LASIK procedures - Anything I should be worried about?

[OY]

Just got cleared to do custom lasik - anything to be worried about?

[ChevyBalls]

Originally Posted by Oystein

Just got cleared to do custom lasik - anything to be worried about?

I had lasik surgery done about 5 years ago. Best surgery I ever paid for. Well besides my wife's breast implants

Only negative effect I had is the "starburst" effect. Looking at a street lamp, there would be streaks coming from the light. I still have this, but am use to it and it's not really that big a deal to me.

Good luck

[After Shock Media]

Lets see, laser + eyeball... hmmm

[OY]

That is what I like to hear. "Best surgery ever...." - and if you did it 5 years ago and still is happy, good news indeed.

What they told me is that the CUSTOM Lasik supposedly deals with your "starbursts and halos" issue but I am not sure if that is true or not.

Anyone here done the CUSTOM lasik yet?

[OY]

Originally Posted by After Shock Media

Lets see, laser + eyeball... hmmm

LOL - my thoughts exactly - hence my question

[directfiesta]

Great surgery. Done 3 or 4 years ago ...

Just be relax... very important .. relax ... take a pill if needed ... or a cognac... be RELAX !


I wasn't and had a panic attack ... the doctor had to stop and the nurse had to undoe my belt and pants

[davidd]

Make sure the doctor is not an adult webmaster that got shaved.

[ChevyBalls]

Originally Posted by directfiesta

Great surgery. Done 3 or 4 years ago ...

Just be relax... very important .. relax ... take a pill if needed ... or a cognac... be RELAX !


I wasn't and had a panic attack ... the doctor had to stop and the nurse had to undoe my belt and pants

Great advice. Come to think of it, I popped a few valiums an hour before the surgery. Yea, it was very uncomfortable for me. I hate having my eyes messed with. Hell, I have a hard time putting eyedrops in my eyes, and always had difficulty popping in contact lenses!

[dready]

Custom Lasik is waveform lasik right? That's what I would do after researching it.

Also make sure they use the new Intralase Laser to cut the flap instead of the knife. It's supposed to reduce complications immensely.

[Lensman]

Yes, it's based on a wavescan. I got it a year ago, and huge improvement, although I will need it done again. You have massive halos in the beginning and then end up going away, I don't have any now.

The only scary thing about the procedure is when they tell you to look into the light, and then it goes away. It's freaky, but the whole thing is very fast. I recommend a coupel of Xanax to relax you. I didn't take then early enough, so I got all relaxed about an horu AFTER the procedure.

[bjs24]

I had mine done a couple years ago and dont have any regrets.

This video is dumb but it actually follows a guy going to get it done and shows him talking to the surgeon and then shows his eye up close as he gets the procedure done. The whole routine you will go through is shown.

http://www.eyecentergroup.com/steve_baker.shtml

[Kard63]

Halos for 2 or 3 months and poor night vision for life. But I don't hunt, its not like I need precision night vision. I loved it.

[Triple 6]

so whats the average price (give or take a few) to have 'custom' lasik?

i will DEFINETELY be doing this shit next year. Thanks to the pc screen my near sightedness has been getting worse. I always wear glasses when i drive and usually have them on when im watching a tv thats 3 feet away from me/.


I remember reading some GFY'ers reply here awhile ago about his lasik eye surgery, and its all i ever think about when i think about getting it done...

"its like im walking around in a DVD movie"

lol.

[GTS Mark]

Well worth the custom lasik if you are a suitable candidate, usually they can tell you ahead of time if it's worth your while.

I had my surgery done a year ago and it's been amazing, I can't even remember wearing glasses now. LOL!

DH

[OY]

Valium sounds like a winner. No doubt. Just the thought of them shaving my eyeballs makes my other balls cringe.

And yes, the custom cornea is the LadarVision + Wavefront
- after reviewing the options it was the only way to go. Since its my eyes I dont want to save a penny.

Still a little freaked out and its still 2 weeks to go...

PS. Lift off a flap on my eye and then poke the inside with a laser beam!

Heeellloooo mama!

[OY]

Originally Posted by Triple 6

so whats the average price (give or take a few) to have 'custom' lasik?

Better than I thought actually - $3,500 - I remember buddies paying twice that back when for the regular "if you move when the laser is on you are fucked" solution.

[SmokeyTheBear]

The Dangers of LASIK Surgery: Why You Want to Avoid This Like the Plague


For those who have entertained the idea of getting Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis -- commonly referred to as LASIK surgery -- in hopes of correcting their vision ... think again.

What exactly is LASIK surgery? It is a procedure that permanently changes the shape of your cornea (the clear covering of the front of the eye) with an excimer laser:

Using a knife known as a microkeratome, a flap is cut in the cornea; a hinge is spared at one end of the flap.

The hinged flap is then folded back, revealing the stroma (the middlesection of the cornea).

Finally, pulses from a computer-controlled laser vaporize a portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced.

The end result: perfect vision, right? Not necessarily.

Seeing Trouble

Many patients are under the impression LASIK surgery will end in instant perfect vision; however, that simply is not the case.

That's because, while the procedure is quick in itself, it is likely to lead to at least six months of impaired vision and significant discomfort, at the end of which only one eye may have normal sight. (And if the first eye does not heal to expectation, the second operation on the other eye will never be done and the imbalance will be permanent.)

Then there are the surgical disasters that can happen. You can visit SurgicalEyes.org to review some of the horror stories. The site is devoted to focusing attention on the unique problems faced by those who have undergone unsuccessful LASIK (and other eye) surgeries.

Surgical Eyes.org

Seeing.org


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

The bottom line is that laser eye surgery (LASIK) does absolutely nothing to treat the cause of your vision loss, and is 100-percent guaranteed to make your vision worse over time. Please trust me on this one, as I am convinced that it is true.

Eventually, Even Glasses Worsen Vision

The same actually holds true for glasses of any kind -- they're guaranteed to worsen your vision over time. The additional problem with LASIK is that you permanently make your cornea your "glasses" and it is obviously very difficult to get a new pair of glasses when they are part of your eye.

Fortunately, there are effective alternatives. I turned 50 last year, and for the last five years, like most of you in this age range, I have noticed a progressive decline in my near vision (presbyopia).

It was becoming progressively more difficult to read the menu in a dark restaurant without glasses. Well, a few weeks ago I flew to Los Angeles to undergo some private mentoring in a vision restoration process that has been around for nearly 100 years.

And I have to tell you that it worked! I am so excited as I can now see about 50 percent better, and it is likely I will soon be able to read 4-point font at six inches from my eyes -- even in dim light -- with the new exercises I am doing. This is one of the most exciting personal health benefits I have ever experienced. To regain lost vision without the use of glasses is absolutely amazing. Even I am still having a hard time believing it.

While it is great to recover my vision, it is even more exciting to realize that this will also likely prevent mental deterioration and Alzheimer's disease. Pretty phenomenal deal from my perspective.

Exercise Your Vision


The key I have learned is to remove the mental strain, stop staring and relax, and you can start to read very tiny print. There are a number of practical exercises you can do to achieve this. I have been exercising for nearly 40 years, and I never realized that your eyes need to be exercised just like the rest of your body. What is really surprising, though, is that these exercises are not what you'd expect at all and most are the opposite of what is commonly recommended.

New Course in the Fall


It cost me several thousand dollars to learn this technique, and I am still working through it, but once I have fully regained my near vision I plan on working with a company that will be developing and offering an entire course on this process in the fall. The course will have hundreds of pages of documentation on this century-old process that has restored the vision for tens of thousands of people who have had access to clinicians who understood the secret of restoring vision loss.

The process works for recovery of both near and far vision. The course will initially be offered for those with presbyopia (far sightedness or loss typically associated with old age). Visual recovery for those with myopia is a bit more challenging as there are many more variables to address. However, many of the principles will work for both types of vision loss.

Sun Exposure


I can give you a hint that exposing yourself to the sun is a very powerful part of the recovery. One of the exercises involves nothing more than looking at the sun with your eyes closed and moving your head in an Infiniti loop for about five minutes. It is important to make sure that your eyelids are closed. This exercise will only work on a sunny day, though, as you really need bright sun exposure to obtain the benefits.

In my free time I am reviewing more than 2,000 pages of text that have been written about this process and most of the pages are over 75 years old. Until this company is able to put the course together, I would give you some serious cautions.

Avoid LASIK


Please NEVER, NEVER, NEVER get laser eye surgery (LASIK) done, as it has a significant failure rate and can cause serious side effects. It will be far easier to achieve full vision recovery if you have not had this surgery.

If you have already had LASIK done, there's hope as it is still possible for you to recover your vision; it is just a bit more challenging and will take longer.

Please also remember that, in addition to vision improvement exercises, it will always be of vital importance to make dietary choices that will support the integrity and resiliency of the tissue in your eyes, as well as the rest of your body. These recommendations include:

Avoiding trans fats
Eating dark-colored berries
Getting plenty of lutein
Increasing your intake of omega-3 fats

[seeric]

me too. i had it done 4 years ago and it gets more awesome every day.

[Holly]

My mom had it in '01 or '02 (I forget) and she has loved it so far. No problems or complications. She was pretty much legally blind before the surgery and now she's 20/20 in both eyes.

[BV]

They wont do Lasik on me because I have very very bad vision in one eye resulting from an injury sustained in a fight in the 3rd grade. lol

Anyways I guess they consider me legally blind in that eye so they wont take the risk of doing the surgery and screwing up the other eye.

I guess they figure if you have two good eyes to start with the odds of them fucking up both are high enough to take the risk. But with only one good eye to start with it's a no go for me. :-(

On a positive note for me though the doctor said that your eyes are much safer wearing glasses. Keeps alot of crap out of your eyes.

[OY]

Originally Posted by SmokeyTheBear

The Dangers of LASIK Surgery: Why You Want to Avoid This Like the Plague


For those who have entertained the idea of getting Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis -- commonly referred to as LASIK surgery -- in hopes of correcting their vision ... think again.

What exactly is LASIK surgery? It is a procedure that permanently changes the shape of your cornea (the clear covering of the front of the eye) with an excimer laser:

Using a knife known as a microkeratome, a flap is cut in the cornea; a hinge is spared at one end of the flap.

The hinged flap is then folded back, revealing the stroma (the middlesection of the cornea).

Finally, pulses from a computer-controlled laser vaporize a portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced.

The end result: perfect vision, right? Not necessarily.

Seeing Trouble

Many patients are under the impression LASIK surgery will end in instant perfect vision; however, that simply is not the case.

That's because, while the procedure is quick in itself, it is likely to lead to at least six months of impaired vision and significant discomfort, at the end of which only one eye may have normal sight. (And if the first eye does not heal to expectation, the second operation on the other eye will never be done and the imbalance will be permanent.)

Then there are the surgical disasters that can happen. You can visit SurgicalEyes.org to review some of the horror stories. The site is devoted to focusing attention on the unique problems faced by those who have undergone unsuccessful LASIK (and other eye) surgeries.

Surgical Eyes.org

Seeing.org


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

The bottom line is that laser eye surgery (LASIK) does absolutely nothing to treat the cause of your vision loss, and is 100-percent guaranteed to make your vision worse over time. Please trust me on this one, as I am convinced that it is true.

Eventually, Even Glasses Worsen Vision

The same actually holds true for glasses of any kind -- they're guaranteed to worsen your vision over time. The additional problem with LASIK is that you permanently make your cornea your "glasses" and it is obviously very difficult to get a new pair of glasses when they are part of your eye.

Fortunately, there are effective alternatives. I turned 50 last year, and for the last five years, like most of you in this age range, I have noticed a progressive decline in my near vision (presbyopia).

It was becoming progressively more difficult to read the menu in a dark restaurant without glasses. Well, a few weeks ago I flew to Los Angeles to undergo some private mentoring in a vision restoration process that has been around for nearly 100 years.

And I have to tell you that it worked! I am so excited as I can now see about 50 percent better, and it is likely I will soon be able to read 4-point font at six inches from my eyes -- even in dim light -- with the new exercises I am doing. This is one of the most exciting personal health benefits I have ever experienced. To regain lost vision without the use of glasses is absolutely amazing. Even I am still having a hard time believing it.

While it is great to recover my vision, it is even more exciting to realize that this will also likely prevent mental deterioration and Alzheimer's disease. Pretty phenomenal deal from my perspective.

Exercise Your Vision


The key I have learned is to remove the mental strain, stop staring and relax, and you can start to read very tiny print. There are a number of practical exercises you can do to achieve this. I have been exercising for nearly 40 years, and I never realized that your eyes need to be exercised just like the rest of your body. What is really surprising, though, is that these exercises are not what you'd expect at all and most are the opposite of what is commonly recommended.

New Course in the Fall


It cost me several thousand dollars to learn this technique, and I am still working through it, but once I have fully regained my near vision I plan on working with a company that will be developing and offering an entire course on this process in the fall. The course will have hundreds of pages of documentation on this century-old process that has restored the vision for tens of thousands of people who have had access to clinicians who understood the secret of restoring vision loss.

The process works for recovery of both near and far vision. The course will initially be offered for those with presbyopia (far sightedness or loss typically associated with old age). Visual recovery for those with myopia is a bit more challenging as there are many more variables to address. However, many of the principles will work for both types of vision loss.

Sun Exposure


I can give you a hint that exposing yourself to the sun is a very powerful part of the recovery. One of the exercises involves nothing more than looking at the sun with your eyes closed and moving your head in an Infiniti loop for about five minutes. It is important to make sure that your eyelids are closed. This exercise will only work on a sunny day, though, as you really need bright sun exposure to obtain the benefits.

In my free time I am reviewing more than 2,000 pages of text that have been written about this process and most of the pages are over 75 years old. Until this company is able to put the course together, I would give you some serious cautions.

Avoid LASIK


Please NEVER, NEVER, NEVER get laser eye surgery (LASIK) done, as it has a significant failure rate and can cause serious side effects. It will be far easier to achieve full vision recovery if you have not had this surgery.

If you have already had LASIK done, there's hope as it is still possible for you to recover your vision; it is just a bit more challenging and will take longer.

Please also remember that, in addition to vision improvement exercises, it will always be of vital importance to make dietary choices that will support the integrity and resiliency of the tissue in your eyes, as well as the rest of your body. These recommendations include:

Avoiding trans fats
Eating dark-colored berries
Getting plenty of lutein
Increasing your intake of omega-3 fats

OK. That put a damper on things.

Did you experience this yourself or did you just dig up scary stuff just because?

[2257-Ben]

Well, if you only have one eye, they wont let you get it done... Dammit...

[$5 submissions]

I had Lasik done in 2002. There's no guarantees. One of my eyes is getting blurry again--not as bad as before but it's definitely not 20/20. There are no guarantees.

[PersianKitty]

I had CustomVue Lasik done 18 months ago. Went from not seeing clearly beyond a foot from my nose to 20/30 overnight. No problems with night vision, starbursts, etc.

[TreasureBucks]

Yo, ask Chipmunk, how he feels about lasik.....

i talked to him yesterday, and hes seeing halos and has to go back in for more surgery..... he also had to cancel a trip to south africa, becuase he couldnt see very weel, after lasik.... i wanted to get lasik too, but ill stick to my contacts and glasses for awhile longer.

I had another friend who had complicatins with lasik. Hers finally cleared up, but she was scared for a few months, becuase of cloudy blurred vision lasting longer then the docs expected.... be careful and do some research on the doctors.

[OY]

Originally Posted by TreasureBucks

Yo, ask Chipmunk, how he feels about lasik.....

i talked to him yesterday, and hes seeing halos and has to go back in for more surgery..... he also had to cancel a trip to south africa, becuase he couldnt see very weel, after lasik.... i wanted to get lasik too, but ill stick to my contacts and glasses for awhile longer.

I had another friend who had complicatins with lasik. Hers finally cleared up, but she was scared for a few months, becuase of cloudy blurred vision lasting longer then the docs expected.... be careful and do some research on the doctors.

Good one.

OK, anyone know some inside scoops on "Laser Eye Center" - doctor is called Abraham V. Shammas (scary name? ;-) ) out of Los Angeles.

They claim he has performed over 25.000 Lasik surgeries.

[chipmunk]

Hey Oystein,

Well Chris is correct?
I did and do have issues since my surgery.and did have to cancel my trip to South Africa. Now before I start?I went to a top doctor, one of the developers of it so it had nothing per say to do with him.
The surgery itself got complicated as my eye were too small for the machine, so they had to cut slits which heal on their own. On top of that I was soar for quite sometime due to the amount of pain killer injections that had to be given (apparently I have a high tolerance to pain killers..lol)

Now the surgery did go very well, speaking form a technical standpoint, however my left eye was "over corrected" too much and my right eye is still healing. What this means is my right eye is about 20/20 and my left eye I am not sure of the measurement but it is blurry?just out of focus where it screws me up. I also get headaches due to the strain on the right eye at times.

As Far as the halo effect... I do have it. I see the glow of street lights and traffic lights etc (like the "aura" surrounding them.)I also have hemorrhaging still.

The prognosis is 50/50 that the left eye will have to be touched up by another surgery and hopefully the halos etc will diminish. If I go back for another ?zap? it will be in a month or two to ensure the eye is healed and stable.

So the bottom line is do I regret it?
No I do not... The procedure was done right, I was a candidate and the doctor is top notch! Some things just do not always go as planned.

If you have any questions... Hit me up. I would be glad to talk to you or anyone else seeking advice on this.

Warm regards,
-=Chipmunk=-

[shakta]

Originally Posted by Oystein

Just got cleared to do custom lasik - anything to be worried about?

I've done PRK half a year ago, I had -5.00 on both of my eyes, and I'm very gald I've done it.
I've chosen PRK instead of LASEK or LASIK because of almost no risk of any complication. The con side is that you'll need to go home for 3 days and you'll have some pain - but it was forgettable. I can really recommend it