12 replies to this topic

[truck diver]

I've been kickin around the ideal of getting laser done for a while and don't know anyone that has had it done. I guess when you start to age a little your arms get shorter. Some of the ads on Dallas radio stations sound too good. No money down , no interest for 24 months , and guarantee 20/20 can put the original lenses back in my mask !!! If anyone has had this done can you tell me the Pros and Cons. Mark

[Fordan]

I had Lasik. Very happy with it.

However, if you're speaking about your arms getting shorter, it doesn't sound like you have myopia (nearsightedness) or hyperopia (farsightedness), but rather presbyopia, which the progressive inability to focus on near objects with age. Lasik can fix myopia or hyperopia, but not presbyopia. In fact, having Lasik done on myopic patients tends to make them more suseptable to presbyopia, since myopia gives some resistance to presbyopia.

If I'm wrong about your eyesight issue, or for others interested... The process starts with a number of eye exams, a little more detailed than most. If you wear contact lenses, you'll have to switch back to glasses for a while, since the contact lenses will distort the natural shape of your cornea. I know at least my surgeon was doing multiple exams on different days to make sure the readings don't change. Depending on the amount of correction, the doc may recommend "normal" Lasik or Wavefront Lasik. The more difficult cases (including mine) have Wavefront recommended. And it's more expensive, of course.

Day of the surgery you'll have someone take you to the Lasik office. After paperwork and such they'll give you a mild sedative (I got half a Valium) to relax you and to reduce eye movements. Once it has had a chance to take effect, they'll take you back to the surgical room. They'll tape one eye shut so that your dominant eye won't move your eyes, gently set up a device to hold your other eye open and in place and start adding drops to keep it moist. You'll be told to stare at a red dot. They'll then cut the flap, using a laser or (in my case) a metal blade. This doesn't hurt, although it is a bit odd, and everything's a bit out of focus. After the flap is opened, they'll start lasing the cornea to reshape it. You again don't feel anything, although you can hear the laser going "tick tick tick tick" as it fires, and the red dot goes a bit in and out of focus as it happens. When that's done (2-3 minutes, i think), they put the flap back into place, and verify that you have ok vision out of it. They then tape that eye shut, and do the same thing with the other eye.

After they're done, they bring you into an exam room, and do a vision test. Most people have much better vision immediately after surgery. I went from 600/20 to 40/20 or so right after the surgery, although everything looked like I was wearing glasses smeared with a thin film of Vasoline on them. You have your friend/SO take you home, and you take something like tylenol PM to get to sleep. That night, and the for the next week or so, you need to wear eye protection when you sleep to prevent anything (including you) from touching your eyes and dislodging the flap, and when outside, you get to wear ultra-stylin' wrap around sunglasses to make sure no debris in blown into your eyes. You'll be using antibiotic and anti-inflamatory eyedrops for a week after surgery, and you'll be carrying around individually packaged eyedrops for a while (months). Assuming no complications, you should be able to drive yourself to the eye doc the next morning for a post op checkup, and be able to resume work and such. You'll be seeing a lot of your doc the first month or so. The next morning I tested at 20/20.

I noticed much stronger halos and starbursts after the surgery when looking at point sources of light; I had them before from my astigmatism, but they got a lot worse right after the surgery. They reduced over time, and went back to how they were before the surgery after a few months, and weren't "bad" a week or so post op. Think things like diving are out for about 6 weeks, maybe less. Mostly I think to do with infection risk from the water.

So pros and cons....

It's worked well for me. It's worked well for 6 or 7 of my coworkers who have had it done. Only one of them had any issue at all, and that person had an issue where his eye remained a bit inflamed for a week after surgery. After that it was back to normal.

There's always risk in any surgery. Biggest ones for Lasik are the risk of eye infection, and the risk of issues with the flap healing/not setting right or halos that don't go away. They also may end up overcorrecting or undercorrecting. They usually try to err toward undercorrecting since that's easier to resolve with either a followup surgery or with low-correction glasses. I hit 20/20, as did most of the people I know. 1 person went to like 30/20, but is still functional without glasses for most things, including driving, and opted not to have a second Lasik done and just uses glasses occasionally.

And it is so wonderful to be able to see right when I wake up in the morning, or when showering or swimming!

[dustbowl diver]

I had mine done a year ago and may be the single best thing I have done for myself! If you are in the Dallas area, I advise you to go see the staff at Dr Tylock, they made the experience that much better (tremendous after the surgery care).

[Cajun Diver]

I had mine done in '97 - Fordan gives an excellent description of the process and pros and cons and for me it gave me almost 20/20.

Other cons that I have is a little worse night vision and fluctuating vision (may be caused more by sinus pressure than the lasik though). If you do a lot of driving at night it could make it harder with headlights having a starburst effect - I still get a little of that and it's worse when I'm tired.

There is also a group pressing for "clearer" warnings on the surgery and side effects:

http://ap.google.com...0BWDagD9094FIO0

Looks like most that have problems are those that are told they are not good candidates but went ahead and did it anyway.

and here's a youtube video of an actual surgery:

[damselfish]

I never wore glasses or contacts but have friends who have had it done and are very happy. Get only one eye done at a time in case they screw up! (sorry to scare you!)

[Capn Jack]

I was unfortunate enough to get cataracts at an early age. If you live long enough, you will likely get cataracts. One of the problems with lasik is the lens-replacement process used for cataracts uses the geometry of the eye to determine the strength of the lens.

The lasik process alters the focal point, without changing the geometry of the eye - thus if this is not corrected for when you get lens-replacements - they won't be right.

Bottom line - save the details of the corrections made during lasik.

Check and see about the status of lens implants. I've heard they're being made for non-cataract patients.

It is actually a less traumatic procedure, and from a diving prospective has a much shorter recovery time. According to the advice I got from DAN - I was only out for 30 days, when it would have been 6 months for lasik. In both cases it is more a risk of infection of the incision site than a baro-trauma problem.

Edited by Capn Jack, 28 April 2008 - 08:06 AM.

[dustbowl diver]

I was unfortunate enough to get cataracts at an early age. If you live long enough, you will likely get cataracts. One of the problems with lasik is the lens-replacement process used for cataracts uses the geometry of the eye to determine the strength of the lens.

The lasik process alters the focal point, without changing the geometry of the eye - thus if this is not corrected for when you get lens-replacements - they won't be right.

Bottom line - save the details of the corrections made during lasik.

Check and see about the status of lens implants. I've heard they're being made for non-cataract patients.

It is actually a less traumatic procedure, and from a diving prospective has a much shorter recovery time. According to the advice I got from DAN - I was only out for 30 days, when it would have been 6 months for lasik. In both cases it is more a risk of infection of the incision sight than a baro-trauma problem.

Don't know if I violated a Dan protocol, but I was diving in the Bahamas 2 weeks after my surgery with no ill effects! Staring at a computer likely doing more damage than that post opp trip did.

[Terri]

I got Lasik 2 1/2 years ago and it's the best thing I've done for myself! I was at -6.0 or so in each eye and now am seeing 20/15. The left eye is 20/20, right eye is 20/15 - with both I see 20/15 because right eye is dominant. I did have to go back in for another surgery after 6 months - first surgery corrected me to 20/80 or so (which was still significantly better than I was). The cost of my surgery included all the pre-op visits, post-op visits, and any corrections within 1 year after the initial surgery. It's quite common when you're THAT near-sighted to have to have 2 surgeries.

I definitely agree - the description above with what to expect is excellent. The hardest part for me was wearing my glasses (no contacts) for the 2+ weeks prior because of the pre-op appts and surgery.

I was told to avoid flying for 1 week and diving for 6 weeks post-surgery.

[truck diver]

Thank Everbody For Your Response !!! Although I'm leaning towards doing the lasik I think will wait till sometime in the winter when work and PLAY is a little slower. I can do some voluntary incarceration and work in the office a couple of weeks . I did find out everybody on here is smarter than I am MY WHAT BIG WORDS YOU USE !!! Thanks Mark

[fbp]

I'm toying with the same thing...
Have had more than a few friends have it done and all very happy about it...

One thing I just read somewhere, what that there were some after affects, a "Halo" if looking to the far side??? don't know what that is or if is possible... sounded more like a "not so experienced" -Doc doing a poor job, but haven't a clue... just thought I'd bring it up only as I've heard all positives and no negatives until that one. Suspect it's just a fluke and I'll continue on with doing it eventually, but will ask about it a little more...

Hope that helps...

Edited by fbp, 03 May 2008 - 09:01 AM.

[ASDmike]

... a "Halo" if looking to the far side??? don't know what that is or if is possible... sounded more like a "not so experienced" -Doc doing a poor job, but haven't a clue...

Not the doc, me thinks... More like "dry eyes"-- unless you blame the doc for not diagnosing patients who have not self-identified having dry eyes.

I think halo is pretty common, just a question of how severe. Mine was present pretty much for the first two years. It is a night time thing and the symptoms are more prevalent if your eyes are dry, so I used to bring eye drops with me when I would drive at night. The halo effect "appears" around all light sources, but mostly you will see it around things like streetlights that have a dark background behind them. This picture is good example of what I "might see":



Overall I would say getting Lasik was a very positive thing, and it has made diving much more enjoyable (less stressful to never have to worry about losing my mask w/ inserts). BTW the early onset of needing reading glasses mentioned above is another drawback.

Edited by ASDmike, 03 May 2008 - 09:41 AM.

[fbp]

Not the doc, me thinks... More like "dry eyes"-- unless you blame the doc for not diagnosing patients who have not self-identified having dry eyes.

Great, that clears it up,...
Thanks for posting it... was wondering why it hadn't popped up before so figured it was just a fluke... but something to ask about...
thanks...

[ScubaSis]

The halo or starburst problem is what has kept me from trying Lasik. That and the issue of the flap! I guess I'm a BIG chicken. I am however going to try eye drops the next time I have an issue with the night vision. Mine seems to come and go. It seems more prominent when I'm under stress or driving in an area I'm not familiar with. But if all it takes are some drops that would be great!!! Definately worth a try!!!