POLL: 20/20, eyeglasses, contacts, Lasik?

[space-time]

have you noticed how many people wear glasses or got contacts these days?

[Racer X]

will NEVER get lasik. My ex-wife had it done by the Doctor who trains everyone else in lasik here in Puget Sound. She went from having a correctable with glasses regular astigmatism, to an uncorrectable irregular astigmatism that causes a distorted blob in the center of her right eye. But, since her vision technically has improved based on her ability to read an eye chart, statistically it was a success, and she has to live with the results.

[$tevie]

Lasik scares me. I would never do it. I've only heard a few horror stories but cripes, it's my eyes.

[CJsNvrUrly]

I wear glasses. Used to wear contacts. Have considered Lasiks in passing. Need to do someTHING. My prescription is five years old and needs to be upgraded.

[NewtonMP2100]

......lazy eye.....

[space-time]

this wasn't supposed to be an anti-Lasik thread. I was just curious on how many people here use some sort of correction and how many still have perfect vision without any additional "help"

But since you started about Lasik. I work with LASERS, although much higher power (10 kW) and different types of lasers than the ones used in LASIK. I got burned at work once with a low power laser, only 2 kW. My skin vaporized in 1 second and left exposed flesh, the size of about a quarter. It didn't bleed. it closed the blood vessels and there was virtually no bleeding. You think that's good? hell no, it is WORSE. because there was no bleeding, it took 2 months to heal. today, 7 years later, there is no scar left, when I tell people about what happened and they look at my hand they can't believe it. but those 2 months were painful.

So I know very well what a laser can do. I don't shoot lasers in eyes, but I have friends that work for companies making such lasers. Most of the time these procedures are successful, but sometimes they do go wrong. I don't want to be one of those unfortunate cases.

I also know people that are extremely happy with Lasik. YMMV

[davester]

I have another option...had a cataract, went blind in that eye, new plastic lens implant gives 20:20 (except that now I can't focus on anything in that eye so it is set on "infinity").

[Racer X]

davester wrote:
I have another option...had a cataract, went blind in that eye, new plastic lens implant gives 20:20 (except that now I can't focus on anything in that eye so it is set on "infinity").

My ex-mother in law had the implants a decade ago. She is still doing great.

[AlphaDog]

I need too much correction and nothing short of a complete eye transplant would work for me. All doctors have said I'm not a candidate for Lasik, but I do miss the contacts I used to be able to wear. I don't think I'd do Lasik anyway, because I've heard just enough horror stories to be too suspicious. I'm also one of those people who has a history of "if it can go wrong, it will go wrong."

By the way, I typed most of this before reading space-time's post. Well that just confirms my gut feeling!

[rgG]

NewtonMP2100 wrote:
......lazy eye.....

Me too. I am farsighted with a lazy eye and astigmatism, from birth. I have worn glasses since I was 3 or 4. Switched to contacts at 13, wore the hard contacts for about 30 years and then had to switch back to glasses.

I have been told that Lasik would not solve my problems, but that a Toric lens replacement in both eyes might. It would be like cataract surgery, but the lens is now a multi-focal and it should also help or diminish the astigmatism. My lazy eye has been improved over the years with exercises when I was young and my never going without glasses or contacts.

I have considered the lens replacement, but as $tevie says, they are my eyes. I do know someone who had the toric lenses implanted, because of cataracts, and they love the results. Maybe one day.