LASIK eye surgery - anyone had it?

(And I apologise if there has been a thread about this - I did look!)

Has anyone had/investigated/considered LASIK surgery?

About eight months ago my eyes shrugged their shoulders and quit - I now wear reading glasses, and I can't read G-Shocks (yes, it's that bad!) My distance vision is fine, I think, and I'm booking eye tests at the moment for proper reading glasses, rather than these €10 Hema off-the-peg specs that I'm wearing right now.

I've only really read positive reviews - I mean, I guess those who'd had disasters can't see the type - but has anyone got anything to add to my thought process here? Thank you!

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Originally Posted by Qatar-wol

(And I apologise if there has been a thread about this - I did look!)

Has anyone had/investigated/considered LASIK surgery?

About eight months ago my eyes shrugged their shoulders and quit - I now wear reading glasses, and I can't read G-Shocks (yes, it's that bad!) My distance vision is fine, I think, and I'm booking eye tests at the moment for proper reading glasses, rather than these €10 Hema off-the-peg specs that I'm wearing right now.

I've only really read positive reviews - I mean, I guess those who'd had disasters can't see the type - but has anyone got anything to add to my thought process here? Thank you!

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Hi Walter

I used the guys in Solihull (not too far from you) and am happy to talk if it helps. I'm not sure if they are LASIK or not.

Cheers

David

If you've entered the world of age-related presbyopia then having your eyes lasered won't solve the issue - you might regain some near vision for a while but it won't stop the aging process & your near vision will continue to deteriorate. You'll also be several thousands of pounds poorer & your distance vision might suffer.

Go with the reading glasses until the deterioration stops (sometime in your late 60s) or you need a cataract operation.

I had lazek, but as others have said it won't sort your issue. I went for it as my distance prescription in lenses and glasses was making my near sight unbearably bad. Even with laser i will need readers in the future.

I'm going to guess you're mid to late 40s?

I had LASIK about 12 years ago....wished I'd done it sooner, just brilliant. However, it's for distance sight correction I'm afraid and cannot correct age related reading requirements. I was told that at the time and now unfortunately have to wear reading glasses too. My distance sight is still 20:20 which considering what it was like beforehand is amazing. Things might have changed but I doubt it.

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Originally Posted by Qatar-wol

(And I apologise if there has been a thread about this - I did look!)

Has anyone had/investigated/considered LASIK surgery?

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I considered LASIK, investigated it and then went ahead.

Best thing I ever did, if you want to chat about it let me know.

R

I have glasses for distance, and recently also for reading. Also have a pair of varifocals.

Researched laser eye surgery, but realised that I would still likely need glasses for my age related short sightedness.

I want to go for lens replacement, so never need glasses for close / distance. However at 45 I am deemed slightly too young for this procedure.

There is also Implantable Contact Lens solutions but I’m still doing my research on that.

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Originally Posted by Mr Pointy

If you've entered the world of age-related presbyopia then having your eyes lasered won't solve the issue - you might regain some near vision for a while but it won't stop the aging process & your near vision will continue to deteriorate. You'll also be several thousands of pounds poorer & your distance vision might suffer.

Go with the reading glasses until the deterioration stops (sometime in your late 60s) or you need a cataract operation.

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This the correct answer - glasses are your best option, especially if you can manage without them unless you are doing office/nv work. Don't be surprised if you end up wearingvarifocals all the time mind as it really is just easier.
Laser won't work unless you are prepared to consider a multifocal correction. I wouldn't recommend it as you "almost" certainly won't like the outcome.

I had LASIK for distance, and then had a correction a year later. Trust was many years ago and I now need glasses or contacts again. I am considering lots of options, as I get headaches from anything putting weight on my nose since a sinus op years back.

A friend has had lens replacement around 5 years ago and says their vision is the best it’s ever been.

I went for a consultation, but they suggested my prescription was not worth correcting at the time, so not to bother. They also had concerns as I suffer with dry-eyes and a poor tear film, both of which can apparently be made worse by the surgery.

I am interested to see where this thread goes, as my near-sight is now deteriorating also but having to buy prescription sunglasses, driving/TV glasses and reading glasses every couple of years is going to be a right faff, as well as rather expensive.

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Originally Posted by DavidL

This the correct answer - glasses are your best option, especially if you can manage without them unless you are doing office/nv work. Don't be surprised if you end up wearingvarifocals all the time mind as it really is just easier.
Laser won't work unless you are prepared to consider a multifocal correction. I wouldn't recommend it as you "almost" certainly won't like the outcome.

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I agree completely with this.

We all end up with essentially a fixed focal distance as we age.

I had laser surgery for myopia (short-sight) in my early forties. My uncorrected focal range went from about 3"-15" pre-surgery to 15"-infinity post-surgery. As I've aged, (56 now) and my lenses have hardened up, I'm left with a fixed focal length at about 3-6ft, with a range which increases in good light of course. On a bright day I don't really need glasses for driving. It means I use glasses for reading and for distance, but not around the house.

I was initially a bit disappointed until I reflected and realised that, for me at least, my fixed focal distance is probably the one I would choose.

The one thing I wonder about is whether I should have just had one eye done, leaving one for near and one for far. It sounded a bit odd to me at the time, but i gather it's quite a common fix now, whether with laser correction or with cataracts - my 81yr old mum had this and never needs glasses!

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Martyn.

Had lasik in London about 20 years ago. Used to have -3.5 or so in both eyes so needed glasses/lenses for driving, sport, going out etc. Got fed up with glasses and lenses. Saw an advert on the Tube when I was hung over where sir Clive Woodward was recommending this clinic. Did zero research and got both eyes done. It’s been brilliant. Last two years have increasingly needed reading glasses for work, but still play sport, drive and go out without glasses. So a big win but doesn’t obviate the need to wear glasses.

A couple of years later, my brother did loads of research and went to one of London’s best specialists, to do one eye at a time and they screwed up on the first eye. So he has irritated eyes for ages and still had to wear glasses / a lens afterwards.

Bit of a lottery but I got lucky, though even with laser treatment, I find it hard to see a lot of detail on my watches and need a good clear dial and handset these days when I’m not wearing my glasses (omega 2254.50 is an excellent choice).


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I appreciate all your answers, I really do - thank you all for sharing.

Eye tests and more research ahead, I think!

I was an early adopter having lasik to correct my distance vision. Painless but moderately unpleasant experience (clamped my eyelids open Clockwork Orange style and I'm sure I could smell the burning). However well worth the outcome and glasses-free for about 18 years, after which I regressed to my previous prescription of around -1.5.

Happy now in my mid 50s to wear glasses and also happy that I only require them for driving and close up reading. At arms-length the two opposing prescriptions appear to balance out and I can see a computer screen perfectly.

All the best with your research

I had it 10 years ago for short sightedness & it completely corrected my vision & I've not had any regression requiring glasses/lenses.

That being said since the move over to LED headlights I'm struggling with significant halo/blinding during night driving.

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Originally Posted by Strnglwhank

That being said since the move over to LED headlights I'm struggling with significant halo/blinding during night driving.

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Good point and ditto - far more photosensitive since the surgery and more frequent wearers of sunglasses. I find yellow lenses help reduce the glare, though apparently such isn’t scientifically proven.

I had Lasik 12 years ago to correct short-sightedness (-6.75 in both eyes at the time). Sight has been perfect ever since, absolutely fantastic. I was told at the time that it wouldn't prevent standard ageing and the need for glasses for close-up reading in later life. Now aged 50 I've only just started noticing very slight deterioration for close-up stuff. Distance vision is still spot on though.

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Is there an option for those with astigmatism?

Have always wondered about replacement lens of some kind as opposed to laser.

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Originally Posted by bambam

Is there an option for those with astigmatism?

Have always wondered about replacement lens of some kind as opposed to laser.

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You can have toric implants and laser corrections, although not on the NHS for implants. It's more complex as the implant has to be positioned at the correct orientation but far from impossible.
Laser is slightly easier as it is "simply" an oval ablation zone not a spherical one.
Now toric multifocals, fun lies there....

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Originally Posted by bambam

Is there an option for those with astigmatism?

Have always wondered about replacement lens of some kind as opposed to laser.

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My boss had lens replacement surgery and has been delighted with the results. Pretty invasive procedure and £6k instead of £4k but for certain prescriptions it would be a game changer.

My astigmatism was "fixed" with LAZEK (same as lazik but instead of cutting a flap they remove layers of the epithelium). As an aside i got mono-vision so my left eye was corrected for distance and my right eye was left for close up work, albeit with the astigmatism corrected.

I had lens replacement surgery in both eyes back in 2013. I was 52 at the time and had needed glasses for reading a few years before that. I was starting to need the glasses more and more, to the point where I was constantly flipping them up and down all day.

The replacement lenses have meant I've been free of glasses ever since and I can do 99% of daily activities without thinking about my vision.

Is my vision now perfect? I would say it is more susceptible to low ambient light and I still need magnification for very small objects (e.g. I use a desk magnifier/light to remove the pins from a watch bracelet). Other than that though, it's one of the best things I've done.

I got mine done by Optegra in Manchester.

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Originally Posted by DavidL

This the correct answer - glasses are your best option, especially if you can manage without them unless you are doing office/nv work. Don't be surprised if you end up wearingvarifocals all the time mind as it really is just easier.
Laser won't work unless you are prepared to consider a multifocal correction. I wouldn't recommend it as you "almost" certainly won't like the outcome.

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I have a multifocal correction and all is good several years later. Very glad I did it. I swim quite a bit and contacts or prescription goggles never really worked.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DavidL

This the correct answer - glasses are your best option, especially if you can manage without them unless you are doing office/nv work. Don't be surprised if you end up wearingvarifocals all the time mind as it really is just easier.
Laser won't work unless you are prepared to consider a multifocal correction. I wouldn't recommend it as you "almost" certainly won't like the outcome.

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The multi focal correction is what I thought sounded the best. I am guessing by your comment that this is not going to be the case. Care to share a little more? Thank you.


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I researched the hell out of all this a while back to correct mild (-1.0) myopia and bottled it. Too squeamish when it comes to eyes.

Got a pair of good quality varifocals from Costco (Essilor Varilux Physio 3.0 lenses) instead — my first glasses — and for plenty of change from £300 they’re brilliant. Hardly know I’m wearing them.

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Originally Posted by Mj2k

The multi focal correction is what I thought sounded the best. I am guessing by your comment that this is not going to be the case. Care to share a little more? Thank you.


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It's complicated and I won't pretend to know all the ins and outs, very few do and clearly no one fully does as we don't have the "perfect" solution. Then there are the patients...
On telling point is that a number of the Ophthalmology papers I have read on the subject basically boil the patient selection process down to "if they ask you how well they will see they aren't suitable".
I have just listed this quote from a random clinic blurb from abroad
"The key to their satisfaction is educating them on what they are going to get and what they are not going to get. I do not like the term premium product. I prefer to say to patients, “Do you want to see far away or up close or both?” ...I think we should get away from this premium idea and instead focus on giving patients varying degrees of vision."
It's a little old (2016) but it's not exactly bristling with confidence is it?

The ray diagrams help a little. Single vision as we all remember from physics
https://i.imgur.com/K8IeOTQ.png

simple enough, light focuses to a point. But when you have incident light (on the L of lens) coming from a near point the focal point will be different so you can't have both in one lens, hence bifocals (just 2 lenses stuck together in basic spectacles) varifocals etc

Multifocal diagrams are way more complex
https://i.imgur.com/LtmqeZJ.png

you can see there is no focal "point" but rather focal blur circles. The spread of light rays at each focal circle gives rise to all the issues blur, haloes, poor contrast etc. It's amazing you can "see" at all from the diagram but you can just not "clearly".
I'm waiting on feedback from one patient who's opinion I trust regarding their procedure but to date I have never come across someone who is fully happy with the vision they have from multifocal corrections and most don't like it. Yes they can see, drive legally and read but the image quality is worse, certainly worse than pre op (or pre cataract if it's a implant) with glasses. But they don't need glasses to achieve that so that's the choice. If your driving force is not to use glasses and you can tolerate the issues, some can, then maybe but most don't and/or can't.
It has to be the future but the issue is always the recipient and it's going to take a long while to come up with a system that pleases all, or at least most. You can't please them all.

Had Lasik done in 2000 at Stanford University Hospital in California by Dr Ed Manche, one of the early pioneers and most highly regarded in this field. I was legally blind at the time with very poor astigmatism too. He did both eyes at the same time, and we were talking football and other stuff throughout the operation. I distinctly remember the waft of burning eye tissue as he applied the laser... He advised that I would have night time halos on street lamps and other bright sources of light, and after about 17/18 years, my eyesight will start to naturally degrade. Well, I can say that for the 17+ years, the surgery was life changing and transformative for me. I enjoy lots of outdoor sports, and eye surgery was to my full advantage in this respect. And then in late 2017, as if on perfect cue, myopia started seeping in. Since then, my eyesight has become gradually worse and I now regularly wear varifocals (one with a prism to correct a slightly lazy eye). I still have the light halos he said I would have from the very beginning. But the myopia is relatively mild - it would be impossible if I had not had the Lasik 22 years ago. One of the best and most life changing surgeries I have enjoyed. But get it done before you get too old and your lens hardens... during your 20s is best. YMMV.

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Originally Posted by DavidL

It's complicated and I won't pretend to know all the ins and outs, very few do and clearly no one fully does as we don't have the "perfect" solution. Then there are the patients...
On telling point is that a number of the Ophthalmology papers I have read on the subject basically boil the patient selection process down to "if they ask you how well they will see they aren't suitable".
I have just listed this quote from a random clinic blurb from abroad
"The key to their satisfaction is educating them on what they are going to get and what they are not going to get. I do not like the term premium product. I prefer to say to patients, “Do you want to see far away or up close or both?� ...I think we should get away from this premium idea and instead focus on giving patients varying degrees of vision."
It's a little old (2016) but it's not exactly bristling with confidence is it?

The ray diagrams help a little. Single vision as we all remember from physics
https://i.imgur.com/K8IeOTQ.png

simple enough, light focuses to a point. But when you have incident light (on the L of lens) coming from a near point the focal point will be different so you can't have both in one lens, hence bifocals (just 2 lenses stuck together in basic spectacles) varifocals etc

Multifocal diagrams are way more complex
https://i.imgur.com/LtmqeZJ.png

you can see there is no focal "point" but rather focal blur circles. The spread of light rays at each focal circle gives rise to all the issues blur, haloes, poor contrast etc. It's amazing you can "see" at all from the diagram but you can just not "clearly".
I'm waiting on feedback from one patient who's opinion I trust regarding their procedure but to date I have never come across someone who is fully happy with the vision they have from multifocal corrections and most don't like it. Yes they can see, drive legally and read but the image quality is worse, certainly worse than pre op (or pre cataract if it's a implant) with glasses. But they don't need glasses to achieve that so that's the choice. If your driving force is not to use glasses and you can tolerate the issues, some can, then maybe but most don't and/or can't.
It has to be the future but the issue is always the recipient and it's going to take a long while to come up with a system that pleases all, or at least most. You can't please them all.

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Very interesting, thank you.

I basically want to get to perfect vision without the need for reading glasses ever.

This is where lens replacement appealed, having seen my mother have hers done years ago due to cataracts.

I have astigmatism, Rx is pretty low at -2.5 for both eyes, but also now +1. I have varifocal glasses but feel they are a compromise & tend to default to distance glasses & remove as needed.

Tried one toric and one multifocal contact lens but again feels compromised. I’d a post earlier about one eye corrected to close & one to distance, based on my contacts experience I’m not sure that would appeal.

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Originally Posted by Mj2k

I basically want to get to perfect vision without the need for reading glasses ever.

This is where lens replacement appealed, having seen my mother have hers done years ago due to cataracts.

I have astigmatism, Rx is pretty low at -2.5 for both eyes, but also now +1. I have varifocal glasses but feel they are a compromise & tend to default to distance glasses & remove as needed.

Tried one toric and one multifocal contact lens but again feels compromised. I’d a post earlier about one eye corrected to close & one to distance, based on my contacts experience I’m not sure that would appeal.

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Speaking as someone who has work glasses for 50 years, contact lenses for 20 years & has just had RLE on both eyes don't go into any procedure thinking you're going to get a guaranted outcome. Your eyes are unique to you & no-one can tell you exactly how you will end up & this is particularly true of multifocal implanted lenses. Plenty of people wil say "I had RLE (or a cataract operation) & I can now see from zero to infinity" which may or may not be true. You don't know what their criteria are.

If you have RLE then you have fixed focus eyes; you have to decide when the focus point is for each eye & most people opt for corrected long vision & accept that close work/reading may require glasses. By long vision I mean it's reasonably sharp from 2.5-3m outwards so TV distance to the far hills. What happens closer than that depends on your eyes. You may find you can read the labels on packets in the supermarket, you may not.

I ended up with monovision - one eye is good for TV to distance, the other is about 1.5D undercorrected so I can read most thing with it. It wasn't planned, it's just how things worked out for me - my prescription before the operation was -7.5/-8.5 so very short sighted. You may get a closer outcome given your milder prescription. In my experience I would not reccommend multifocal implants.

You may not end up glasses free. I have a pair of glasses for computer work as the 1m range is around where both eyes need a bit of correction for best vision.

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Originally Posted by Mj2k

Very interesting, thank you.

I basically want to get to perfect vision without the need for reading glasses ever.

This is where lens replacement appealed, having seen my mother have hers done years ago due to cataracts.

I have astigmatism, Rx is pretty low at -2.5 for both eyes, but also now +1. I have varifocal glasses but feel they are a compromise & tend to default to distance glasses & remove as needed.

Tried one toric and one multifocal contact lens but again feels compromised. I’d a post earlier about one eye corrected to close & one to distance, based on my contacts experience I’m not sure that would appeal.

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Ah, that phrase, perfect vision...
Sadly it will be perfect vision or no glasses.
The fact that you aren't keen on varifocals, lenses or glasses, or monovision lenses, means you are a properly picky bugger so realistically multifocal surgery isn't for you.

Lets say your prescription is something like -2.50/-1.00 x 90 +1.00 in each eye.

You need toric lenses as you have sufficient astigmatism so you need to know where it is as this will affect any surgical outcome. If it's lenticular then that helps as it will come out with the lens but, as is more likely, it will be corneal then it will remain and require correcting post op. As I said previously toric multifocals are properly complex and won't give you "perfect" vision.

To add to that you like reading without glasses so are used to that sort of clarity, again not likely post op.

Best solutions?

Glasses really - what were the varifocals you have? Multiples tend to hide behind their own names but it only really allows them to change the actual lens brand and not tell you, you're still buying their "gold" lens.
You need to know as it makes a difference.
Your prescription is similar to mine and I wear varifocals all the time and barely notice. But they are good ones (they ought to be..) Hoya Mystyle. The best that Specsavers will offer won't stack up if you are very picky.

Or single vision toric contact lenses (or I suppose implants) and then reading glasses or maybe enhanced readers to give you better range. It depends on what you do all day.

I really can't see you getting what you want with surgery. You'll see but it won't be nearly "perfect" and from what you describe you won't like that.

I had lasik 5 years ago from which I still have perfect vision, and am very happy with what was a very quick and pain free process. Recovery was crazy fast, went out for dinner that evening and flew to Europe the next day.

My brother then did the same thing last week, staying with me. He thinks I overdid how easy the operation was, and was quite jittery when he came out, but by the time we got home he’d calmed down and enjoyed seeing how much he could read out of the taxi. Taking him there reminded me how nervous I was before, but it was all good.

I still think it’s the closest I’ve come to witnessing magic. You just look at a light for a minute and these glasses you’ve relied on for decades are redundant. The descriptions are very off putting and a bit squeamish, but the experience is absolutely fine.