29 replies to this topic

[Terri]

Well, I finally did it - after several years of debating I had my Lasik surgery this past Friday 1/27.

My eyes were 20/600 and 20/625 and my one-day post op appointment had me seeing almost 20/20. Needless to say, I'm THRILLED!!! But I have a few questions for those who have had the procedure done:

1. Did you experience any dryness after the procedure? If so, how long did that continue? I've never had issues with eye dryness before, but now my eyes are really dry!

2. How long did your eyesight fluctuate after the procedure? Throughout the day, I feel there are times when I'm seeing crystal clear and then an hour or so later, it's a bit blurry again.

3. Is there any difference in how you see above water vs below water? I'm not thinking there should be, but thought I'd ask anyway.

in advance for any insights you can share!

Terri

[ASDmike]

....I had my Lasik surgery this past Friday 1/27.

Hi Terri, I was an early adopter and had Lasik in one eye (around 1997). The other I had PRK two years earlier (PRK is similar, but was not as "good"). Below is only my Lasik experiences.

1. Did you experience any dryness after the procedure? If so, how long did that continue?

Yes, but relax --- you just had surgery. My eyes were similar and the dryness runs in stages. As I healed in the first week, it was something I needed to treat often. And after a couple weeks, I no longer needed to put in drops very often. After a month or so, I carried around eye drops, but rarely used them. So my Lasik eye was pretty much healed after about six weeks and was then back to "normal" regarding dryness. I guess around the second or third month I frequently forgot to bring the drops with me. And after a year I stopped having drops around at all, but every now and then wished I had them handy (and sometimes dug through my travel stash for them).

2. How long did your eyesight fluctuate after the procedure?

About four or five days. After a week, I think my vision was pretty much constant.

3. Is there any difference in how you see above water vs below water?

Not in vision, but your confidence soars not having to protect that mask. Assuming you dive with lense inserts, you know how much you need "your" mask. Now you still need a mask, but not to the same urgency. I was in Cocos last September and had currents rip my mask off at depth twice. No big deal, I saw where it went and snatched it before it got away. In previous times the dive would be over and it would take all my skills to safely reach/find the boat. Pre-surgery, I doubt I would even capable to see/signal my buddy without my mask.

Congrats on the surgery! Give yourself the time to heal as per your Doctor's direction. As a diver you will be real happy when you return to the water.

[CaptSaaz]

I had the LASIK done about 4 years ago. I was seeing 20/25 within 36 hours. It took almost two weeks before my eyes settled in to 20/20. I would be cautious about diving for a while after the surgery since your corneas do need to heal. What did the opthamologist say? I see just fine under water btw.. I don't even think there is any difference. Just nice and in focus.

[sniperdiver]

Terri,
I had my eyes done 2 years ago. I had the dryness problem for about 2 months, and My vision kept improving till the 3 month mark. I'm now 20/15, my night vision has improved (no halos) and I consider it the best thing I have ever done.

The only downside is that I'm more sensitive to sunlight so I ALWAYS have sunglasses on if I'm outside.

Best of luck to ya.

[BradfordNC]

I had PRK done in 2001.

my job doesn't allow LASIK because of concerns about diving and other pressure related activities.

vision was perfect immediately after the surgery, but then clouded over and came and went as the lens healed.

I ended up with 20/10 vision.

had dry eyes for the first few months, but eye drops helped get past that stage. everything is great now, and yeah, underwater, it's amazing what i was missing out on before.

[mechanical31]

I had lasik near the beginning of december of last year and see all the above topics. Everyone is a little different, but it took about a month to get the full experience, but my vision still fluctuates just a little, halos (not the high altitude low opening type) at night are getting less and less. One thing for certain is STAY AWAY FROM SMOKE. It still irritates my eyes more than normal and makes me see a little foggy, and no its not because of what I'm smoking . My vision was about 20/1000 and its probably not 20/20 all the time right now, but I believe six months will tell the whole story. Oh yeah....congratulations! Isn't peripheral vision the bomb.

[BradfordNC]

talk to a diving doc about it, but you should be ok to dive after 30 or 60 days.

one thing the eye doctor doesn't usualy tell people is that if you have LASIK, that flap of your eye they cut, it will take over a year for it to completely heal and reattach itself.

a friend of mine was in a car accident around a year after having LASIK, and the impact knocked that flap loose.

and pressure related trauma or exposure has the same potential.


having great vision is realy great :-) its worth protecting until it can heal up completely

[Terri]

Thanks so much for the replies!!! You all have eased my concerns a great deal!

An update - I'm having to use the eye drops less often (every 2 hours or so vs. every 30 minutes), so I'm already seeing some improvement there.

Brad - thanks for that bit of insight - I didn't know it took that long for the flap to fully heal. I'll discuss that with my doc at the 1-week followup!

[BradfordNC]

Thanks so much for the replies!!! You all have eased my concerns a great deal!

An update - I'm having to use the eye drops less often (every 2 hours or so vs. every 30 minutes), so I'm already seeing some improvement there.

Brad - thanks for that bit of insight - I didn't know it took that long for the flap to fully heal. I'll discuss that with my doc at the 1-week followup!

oh, you haven't even been the full week yet huh?

your doing great then.

stay ahead of the pain, take the meds on the schedule they give ya and the eye drops realy work.

the worst part of it for me was the dry itchy eyes, but the eye drops worked wonders.

great to see that your online so soon after having it done.

[georoc01]

I know this is an old thread, but it was nice to see. I had the procedure in both eyes on Monday and am going through the first week's healing process.

After the procedure they basically told everyone to go home and take a nap. After 4-5 hours, my distance vision was dialed in. But I couldn't see close. Getting on a computer or reading my text msgs was impossible (and everyone was sending me questions and well wishes, frustrating).

By yesterday, I was able to drive myself to the eye doctor and was able to read 20/20, even make out down to the 20/15 line.

Dealing with the drops, dry eyes, and sleeping with goggles. a couple of more days of that.

What was amazing was how fast the whole procedure took. It was 15 seconds per eye to create the flap and 8 seconds to perform the correction. So it was 2 minutes for both eyes. Maybe 10 minutes from the time I left the pre-op to post op.

Its not perfect. Eventually I am going to need reading glasses, but it beats needing bi-focals, which was the direction I was headed. At this point I am glad I did it and would recommend it.

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

Question: does Lasik correct both near-sightedness AND astigmatism? I'd hate to correct the near-sightedness, and still have to wear glasses to correct the astigmatism. Many years ago when I looked into the early laser surgery options, they were still working on the astigmatism problem and it was VERY expensive. Have not looked into it since then.

[georoc01]

Question: does Lasik correct both near-sightedness AND astigmatism? I'd hate to correct the near-sightedness, and still have to wear glasses to correct the astigmatism. Many years ago when I looked into the early laser surgery options, they were still working on the astigmatism problem and it was VERY expensive. Have not looked into it since then.

In my case of a mild astigmatism (less than 3 diopters?) yes, it reshapes the cornea to correct for it. The only way to know is to talk to a surgeon and find out your options. I know the technology continues to evolve and I went for the cadillac program. There are areas to skimp in my life, but my eyes weren't one of them. The cost was $2k per eye. But I was able to do it with my medical savings account using pre-tax dollars, which at my pay level, is significant. Plus its taken out of my paycheck every week for the year, so its like a tax free payment plan.

[WreckWench]

GREAT THREAD to revitalize! And congrats on the surgery George!

My situation is very interesting. I had PRK and had 20/15. WOW! I was and have been elated.

Eventually I've reached the point where I've need readers. Now comes the weird part. My mom first noticed I was driving with my readers on and said 'aren't those your reading glasses'? I immediately took them off realizing they were. However I also realized that now I could not see the road signs as clearly as I could with the 'cheaters' on. So I put them back on and sure enough I could see better.

One doctor told me that it is not uncommon for people who were over corrected with PRT to end up with mono-vision when they need to wear glasses to read. And that is what has happened to me. The only real downside is that I seem to be needing stronger and stronger readers in order to be able to see. At this rate I will be blind in a few years. So I have not checked into Lasik to see if it will help my 'new' situation but sense this may be the only option I'll have before too long assuming they can correct far sightness.

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

Hmmm. $2k per eye, vs. $450 glasses every few years AND several more hundred each time I have to upgrade my dive mask? Maybe I need to look into surgery again. Will probably still need readers for close-up work.

I understand that your eyesight will continue to change as you age, and those who have had surgery may end up in glasses again, just at a lesser prescription. Has anyone had laser surgery many years ago and found that they now need to wear glasses again?

[ScubaTex]

It's been almost 2 years since I had my lasik procedure, both near & far sighted, they correct your dominate eye for near sighted, & the other for far sighted [reading]. My vision has maintained the 20/15 with clear reading, which was obtained 4-6 weeks after surgery [it takes some time for the scar tissue & the eyes to adjust]. I did have one complication, although Dr. says it was not related to surgery. I developed an bacterial eye infection which happened to be on the 'flap incision'. The result, I endured a month of treatment with drops, anti-bacterial and steriod, & was forced to cancel a SD trip a week before departure [damn Dr]. This winter, with the running of the central heat, I've noticed a 'dry eye' condition when I awake, followed by increased tearing. I have increased the use of lubricating drops, which I've found to be a great help.

That's my 2 psi

Good Luck