52 replies to this topic

[basho]

from the Bates method, bad eyesight is caused by having muscles around the eye itself contracting in strange positions, forcing a long eyeball in the case of nearsightedness, and a short eyeball in the opposite case.

I think this may be the case. For too long I favored one eye over the other when reading, and now that eye, and only that eye, is nearsighted.

[kottke]

Pretty hot lasik surgeon right here

DR. SHALINI KAPOOR GROVER, M.D., C.M.

[mike07]

I am near-sighted, stuff close up looks good.  Stuff further away not so good.  I want to get laser eye surgery in order to get beyond 20/20 vision.  Is this the right time to get the surgery or are there advancements coming that could make the surgery better -- leading to better vision, more comfortable, less painful, etc.

I think it is the right time for you to get laser eye surgery as long as your old enough. I've done plenty of lasik research to determine whether I should get surgery and I believe it would be the best option for my eyes. If I were you I would do a little more research and maybe a few consultations to decide whether you should get eye surgery.

[guruGurumom]

LASIK was the best thing I've ever done for myself. I am a mother of a 3 year old and a 1 year old and that means a lot of waking up in the middle of the night. This translated to sleeping in my contacts so that I could see what I was doing when I had to check on my kids; after 20 years, it was starting to take a toll on the health of my eyes.

*Mind edit : removed commercial links/references*

[missminni]

I've always wanted to do corrective eye surgery but they aren't able to correct my vision
entirely, and I was led to believe that if you did it once, you couldn't do it again. Is that still the case?
I decided to wait until they could actually correct my vision totally. Unfortunately that time still has not
come.
A friend of mine told me that her sister and a few friends had lasik and after a few
years they had to wear glasses again. Has anybody else ever heard of such a thing?
Are there any new procedures?

[niner]

A friend of mine told me that her sister and a few friends had lasik and after a few
years they had to wear glasses again. Has anybody else ever heard of such a thing?

I've heard this too. My eyes have gotten progressively worse over the years. I presume that at least part of the problem is lens stiffening due to glycation. I wouldn't expect this process to stop just because I got LASIK. You can get carnosine eye drops, although I've never heard of anyone's vision improving from them. Maybe in the case of cataracts. I heard that Paul Wakfer was experimenting with ALT-711 eyedrops. It might be the case that lens stiffening only affects your ability to compensate or to shift your focal length, so maybe if you get the focal length correct in the first place it would stay there, and the lens stiffening would only affect your ability to shift from near to far. You'd probably still need corrective lenses to deal with it eventually. This would be a good argument for anti-glycation compounds.

[eternaltraveler]

depending on the thickness of your cornea you could potentially have lasik done hundreds of times.

Eyes continue to change as we age. It's good to have lasik down after your eyes have stabilized from development (23ish), but it isn't unreasonable to have a touch up once a decade or so after that.

[commonster19]

well i guess it depends.. there's still more room for lasik to be safer and cheaper
but i personally think it's already pretty safe
i've seen number of ppl around me getting lasik done (more than 10 total) and most of them like the results (except for one of my friends, who felt some dryness in her eyes and had to get about a month of follow-up treatments) side effects aren't too rare i heard, but they aren't so serious either
anyway here's a short note on lasik hope it helps..
LASIK eye surgery benefits include improved visual activity, freedom from corrective eyewear, and possibly new career opportunities. Patients who achieve a successful LASIK outcome can eliminate their need for glasses or contact lenses, and enjoy the freedom of clear vision at all times. LASIK eye surgery is a safe and effective treatment that has continued to gain popularity among patients. As with any surgical procedure, there are risks associated with LASIK, but in the hands of a highly skilled and experienced surgeon, LASIK is a particularly safe and reliable procedure. However, you should talk with your surgeon about any risks associated with the procedure, as well as all the benefits. And always get your eye-evaluation done beforehand and follow up on your eyes after surgery. Keep in mind that at Lasik-1 your care will be entrusted to an industry leading surgeon who uses some of the most advanced LASIK technology available today.

[Ghostrider]

UPDATE: I scheduled an eye exam to get screened for LASIK next month. Looking forward...

[meursault]

UPDATE: I scheduled an eye exam to get screened for LASIK next month. Looking forward...

Keep us posted.

Edited by czukles, 01 July 2008 - 03:44 AM.

[mitkat]

UPDATE: I scheduled an eye exam to get screened for LASIK next month. Looking forward...

Ghostrider, any updates? I am in a position where I may be able to get this done finally and am interested in hearing about it.

[mitkat]

Specifically (and I'm hesitant to make a new thread about it), I'm interested in using N-acetyl-L-carnosine drops post and possibly pre-op, although I'm not sure if pre-op is entirely necessary. I've read some interesting looking studies with anywhere from a few weeks to 6 months to show some sign of improvement, AOR shows some pretty positive and marketable results in the studies they rounded up to push their ortho-eyes product, however there's other good promising info available. Nothing has smacked me in the face as overwhelming negative at this point. Thoughts?

[mitkat]

I finally am able to get LASIK after coming into some money. I talked to my doctor about N-acetyl-L-carnosine drops, showed him some of the AOR literature, but as I figured, he's a much older man who is entirely conservative - whatever I showed him wouldn't add up to anything unless maybe it was from a another professional, maybe.

So I'll ask again as this thread faded into the back of the active topics, anyone's thoughts on using a product like AOR's Ortho-eyes before and/or after LASIK? I've read many of the studies but I'm looking for any other info. I'll be having it done early December.

[missminni]

I finally am able to get LASIK after coming into some money. I talked to my doctor about N-acetyl-L-carnosine drops, showed him some of the AOR literature, but as I figured, he's a much older man who is entirely conservative - whatever I showed him wouldn't add up to anything unless maybe it was from a another professional, maybe.

So I'll ask again as this thread faded into the back of the active topics, anyone's thoughts on using a product like AOR's Ortho-eyes before and/or after LASIK? I've read many of the studies but I'm looking for any other info. I'll be having it done early December.

Hi
I hate to put a damper on your enthusiasm for lasik, but everybody I know personally who has had the procedure had their eye revert back to
their original condition within a couple of years and they were unable to have the operation again. You should check into the statistics on how
long the surgery remains effective.

Another common laser eye surgery side effect is that of the eyesight reverting back to the way it originally was before the procedure was done. This is typically a slow process and can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few years. There are people who find themselves in need of having the procedure done again which of course they have to pay for all over again. Some people find that their vision does revert a little but not as bad as it used to be so they just live with it and move on in life.

[buck1s]

I finally am able to get LASIK after coming into some money. I talked to my doctor about N-acetyl-L-carnosine drops, showed him some of the AOR literature, but as I figured, he's a much older man who is entirely conservative - whatever I showed him wouldn't add up to anything unless maybe it was from a another professional, maybe.

So I'll ask again as this thread faded into the back of the active topics, anyone's thoughts on using a product like AOR's Ortho-eyes before and/or after LASIK? I've read many of the studies but I'm looking for any other info. I'll be having it done early December.

Hi
I hate to put a damper on your enthusiasm for lasik, but everybody I know personally who has had the procedure had their eye revert back to
their original condition within a couple of years and they were unable to have the operation again. You should check into the statistics on how
long the surgery remains effective.

Another common laser eye surgery side effect is that of the eyesight reverting back to the way it originally was before the procedure was done. This is typically a slow process and can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few years. There are people who find themselves in need of having the procedure done again which of course they have to pay for all over again. Some people find that their vision does revert a little but not as bad as it used to be so they just live with it and move on in life.

Of the few people I know that have had LASIK for more than a few years, none have mentioned to me that their eyesight is declining again. I've seen no glasses either Furthermore, I've been told that the latest tech allows for many repeat surgeries (hypothetically). I might do it if I didn't look so darn smart in glasses!!!

[eternaltraveler]

I had lasik 3 or 4 years ago. My vision is still dramatically better than before the procedure (still at least 20/20, though they might be off their peak, of course I'm on med school and have to read about 17 textbooks a day), and I can have it done many more times if I want too.

Edited by elrond, 12 November 2008 - 08:34 PM.

[dumbdumb]

I'm curious about LASIK too, but from what I understand, you're required to keep your eyes opened and perfectly still for the duration of the procedure. I can't do that watching TV or reading a book - let alone nervous an on a doctor's table. How the heck have you lot managed to do it?

[Ghostrider]

I finally am able to get LASIK after coming into some money. I talked to my doctor about N-acetyl-L-carnosine drops, showed him some of the AOR literature, but as I figured, he's a much older man who is entirely conservative - whatever I showed him wouldn't add up to anything unless maybe it was from a another professional, maybe.

So I'll ask again as this thread faded into the back of the active topics, anyone's thoughts on using a product like AOR's Ortho-eyes before and/or after LASIK? I've read many of the studies but I'm looking for any other info. I'll be having it done early December.

You guys should have PMed me. Anyways, I am going in for surgery this Thursday. I am getting treated at OHSU -- not the cheapest place, but I really like my doctor. He's not only performed many surgeries, but has also published some of the papers that I have read on laser eye surgery (which I discovered after meeting him). Anyways, mitkat, let me know how your surgery goes. I'll post an update when I can after the surgery. Oh, and I am getting PKR, not LASIK...OHSU does both, but my doc thought I would be a better candidate for PKR based on my cornea characteristic.

Edited by Ghostrider, 03 December 2008 - 09:33 AM.

[Ghostrider]

I'm curious about LASIK too, but from what I understand, you're required to keep your eyes opened and perfectly still for the duration of the procedure. I can't do that watching TV or reading a book - let alone nervous an on a doctor's table. How the heck have you lot managed to do it?

I was prescribed vallium which I take before the procedure. After the procedure, I take vicodin which basically will cause me to sleep for the rest of the day. I don't think I have taken it before, but I expect it to do the trick. Also, I was told that the actual laser part lasts about 15 seconds per eye. And also, it's not like looking into a laser pointer, the wavelengths on these lasers are extremely small (they are the same lasers used to etch silicon). From what I have heard, you can't even feel it and it's not like staring into the sun. The next day after the surgery you can read and see, but your eyes will be sore from the surgery and you can't rub them for an entire 2 months after the surgery.

[mitkat]

Thanks for replying Ghostrider - yeah, I should of PM'd you. My surgery is on the 13th, I'm getting LASIK. Good luck with your surgery, I'm looking forward to hearing your experience.

[Korimyr the Rat]

I'm curious about LASIK too, but from what I understand, you're required to keep your eyes opened and perfectly still for the duration of the procedure. I can't do that watching TV or reading a book - let alone nervous an on a doctor's table. How the heck have you lot managed to do it?

They give you a visible point of light to focus on, and the procedure only takes a few minutes for each eye. That, combined with the numbing drops, makes it incredibly easy. Probably the longest I've ever sat still in my entire life-- and it was a cakewalk.

I had it done seven years ago, for just under $2000. My vision was corrected from 20/700 to around 20/25, and I haven't experienced any loss in night vision or color acuity. They told me to schedule three days off for the surgery, but I got bored and went back to work the next night. No pain, itching, or recovery period involved.

[missminni]

I'm curious about LASIK too, but from what I understand, you're required to keep your eyes opened and perfectly still for the duration of the procedure. I can't do that watching TV or reading a book - let alone nervous an on a doctor's table. How the heck have you lot managed to do it?

They give you a visible point of light to focus on, and the procedure only takes a few minutes for each eye. That, combined with the numbing drops, makes it incredibly easy. Probably the longest I've ever sat still in my entire life-- and it was a cakewalk.

I had it done seven years ago, for just under $2000. My vision was corrected from 20/700 to around 20/25, and I haven't experienced any loss in night vision or color acuity. They told me to schedule three days off for the surgery, but I got bored and went back to work the next night. No pain, itching, or recovery period involved.

Is it possible for doctors to be recommended...maybe in a PM if not on forum.
This has really peaked my interest in Lasik but I don't want to go to just any doctor and I don't know anyone
in my area who has had the surgery recently. I'm in NYC.

[Ghostrider]

The surgery went fine, the next day I had my post-op checkup and I had 20/25 in one eye and 20/15 in the other. My vision should end up better than that, but it has been worse for the past two days and my doctor said that would happen as the cornea heals. The surgery was really easy, I had vallium, and there were 2 other lasers besides the main lasers which I assume where there to project something on my eyes for the doctors to see. Either that or it was just there to distract me. I would describe the procedure as wierd, but not painful. I did not feel a thing and the actual laser part only lasted about 10 seconds or so per eye. After the surgery I felt fine. I wanted to do something besides resting -- they gave me vicodin and the combination of that and the vallium should have made me tired, but it didn't. The day after surgery and the day following were a bit akward, tried finding a position to sleep in where my eyes did not itch so much. Probably only needed Advil for the pain though, not too bad, just more annoying. All day today I have not felt any pain. Been doing 4x and 10x daily eyedrops. The eye drops will be reduced to 4x per day after Tuesday, at which point they remove the contact bandage on my eyes, which I don't feel. So yeah, I was very impressed with my vision the day after surgery, just waiting for that to return over the next few days / weeks. I'll post more updates. And I did PKR which has a longer recovery time compared to LASIK, but unlike LASIK does not involve cutting the cornea. If you are doing LASIK, I would recommend the fully-laser "Interlase" method. I am sure the mechanical blade is just as reliable, but I have greater confidence in the laser.