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I had LASIK just over 6 months ago, and I'm really happy with the results. How much does it cost in the US? Down here in NZ, it cost me NZ$5750 (~US$4877) for

I had LASIK just over 6 months ago, and I'm really happy with the results. How much does it cost in the US? Down here in NZ, it cost me NZ$5750 (~US$4877) for intralase (laser-created flap) on both eyes. I didn't have a lot of those follow up tests mentioned where they poke your eye. I had a follow up the day after, then a week after, then a month, then two months after. All they did at each appointment was get me to read from a chart and examined my eyes with some kind of digital microscope.

bemmu 14y ago
In Japan the total cost was about $3500. Some clinics claim to do it for half that price, but it seems like they will try to upsell you to a more expensive type of surgery (supposedly more accurate one) after getting you to commit. They even called it "premium lasik". I could not figure out from any online sources whether there would actually be a difference between the two types of surgery (and if there was, what kind of a doctor would really allow a lesser surgery in such an important situation?), so I decided it was probably just an upselling attempt and decided to go with a clinic that was more straightforward with their pricing and had a less marketing-savvy look to their landing pages.
- rms 14y ago
  You may have ended up doing a vastly superior LASIK by that decision. In the USA, it remains a common marketing technique to advertise prices for non-wavefront LASIK and then upsell everyone to wavefront LASIK by telling them that you might be crazy to get non-wavefront LASIK done. Another difference -- here the surgeon suggests the benzodiazapines. You would have been given surgery without valium if you hadn't asked your general doctor?
  - bemmu 14y ago
    The one I got turned out to be wavefront. Yes, there would have been no sedatives. Seems to be normal here, also at dentist you get no sedatives (anesthetics though of course).
nomercy400 14y ago
I had femtolasik in The Netherlands in 2012, which is like intralasik. Costs are around 3200 EUR total (~4300 USD), but with a healthcare insurance return of 500 EUR. Operation itself took about an hour (around noon), after which I could go home again under guidance. I could see a bit again the same afternoon, and got back to work two days after. Annoying parts were the preparation (one week eyedrops) and the eyedrops after the operation for two months that take some time. And the fact that during the operation you realize that your eye is more attached to the huge laser machine than to your eye socket. Good thing that only lasted a minute. No physical contact to the eye, just some checkups.
- wyclif 14y ago
  Thanks, I understand your first and second paragraphs completely, but the last sentence is a bit confusing— I'm not sure what is meant by "no physical contact to the eye." Do you mean that no instrument touched your eye during the operation, just the laser?

bemmu 14y ago

In Japan the total cost was about $3500. Some clinics claim to do it for half that price, but it seems like they will try to upsell you to a more expensive type of surgery (supposedly more accurate one) after getting you to commit. They even called it "premium lasik". I could not figure out from any online sources whether there would actually be a difference between the two types of surgery (and if there was, what kind of a doctor would really allow a lesser surgery in such an important situation?), so I decided it was probably just an upselling attempt and decided to go with a clinic that was more straightforward with their pricing and had a less marketing-savvy look to their landing pages.

rms 14y ago
You may have ended up doing a vastly superior LASIK by that decision. In the USA, it remains a common marketing technique to advertise prices for non-wavefront LASIK and then upsell everyone to wavefront LASIK by telling them that you might be crazy to get non-wavefront LASIK done. Another difference -- here the surgeon suggests the benzodiazapines. You would have been given surgery without valium if you hadn't asked your general doctor?
- bemmu 14y ago
  The one I got turned out to be wavefront. Yes, there would have been no sedatives. Seems to be normal here, also at dentist you get no sedatives (anesthetics though of course).

nomercy400 14y ago

I had femtolasik in The Netherlands in 2012, which is like intralasik. Costs are around 3200 EUR total (~4300 USD), but with a healthcare insurance return of 500 EUR. Operation itself took about an hour (around noon), after which I could go home again under guidance. I could see a bit again the same afternoon, and got back to work two days after. Annoying parts were the preparation (one week eyedrops) and the eyedrops after the operation for two months that take some time. And the fact that during the operation you realize that your eye is more attached to the huge laser machine than to your eye socket. Good thing that only lasted a minute. No physical contact to the eye, just some checkups.

wyclif 14y ago
Thanks, I understand your first and second paragraphs completely, but the last sentence is a bit confusing— I'm not sure what is meant by "no physical contact to the eye." Do you mean that no instrument touched your eye during the operation, just the laser?