need your advice on epi-lasik

[fhasweh]

Dear all,
I need your advice, I was really thinking about Lasik so I want to do the scanning for my eyes, the dr. see the results and he advised that I should not go for laisk but epi-lasik because something (I don’t remember the name) he saw in the result is thin (483 for right, 503 for left) but he also informed me that epi-lasik need more time to recover with more pain, I work as computer administrator and I work around 8 hours daily on computer/7 days a week, he informed me that the is a big chance because my work type that my eyes will go back as before epi-lasik, so I need you advice in the following please.

- The time needed for recover?
- Is it painful during recovery time?
- Can I back to work normal 8 hours a day on computer?
- Is there a chance that I might need ware glasses again because of working on computers?

I am 28 years old with 4.25 on right and 3.75 on left.
Any hint will be helpful to me


Fadi

[LasikExpert]

The probability that healthy eyes with your refractive error would regress at all, let alone all the way back over 4.00 diopters, is very, very low. You need to verify that you understood the doctor's concern about this issue correctly and ask why the doctor does believe you will regress 4.00 diopters.

The time needed for recover?

Epi-Lasik commonly has an up-and-down recovery. The first day things will likely be pretty good, then vision quality will go downhill a bit, stabilize, and then come back up to where you will stay. Expect to have poor vision for day 2-3, functional fuzzy vision for about a week, and slow quality vision recovery over the next three weeks. You will be able to function quite well, but your vision will not be great (your recovery may vary).

Is it painful during recovery time?

The discomfort can range from almost not noticed to downright painful. Discomfort tends to resolve within a week. Accept any and all pain meds the doctor prescribes...and use them.

Can I back to work normal 8 hours a day on computer?

There will be days when your vision quality is poor and computer work will be difficult. You also will probably need to change your work habits for a while. Computer users are notorious for not blinking often enough. You need to keep your eyes well lubricated. Stopping regularly and closing your eyes for a minute or two will be important, as will preservative-free artificial tears.

If you go back to work on your computer straight away, expect a small delay in recovery.

Is there a chance that I might need ware glasses again because of working on computers?

Eventually the natural lens within the eye will be less able to change focus (presbyopia) and you will need reading glasses. This commonly occurs after around age 40. If you are near 40, you may want to read about Sudden Presbyopia.

[fhasweh]

thank you Glenn for taking time to reply, to be honest it took me a while to take the decision to make lasik now I need double the time to decide if i am going to make epi-lasik, I hope some of the people who did the epi-lasik can post their advice

fadi

[LasikExpert]

One of the limitations of an Internet bulletin board about medical issues is that the majority of the postoperative people who participate are the ones who had a problem. It's not likely that people who had uneventful and positive outcomes are motivated to write.

[marion]

I had epi-lasik last summer. I had no complications, just an undercorrection which had nothing to do with epi-lasik. It was most likely due to my high prescription.

It's my understanding that epi-lasik has fewer of the halo/starburst type complications - is that right Glenn? I certainly didn't have any. My night vision was exactly the same as my daytime vision. And after the first week, I had no hazing.

BUT, the healing was much slower and scared me at first since on the second or third day your vision goes really bad while the cornea regrows from the middle out. My surgeon would only do one eye at a time. I was not prepared for the weirdness of one eye corrected and the other not. The bandage contact was also a bit of a surprise. It got "tight" as it healed and started to hurt at night. If it really bothers you, they will replace it with a better fitting one. I didn't know that and spent a couple of uncomfortable days only to find that I didn't need to. If your doctor offers an oral painkiller prescription, take it! I didn't like the feeling of the numbing drops and used the pills. With the meds, the pain was easily managed.

I'm not trying to be negative since some people have little discomfort, but I had only read about "happy" results and was really scared with my experiences of that first eye. I knew what to expect for the second one and handled it all just fine.

Plan on a week off for each eye. You might not need it, but I was on pain meds for several days and pretty groggy. Also, the day after they take the bandage contact out, your vision might be blurry again. Anyway, you won't see very clearly for several days. Per eye.

This was my timeline.
Eye One. Surgery Monday. Surgeon check up on Tuesday. Panic phone call and office visit due to my not expecting the pain/blurriness on Wednesday. Bandage contact out on Friday.

Two weeks later.
Eye Two. Surgery Monday. Surgeon check up on Tuesday. Replace tight bandage contact on Thursday. The doctor decides I'm not healed enough and we wait until Monday to take out the bandage contact.

I was able to drive myself (on familiar streets) on the 5th day, but it would be better to get a ride when they take the contact out in case it's sore and blurry.

[fhasweh]

thank you marion and Glenn for taking time to reply that was helpful, but marion one qustion plz are you a computer user, was you able to use computer again after the week my issue that my work is 8 hours of computer daily i can take a week or 2 off but after that i have to go back.

thanks again
fadi

[marion]

I'm a teacher and use all ranges all day long. But I rarely sit at the computer for more than 20 minutes at a time during the day. This also means I had my lasik during school vacation. In my free time I'll be on the computer for maybe an hour at a time.

I would agree with Glenn that when you're staring at one thing for a long time - computer, book, TV, movies- you forget to blink. I used a lot of drops.

It's hard for me to judge how a day at the computer would be because I had monvision and they corrected the near eye first. I had to cover my uncorrected distance eye to read anything including the computer. Even if I hadn't had the monovision, they generally don't do epi-lasik on both eyes at once and the difference between corrected and uncorrected vision is weird. The corrected eye saw just fine after about a week (figure one or two days after the bandage contact comes out), but things will take longer to do while you tip your head and close one eye and look away and blink and put in drops, etc.

Could you go back for a couple half days at first? I was amazed how TIRED I was whether from the pain pills, the surgery (I know it's MICRO surgery, but its still surgery and your body reacts) and the stress of adjusting to the vision. I'd hate to think of you going home headachy and miserable from trying to do too much at first.

Are you doing monovision or both eyes the same? Monovision takes a little more adjusting, but if both eyes are the same I would think after the second eye is done the adjustment will be much faster. It would be interesting to hear from someone who had epi-lasik without the monovision. I wonder how the weeks between eyes were.

[lvziggy]

Hi. I had PRK (which, from reading this forum I think is pretty similar to epi-lasik) on one eye 2 weeks ago. I'm getting my other eye done tomorrow (yay!) My surgeon put an extended wear contact lens in my uncorrected eye so that I could function during the in-between time, and I was fine during this time even working a whole day on the computer. BUT, that contact had to come out Monday so that my eye would have time to go back to it's natural state before my surgery Thursday. Let me tell you it has been pretty difficult to function since then. I tried using my glasses with the lens removed from the eye that was corrected, but it was like I was looking at a fun-house mirror! So for the most part I've just tried to manage with seeing marginally. But for those times I've HAD to see clearly, like driving to work and reading the computer at work, I put a patch on the eye that was corrected and then put on my glasses. Still not perfect, but at least what I can see, I see clearly. The people I work with have been having quite a time with teasing me and my patch-eye. They even gave me a paper parrot to wear on my shoulder! But, after a half day at work trying to read the computer I start getting dizzy and headachy, so I've been going home early. But these problems are only for the 3 days I've had the contact out. I'm sure that, after my surgery tomorrow, I should be fine back at work by next Monday.

It's been kind of a PITA, but since it was really my only option (my corneas were too thin for Lasik), I figure it will be worth it in the long run. My prescription before was 6.5 and 7 with mild astigmatism, so it will be wonderful to not have to depend on glasses just to live life.

Just my 2 cents.

Alison

[fhasweh]

thank you Alison, plz keep me posted after you do the surgery next monday i will be waiting, i hope that every thing will go fine with you

fadi

[lvziggy]

I actually had my surgery last Thursday. So I took both Thursday and Friday off from work, and then I had the weekend off anyway so I had a good 3 1/2 days of not having to do anything but let my eye heal. I was able to watch some TV and read the newspaper and even got on the computer for a short time. Today I'm back to work and I think I should be able to go the whole day. I'll try to get up and walk around now and then just to get away from the computer. Hopefully you will have that opportunity too. I go back to the doctor tomorrow to get the bandage contact out. From what I remember from the first eye, that didn't really keep me from working. My eye hurt a little bit more for that day that they took out the contact, but then everything just got better from there. I expect the same with the eye I just had done.


PRK is definitely not quick and easy like Lasik, but I'm sure in a couple of weeks I'll have forgotten most of these last couple of weeks and just be thrilled not to have to use glasses!

Alison

[fhasweh]

thank you Alison for taking time to reply i hope your eyes will be perfect, please keep me posted through your expricane

fadi

[fhasweh]

hi all,
i would like to infrom you that i did my epi-lasik 2 weeks ago and i am doning jsut fine, i having some ups and downs with my left eye but in general every thing is great.

thank you for your help
fadi

[LasikExpert]

Congrats! Do let us know your outcome.

[fhasweh]

Congrats! Do let us know your outcome.

thanks you glenn, i was wondering today i completed my 18 day after the epi-lasik but i still have my left eye fuzzy, my right eye is almost perfect. is it normal my dr. says its normal and it will need more 6 weeks but i just want to check if you have any hints.

fadi