over 9 years ago from Michael Aleo, Founder at NAV
I've had glasses or contacts for 15 years and I'm sick to death of itchy, dry eyes and the morning/nighttime ritual.
I'm a little apprehensive about getting it done since I stare at a screen for 10+ hours a day. Anyone had it done? Any issues pushing pixels post-op?
I had LASIK in 2004 and I'm so glad I did. I went from a really bad prescription (-7 and -7.5 I believe) to 20/15. The little things were the best parts about LASIK: seeing clearly when I woke up at night, or took a shower, or went swimming. You really take them for granted when you have crappy vision.
Because my prescription was so severe my eyes have regressed a bit in the past few years. Since 2011 my eyesight has been 20/30, which is fine to go without correction—but I'm back to wearing glasses because I'm used to seeing things sharply. At least now I can wear fashionable and thin glasses =).
I've worked on a computer daily since having the procedure done and never saw any issues with fatigue.
That is my exact prescription, and I've been facing some of the same fears as other posters in this thread. I'm 26 and have been worried about my eyes regressing, as well. I've been told to wait until your late 20's just to be safe, but I'm not sure that really has anything to do with it. How old were you when you had it done?
I was 23 when I had it done. At the time I had the procedure the general advice was everyone regresses in their 40s, so you're probably better off getting it done and enjoying it. I might have enough cornea left for one more "enhancement," but I'm not sure if I'll go through the trouble.
did you experience any halo effect as the person in the article, http://mattmorr.is/2012/07/14/my-experience-with-lasik/, describes? though sounds like he jumped back to work too quick. I'd probably schedule mine for a thursday and not go back to work till the following Monday.
I had lasik about 3 years ago, and don't regret it a bit. The hardest part is just the maintenance of just having to put drops in your eyes multiple times a day. They can get really dry for the first 3-6 months.
It was about the 6-8 month mark for me before I was 100%. The halos and night blue vision took the longest to go away for me. The worst was stoplight's at night. It wasn't anything that I was worried about, and didn't make driving harder, just different.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat. 3 years later and I'm still 20/15 (but my eyes were also stable for several years before I had the surgery, which is probably the biggest factor).
As for fatigue, I did manage to have some when I was working 12+ hours a day in front of the computer, but it took several weeks for it to actual become eye dryness fatigue. Then again, I think under those circumstances anyone would have fatigue haha.
A little bit in the weeks following the surgery (and mostly at nighttime) but it went away by the time my eyes had fully healed.
I'd love to hear some comments on this as I am in the same boat.
I had LASIK (specifically Micro-lasik) almost 2 years ago. I do not regret it at all, though there's a big caveat:
Depending on numerous factors - especially your corneal thickness - getting LASIK may lead to drier eyes. Simply because going through the procedure means you come out with less cornea, which helps with moisture retention amongst other things I don't know since I'm not a doctor.
If you are sick to death of itchy, dry eyes and the morning/nighttime ritual...then this is the biggest thing to be aware of. My eyes are a bit drier after getting LASIK, but the benefits have outweighted the cons.
Some people whose corneal structures are different unfortunately have to use eyedrops for several months/years/rest of their lives.
Good luck and a good doctor should explain to you fully the importance of your corneal thickness and all the implications that come with getting this procedure.
After 15 years you didn't get used to glasses? I feel wrong when I don't wear my glasses!
Anyways, I think it's pretty safe nowadays. A couple of friends have done it and my sister as well.
Speak to several doctors and let them carefully examine you. For example, as I understand, there's some eye problems which surgery can have a good effect, on others not so much. Also, if you have a very high dioptre, you will probably still have to uses lenses or glasses because we can't still fix it all.
And there's doctors which will outright say "Yes, we'll do it tomorrow" for the sake of money.
Those are my (uneducated) two cents
You may want to consider ICL instead of Lasik. I'm legally blind (-14.5 in the left eye, -17.5 in the right), so I'm not a candidate for Lasik. ICL would be my only option. In doing an initial consult with an ophthalmologist, he mentioned something about how ICL may actually be better than Lasik for designers and others who rely on their ability to detect color accurately (he compared ICL to seeing in HD). A close friend had it done and wrote a pretty detailed post about it on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/optometry/comments/1m13tu/my_icl_surgery_and_recovery_also_lasik_vs_icls/
Thank you for sharing that. Her recovery sounds pretty rough!
Had LASIK two years ago. Best money I ever spent.
Downsides: dry eyes for a couple months. Mild headaches after staring at a screen for more than 4 hours or so the first few months. No problems after that.
Oh, one little thing: when I was crazy nearsighted, I could take off my glasses and look at things very close up… like, I could focus on my fingerprints just an inch or two from my eyes. Helped with untying knots, fiddling with little craft projects and such. After LASIK I can't focus nearly as close anymore (min is maybe 6 inches now). It's just moved my focal range back to "normal", and normal-sighted folks can't focus that close without severe eye strain. A small tradeoff, but it's something I haven't heard from others.
Had mine done in 2011. It's life changing.
No matter the cost, go for it.
I repeat, no matter the cost, GO. FOR. IT.
I had Lasik done about 5 years ago. Best decision I've ever made. No issues whatsoever. My vision is still perfect. Better than 20/20. I sit in front of the screen about 8 hours a day. Contact lenses used to give me headaches after looking at the screen for long periods of time. After Lasik, I've had no headaches from staring at the screen.
crazy timing. I've been pondering the exact same thing. I'd love to hear from those who have had the procedure at least 2 years ago who work in front of the screen all day long coding, designing, etc. Not knowing how it effects those who work so long in front of screens has been my hold up for not getting it done. I naturally have dry eyes and after 1 hour plus in front of a screen, my eyes look like I'm high regardless of how much I blink. I did get a consultation about getting the procedure and was told I was a good candidate regardless of my dry eyes and screen time.
EDIT. Oops wrong reply-to. See my comment below.
I personally know about 5 people that have gotten it done from a few different places and all of them have had the same results and are immensely glad they had the procedure done. They all pretty much stated that it was like night and day difference.
Some of them had one eye done at a time because they couldn't really take off work so they had to wear glasses or a patch to protect the eye so you definitely won't be able to go from the procedure directly back to working on a computer until your eye(s) heal and that could take up to a couple days depending.
Hope this helped and good luck.
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