I am really considering Lasik. tired of wearing glasses and i am not a contacts type of person.
Any personal experiences anyone would like to share? Has it improved your day to day? Is it worth it? etc.

I'm an optometrist who used to work at a refractive surgery center. Saw thousands of LASIK patients. Shoot me an email if you want to talk about pros/cons or ask any questions. kaleb.s.abbott@aggienetwork.com

Can't speak for LASIK but had PRK done back in early 2009. Still have 20/20 both eyes. Can't remember the difference between PRK and LASIK but hell yeah, get it done.

Recovery for PRK was a PITA. I'm more light sensitive than before surgery but regular sunglasses in bright days and I'm good to go.

Cons: glare, halos, dry eyes

Doesn't fix presbyopia so you will need reading glasses at 45

Also, LASIK precludes you from getting multifocal lenses during cataract surgery. If you are over 50, that is a big consideration.

Coming from a patient, I get some halo'ing at night. And very seldom dry eyes requiring artificial tear drops like systane .

Recovery was pretty easy just slept a few hours after the procedure and wore some eye shield for the rest of the day. did antimicrobial , lubricating , and anti inflammatory drops for a week or so and was good to go.

IMO the best thing I've ever done.

Had lasik in late 90s / 2000 for astigmatism and not seeing well far away. Still have close to 20/20, need no correction at 50yo. Never had any bad side effects or negatives. Up there with the best money I have ever spent on myself. Would think the tech has only gotten better

My eyesight was mostly good, but still required to wear glasses for driving and to see far away.

Got lasik in 2017 and was a wonderful decision. I've not had any side effects at all, and I absolutely love being able to see perfectly without glasses.

everyone, i appreciate the insight!

Per my wife, zero downside. No regrets.

love it... should have gotten it sooner.

No halo's or dry eyes for me.

Everyone I know who has had it have nothing negative to say about it. In fact, they all say the same thing..."I can't believe I waited so long." My mom had hers done in her mid-50's and has better vision than I do.

I had LASIK this December. Only regret is not doing it sooner. My 1 month post op had my vision better than 20/20. My vision now is better than w/ contacts or glasses.

Late at night my eyes get a little drier, but I was previously getting dry eyes w/ my contacts late at night anyway. So no big change. I actually think my dry eyes were worse w/ contacts, so it's actually a win in my book.

Dry eye, light sensitivity, glares/halos. Dry eye us my biggest issue for sure.

Had halos at night, right eye seemed to take about 6 months to finally get to 20/20. Left is is 20/15. Dry eyes, and halos I would take in a heart beat with vision like I have now.
Great investment in my health

One of the best decisions I ever made.

I had issues with dry eyes before and during a follow up appointment they found my eyes to be around 20/50. They looked closer and found out I have horrible eye allergies. One drop of Zatador in each eye and had 20/20 vision right away. Now I do one dose of Alaway or Zatador (or generic) in each eye and never have issues with dry eyes. Before I would go through a big thing of eye drops a month.

Got it in 2012 and have loved it. I'm 47 now though and I just got my first pair of reading glasses. For distance/driving etc though, I'm good to go.

Would recommend it.

I wouldn't say LASIK precludes you from getting presbiopic lenses...a lot of docs wont use presbiopic lenses for cataract surgery if you had LASIK but on the flip side a lot of docs will use them. Especially with the newer lenses that are coming out.

Not a doctor but I work with all the cataract surgeons in Houston and sell the lenses they use for cataract surgery.

I'm of the age (43) that I'm closer to lens replacement since I've never been a LASIK candidate due to being too far-sighted. Might wait until I'm closer to 50 as the technology will be better and I may not be sitting in front of computer as much. There would be no doubt I'd have gotten LASIK if I were a candidate.

U might not need cataract surgery till ur 65...just sayin.

I had What I believe Is the newest FDA approved procedure called SMILE, SMall Incision Lenticule Extraction. I thought it offered a good balance of Quick recovery (vs PRK) with a much smaller incision (compared to LASIK). I had good results and I'm 95% satisfied about 6 months after the procedure. Because of my hobbies I was very opposed to having a full flap cut. I had a -7.5 prescription in contacts

Aggie369 said:

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I wouldn't say LASIK precludes you from getting presbiopic lenses...a lot of docs wont use presbiopic lenses for cataract surgery if you had LASIK but on the flip side a lot of docs will use them. Especially with the newer lenses that are coming out.

Not a doctor but I work with all the cataract surgeons in Houston and sell the lenses they use for cataract surgery.

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They shouldn't, not a diffractive lens anyhow.

Quite common
Especially with newer formulas available and a piece of equipment called an ORA...which is an intraoperative abberometer. Takes an intraoperative refraction in OR of the aphakic eye

Aggie369 said:

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Quite common
Especially with newer formulas available and a piece of equipment called an ORA...which is an intraoperative abberometer. Takes an intraoperative refraction in OR of the aphakic eye

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Measurements aren't the issue - it's stacking a lens which is sensitive to corneal aberrations and which causes glare/halos on top of a surgery which results in corneal aberrations and causes more glare and halos.

Our recent outcomes across houston have been fantastic with new tri focal and use of ORA even with LASIK patients

Best money I've ever spent. Had my surgery at like 9am and by 6pm I could read the crawl at the bottom of the TV screen. I was so damn happy. I have minor halos at night but the vision improvements are worth it. No dry eyes.

Just don't watch any LASIK videos on YouTube beforehand. They'll freak you out.