Did LASIK surgery work for you and your optic?

[pingdork]

OP, I had LASIK a few years ago & have no issues with any of my RDSs. My EOTech's reticles are all very sharp.
I did initially have starbursts at night & some sensitivity to sunlight, as others have mentioned, but those side effects quickly subsided.
I paid $1k, for the procedure and I'm very pleased with the outcome. It also came with free lifetime enhancements. My vision is still perfect & I haven't needed any enhancements. Along with quitting smoking, it's best thing I ever did for myself.

Sent via Tapatalk

Lifetime enhancements! Wow!
I'm with you on the quitting smoking too. That's next on my list.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[krichbaum]

I had LASIK done in 2004 by a reputable doctor and it wasn't cheap...$5k. My eyes were really bad beforehand and my vision is corrected such that I don't use corrective lenses even now. BUT, I have a lot of trouble with starburst effect from light sources as well as multiple images in certain lighting conditions. I wish I would have done more research into the alternatives.

My eyes don't work well with most illuminated optics. I use Aimpoints mostly and just deal with it, although I've been trying different optics lately to see if there's any improvement to be had. Etched reticles are the best. I have found that I can clean up the dot in the Aimpoints (or really any illuminated non-magnified reticle) by sighting through a peep sight. Normally I see a light blob, but by sighting through a hole I see a dot again which helps with precision shots at distance. I'm now thinking that my ideal RDS setup includes backup sights with the front folded and the rear up all the time, with the RDS set for a lower 1/3 cowitness. That way I can look over the rear sight for close shots, and when needed, move just enough to sight through the rear sight for longer distances. It may sound complicated but I've been experimenting with this and it seems to work fairly well. The alternative is to go to something with an etched reticle because its clean and crisp to my eyes, and if I do that I may as well use a variable 1-4x optic since non-magnified etched reticle optics are few and far between. I have a Trijicon TR21 that I've really started to favor lately as even the illuminated triangle in the reticle is clean and crisp, and I used to have an ACOG that was great and I regret selling it.

Anyway, I don't know the current state of things with LASIK, but there are risks. While the chances of a bad result may be low, if you end up like me you may regret it. To be honest, I've never encountered anyone else that had a bad experience...everyone I've talked to had nothing but good things to say. So do your research and just know what you're getting in to.

[montanadave]

Montanadave,

Sobering story. I am sorry to hear about your eye troubles and hope you heal promptly with minimal sequelae. I think I'll keep my corrective lenses (with bifocals) and call it a day.

kiwi57

I don't wish to scare anyone off from undergoing a procedure which can significantly improve one's quality of life. I don't regret getting the LASIK correction. Most of my issues are due to my genes, certainly not shoddy medical care. I would simply caution anyone contemplating eye surgery to do their homework, explore all the options and, as emphasized by ptmccain's posts, get the best medical care available.

Most folks don't appreciate how precious their vision is till it's compromised or gone. Proceed with caution.

[montanadave]

Krichbaum: Slick idea combining the rear peep sight cowitnessing with an Aimpoint. I have not experimented with that. I look forward to giving it a try, assuming things heal up OK.

Alternatively, I may be looking to trade somes rifles in the Equipment Exchange for a blunderbuss.

[pingdork]

Krichbaum. Sounds like you're still having astigmatism issues. Sighting the RDS thru the peephole is a known way to reduce the starburst, and I've also found that I notice less with a killflash on my aimpoints.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ryno12]

Krichbaum: Slick idea combining the rear peep sight cowitnessing with an Aimpoint. I have not experimented with that. I look forward to giving it a try, assuming things heal up OK.

Alternatively, I may be looking to trade somes rifles in the Equipment Exchange for a blunderbuss.

I just tried that with an Aimpoint I have mounted with fixed irons & it works. The dot is slightly "starbursted" normally but when I look though the small aperature of the rear sight, the dot is better. I notice no difference with the large. This only works on my Aimpoint as my EOTech dots are crystal clear either way. I wonder if this is the same principle as squinting to see better?? Weird, but it works.

Sent via Tapatalk

[The M]

I just tried that with an Aimpoint I have mounted with fixed irons & it works. .. I wonder if this is the same principle as squinting to see better?? ...

Yes, it's the same principle as squinting or stopping down a camera lens to get more stuff in focus for depth of field. Have you tried dimming the red dot? It really helped to reduce the blooming for me - I'm curious if it works for you.

[Ryno12]

Yes, it's the same principle as squinting or stopping down a camera lens to get more stuff in focus for depth of field. Have you tried dimming the red dot? It really helped to reduce the blooming for me - I'm curious if it works for you.

Yeah, it does. I just was kinda playing around with different night settings with a weapon light. If I set it low enough, the blooming does go away all together.

Sent via Tapatalk

[SteveL]

I didn't have LASIK but I'll relate my experience anyway in case it's helpful to anyone.

I had two problems: Terrible vision AND terrible astigmatism. I was unable to read a single letter on an eye chart. It's not that the letters were fuzzy. I couldn't see them at all. I even had an eye doctor offer to write me a letter so I could get a handicap tag on my car at one time. I wasn't a good candidate for LASIK so in 2008 I had ICLs implanted. I was 31 at the time. The surgeon told me that this would correct my vision problems and most of my astigmatism, but that some (astigmatism) would remain. He told me that I would be able to have a touch-up surgery in the future if I wanted to because it would be very minor compared to the LASIK procedure I would have needed initially. He also warned me that on top of everything else I have larger pupils than normal so it was very possible I could never be completely rid of artifacts around lights. I came out of the surgery with excellent results overall. 20/20 vision in both eyes. However, as predicted some astigmatism remained. During the day I couldn't really tell, but it reared its ugly head at night. My particular issues are comet tails and halos around lights, with occasional streaking thrown into the mix. The red dot of an Aimpoint looked more like a vertical line than a dot. It was actually very difficult for me to look through an Aimpoint and tell exactly what the actual dot was. Eotechs were absolutely out of the question, as the Eotech reticle was an unmitigated disaster for me. I ended up buying a Trijicon AccuPoint in large part due to the shape of the reticle. Even though I still had some artifact when looking at it, the triangle shape was easy to distinguish from the artifact. Headlights and streetlights could be a pain as well. If I was driving on a busy road with a lot of street lights and headlights then my pupils would constrict just enough for the artifacts to disappear. However, if I was on a street that wasn't so busy then my pupils would dilate all the way and that's when I would get the full force of halos and comet tails. After a few years I went back to see about that touch up. I proceeded to have PRK done. PRK takes several months before you're able to see the full benefits of it (as opposed to LASIK which only takes a few days). Anyway several months after the fact I was at 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other. I went into my LGS and on a whim decided to look through an Eotech. It was clear as day. I bought it on the spot. I still do get some lingering comet tails and halos around street lights, but to a much lesser degree, as he said I might (the aforementioned size of my pupils coming into play here). I think this is why the artifacts always go away when my pupils constrict just a little bit. Anyway, even though my vision is not completely perfect (and never will be) I'm very happy with the results overall.

[ClearedHot]

PRK > LASIK