Dale Gribble

Has anyone here had it done? (or given the market segmentation of Porsche owners, is anyone a Doctor who does this?)

Interested in the pros and cons from a real world perspective. Any issues surface long after the process was done that couldn't be fixed with a touch up?

Thoughts on LASIK vs. LASEK vs. PRK and lastly, recommendations on doctors? Cost isn't a factor as much as quality of work and waiting time for an appointment.

Thanks in advance.

GentlemanRacer

Boeckner institute. Pricey but the docs their are world renowned surgeons. Being in the profession, I wouldn't let anyone else touch my eyes. 6+ years and no issues.

9964runner

After wearing contacts/glasses since her teens my wife had the procedure done at Boeckner this spring, couldn't be happier.
Pros; many, her personal fav, swimming/watersports with the kids.
Cons; cost, if you do the math on contacts, solutions, glasses over time surgery could be less.

Definitely recommend the surgery

hoffa

to everyone that has had it - how bad were your eyes? I have wanted to do it for ages, but my eyes are -10 & -10.5. I have been weary of the surgery due to the nature of my myopia... have to do a fair amount of "shaping" to create the correction.

JimV8

PRK more than 20 years ago.

vern1

and do you still need reading glasses? i have heard that its not possible to get 20/20 for near and far vision but maybe this is outdated

Adamant1971

I had my eyes done in 2007, -3.00 in both eyes, now 42 and still 20/20 vision.

I went with Lasik MD and had the higher end version (zyoptics) which takes away less material and does a larger diameter on your eye. Cost was about 4.5k for both eyes.

Very happy with the doctors, facility and results. I used the downtown location.

The doctors role is crucial in the consultation to determine if you are a good candidate. The procedure is pretty much automated.

The first eye is cool, but it's when they go to do the second that's when you think (oh **** they are going to do that again). Its all done in minutes. No pain just a bit of pressure when they press the ring on your eye and it blacks out your vision for a moment.

I had 20/20 vision the very next day.

Do it! Waking up with no glasses is the best, not to mention skiiing and other sports.

Dale Gribble

Thanks for the input. Booked consultations with Bochner, LASIK and Yonge-Eglington.
My left eye is pretty bad compared to righty, which still isn't spectacular in its own, but there's no astigmatism or weird issues and it's stabilized quite a bit over the last few years so hopefully they can bring it up to 20/20 or close enough.

Any of you guys have issues with halo-ing at night or shadowing of text and stuff like that? Seems to be a pretty small sample, and the lasers have improved since most people seem to have had it done.

Jim, can you elaborate a bit on your experience? Given that you had it done almost 20 years ago, you're an excellent data point.

pongobaz

I've had several consultations and I've decided against it. I'm -6.5 L and -7.00 R with thin corneas which apparently limits "touch-up" procedures. What turned me off was a few things:
- First consultation 10 yrs ago, the Doc said it would correct my myopia but I would almost immediately need reading glass afterwards (which I didn't need at the time!)
- My previous ophthalmologist said: "you're getting better than 20/20 with contacts with no discomfort issues, why would you want to have surgery that's non reversible?"
- Current Doc is not recommending it for me because of thin corneal material and should I ever require cataract surgery, they'll still have something to work with.
- Once I started needing reading glasses a year ago, I got prescribed with Multi-Focal contact lenses and they work great.

Imo000

I heard there is a faily new procedure where they don't have to cut a flap in the lense. That's all I know on it.

8 years ago I alost pulled the trigger with LasikMD, even went for the consultation, took measurements and then I decided to back out. Putting my contacts in once a day is a cakewalk and even with Lasik having only a 1% complication rate. 1% of of couple thousand is a lot of people. I'm going to wait until a better technology comes along.

Adamant1971

I see slight halo's at night, but also don't really remember if I did or didnt prior to the surgery. Many people already have this issue with night vision, so it's not always because of the laser surgery. But I can say even it did cause my halo's which I don't think it did. I would still do it again.

JimV8

At the time is was a new procedure and my FIL, how had some connections in the medical world asked some questions and the number one guy at Toronto Gen basically said are you nuts screwing with a perfectly healthy eye? But being obstinate I had the eye with worst vision done, the left. The procedure was fast although a bit unsettling as the laser burns a couple of millimetre diameter and you know it. I got some painkillers, but the sensitivity to light for the next several hours was excruciating pain. The next morning all was ok and I got the bandage off and vision came back within 48 hours and was crystal clear. There was enough haloing that after that I couldn't appreciate star watching again.

I never got the right eye done and just continued on with soft lenses. Now that long term lenses are cheap and plentiful I doubt I would repeat the process.

Richard930

Got mine done at TLC at Yonge and York Mills 9 years ago. Was -5.5 and -5.75 and went to better than 20/20 in one eye and 20/20 in the other. I'd recommend it to anyone, there's nothing better after having to wear glasses or contacts full time to not having to- particularly for sports. No complications for me at all and I'm still thrilled that I did it. Apparently Tiger Woods eyes were double my prescription and he also went straight to 20/20 (he had them done by TLC in the US).

Needing reading glasses eventually is age related, and the only downside with having bad eyes corrected is that reading glasses are somewhat inevitable, just as it is for people who have been lucky enough to have perfectly good vision. Small price to pay as far as I'm concerned and at 45 I'm not there yet. I say go for it

Adamant1971

I would clarify that my haloing is light, only an issue on bright street lights, I can see stars clearly.

When I had mine done a girl next to me had just gotten PRK dome since she wanted to be a cop, she looked in serious pain. LASIK they don't completely remove the flap, they put it back, PRK they remove it and your eye has to grow it back on its own.

JimV8

The PRK I had didn't involve removing any flap. It just re-formed the lens.