9 ms·

https://lasikcomplications.com/ https://lasikcomplications.com/

diggan 2y ago
> As of 2018, roughly 9.5 million Americans have had LASIK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LASIK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LASIK How many of those end up with life-altering complications? For being a website trying to highlight how problematic something is, it oddly is missing a bunch of data to back it up.
- moffkalast 2y ago
  > From the report: "In [FDA] studies, ~15% of patients experienced night vision symptoms that were worse or significantly worse than preoperative night vision symptoms. Approximately 20% of patients experienced dryness symptoms that were worse or significantly worse than preoperative dryness." View complication table from report. Says it right there?
  - diggan 2y ago
    As someone who never had any issues with my eyes, is worse night vision and/or increased dryness something that is considered "life-altering complications"?
    - khazhoux 2y ago
      Another person posted that they lost the ability to see stars due to visual aberrations. That’s really sad. And it’s not uncommon, apparently.
      - raverbashing 2y ago
        They also mentioned they ignored potential red flags and didn't follow correct post-op care, so blaming the technique seems like barking up the wrong tree People seem to google "lasik best prices" then wonder why their experience sucks? Don't go for the first google links when researching something, avoid sensationalistic BS
        khazhoux 2y ago
        The question had nothing to do with that. It was whether LASIK can have life-altering complications. The answer is Yes. But to your point: I will assume the HN who posted here was smart, and that the procedure was performed by a licensed professional within a standard risk profile, using equipment that was functioning as expected.
        raverbashing 2y ago
        "Can $procedure have life-altering complications?" Yes, every procedure has a non zero chance of having complications. Yes even stuff at your dentist, or having a mole taken out etc. > within a standard risk profile Well, not following post-op guidelines takes it out of the risk profile, still, it is good to have a second opinion and understanding the risks for your case > laser used had a smaller diameter than my lenses Given that it was 20 yrs ago it is possible that this was an effect that was not well known and it is better controlled today. It is very possible that this result would have been better with modern equipment and techniques (especially if this was not bladeless Lasik) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31353955/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31353955/
        simtel20 2y ago
        > Given that it was 20 yrs ago it is possible that this was an effect that was not well known and it is better controlled today. This was known at the time. If you think about it, it's an obvious effect if you can't correct all of the surface that will admit light in. I had a great outcome with my eye surgery from around that time, with my vision needing no correction for 20 years now. However I distinctly recall the doctor saying that if some features were a bit wider (iirc iris), then his equipment wouldn't be viable for me. I feel strongly that the poster who had this situation had an unethical doctor.
    - kettleballroll 2y ago
      As others have said, it depends. What is weird to me is that the citation doesn't state whether these side effects are permanent. I also had LASIK, and did experience severe dry eye afterwards, but it went away within a month or two. I still have halos/bad vision at night, but I don't consider it life-altering. I would have the operation again in a heart beat.
    - moffkalast 2y ago
      Well I've definitely heard of cases where they needed eye drips every evening before sleep or they'd wake up in pain from dryness, which I'd say is pretty life changing. Like having a chronic disability that requires constant medication.
    - thejazzman 2y ago
      It can be so insanely very much worse than that I couldn't go outside for months. I'd wear double sunglasses and a hat. I'd just cover myself completely. I couldn't open my eyes to see, it was blindly bright. I couldn't use an oven, the hot air instantly and painfully burned the moment I'd open the over door. Etc. It's the second worse thing of my life
    - pizza234 2y ago
      An extremely important (and grave) misunderstanding is that "eye driness" is just a feeling of burning or similar. Tears are a crucial part of the vision. With less tears, the eye has worse vision. So one can end in a paradoxical situation where they have a better vision in theory (and tests!), but in practice, they may see considerably worse. And there's nothing one can do - eye drops only last a short amount of time. I had considerable eye dryness that improved over several (5+) years, which is almost entirely recovered. A couple of years ago I've tried contacts and they wouldn't hold (it wasn't the case pre-op). The (licensed) doctor was a liar (about the risks), and they actually didn't care about me post-op.
  - malfist 2y ago
    I know the plural of anecdote isn't data, but I question those numbers. I know lots of people who've gotten LASIK or PRK, and nobody I know personally has regretted it. I only see the horror stories online. I myself have gotten LASIK, and have had no issues outside the original healing period, except a slight tendency towards dry eyes in the morning, but it's mild.
    - simtel20 2y ago
      Eye surgery happens in such large quantities that the small percentages of edge cases will keep coming up. I have for e.g. met someone who got lasik whose cornea was thinned enough that it resulted in keratoconus and needing corneal transplants to even see. That is very uncommon but is apparently possible
lordofgibbons 2y ago
There is no surgery without risks but this FUD website caused me a lot of anxiety and had me to delay getting lasik. I can without a doubt say it has been the best money I've ever spent. I spend a lot of time outdoors and hike and camp. Doing that with glasses or contacts absolutely sucks. Either your glasses get finger oil on them, or your contacts get some dirt and you have to take them out (but first you have to find clean water to wash your hands). I'm so much happier now. Since then, a lot of friends and family members have also undergone the procedure, and none of them have had any problems, and all of them are extremely happy with the results. edit: I had super dry eyes for the first 2-3 or so months (specially since I'm staring at the monitor all day), but that was expected and I was told about it by the doctor. Eye drops did the trick, and it went away completely after 6 months.
- malfist 2y ago
  Exactly the same boat here. That site and reddit caused me to put off having good vision for years and years. My right eye couldn't see the E on the eye chart. If I hadn't been able to wear glasses I'd have qualified as legally blind. Now I have perfect vision, and everyone I personal know that has had LASIK or PRK have the same story. Bad vision, to good vision, no complications. Everyone I know (including my optometrist) says they'd do it again in a heartbeat.
  - thejazzman 2y ago
    Don't ever do a touch up. Like if your vision slips and they offer to get you back to 20/20. My lasik in 2008 went perfect. My 2014 touch up turned into a living hell 2014-2018 and I still have issues. But at least I can look at a backlit display again, go outside, use the oven, ........ It's fun to feel good about something turning out well. It's called luck. Don't take it to mean the internet is FUD. Terrible things really do happen and after 7 surgeries and 4 corneal surgeon specialists across 3 states I am calling absolute bullshit on the suggestion that this is rare. They told me it's not rare. The rarity is it not being fixed after 7 surgeries. Just to drive this home. They glued my flap down. It felt like a dagger was in my eye. I was screaming. They told me this was normal -- only after the surgery. AND IT FAILED. I had to do it again. And then they sutured it down instead. I have pics from an iPhone where you can see the stitches popping out of my eyeball ...ugh. Anyway. I'm glad it went well for you. BUT YOU ARE LUCKY. No one should do this unless they understand the risks. I absolutely did not. They repeatedly told me they could fix it and failed. (I don't mean to be argumentative. It's like a PTSD fueled public service announcement..)

> As of 2018, roughly 9.5 million Americans have had LASIK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LASIK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LASIK How many of those end up with life-altering complications? For being a website trying to highlight how problematic something is, it oddly is missing a bunch of data to back it up.

moffkalast 2y ago
> From the report: "In [FDA] studies, ~15% of patients experienced night vision symptoms that were worse or significantly worse than preoperative night vision symptoms. Approximately 20% of patients experienced dryness symptoms that were worse or significantly worse than preoperative dryness." View complication table from report. Says it right there?
- diggan 2y ago
  As someone who never had any issues with my eyes, is worse night vision and/or increased dryness something that is considered "life-altering complications"?
  - khazhoux 2y ago
    Another person posted that they lost the ability to see stars due to visual aberrations. That’s really sad. And it’s not uncommon, apparently.
    - raverbashing 2y ago
      They also mentioned they ignored potential red flags and didn't follow correct post-op care, so blaming the technique seems like barking up the wrong tree People seem to google "lasik best prices" then wonder why their experience sucks? Don't go for the first google links when researching something, avoid sensationalistic BS
      - khazhoux 2y ago
        The question had nothing to do with that. It was whether LASIK can have life-altering complications. The answer is Yes. But to your point: I will assume the HN who posted here was smart, and that the procedure was performed by a licensed professional within a standard risk profile, using equipment that was functioning as expected.
        raverbashing 2y ago
        "Can $procedure have life-altering complications?" Yes, every procedure has a non zero chance of having complications. Yes even stuff at your dentist, or having a mole taken out etc. > within a standard risk profile Well, not following post-op guidelines takes it out of the risk profile, still, it is good to have a second opinion and understanding the risks for your case > laser used had a smaller diameter than my lenses Given that it was 20 yrs ago it is possible that this was an effect that was not well known and it is better controlled today. It is very possible that this result would have been better with modern equipment and techniques (especially if this was not bladeless Lasik) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31353955/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31353955/
        simtel20 2y ago
        > Given that it was 20 yrs ago it is possible that this was an effect that was not well known and it is better controlled today. This was known at the time. If you think about it, it's an obvious effect if you can't correct all of the surface that will admit light in. I had a great outcome with my eye surgery from around that time, with my vision needing no correction for 20 years now. However I distinctly recall the doctor saying that if some features were a bit wider (iirc iris), then his equipment wouldn't be viable for me. I feel strongly that the poster who had this situation had an unethical doctor.
  - kettleballroll 2y ago
    As others have said, it depends. What is weird to me is that the citation doesn't state whether these side effects are permanent. I also had LASIK, and did experience severe dry eye afterwards, but it went away within a month or two. I still have halos/bad vision at night, but I don't consider it life-altering. I would have the operation again in a heart beat.
  - moffkalast 2y ago
    Well I've definitely heard of cases where they needed eye drips every evening before sleep or they'd wake up in pain from dryness, which I'd say is pretty life changing. Like having a chronic disability that requires constant medication.
  - thejazzman 2y ago
    It can be so insanely very much worse than that I couldn't go outside for months. I'd wear double sunglasses and a hat. I'd just cover myself completely. I couldn't open my eyes to see, it was blindly bright. I couldn't use an oven, the hot air instantly and painfully burned the moment I'd open the over door. Etc. It's the second worse thing of my life
  - pizza234 2y ago
    An extremely important (and grave) misunderstanding is that "eye driness" is just a feeling of burning or similar. Tears are a crucial part of the vision. With less tears, the eye has worse vision. So one can end in a paradoxical situation where they have a better vision in theory (and tests!), but in practice, they may see considerably worse. And there's nothing one can do - eye drops only last a short amount of time. I had considerable eye dryness that improved over several (5+) years, which is almost entirely recovered. A couple of years ago I've tried contacts and they wouldn't hold (it wasn't the case pre-op). The (licensed) doctor was a liar (about the risks), and they actually didn't care about me post-op.
- malfist 2y ago
  I know the plural of anecdote isn't data, but I question those numbers. I know lots of people who've gotten LASIK or PRK, and nobody I know personally has regretted it. I only see the horror stories online. I myself have gotten LASIK, and have had no issues outside the original healing period, except a slight tendency towards dry eyes in the morning, but it's mild.
  - simtel20 2y ago
    Eye surgery happens in such large quantities that the small percentages of edge cases will keep coming up. I have for e.g. met someone who got lasik whose cornea was thinned enough that it resulted in keratoconus and needing corneal transplants to even see. That is very uncommon but is apparently possible

lordofgibbons 2y ago

There is no surgery without risks but this FUD website caused me a lot of anxiety and had me to delay getting lasik. I can without a doubt say it has been the best money I've ever spent. I spend a lot of time outdoors and hike and camp. Doing that with glasses or contacts absolutely sucks. Either your glasses get finger oil on them, or your contacts get some dirt and you have to take them out (but first you have to find clean water to wash your hands). I'm so much happier now. Since then, a lot of friends and family members have also undergone the procedure, and none of them have had any problems, and all of them are extremely happy with the results. edit: I had super dry eyes for the first 2-3 or so months (specially since I'm staring at the monitor all day), but that was expected and I was told about it by the doctor. Eye drops did the trick, and it went away completely after 6 months.

malfist 2y ago
Exactly the same boat here. That site and reddit caused me to put off having good vision for years and years. My right eye couldn't see the E on the eye chart. If I hadn't been able to wear glasses I'd have qualified as legally blind. Now I have perfect vision, and everyone I personal know that has had LASIK or PRK have the same story. Bad vision, to good vision, no complications. Everyone I know (including my optometrist) says they'd do it again in a heartbeat.
- thejazzman 2y ago
  Don't ever do a touch up. Like if your vision slips and they offer to get you back to 20/20. My lasik in 2008 went perfect. My 2014 touch up turned into a living hell 2014-2018 and I still have issues. But at least I can look at a backlit display again, go outside, use the oven, ........ It's fun to feel good about something turning out well. It's called luck. Don't take it to mean the internet is FUD. Terrible things really do happen and after 7 surgeries and 4 corneal surgeon specialists across 3 states I am calling absolute bullshit on the suggestion that this is rare. They told me it's not rare. The rarity is it not being fixed after 7 surgeries. Just to drive this home. They glued my flap down. It felt like a dagger was in my eye. I was screaming. They told me this was normal -- only after the surgery. AND IT FAILED. I had to do it again. And then they sutured it down instead. I have pics from an iPhone where you can see the stitches popping out of my eyeball ...ugh. Anyway. I'm glad it went well for you. BUT YOU ARE LUCKY. No one should do this unless they understand the risks. I absolutely did not. They repeatedly told me they could fix it and failed. (I don't mean to be argumentative. It's like a PTSD fueled public service announcement..)