HEALTH AND WELL BEING: What is LASIK? - Miracle Eye Surgery gave me 20/20 Vision!
I got an email from Laser Surgery of Silicon Valley today
I remembered the reason I can see the screen without glasses tonight, is because I got my eyes fixed about 15 years ago with LASIK.
Nearsightedness, or myopia, as it is medically termed, is a vision condition in which people can see close objects clearly, but objects farther away appear blurred. People with myopia can have difficulty clearly seeing a movie or TV screen or the whiteboard in school.
Myopia occurs if the eyeball is too long or the cornea (the clear front cover of the eye) is too curved. As a result, the light entering the eye isn't focused correctly, and distant objects look blurred.
Myopia affects nearly 30 percent of the U.S. population.
While the exact cause of myopia is unknown, there is significant evidence that many people inherit myopia, or at least the tendency to develop myopia. If one or both parents are nearsighted, there is an increased chance their children will be nearsighted.
Even though the tendency to develop myopia may be inherited, its actual development may be affected by how a person uses his or her eyes. Individuals who spend considerable time reading, working at a computer, or doing other intense close visual work may be more likely to develop myopia.
There was a relatively new laser surgeon in town and he performed LASIK with a very expensive and new laser machine available to burn off a small amount of the eye and make it perfectly round as it needs to be for correct focus and vision.
Previous surgery of the eye was prone to side effects and bad night vision and I was very afraid to try them.
Being an active man and liking to swim, surf and scuba dive, I really wanted to "loose the glasses" or contacts I usually wore, even when 80 feet down under water! Losing my mask at that depth and not being able to see, could be fatal if I lost my contacts underwater.
THUS, I was motivated to research this, and the history of eye surgery and I finally decided to try it, after my mother had the procedure performed, and was very happy with the results. I decided, since my mother had proven it to me, I should "man up" and go for it myself!
I was nearly blind without my glasses (thanks mom!) and having inherited that gene, I was ready to correct it, and it was really hard to put a price on it... To see again as I had as a young child without glasses was such a prize!
I usually wore soft contact lenses and they dried out my eyes so badly; I was sick and tired of wearing them. I wrote a fairly hefty check to the Dr. and proceeded to submit to the chair, he leaned me back flat, and used some type of thing to hold my eye open so I could not close it.
I wanted to point out that most people are very happy with the results, with 3% saying they wish they had not had the procedure.
And my results?! ;-)
I was very happy with my right eye, and it was just perfect. 20/20 vision, maybe 20/15, it was very sharp. My Left eye however was only 20/40, so I went back for a second time (it was free as part of the guarentee) and had the left eye sculpted a second time. I was very happy with the results!
It was actually very hard to keep completely still as they point this machine at you, and I did flinch a little, right at the wrong time, the Dr. actually yelled at me not to blink!
But I was still from that moment and it was completely successful.
15 years later, I still drive without glasses but probably need glasses at night. Working on computers and reading my entire life has taken it's toll...
The good NEWS!?
After 15 years, there are many new features of eye surgery available today, and it should come down in price for the equipment as it becomes more mainstream and commonly used.
Finally,
I have much more to say about vision and for those that need glasses, contacts or would like to know more about LASIK, please feel free to ask questions in the comments.
In your service,
- Surfyogi
This is something I need to get done one day. Those results are looking rather impressive. So many people seem to be just in and out and on their day without much of an issue. I’m holding off mostly due to family history and it not going to well as well as some other eye stuff I need to have done.
I’m hoping by time I get around to it those issues people are having and its success rate will be even better on the first try.
I was reading 3% of people in the UK have had LASIK!
Amazing stat!
Is that all? I would have guess much higher. Maybe they just like glasses :)
I am curious @surfyogi what is the price of the procedure today VS. what you paid for the procedure when you had it done ??
Sure, that's a good question, and all I can tell you it was very new and very expensive when I had it done. I selected the best Dr. I could find, and he was one of the first few doing this procedure any where in the world. I lived in San Jose, CA at the time, and he had offices in 3 different cities in that area and worked at different offices every day. So he was very expensive, as I recall about $2000 USD per eye? 15 years ago.
BUT TODAY? I really don't know, and it will depend on where you live too. I know that some people go to India to have this procedure performed and they save some money and get a vacation too.. perhaps others are going to Mexico City and other large cities everywhere. I'm sure in MX it is much cheaper than in USA.
Since 3% of people in UK have had LASIK, then I would guess the governement helps pay the costs.
I've been seriously considering LASIK as I'm tired of wearing glasses etc. Thanks for the info and sharing your experience, this might be that extra boost to get me going with it :)
Go for it, especially if you can talk to the Dr. first and find out how long he has been performing the procedure!
Nice information,,, this is very important for me,,, very interst,,, i wanna try it, but still many obstacles ,,, a place far and high cost ,,, I still can not afford. I actively exercise like futsal, football, tabletennis and tennis. hopefully one day I can try as you do.
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I'm very happy for you. I read that today the most progressive direction of modern ophthalmology. I think this is the solution to all problems for those who need to improve their vision. Thank you for sharing.
thanks a lot for your valuable article,,,Myopia occurs if the eyeball is too long or the cornea is too curved..i appreciate with you,,like it,,sir @surfyogi
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@upvoted
Thanks for sharing this with us and your experience with the eye surgery.
My grandma had one too, many years ago and she also never had any side effects and was really happy with the surgery and it looks like you had no regrets either.
Thanks again for sharing
@surfyogi thanks for the educative information. Am happy you recovered your sight,Using glasses is really hectic and the more u use them the more blind you get
IN FACT interesting you would say that.
I actually belive most glasses are OVER PRESCRIBED and Optomitrists DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!
My glasses I use now for driving at night, I got them recently. THEY MAKE ME BLIND! They are entirely TOO STRONG and force my eyes to focus far away, and they give me headaches.
I wish I knew all the answers but my first idea is they are simply too strong and optomistrists don't understand that overly strong glasses make eyes lazy, or somehow unable to relax and refocus once they glasses are taken off.
I'm just starting to need reading glasses but I look at family and see what is coming... I assume Lasik would only be considered after vision is a lot worse. Since your vision gets worse over time, is Lasik only good for a period of time? Do you start needing glasses again?
They usually say you should wait until late 20s, your eyes should level out (mostly) and then it should be good for 20 years or so.. maybe?
Also, keep in mind "vision habits" affect myopia and can be relearned. It's really like KIDS should be taught HEALTHY VISION HABITS and there is really not much knowledge about this currently, although in previous decades there was a book by "Bates" and it was famous for teaching good, relaxed vision habits. I actually took a class, and it taught to keep eyes relaxed, take breaks, use wetting drops, and focus in a relaxed way, look way from the book or screen, and focus far away often.
And I FAILED to mention, Presbyopia, where as a person ages, in their 40s-50s the eyes will harden, and we start to need reading glasses at that time, and I'm just starting to get where I can't read close up without reading glasses, but can still use the laptop or phone wihtout reading glasses.
So nothing lasts forever, but it was a great couple decades I've enjoyed now..
Thanks for you...
indeeed... the best age so far before 30... it lasts for around 40 yrs then u gotta wear ur glasses again.... people having problems of STY also need to avoid wearing lenses and wear normal eyeglasses until u go for LASIK ...
Thanks for the great info!