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To anyone who is nearsighted and considering corrective surgery: do it. If you look at the stats, the vast majority of patients are glad they got the surgery.

by ggreer 13y ago

To anyone who is nearsighted and considering corrective surgery: do it. If you look at the stats, the vast majority of patients are glad they got the surgery. I started wearing glasses when I was 9. I got contacts at 16. It was a great improvement, and I was quite happy with contacts. Two years ago, I got wavefront-guided epi-LASEK. It is without a doubt the best money I've spent. Glasses have obvious problems, but even contacts come with significant disadvantages. They can dislodge unexpectedly. Doing anything in the water risks losing them. They can trap particles or chemicals against the cornea, causing irritation. Corrective lenses also tax your mind with more logistics. An overnight trip requires saline solution, extra lenses (and/or backup glasses), a storage case, and some way to clean your hands. This sucks some of the fun out of camping and other activities. Meanwhile, people who've had corrective surgery wake up and see. It's miraculous. Their eyes just work.

bemmu 13y ago
I was trying to word that logistics part in the post too, but you put it great. It's one less item to forget to bring on a trip of taking up space in your luggage and home. Getting eye surgery has by no means made my life twice as good, but it was a slight improvement worth the money.
unwind 13y ago
There are plenty of modern contact lenses that can be worn for longer periods than just a single day without issues. As far as I understand it, this comes from enhanced materials, letting through more oxygen while retaining more moisture. I use Air Optix (http://www.airoptix.com/safety-information.shtml http://www.airoptix.com/safety-information.shtml), they say up to 6 nights is fine for their baseline version, with up to 30 nights for the Night & Day product. Not affiliated in any way, just a customer.
- stephengillie 13y ago
  I got a blister on my eye from Night & Day contacts. Then in got LASIK. That was in 2005, best choice of my life.
- codex 13y ago
  Sadly, this is true for some, but not for others. I find even Air Optix uncomfortable. It's not the freshness of the contacts themselves, it's that my eye reacts to wearing them after awhile--even brand new pairs. If I go a few months without wearing them, I can tolerate them for a week or so.
outworlder 13y ago
Note: the vast majority of patients are not really that picky about their vision. I once went to my eye doctor to complain that my vision had gotten worse. The prescription went from 4.75 to 5.00 - and most people have trouble telling that difference, let alone being bothered enough to go to a doctor for that. Also, try to get opinions from people who really rely on their eyes in order to do their jobs. Many people will want to go through with the surgery anyway. Which is fine, but do the research. It is surgery in a very delicate part of the body and, as surgery, it carries risks. And there are many common possible side effects. You eye will get dryer. You may get halos or starbusts, specially at night. They might be minor, as the OP, or they might be debilitating. And if so, there aren't many options to correct those. Specially since, if you are getting halos, your pupil is probably large. Burning more cornea won't be an option, not if you don't want to risk structural failure (there is a name for the condition, which I forgot now). The operation is not reversible. Also, do the operation one eye at a time. You never know if you are about to be lasered by a malfunctioning device. That way, you'll still have one eye. And be skeptical about claims of 20/20 vision after the surgery. Those measures do not take into account any side effects you might have, only if you are able to see the letters, no matter if their outlines are blurred to hell, or if there are halos.
- specialist 13y ago
  ...get opinions from people who really rely on their eyes in order to do their jobs. Especially eye doctors. A former gf worked on clinical trials for a group of eye doctors. She'd only consider having surgeries the docs would have done on themselves. I forget which is which, but she was very impressed when a surgeon teaching others advances in LASEK (?) and had actually had the surgery herself.

by ggreer 13y ago

bemmu 13y ago

I was trying to word that logistics part in the post too, but you put it great. It's one less item to forget to bring on a trip of taking up space in your luggage and home. Getting eye surgery has by no means made my life twice as good, but it was a slight improvement worth the money.

unwind 13y ago

There are plenty of modern contact lenses that can be worn for longer periods than just a single day without issues. As far as I understand it, this comes from enhanced materials, letting through more oxygen while retaining more moisture. I use Air Optix (http://www.airoptix.com/safety-information.shtml http://www.airoptix.com/safety-information.shtml), they say up to 6 nights is fine for their baseline version, with up to 30 nights for the Night & Day product. Not affiliated in any way, just a customer.

stephengillie 13y ago
I got a blister on my eye from Night & Day contacts. Then in got LASIK. That was in 2005, best choice of my life.
codex 13y ago
Sadly, this is true for some, but not for others. I find even Air Optix uncomfortable. It's not the freshness of the contacts themselves, it's that my eye reacts to wearing them after awhile--even brand new pairs. If I go a few months without wearing them, I can tolerate them for a week or so.

outworlder 13y ago

Note: the vast majority of patients are not really that picky about their vision. I once went to my eye doctor to complain that my vision had gotten worse. The prescription went from 4.75 to 5.00 - and most people have trouble telling that difference, let alone being bothered enough to go to a doctor for that. Also, try to get opinions from people who really rely on their eyes in order to do their jobs. Many people will want to go through with the surgery anyway. Which is fine, but do the research. It is surgery in a very delicate part of the body and, as surgery, it carries risks. And there are many common possible side effects. You eye will get dryer. You may get halos or starbusts, specially at night. They might be minor, as the OP, or they might be debilitating. And if so, there aren't many options to correct those. Specially since, if you are getting halos, your pupil is probably large. Burning more cornea won't be an option, not if you don't want to risk structural failure (there is a name for the condition, which I forgot now). The operation is not reversible. Also, do the operation one eye at a time. You never know if you are about to be lasered by a malfunctioning device. That way, you'll still have one eye. And be skeptical about claims of 20/20 vision after the surgery. Those measures do not take into account any side effects you might have, only if you are able to see the letters, no matter if their outlines are blurred to hell, or if there are halos.

specialist 13y ago
...get opinions from people who really rely on their eyes in order to do their jobs. Especially eye doctors. A former gf worked on clinical trials for a group of eye doctors. She'd only consider having surgeries the docs would have done on themselves. I forget which is which, but she was very impressed when a surgeon teaching others advances in LASEK (?) and had actually had the surgery herself.