lasik recovery time

[jt1]

I had wavefront lasik last wednesday. My eyes are still blurry and dry. I can drive at night without glasses, but seeing the street signs is a bit difficult. There are halos around every light. I have to wear sunglasses when it's sunny. I have trouble reading digital clocks.

To anyone who has had this done, how long will all this last? I'm a bit nervous: This is my vision.

[jar]

I know next time I have a serious medical issue, I'm gonna ask a bunch of random people on OOT instead of my doctor.

It took me about a month before that went away, I was told this was a little longer than average because I sat in front of a computer looking at numbers all day at work and that's a big strain on the eyes.

I only had the problem at night though. In the mornings it was fine. If you are having blurred vision all day I would suggest calling the doctor that did the surgery.

[4_2_it]

[ QUOTE ]
I know next time I have a serious medical issue, I'm gonna ask a bunch of random people on OOT instead of my doctor.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where do you think your doctor looks when he has a question?

[jt1]

Well, I just called my Doctor. He should be calling me back soon. I needed that kick in the ass, though. Nonetheless, I really did overstate my concern. Everything I've read suggest the vision will be blurry from a few days to a few months. I just wanted some testimonials from people who have gone through this before.

The redness hasn't even gone away yet which suggest, to me, that my eyes are still swollen. I don't suppose you should expect to see perfectly with swollen eyes. Still, if there are others out there who've been here, I'd appreciate your comments.

[Yeti]

www.google.com (http://www.google.com)

lasik site:extempore.livejournal.com

[Warik]

[ QUOTE ]
To anyone who has had this done, how long will all this last? I'm a bit nervous: This is my vision.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had my Custom LASIK procedure done April of 2004. A week after my surgery my eyes were a bit dry at times. I was told to use eyedrops every 2-3 hours.

I didn't have any trouble with street signs at night or halos.

The sunglasses are normal. They should have given you special super protective sunglasses to wear for 2 weeks after surgery. Shouldn't have a problem with digital clocks either.

See your doctor.

Shouldn't you have had 2 followups by now? They had me do a followup after 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and finally 1 year after the surgery. When's your next followup?

P.S. LASIK pwns. Highly recommended to anyone, and I recommend TLC Vision Center (the people who did Tiger Woods's surgery). Went from being unable to read the big "E" on the eyechart to 20/15 vision in a matter of minutes.

Lasik FTW.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I know next time I have a serious medical issue, I'm gonna ask a bunch of random people on OOT instead of my doctor.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where do you think your doctor looks when he has a question?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice one.

I'm seriously starting to think that's what my doctor does.

Mine was done February 1999. I had 20/400 vision (20/500 is considered legally blind I believe). I ended with 20/30 in one eye, 20/20 in the other.

Best money I ever spent.

The night halos sucked tho.

[Vish]

Are there any drawbacks? My mother claims you lose "depth of vision," whatever that means. Maybe she means depth perception.

Also, how risky a procedure is it?

[CD56]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I know next time I have a serious medical issue, I'm gonna ask a bunch of random people on OOT instead of my doctor.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where do you think your doctor looks when he has a question?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice one.

I'm seriously starting to think that's what my doctor does.

[/ QUOTE ]

Most Docs use something called UpToDate it's kind of like a google/Wikipedia of medicine.

[Victor]

my eyes were very dry for about 2 weeks but i didnt have any blurriness.

i used "bion tears" (brand name) all day long when my eyes were dry and they provided much relief.

[CD56]

[ QUOTE ]
Are there any drawbacks? My mother claims you lose "depth of vision," whatever that means. Maybe she means depth perception.

Also, how risky a procedure is it?

[/ QUOTE ]

People that have lasik in their 30s/early 40s will usually require reading glasses in a few years, but they would have anyway if they had had perfect vision all their lives.

I'm a 3rd year med student and I spent a week with an Optho that did a lot of Lasik, he had his eyes done, and as we walked around the hospital he was constantly bumping into people whom he had corrected w/ lasik

One word of advice, you pay for what you get, anyone offering like 300 an eye in the phone book probably isnt worth it, make sure they're an opthomologist, and ask how many times they've done the procedure and for how long they have been doing it. It's a good sign if they own a lasik machine and have it in their office, it's a bad sign if the machine is in a bus and parks outside their office the one day that they do the procedure (I'm not kidding)

[ QUOTE ]

P.S. LASIK pwns. Highly recommended to anyone, and I recommend TLC Vision Center (the people who did Tiger Woods's surgery). Went from being unable to read the big "E" on the eyechart to 20/15 vision in a matter of minutes.

Lasik FTW.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had my procedure 3 years ago from a well-regarded doc. My recovery time was 2-3 days, I have never ever had any problems with eyes being too dry, nor have I had any halos. However my night vision sucks, and still sucks years later. Met with docs and while there are some drops that can help the situation I'm pretty much stuck with crappy night vision.

That being said, I'd still opt to do it again if I had to.

[Randy_Refeld]

[ QUOTE ]
Are there any drawbacks? My mother claims you lose "depth of vision," whatever that means. Maybe she means depth perception.

Also, how risky a procedure is it?

[/ QUOTE ]

You might want to PM Mason, I remember him post a negative experience about this procedure (I hope I'm not remmebering wrong).

[handsome]

How old are you guys? I'm 20 and want Lasik so bad.

[DrNo888]

Funny you posted this.
I just got back from the doctor's office to have them take a look why my left eye was bothering me the last few days after having wavefront done on Friday. I guess it's just dryness in my case.

After the procedure on Friday, I took a nap for about 3 hours. Woke up and watched NBA games. I had no problems seeing. Next day, I was out driving and playing online poker. So far my vision is better than 20/20 according to the doc. Only have to deal with dryness for a bit longer supposedly. Lots and lots of eye drops. Yay! /images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[ QUOTE ]
How old are you guys? I'm 20 and want Lasik so bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you talked to a doctor about this. I think this is considered on the young side.. I was 23 when I did it and this was considered OK, but the doc did mention that for many ppl eyes will be more stabilized in your mid 20's. I had horrible vision so I didn't want to wait.

[DesertCat]

You are so damn lucky. My flap was wrinkled twice in the two days after my surgery, leading to two more surgeries. When it finally healed, I found my eye was no longer far sighted, but it's so near sighted it's really unusable.

I met with the doctor this week. He thinks my flap still has some wrinkles and he's schedule another surgery to fix that. If that works, he'll then schedule a laser correction to fix the lense..

[Grisgra]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Are there any drawbacks? My mother claims you lose "depth of vision," whatever that means. Maybe she means depth perception.

Also, how risky a procedure is it?

[/ QUOTE ]

People that have lasik in their 30s/early 40s will usually require reading glasses in a few years, but they would have anyway if they had had perfect vision all their lives.

I'm a 3rd year med student and I spent a week with an Optho that did a lot of Lasik, he had his eyes done, and as we walked around the hospital he was constantly bumping into people whom he had corrected w/ lasik

One word of advice, you pay for what you get, anyone offering like 300 an eye in the phone book probably isnt worth it, make sure they're an opthomologist, and ask how many times they've done the procedure and for how long they have been doing it. It's a good sign if they own a lasik machine and have it in their office, it's a bad sign if the machine is in a bus and parks outside their office the one day that they do the procedure (I'm not kidding)

[/ QUOTE ]

My question is, is it better to find an invididual opthomologist, or would going to one of the big, *expensive* chains, like TLC, be a better idea? It seems to me that the latter folks would be more experienced with possible problems . . . and they aren't cheap, fly-by-night operations.

[fyodor]

I had mind done about 4-5 years ago. I was told going in that I would require reading glasses when it was done (I didn't before) I was ready for that tradeoff.

I was one of the few who had no night halos post op. As a matter of fact my vision is better at night than in the day. My vision is not pefect in the day but it is way better than it was. I can easily drive now without glasses. Recently I picked up a pair of progressives anyhow though for playing pxxxx. My distance vision is slightly better with them than without them except at night.

I need reading glasses indoors but in bright sunlight I can read a newspaper perfectly.

[jt1]

Desert Cat, I wish you the best. I hope you're wearing something over your eyes after the surgery so you don't disturb the flap. I'd also consider seeing another surgeon. Good luck.

I saw my doctor today. He wasn't worried. He said people with big pupils are much more likely to suffer halos for a little while and more likely to need 1 touch up after a few months. He also speculated that the topography of my eye wasn't flat yet and that will be measured the next time I see him on the 5th (it will be at different office where they have that equipment). The uneven topography may be why I'm seeing the halos.

Worse case scenario, he says, is I'll need to do it again in 3 months and I'll need glasses for driving at night. We'll see.

[Warik]

[ QUOTE ]
My question is, is it better to find an invididual opthomologist, or would going to one of the big, *expensive* chains, like TLC, be a better idea?

[/ QUOTE ]

I highly highly recommend going to a bigger expensive chain... and I recommend TLC. I had my procedure done at TLC and in addition to going through an extensive preliminary screening to make sure I was a candidate, they also helped me treat my eyes for a minor condition I had that would have affected the surgery, for free, and then reviewed me again a few weeks later.

The $ spent towards my surgery also covered 7 followups after the fact AND the procedure is guaranteed for life, so if my vision degrades naturally they will zap me again to fix it.

Worth every penny. Don't one of your most valuable assets - your eyes - in the hands of some chump charging you $300 bucks.

[Rotating Rabbit]

Lasik is destructive surgery.

My father (who is a eye surgeon in the uk) says you want to be slightly shortsighted before age 40 because your vision will get worse with age, typically yo'll get more longsighted, and actually being slightly shortsighted is perfect because then as you get older you can still use your eyes for many tasks without aid.

[captswifty]

[ QUOTE ]
Lasik is destructive surgery.

My father (who is a eye surgeon in the uk) says you want to be slightly shortsighted before age 40 because your vision will get worse with age, typically yo'll get more longsighted, and actually being slightly shortsighted is perfect because then as you get older you can still use your eyes for many tasks without aid.

[/ QUOTE ]

No. Then things would be blurry up close and far away. Ideally, you want perfect vision up close and far away. LASIK fixes the far away part, and doesn't degrade over time. As people get older, a muscle in the eye that focuses on close objects starts to weaken, and then you can't focus up close as well. This has nothing to do with LASIK, it happens to everyone. The solution to that is either reading glasses, or a new procedure that inserts an artifical muscle into the eye to help it focus. You can achive perfect vision with two surguries in your life.

(btw, you call it longsighted and shortsighted? I've never heard that before... )

[Rotating Rabbit]

I'm not an expert on the subject myself, i'm sure what you're saying is right, maybe there's a caveat though. I was just voicing the opinion of an expert - but my father is always ultra conservative and would be the last person in the world to agree to destructive surgery when the person concerned had 20/20 vision with aid.

I guess from his point of view when you do your best to fix people coming in with degenerative conditions/road accidents/ maybe he can fix it, maybe he cant, and telling someone at 09:50 that they're gonna lose their sight forever in their right eye, then having someone at 10:05 coming in with slight shorsightedness but perfect vision with small lenses asking for optimisation...

Also there's no escaping the small risk (its getting better) that the operation is performed badly, and he feels the risk is just not worth taking.