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Thread: Vision correction surgery - DON'T

  1. #81
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    I had RK done in mid 90's to both eyes and LASIK in mid 2000's to one eye.
    58 years old and presbyopia is my principal issue.
    Lost some of the correction from LASIK due to changes in eye shape, and presently at or about 20/50.
    This past year I went with multi-focal contacts. First as monovision, but later to both eyes.
    Given the advances in contacts, their comfort, and ability to wear extended periods (30 days), my personal opinion is this the way to go if you are over 45 years old.
    Past 45 you almost certainly will face presbyopia, as well as possible other eye changes. For that reason, flexibility of being able to adjust contact prescription is a huge advantage.
    Until this year and adoption of multifocal contacts, my pistol shooting was a major source of frustration. I could not see the sights. For those without presbyopia, just try shooting with someone else's eyeglasses on and you'll see what it's like. My groups reduced by at least half. And this improvement in eyesight has also benefited me in countless ways in everyday life.
    One caveat: getting the right prescription is a matter of trial and error. I bet I tried a half dozen different combinations of lens. My eye doctor is a shooter and Canoe U grad, so he really understood.

  2. #82
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    LASIK has changed since the OP mentioned his wife had the surgery and the incision that weakens the eye is much more precise now. If you are concerned about possible trauma to the eye PRK is the procedure used for people going into the military. Bottom line is consult with an ophthalmologist about risks. Getting medical advice off the Internet isn't the best thing to do.

  3. #83
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan46n2 View Post
    Bottom line is consult with an ophthalmologist about risks. Getting medical advice off the Internet isn't the best thing to do.
    ^This

    Anecdotal stories and old information are not going to help you.

  4. #84
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hammer27 View Post
    ^This

    Anecdotal stories and old information are not going to help you.
    Obtaining information from an ophthalmologist is a given. However, anecdotal stories allow someone to formulate relevant questions to ask.

    Americans have the right and advantages of being armed- unlike the citizens of the countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. -James Madison, The Federalist Papers

    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former
    - Albert Einstein

  5. #85
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    I'm on post-op day 3 after PRK. My vision was not too bad prior to surgery with a prescription of -4.25 OD, -5.00 OS and minimal astigmatism in my left eye. I picked PRK over LASIK due to my participation in contact sports and not wanting the small chance of a flap dehiscence from an accidental eye poke.

    The first 2 post-op days were a world of suck. It felt like I had glass in my eyes and any light was oppressive. I tried to skate-by on the Neurontin that my surgeon prescribed along with OTC Motrin and Tylenol. By the end of post-op day one, I broke down and sent my wife to pick-up the Lortab that my surgeon had prescribed. I needed a total of 2 doses of Lortab to get me though the second day.

    Well, I woke-up on post-op day 3 with zero pain, but my vision is still very blurry. I've been told that blurred vision is normal and it will not normalize for a several days to weeks. It is difficult to stare at a computer screen and reading from my iPhone gives me a headache. Tomorrow, I go back for my second post-op appointment and to get the protective contact lens removed. I've been told to expect 20/40 vision at that point. It should improve over the next month or so to 20/20 or better.

    Overall, not too bad of an experience. I wish that I had just taken the Lortab earlier and spared my self the 36 hours of misery. So far, I'd say that it is worth the $4K.
    I like my rifles like my women - short, light, fast, brown, and suppressed.

  6. #86
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sensei View Post
    The first 2 post-op days were a world of suck. It felt like I had glass in my eyes and any light was oppressive. I tried to skate-by on the Neurontin that my surgeon prescribed along with OTC Motrin and Tylenol. By the end of post-op day one, I broke down and sent my wife to pick-up the Lortab that my surgeon had prescribed. I needed a total of 2 doses of Lortab to get me though the second day.

    [...]

    Overall, not too bad of an experience. I wish that I had just taken the Lortab earlier and spared my self the 36 hours of misery. So far, I'd say that it is worth the $4K.
    Glad your PRK came out well initially. Sounds like your experience with trying to skip pain meds was similar to mine. :-)

    It seems like with PRK you really have to be patient. You saw the improvement I got in myopia and astigmatism, and that level of correction took nearly 6 months. Now I'm on the 9th month, and still have some issue with HOA's (mainly affecting night vision quality). The vision is outstanding but the HOA issue keeps SLOWLY improving over time. I've talked to many other fellow PRK patients with similar experiences, many with vision contrast and sharpness still showing improvements a year after surgery.

  7. #87
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    Went back for my check-up and I'm now 2.5 weeks post-op from PRK. My vision is right at 20/20 for each eye and I'm a little better with both eyes. I've been told that things will improve slowly but there will likely be a noticeable improvement when I finish the taper of topical steroids (Lotemax).

    My only residual symptoms are dry eyes (especially in the AM) and minor HOA disturbance under low light conditions. For example, I did some low light shooting with a mounted light a few days ago. The front site and target pictures were crisp, but the rear sights were either blurry or double. I also have brief periods where my vision gets a little blurry, but this is probably never worse than 20/40, and lasts only a few minutes if I relax and close my eyes. FWIW, these spells of poor acuity are getting better and less frequent with time.

    Overall, I'm very pleased. I'll be ecstatic if my vision improves to 20/15.
    I like my rifles like my women - short, light, fast, brown, and suppressed.

  8. #88
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    Lasik is probably better now than it was 10 years ago. Lasik will be better 10 years from now than it is now. Lasik 20 years from now likely won't exist as something new will have come along.

    I have one functioning eye. FAT CHANCE anyone is getting a shot at cutting into it to improve it!

  9. #89
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    Quote Originally Posted by maximus83 View Post
    As I posted earlier in this thread, I've been pretty cautious about the whole area and especially about the LASEK/LASIK varieties, although it seems like they get better all the time. There's a lot of marketing hype and bad practitioners as well as good in this field. I held off for a long time because of this. Yet, there does seem to be a genuine benefit if you get a reputable surgeon and you're a good candidate for the surgery. My local eye Dr. finally convinced me after he found a good surgeon in the Puget Sound area who he trusted his own family to go to. On his advice I decided to go with PRK for a number of reasons (see the above-linked comparison between PRK and LASIK). I opted for the WaveFront PRK and it was done last January, total cost $2600 with lifetime warranty/corrections as needed. I was nearsighted and got great results. My L eye is dominant and is now 20/15 with zero astigmatism. The R eye is 20/25 (also zero astigmatism), which is good enough for me to go totally without correction, and gives me a practical monovision where the L eye gives great vision at distance and R lets me read up close despite presbyopia.

    HTML Code:
    Date           Refractions            Uncorrected  Corrected
    Pre-surgery    R: -5.00 -0.75 x 140   20/600       20/15
                   L: -3.75 -0.50 x 085   20/400       20/15
    
    8 mth post-op  R: -1.0   0.00         20/25        20/15
                   L: -0.25  0.00         20/15        n.a.
    The main drawback has been that you can have issues with what are called HOA (higher-order abberations), which affect your contrast sensitivity and fine detail of vision, such as night vision, glare, contrast. I especially notice it at night: it's harder to see details in the stars, or in dark areas like parking garages. But this improves gradually over time. Also, I tried to skip the prescribed Vicodin on the day of surgery, and that was a mistake. I recommend following doctor's orders, including pain medication. :-)

    Overall I'm happy with the results and glad I did it. I went from being nearsighted all my life, glasses and contacts, and the last 3 years needing progressive lenses for both myopia and presbyopia, to today needing nothing at all. The vision quality is excellent, still with some HOA issues mainly at night but these improve incrementally each month. Time will tell if there are long-term issues or regression.

    The only issue I have left to decide is whether to keep the monovision, or whether to get the 20/25 in the right eye further corrected so that both eyes are about 20/15. The Dr. generally doesn't like to do a repeat surgery on anything 20/40 or better, as they believe the risks outweigh the benefits. Plus, I'm actually quite happy with the monovision as it lets me avoid reading glasses, so I may just stick with it. Would be interested to hear if others have tried the monovision approach.
    I had the PRK 5 years ago and after a lifetime of ill fitting glasses and contacts and I now have 20/20 and 20/15 vision. I have an extended wear contact that I wear for near vision or reading. I have the HOA problem as well but I balance with the fact that I can see well during the rest of the day. The best part of having corrective eye surgery is seeing the detail and clarity that I missed for so many years. I do recommend continuing to have regular eye exams. I should also note that eye doctors that I have seen after corrective eye surgery are dismissive of it.

  10. #90
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    Quote Originally Posted by C45P312 View Post
    I would like to think when it comes to vision correction surgery, there is a huge difference on what is done now versus 10 years ago.
    This, the military has allowed it for pilots for years now.
    Todd
    Colt/BCM

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