is no "flap" cut like with LASIK, no chance it will come loose, and more accurate vision than you could ever achieve with lenses. The quality of life upgrade is incredible, no scratchy eyes, no falling asleep and waking up with stinging eyes, and for sports it's incredible. I can't explain what going from 20/400 to 20/15 is like, but basically I walked around manhattan for 6 months feeling like I was on LSD in awe of being able to see the mortar between bricks on the tops of buildings. I found the best LASEK surgeon in the country and have brought in friends / CEOs from other states and introduced them with incredible results. If anyone wants more info, an intro, etc. let me know and I can probably get you $500 or $1k off if you end up doing it.

MR4D 10y ago
To add to this, not only does the current technology not have halos, but your peripheral vision will increase as well. I had mine done a few years ago on a state of the art machine (at the time), called the Allegretto Wave Laser. No blades - just one laser to cut the flap, and another to shape the lens. Result - in 17 seconds (per eye time of the laser doing it's work), I went from 20/400 with a bad astigmatism to 20/15. A week later it had improved to 20/10 in one eye, and 20/12 in the other. Overall, it took 5 minutes or less of time laying down, including all adjustments. This year celebrates 10 years without glasses, and I am finally needing to start looking at reading glasses for some situations (small print at a close distance). The great thing is that I have thick corneas, and they can actually shape them again to get rid of that as well - which I'll do in a couple years when I hit 50. The only greater miracle I have had is the birth of my son. If you can, I highly recommend it.
bsmith 10y ago
I'm interested in why you think this person is the best. Email in profile.