Laser Eye Surgery

[east1]

Hey Norby. From what i have been told things are considered "permanent" after the 1 year post-surgery point. Since i am at about the 9 month point whether its foolish to think such of not but i am putting alot of faith in the "1 year mark" so my halos/starbursts go away.

I was told its common in contact lense wearers to see glare/starbursts/halos however although i did wear contacts for about 5 years prior to my lasik surgery i can honestly say i never noticed glare/halos or starbursts

also i am going to quote something from another forum which pertains to my choice to get standard lasik, the only difference is my eyes were, -4.00 and -4.75, almost identical to the poster below same with the pupils.

08-30-2005, 12:50 AM
"I went to Lasik MD
in April and everything is fabulous now
i had -4.5 and -4.75 plus an astigmatism in one eye and they said that my pupils were a bit large but borderline so i would be ok with the general surgery rather then custom"

Source - http://www.tribemagazine.com/board/s...ad.php?t=99878

[Norby]

east1, have your halos/starbursts improved at all over the last 9 months?

the optometrists and the eye surgeon my GP sent me too keep telling me that i will improve but I have heard many say that your pretty much stuck with what you've got at about 3 months (which is where I am at).

I figure I'll be in contact lenses or possibly even progressives very soon. My eyes are messed up! Too bad that now that I've had lasik I'll never be able to correct to the same level that was possible prior to the procedure. I really wish I would have made the smart decision and skipped the procedure and stayed with my old glasses.

[east1]

Norby, to be completely honest the only "improvement" I have seen with my night vision was about 1 week after surgery. In those photos i provided on pg 11 i said i have the halos similar to the top right where as between day 1-5 i would see halos like the bottem right which from what i hear is normal.

When you reflect back like you're doing Norby you make yourself extra sick about what you've done. I fully understand you're going through a visual nightmare especially with the pain! but its hindsight.

I have an appointment with my eye doctor early April totalk about my night vision and apparent worsening of the dry eye (it was NEVER a problem for me until shortly after the 6 month point).

as you can see by this thread alone its still very controversial, some have a success still after 6 years, some have no symptoms after 3 months. in my prevois post you see i quoted a guy in another forum from 2005 with an identical description of my situation and he didnt have a problem.

Also norby based on this thread alone people have said they've had problems up to 6 months, 1 year then shortly after 1 year then everything was OK. Which is why i said its controversial.

[Norby]

had a check up with LasikMD this morning, they are refusing to let me see the surgeon that did the surgery. My normal GP refused to refer me to a new opthamologist as he says the one who did the surgery is the one that needs to check me out. I'm going to have to find a GP that will refer me to an opthamologist to check me out and make sure there is no major damage to the eye. I feel like everybody is treating me like an idiot for having had this procedure and that the complications are my fault. For anybody out there considering lasik, know what your getting yourself into, you may not be able to handle it.

[North_of_Calgary]

Norby, have you ever tried the perscription eye drops that I discussed in one of my posts a few back?

[Norby]

Originally Posted by North_of_Calgary

Norby, have you ever tried the perscription eye drops that I discussed in one of my posts a few back?

I have'nt tried anything yet regarding eye drops that will restrict pupil size but have heard about Alphagan drops and that they've helped out some people with starbursts and halos. The only thing that worries me about these drops is that they dry out the eyes and I seem to have a bit of a problem with that at the moment.

[east1]

I see there is still some posting going on .

I met a girl at my gym through a friend of mine and she had Lasik at the same clinic as me with the same surgeon almost exactly 1 month before me (may 2008 for her). Her prescription was similar to mine but slightly higher (not sure about astigmatism) and largER pupils than average but she had to go for an enhancement in December.

She has night vision issues and day/night glare from direct clear light sources (such as headlights) and itchy eyes that feel like an eyelash is in them (actually pretty new for me, started 3 weeks ago) and excessive use of refresh tears make my eyes hurt but my eye doctor (not lasik doc) told me my eyes are fine :\.

The complete irony is, the BIGGEST criticism i hear from people is "WHY did you choose standard Lasik over zyoptix!" although zyoptix wasnt recommended to be the best for me.

Interesting enough, this girl spend the additional $1200+ and got the zyoptix and has the same problems as me with the additional of her enhancement last December, 7 months after her initial surgery.

She also told me a Mother was at the clinic with her son getting an enhancement and the mother was cursing under her breathe how her sons night vision is ruined after his initial surgery and how she doesnt want him to get an enhancement. On the plus side RGP contacts are highly talked about in the Post-Lasik community.

Atleast now I know I will never get an enhancement, I am fortunate to have corneal thickness closer to the "average" 500mm (right is 450, left is 445) so I must have had thicker corneas .

My conclusion - Dont get Lasik, most people ive spoken to (even in person) have some form of complication but because everyone has varying degrees of complications those with lessER degrees dismiss it sooner than others with greatER degrees of complications. (such as myself). My dentists sister and brother in law are those "old timers" who had it many years ago and apparently are still happy.

As far as that girl at my gym who is similar in age as I am, had a similar prescription, same risk factors (pupil size) and similar post-lasik complications and went to the same clinic/had the same surgeon;- Small world it is.

[redzone]

east1 im sorry but your posts sound like fud.

She has night vision issues and day/night glare from direct clear light sources (such as headlights) and itchy eyes that feel like an eyelash is in them (actually pretty new for me, started 3 weeks ago) and excessive use of refresh tears make my eyes hurt but my eye doctor (not lasik doc) told me my eyes are fine :\.

which is it this girl or you?

also the fact that you joined just after norby started getting people questioning his posts and you back all his assumptions. i dunno maybe its just me but this seems fishy.

[east1]

Redzone, If it only it was "Fud" things would probably be much, much easier in life and not so depressing.

Me and that girl both have similar problems and when i first heard her say it I found it odd how the world is really so small (same clinic/surgeon) and how she has similar problems.

It might seem "fishy" and I really wish it was but it clearly seems like Lasik is a problem.

[Dioneo]

I had eye surgery a few years ago - Lasik MD. I had the standard procedure done on my right eye, and opted for the more expensive procedure on me left as it had a much stronger prescription. I still have 20-20 vision in both eyes. I had serious starburst/halos for the first few months after the surgery. Over the next year they improved a great deal. If you reference those pics from page 11, I would say mine are between the first and second. Closer to the first.

I'm happy I had the surgery. That being said, I've read about enough people with more serious complications that I don't go around recommending the procedure to others.

[Crawler]

Originally Posted by redzone

east1 im sorry but your posts sound like fud.

east1 and norby`s posts in this thread have been non-stop fud against all laser eye surgery in general (and they ignore the posts written by myself and others who have had successful surgeries, at the more reputable and expensive clinics such as Bochner, Herzig, or TLC).

[east1]

If you look at my first post on PG 7 you'd see initially i wasnt all to worried about my Post-Lasik life but it seems things are not going away and i get this new eyelash sensation in my eye with itchyness.

I have also spoke with several people (Such as Danster) who have said they have had issues (such as dry eye and halos) that went away between the 6 months - 1.5 year mark, so its clear these things linger around.

the member "dioneo" (this page) says he had it at LasikMD and after the first year his vision improved. The member "dosborne" (PG-10)claims he still has a "minor" halo affect 10 years after lasik, The member "TheZodiac" (PG-10) Also claims he heard a surgeon at LasikMD turn away a man with thin corneas, he also says on PG-7 his eyes were dry for the First year and he had his Lasik done at LasikMD to and he says its a great result which he got it done in 2004.

Also if you did more research on lasik complications centers like TLC did/do give people bad Lasik outcomes. I dont believe in this "fud" how its a particular chain, mainly because they market and advertise daily to get more people in which is how they lower their prices, there is a segment on youtube about it that they rely on people, even the Official website says it.

Also in the first post on PG 12 i quoted and sourced a guy on another forum from 2005 saying he loves his LasikMD surgery.

[Ruthless82]

Lasik isn't perfect, no elective surgery is, but the fact is that the numbers are highly in favour of little to no complications. The statistic is somewhere in the range of <1-2% for major complications. If that risk is too much for you then by all means pass on the surgery.

I personally am very happy with my results from LasikMD (September 2006). I have dry eyes from time to time and have a small amount of astigmatism return but these side effects are well worth not having to deal with contacts anymore. Plus contacts were never perfect anyway. I really think LasikMD gets a bad rap because of their low prices but they can keep their prices low because they do a large volume. This also means that there will be more complaints because there will be more customers who fall in the 1-2%. It just wouldn't make sense for a one off clinic like Bochner or Herzig to have as many unsatisfied customers because they've had many, many less customers.

[east1]

Hi Ruthless82,

Your comment about the LasikMD vs Other Lasik Clinics is exactly what I was trying to say, that Its not LasikMD in general.

I guess I could say my complications are minimal but it seems that the "minimal" complications are in the 30% range according to independent sources, even at the emergency FDA Lasik meeting in april 2008 which you can find on youtube.

[Dioneo]

In response to a PM seeking more detail about my surgery...

I think I had the surgery in late 2005. It was at the downtown Toronto Lasik MD clinic. I'm pretty sure it was Dr. Wallerstein who performed my surgery. I only met him for the actual procedure.

My only complications are what I listed above. I don't get dry eyes, unless it's due to eye strain from staring at a monitor for too long at work. When I wore contacts the eye strain and dry eyes from that were much worse.

I'm not saying this is the case with anyone in this thread, but I have to think that some of the complications people report are due to them not taking enough care of their eyes post-surgery.

I got the impression that the first days/weeks after surgery are critical. I always made sure I was keeping my eyes moisturized, and always used those extra viscous eye drops before sleeping. Even after the first few months I kept eye drops at home and at work. If I felt any dryness I would use them. Before the first year was up I no longer needed the eye drops. I also never rubbed my eyes (post surgery). I still try not to.