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| "I have to correct you on this point. He and I did not "beat the odds".
The odds were always clearly in our favour."
Depends how picky you are and your expectations. Theres no clear study
reguarding complication rates and satisfication rates. Two people can
end with identical outcomes and one person be totally miserable, the
other totally happy. Many of the people I know experienced small
complications but the good outweighed the bad. Loss of night vision is
very common and some say universal but a large number do not experience
deleberating night vision issues. I know a lady in real life who got
lasik back in 2000 and shes only 20/30 to 20/40 with night vision
issues but shes still happy and seems to see alright, at least in the
day. She can see(without glasses of course) almost as good as I see
with glasses!
"Not in my case. Nor in the case of my brother."
Nearly everyone I know who got lasik traded some vision quality and
sometimes accuracy in order to reduce/eliminate their dependancy on
glasses.
"Where is your proof? Lasik has been around for a long time now and
there isn't any statistical proof of your claim."
Its true the long term results are still in the unknown but some people
have developed strange problems some time after lasik. I know one guy
who developed double vision 3 years after lasik and now needs RGP
contacts.
http://www.canoe.ca/Health0007/17_vision.html
http://www.lasikinfocenter.net/Pers...tti%20Blair.htm
Potential long-term complications following refractive surgery
Some opponents of corneal refractive surgery claim that excimer laser
procedures, in particular LASIK, have not been around long enough for
us to fully understand the long-term consequences. Potential issues
include retinal damage , inaccuracy of future cataract surgery and
delayed diagnosis of glaucoma due to modifications in the corneal
profile/thickness, and corneal ectasia.
"I would like you to provide proof that people develop dry eye several
years after Lasik."
http://www.aao.org/education/sit_refractive/0010.cfm
Phyllis Knapp first felt it in early 2000, about a month after having
LASIK surgery to correct her vision.
"Something wasn't right," Knapp said. "My eyes burned all the time. The
doctor just said I was still healing."
But months and ***years*** later, her eyes kept getting drier. Now
there are eroded areas on their surfaces. "Dry eye does a lot to impair
your vision if it's severe, and mine is," she said.
"You seem to speak to a lot of people experiencing difficulties with
Lasik. I find this hard to believe."
Well I try to help them. One college guy my age got lasik and while he
ended up 20/25 and 20/30(loss of one line, loss of two lines
respectivately) he had significent ghosting and loss of contrast. He
now has a very hard time reading the professors lectures because its
blurry, ghosted and faint. He was one of those glasses haters now he
wishes he could go back to glasses.
"I also had an intolerance to contact lenses and consider the fact that
I was able to have Lasik as a godsend."
I got a lasik evaluation nearly a year ago and they tell almost
everyone they are "perfect" candidates. Tell that to those with
complications. Most centers pay no attention to your pupil size,
mismeasure your pupils on purpose or downplay the risks "you might
experience jusssssssst a sliiiiiiiiight amount of glare and starbursts
at night" One has to research for himself exactly how good a candidate
he is and what risks he is up to against. Intolerance to contacts often
signifies dry eyes which can be made worse by lasik. I also dont
tolerate contacts but glasses work great other than the minor hassles
but its something I just deal with.
"I was -6.5 in each eye and suffered the most horrendous headaches on a
regular basis."
Theres a number of factors responsable for this. I dont normally get
headaches, not even when I undercorrect myself or go without glasses. I
dont strain or squint either
"Since Lasik 2 1/2 years ago,
I do not have the inconvenience of glasses, contacts or drops."
Thats good to hear. Lasik wouldnt free me or many others from glasses
anyway. Those with presbyopia still need glasses and also if you end
under/over corrected you still need glasses. Some people have too much
myopia to be fully corrected. I know a lady in person whos -9 and her
surgeon told her she will still need glasses, albet much thinner. She
said forget lasik, if I still need glasses its not worth bothering.
Relistically, lasik is touted to reduce your dependancy on glasses and
this has rung true for most people. Nothing will free me from my
dependancy of glasses. Not lasik, not contacts, not natural vision
improvement, nothing!
"Absolutely! Just not as many as you are making out."
One can have a complication thats "not too severe" and still be happy
overall. If someone is mulling over the "what ifs" and "will I be happy
or not" or "will I have complications" he best just not get the surgury
and banish his worries.
I think its much easier for me(and my friends) to deal with glasses
than plunge into the unknown with lasik and roll the dice and hope you
get what you want. Once you have laser surgury, there is no going back.
Let me make an analogy. You are hungry and two choices of snacks are
offered. Choice A doesnt look very tasty but its nutritionous and
healthy. Choice B looks absolutely yummy but you are told theres a 10%
risk of you getting sick. Its the same with glasses vs. lasik. Glasses
represents choice A where its sometimes a bit of an inconvinence but
perfectly safe and effective. Lasik is choice B where it looks "tasty"
but theres a risk of anything going wrong.
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