I'm thinking of getting Lasik and want some input. The only advice I've gotten so far is if they have any discount lasers do not go there.
My wife had it done at Will Vision about 7 years ago. Easy procedure and she her vision was better just hours after the surgery. Her vision was great for many years, but now she's back to wearing glasses.
I know two people who had it done... one went to Canada and the other somewhere locally... both had good experiences.
I was going to do it, but then found a couple message boards (like this one) that spoke of the horrors of it. For example, many people lose their night vision, or have gray circles in their vision permanently and since it's considered one of the "known risks", it considered a 100% success. But not to me. If I lost my night vision or one of the other host of eye problems, I'd consider it a failure.
I'm 29; Had it done a year and a half ago @ Will Vision up in Vancouver. He's got the best (latest) equipment and the best credentials in the metro area. Went to him off references from two of my close friends who've had it done w/him and loved it. I wouldn't look back. It's the best thing I've done for myself in a long time. Immediately after the thing is done (which is all of 5 minutes in the chair); you can see better, but everything is bright, and full of glare. So I just got home and crashed for like fives hours (the pills they give you help). Once you wake up your eyes are dry as hell, and you throw some of the supplies eye drops in and you can see perfectly. Bright lights have halo's around them, and at night it's worse, however this went away for me in 2 weeks, just as they said. I now have perfect vision (in light and night), well its even better than 20-20; more like 15 or 17-20. Edit: The most important thing to do is follow the post-op instructions, can't stress that enough. Most people who have terrible results do not follow the post-op instructions; the eye drops are SO important to the healing process and rubbing your eyes is a major no-no. another edit: Will Vision has some pretty awesome eye-mapping technology to be able to see exactly where your eye needs to be improved on. You should definitely check them out, the eye-analyzer is freaking top notch.
A friend of mine had the surgery and also had excellent results. My problem is that 40-60% of the people don't have perfect results and I don;t like having my eye balls messed with.
Your numbers are totally skewed... You really should talk to Dr. Will. Because out of all the people that I've known to get Lasik from him or other places around the metro area, I've heard of nobody having non-perfect results. So my numbers are 100%, in the perfect scale. You really should talk to the people that have negative results and ask them who they went to (the non-all-laser) places are not the best anymore and could hamper the perfect result. Those 500/Eye surgery centers are a fucking quack. You should also ask them what type of post-op care they needed and if they followed it to a "T".
http://www.healthboards.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=147 http://chetday.com/lasikeyesurgery.htm http://www.docshop.com/education/vision/refractive/lasik/risks/ http://www.seewithlasik.com/docs/lasik-complications.shtml Again, there are many success stories, but many otherwise.
I hear ya bro, I don't want to come across like I am saying your wrong, so please don't take me that way.. IMO from all the research I did before I made my choice, I am still under the presumption that people who have had bad results are because they went to a less than stellar operation trying to save a few bucks, didn't follow the post-op instructions correctly, and also may have had healing issues with their eyes. My pre-op analysis of my eyes was good (thickness of the eye), and the doctor I used was a doctor that has the credentials to work on me (research Dr. Will), along with using the latest technology (which is key). In the end, It always comes down to your personal choice, and sacrifice, but I believe that with the right knowledge and things to look for, a person can make a better informed choice than just relying on word of mouth alone. The advantages of having Lasik and not dicking around with the contacts anymore (water-sports, snowboarding, passing out in them, etc) far exceed anything I could have thought of.
Also went to Will Vision in Vancouver and followed the post-op instructions religiously. Would not classify my night vision as seeing halos, but definitely notice lights when driving. Other cars seem to always have their lights between normal and bright. It is not so bad that I have went in for more treatment however. When you get assessed, they will let you know if another surgery is possible in the case that something does go wrong. They would not perform on my best friend since he had too little material where they said they could do 50 on mine with no issue. It is also free. They also let you know that it is inevitable to have to wear reading glasses starting around 40. The benefits of lasik made this one of my best purchases ever. It is nice not ever having to worry about buying perscription glasses or falling asleep in contacts. Being able to watch TV before going to bed or seeing what time it is when waking up without contacts/glasses is also very nice. Insurance usually does not cover this, but can be paid for with a flexible spending account. Nice little interest free loan that saves money at tax time. They also accepted credit card and might give a discount for cash.
Oh, no, I never took it that way. I was just pointing out (to scare you) that I chickened out when I read some of this stuff.
