Murphy - 2014-12-19 7:15 AM I had the surgery that is for people with astigmatisms, ASA.  I LOVE it. I've had mine for about 6-7 years now. My vision was HORRIBLE. I didn't mind wearing glasses, but I couldn't take them off because everything was a blur.  



It did take me about 2 weeks to fully get my complete vision after the surgery. I also was in extreme pain because I thought I was tough and could do without the pain pills... NOPE. I made my husband get up at 2:00 AM and run to Walgreens to get my pills! Other than that, no big deal. The surgery was less than 2 minutes. It was a breeze.



Mine was $4000-$5000.

Griz - 2014-12-19 11:10 AM Wow - I had absolutely NO pain - in fact, I don't think they even gave me a script for pain meds. 

Griz - 2014-12-19 4:27 AM

About 15 years ago - BY FAR, the best money I EVER spent. I would recommend it a million times over!! 

RaNdI sUe - 2014-12-19 12:12 PM I never had any pain at all, I was even at work the next day.....  I remember taking eye drops that were anitbotics, and then they gave me a pill to take before the surgery I think to relax me....  It just put me to sleep the rest of the afternoon. 

snoopy - 2014-12-19 6:09 AM what is the cost of this? did any of you have an astigmatism also?

Murphy - 2014-12-19 11:15 AM I had a different type of surgery, a type of Lasik. They actually had to cut my cornea and flap them over for my correction.  

Tatum2 - 2014-12-19 1:17 PM Did anyone have pain during the actual procedure? You are awake for it correct? How do they go about it

Tatum2 - 2014-12-19 8:49 AM

I've been debating on getting lasik as well because no matter what contacts I am in they give me an awful headache and feel like my eyes are working harder than they should (right Rx since my glasses don't bother me) I hate wearing glasses but now I have to. This just started with my eyes when I wear contacts a few months ago. I used to live in contacts now I can't even stand wearing them for a day

Brrelhorse - 2014-12-19 3:05 PM I couldn't see far away, but have good close up vision. I had PRK in one eye so I can see far away with that eye and close up with the other. PRK is cheaper than Lasik as it uses only one laser instead of 2. My cost about $1550. PRK is not an instance fix and I knew that from the consultation. It'll take up to 6 months before I have "perfect" vision again. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Best $1500 I ever spent. I can see things far away (like the 3rd barrel) again. My brain is still adjusting to using one eye for close up and one eye for far away vision. Before I had the PRK, I used contacts as a trial version of extreme monovision. That's where one eye is corrected for distance and one is corrected for near. I couldn't stand the extreme correction of the near hence I didn't get my near eye corrected.

mervyn11 - 2014-12-19 11:04 AM

I had mine done about 6 years ago. Although mine was given to me as a gift, it was still the best $$$$ ever spent on me. I woke up after post surgery 'nap' at home and could read the clock. It had been 20+ years since I could read the clock beside my bed!

I had no pain. Took the valium to relax me and I was good to go.

I have not had a single issue since my surgery.

I had mine done with 6 teacher friends (they did all the dr research) and they all used their health care savings plan and had the surgery during Christmas break.

puglady - 2014-12-22 7:19 PM

Best money I've ever spent. It's been 6 years but my vision has changed with my last pregnancy so I have to go back in for a touch up. Mine was quite scary, your eyes are held open, you can see fine, then all of a sudden you can't see anything. That's teally scary. But after a minute when it was done I could see again. I went home, went to sleep, woke up with perfect vision. Only side effect is my eyes are more sensitive to sunlight now, so I always have to wear sunglasses

r_beau - 2014-12-23 5:11 PM

OP: Have you talked to your eye doctor? That's the first step. You'll need an evaluation for LASIK to make sure you are a good candidate. Your prescription should have been stable for the last couple years. You don't want to do LASIK if your prescription changes from year-to-year. Also make sure you have a good back-up pair of glasses to wear because (depending on what type of contact you wear) you will need to NOT wear your contacts for at least 2 weeks before the evaluation and before the surgery. You don't want the contact creating an artificial curve in your cornea. 

Nothing wrong with wanting LASIK but do realize there are options for glasses out there, in terms of digital customization lenses. We can get a lot more exact with prescriptions and measurements than we used to with "regular" basic lenses. Sometimes trying a better lens will take care of the headaches and discomfort.

I myself had LASIK about 9 years ago when I was 20. Best decision ever! So nice not to fight the dust and dirt when working with the horses, and so nice to see across the room. I was close to a -6.00 when I had mine done. My only "side effect" is some dryness and some glare at night time, but I am happy to deal with it. Right after the surgery, I had a mild "headache" feeling in my eyes but that's about it. Felt perfect the next day and I could see 20/20. It was amazing.

Cost is going to vary on the surgeon. A good rough estimate would probably be in the $4,000 range, which should include your pre-operative appointment (evaluation) and all your post-operative care.

As far as pain goes, it is going to depend on which exact procedure you have. If you have the "normal" LASIK, the pain should be very minimal to non-existant. If you have PRK .... well I've had the ladies tell me it was equivelant to childbirth. The way they remove your cornea is the same between LASIK and PRK, but the different is how they make the flap to get to it. In LASIK, the flap is created with the laser (used to be done with a blade. No one uses the blade anymore) but in PRK they literally burn off the epithelium of your cornea and then apply a bandage contact lens while your cornea re-grows over the next week. Sounds horrible and that's what makes it painful, but there are actually a few less complications with PRK than the regular LASIK and a few advantages to doing it. Your surgeon will make the call on which one is the best option for you. Recovery time is longer with PRK, but the visual end result is the same.
Murphy: You probably had PRK done. (Hence the pain)
HammerTime: Sometimes PRK is a better way to go for the individual's cornea and their prescription. There isn't any solid in the literature yet, but there are some possible complications you can get with a flap that are eliminated when you don't need to make a flap. Plus, you arn't cutting corneal nerves in PRK whereas in flap LASIK you are. 

During the actual procedure, you are often given a "relaxor" of some sort (lot of the docs use Valium) and your eye is numbed, numbed, numbed. You don't feel any pain, but you can feel the pressure of the speculum that holds your eyelids open and prevents you from blinking during the procedure.

Typically, most surgeons are going to want you to be at least 21 before doing the surgery, but it will vary by the surgeon and it will vary on your individual record. One of the surgeons we work with did his own daughter's surgery when she was only 18. Of course, he knew her RX top-to-bottom and knew she was stable and "safe" to do it so young.
Barrelracengirl: I would think you would be okay at age 22, provided your RX hasn't changed.

For those who are having dryness with contact lenses ... talk to your eye doctor. We have so many options now with daily disposable contacts that we can usually find a comfortable fit for anyone.

If you are over 40 (or when you get to 40), LASIK will NOT correct your near vision. It is a separate process that happens and if you have LASIK done, you will need reading glasses in order to read (over age 40). The only exception to this is if you have monovision correction done with the LASIK where one eye is corrected for distance and one eye is corrected for near. We always try this in a contact first to make sure you brain is going to handle it. 50/50 it does and 50/50 it doesn't. Just have to try.

Total side note --> You are NOT legally blind if your vision is correctable (with glasses or contacts or LASIK) to better than 20/200. You are only considered legally blind if your vision cannot be corrected. Just a little pet peeve of mine when people say "I'm legally blind without my glasses!" (Because that's not the definition.)

As far as the Tiger Woods comment by longlyvabarrecer, his eyes were around -11.00 when he had the procedure done. Thankfully, he had a good outcome. With what we know now, no doctor today would touch a -11.00. Way beyond the comfortable limit for a good outcome even with wavefront LASIK (and any surgeon that tells you they can do it ... I'd walk away). Not sayin' Tiger Wood's doc is a bad doc, but technology is always changing and advancing. We used to think RK surgery was a good idea, for goodness sake! (Basically just random butchering of the cornea.....)

Anyway, a public forum is great to hear experiences from other people, but your best bet is to chat with your eye doctor.