Anybody gotten Lasik? If so, I want stories

As someone exactly 40, nearsighted, and considering lasik, thank you.

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Marriage, first baby, and this. In that order.

I won’t tell you other kids that you like LASIK more than them.

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Got it done +/- 8 years back. Had pretty poor vision and slight astigmatism. One of the better decisions I’ve made in my life. The couple hours after are rough but the not having to go to the eye doc every year or so and not having to worry about putting lenses in far out weighs any of the negatives.

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That’s not how I rank them, silly, it’s how much my life changed in 24 hrs

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Similar but less common question, has anyone gotten ICLs (implantable contact lenses)? I have very high myopia so not a good candidate for LASIK, but every year I think more and more about getting something done.

ICL’s are a great option for those higher prescriptions. I’m just curious but have you had a consultation for Lasik or PRK recently? They are always coming up with new technology that allows for them to perform these surgeries on even higher prescriptions than before. One thing with ICL’s is they also perform a PI (Peripheral Iridotomy) where they use a laser to create a small hole in your iris to prevent a pupillary block with the implantable contact lens being right behind the iris. This prevents a pressure spike which can be very detrimental to your ocular health. With that said the PI is painless and you won’t feel a thing but some side effects after the PI are some night glare or halos, but this is already gong to be an issue if you are highly nearsighted, so its not that big of a deal.

Also another outcome of ICL’s, this can possible increase the rate of cataract formation. Which is the lens that sits behind your iris. So this depends on your age as to when and if a surgeon would perform ICL’s on you. If you are older they might not recommend this procedure because they might rather perform RLE (Refractive Lens Exchange). This is taking out your current lens and replacing it with your prescription. The benefit of this option is not PI is needed and this also prevent the need for a secondary procedure afterwards because cataracts wont be an issue.

Both are good options, would definitely seek out your eye doctor and a good surgeon to help make the best choice for you. One thing is the ICL and RLE are all out of pocket and the surgeon in my area I refer to runs about $5K per eye.

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About 18 years on following lasik, only had light eye correction needs but like others have said worth it all day every day for me, no problems at the time or since.

The experience of the procedure is weird, and creepy fast. Do some quick math while you’re in the dark recovery room to pass the time. They were printing money.

I also remember feeling like “nah it ain’t that bad” for the first hour or so then very soon after thinking someone poured sand in my eyes for a few hours after that. Pretty sure next day was fine, you had your eyes lasered so you still are aware but nothing unexpected. The one other part I remember now too is being worried that the silly eye covers they gave me for the night would not stop sleeping brain me from rubbing my eyes those first few nights.

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Had it done 2 years ago. The experience was excellent - a little pressure on your eye during, and yes it smells funky when your eye is burning.

The only complaint I have is that my eyes were VERY dry for almost a year after. Had to put artificial tears in 4 times a day. I was able to ween off of those after a year, and it’s been smooth sailing ever since.

This is a massive bummer man. Hope it all works out best as it can.

Anyone have optometrist/LASIK recommendations in the DC/NoVa/MD area? (defined very broadly, have car will drive). I moved back here from out of state about 6 months ago and looking for all new docs this year. There is a LASIK office around the block from my apartment but definitely wanna get multiple opinions before committing somewhere.

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I had Lasik surgery in December. I recommend it. My vision wasn’t THAT bad, so it’s not life changing, but a modest improvement in my life. The surgery was weird. I had “very symmetric eyes” so I was considered a great candidate.

I had a bunch of people send me the video of Taylor Swift high af after her lasik surgery, so when I got the Valium and was still functional when I got in the chair I was pretty nervous. The first room as interesting. They suction cup your eyes and do something that basically makes them super blurry. I was always calmer for my right eye than my left, so the suction cup made my left eye much redder for a few weeks post surgery, but that doesn’t impact anything.

Once I walked from room 1 to room 2, I had to wait 20 minutes or so for the gas in my eyes from room 1 to settle down. Then, they did the main procedure. It’s tough to explain but I was staring at a blinking light and I could basically see the lens of my eye move around and then the vision went to basically zero. After 10 seconds or so, it’s like the lens locked back into place and I could see again.

The Uber home was rough as my eyes started to get painful. They felt “bigger” like I knew something under my eyelids was different. The dr told me it would suck for 3-6 hours and a lot of people couldn’t fall asleep afterwards. I was able to fall asleep at hour 2 for the full hour between eye drops. I woke up with far better vision than pre-Lasik and zero pain, but still sensitive to light. After getting to bed after the prescribed eye drop process, I had not problems going to sleep. I woke up, went directly to the eye doctor for the checkup and had 20/15 vision. I had halos at night which was pretty wild for the first week but settled in pretty quickly. It’s nice having better vision than my glasses/contacts.

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Life-changing. Got it in the fall of 2017 at age 25, just had my annual checkup and everything is still great. Worth every penny.

the smell of the laser burning your eye

Oh yea I’m way out now.

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I didn’t notice it being very strong.

Had LASIK done something like 25 years ago now. At the time it was relatively new and it was covered under my Dad’s insurance, which I (and my brother) were both still on at the time since we were teenagers. Big shout out to the dude at my Dad’s work that read the fine print!
I only had one eye done and it is still very good. At some point I am going to go have the other eye corrected since my vision in it has gotten pretty poor. My brother had both done and he says his vision is still pretty good.
As with everyone else above, I recommend without hesitation.

I started wearing glasses and contacts at age 16. Had LASIK done at age 27 (2008). Top 10 thing I’ve done in my life. Surgery was successful, was good to go after wearing the plastic blinders for a couple of days. Surgery itself was painless and done in about 20 minutes.

10/10 - I do not miss wearing contacts and glasses, and my vision has retained itself almost 12 years later.

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If you’re near-sighted, how does LASIK work with the general need for 40+ year olds to get reading glasses? (I’ve escaped this thus far, my wife has a few pair…)

I was told that, when I get into my 40s, I’d need reading glasses and the LASIK would not change that. This has turned out to be true.

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Had mine done at TLC Tysons by Dr Holtzman. Highly recommend. I think he has a surgery center in DC too.

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Thanks for the info! I have not had a consult for Lasik or PRK in many years. Like I think ICLs were barely even a thing the last time I had a consult (?). I believe at the time I was told I was not a great candidate because of my high prescription and because my eyesight was still slowly getting worse. They also said it was likely that I would need two surgeries on each eye–the first to get it reasonably close to 20/20, and the second to perfect it.

My contacts prescription is -10.5 R, -11.0 L, and I’m approaching 40. Not sure if this is considered “too old” ha. One thing that worries me is that it seems my prescription does still change a little bit every few years, so it’s not entirely stable. Part of me think what is the point of doing this if my vision is just going to continue to get worse.

On the other hand, I have always HATED wearing glasses. I probably wear my contacts too much, although I do take them out every night. The last year or so my contacts have started bothering my eyes more than at any point in my life (and I’ve worn contacts since I was 10). This has led to me needing to wear my glasses a lot more frequently than I would like in order to give my eyes a rest. Maybe this increased irritability is even another reason not to consider doing anything drastic to my eyes.