I did mine 9 years ago. Best decision of my life. Long term effects: - I suffered from the night halo effect for two years afterwards, but it went away. Even t

I did mine 9 years ago. Best decision of my life. Long term effects: - I suffered from the night halo effect for two years afterwards, but it went away. Even then, I was happy having done the surgery. - I am more light-sensitive now than I was. I'm uncomfortable without sunglasses in a bright summer day, something that didn't happen before. From what I can tell I'm still in the normal light sensitivity band. - My eyes are drier now than before surgery. Again, not something that affects day to day life. I notice it mostly when the eye gets irritated somehow (after swimming in salty water or chlorinated water, after being in smoky environments or being exposed to dust). Doctors routinely downplay both the halo effect and the reduced tear production. The halo effect is more common in high correction surgeries (my correction was 3 dioptries myopic correction and 4(left) and 6(right) asthigmatic correction, which is rather high). If you have already reduced tear production, I'd advise against the surgery. From people I know who did LASIK, that's the only relevant downside people talk about. Having permanently dry eyes and permanent need for drops is worse than wearing glasses. It isn't painful, but I was uncomfortable for a couple weeks. For the first couple of days it seemed I had a grain of sand in the eye (and I had to resist the urge to scratch it out). On the plus side, recovery is very quick. I was out and about on the day after, and working in front of a computer screen three days after.