Take a look at these Hyperoptic Numbers wouldya?

[hyperoptimistic]

Okay, yeah, thinking about it....

Got looked at back in March at some Pacific Lasik or something like that in Ontario, CA. Will look up the exact name later. They examined me and were ready to do the procedure. I held off. Knew I needed to do more research. I'm not expecting miracles. But I'm at the point (44) where presbyopia is creeping up fast and I have to make a choice between

bifocals...

OR

LASIK with the idea that I'll still need reading glasses ( I can live with that)

My Prescription from 2008 (don't have the numbers from the 2010 Lasik Exam)


sphere cylinder Axis

OD + 5.75 -2.25 028
OS +5.25 -2.00 152

I'm a huge tennis player and huge computer user. My tennis is suffering because of my vision and need for glasses which always get sweaty, dirty, scratched etc.. I'm at the point now where I can no longer read fine print on most bottles, labels, etc... Have trouble with my Droid phone as well.

So I'm at a crossroads. Dump more money into glasses, like I do very frequently. Or give Lasik a shot. What do you think?

Thanks for your inSIGHTS.

[hyperoptimistic]

I just called and it was a "laser eye center" location. I talked to a doctor and he looked at the numbers and said I was a good candidate and that it was a choice between Lasik and PRK for me, and it wouldn't be decided until the surgeon took some photographs.

Does that sound right? I don't want to use PRK if there is something newer or better that this clinic might not be using? That's why I came here. Just to help shop around.

thanks!

[hyperoptimistic]

PS, one more thing in my prescription

sphere cylinder Axis

OD + 5.75 -2.25 028
OS +5.25 -2.00 152


Under "Add" it says +1.5
for both eyes.
Is that the "astigmatism" part?

[hyperoptimistic]

Well...

I decided to go with contacts. Accuvue Advance trials for a day, and they felt pretty good and I could see better than with glasses, especially for up close. And it's not even my correct prescription b/c they had to special order it. Going to try Oasys next week for my full prescription. I think contacts will be good for me. Don't want to risk the side effects of Lasik at this time.

[BlindKC]

Okay just for the other people who are reading this and in case you decide contacts are not for you.

They said either PRK or LASIK probably b/c they do not have the measurement for the thickness of your cornea yet. If you have average to thick corneas they probably would suggest LASIK if you have coreas on the thin side (under 500 is considered thin) then they may suggest PRK. In some cases just because LASIK is the newest technology does not mean it's your best choice. For people with thiner corneas or higher prescriptions sometimes PRK is a better choice even though LASIK is newer and more advanced.

The cylinder and axis part of the prescriotion has to do with your astigmatism and the "add" part is your bifocal or reading glasses prescription.

Hope that helps!

[croanster]

No way in a million years should anyone with a script like this think about lasik OR prk with the current technology available. Asking for trouble. Starbursts, double vision etc etc. Try some contacts and give it another 10 years or so then see whats available on the technology front.

[Mack]

It all depends in the skill of the lasik surgeon. Achieving good lasik results with +5 and +6 patients is getting more reliable. I had +5.25 sph with -1.75 cyl and got decent results from lasik in 1999, plus followup CK in 2006. But I did lose one line of BCVA from 20/15 to 20/20. Low light acuity and contrast sensitivity are also not quite as good post lasik, but one gets used to it. Contacts never achieved acceptable clarity as glasses for me, because of the astig. But I was so so tired of the thick lenses and expensive trifocals to see really well at all distances, so I opted for lasik. I now just use +1.75 readers for close work. So if Hyperoptimistic is getting soild 20/20 acuity or better with contacts and he's happy, with that script, he should stick with the contacts and probably not risk lasik. So Croanster....how have you been coping with your post lasik recovery down under? We last chatted here about 5 years ago.

[croanster]

G’day Mack – going well how bout you? As far as the lasik recovery go’s, well.. I’m glad I went to a second surgeon. The original job really was very ordinary and the guy wasn’t interested in doing anything to fix it at all. Had his money I guess... or maybe he really was that up himself that he believed he had done it right and thought I was imagining not being able to see properly. I’ll never know.

It was a pretty tough 12 months though. I rekon in dim light I would’ve been lucky to see a couple of letters on the 20/40 line. Certainly not well enough to drive and how I didn’t have an accident on the motorbike coming home from work on dusk is beyond me. How hard would it have been for him to tell me I needed a pair of glasses.... so much for duty of care.

Anyway, after a couple of enhancements on both eyes nearly all the astigmatism is gone. I can see 20/15 pretty well on a good day at the optometrist so my vision is good enough most of the time to not bother me. I wear a -0.75 contact in my right eye most days which not only clears the vision up in that eye, it makes the ‘dry’ and irritated feeling go away. I’ve got somewhere between 0.25 and 0.5 dioptres of astig still in my left eye which manifests as an oval traffic light instead of a round one at night. Again nowhere near as bad after the enhancements.

Unfortunately the enhancements weren’t able to fix the starbursts and other night time rubbish I see but I guess, like you say, you get use to it. I still can’t see as well as I could before I had lasik – used to read the one below 20/15 with my left eye no worries. Glasses sharpen it up to nearly as good as it used to be but not quite so like you I’ve lost a line of BSCV out of the whole experience.

I still believe in the technology, I just think there are surgeons out there that are either too arrogant to care or double check everything or maybe just not skilled enough to be doing what they’re doing.

Am I happy with the end result? Not on your life – I would give anything to take it all back and see how I used to see. Night driving is tough. What I see is pretty much like the pictures on those anti lasik websites.

Am I glad I went for an enhancement with Dr Con? You bet. I see so much better than I did after Dr versace messed me up. I just wish I never had to go through the whole experience and gone to a properly good surgeon in the first place.

[hyperoptimistic]

Okay....I'm back at it! Contacts have gotten old, because they don't make "dailies" in my prescription. So I have to use "30 day" or 15 day lenses like they are dailies, since the are really no good after one or two uses. Plus, they get blurry and I'm constantly rubbing my eyes to get them clear. Enough of that crap!

So I'm going Lasik. And I'm probably going overseas (more for the technology than the price). I've found out that the USA is 3,4,5 years behind other countries in terms of approving more advanced lasers. For no good reason. So I'm getting on a plane. And I'm going to do it soon.

I know I'll need reading glasses, no problem at all. The reason I'm going overseas is lack of complications and better/more advanced lasers.

[LasikExpert]

Be sure to post all the details for us!

[lex]

Hyperoptimistic,

Great to hear it. Just a remainder, the h-lasik depends vastly on the topolizer. From my experience it is a guess science, shot and see what we get (for higher > +3.00).
Unfortunately my surgeon set for -4.25, and i asked him why he did not set for -4.50 or maybe -4.75 since i am "presbyotic" , in his '"defence" my K reading was too high and he wanted to avoid problems, bah!

If you are presbyotic, bear in mind i had +0.75 plus pre h-lasik, now i have +1.75 plus, so h-lasik will not help much. Set for overcorrection is a must.

I would describe a h-lasik a 4 phase journey:
a) Panic (could not see near and far after the procedure, and i was not aware of it)
b) Joy (could see great near and far)
c) 'Frustration' (he missed, undercorrection)
d) Anger (why myopic surgeon think they can do hlasik, before the procedure it was a piece of cake, later it was a tough case!) And i had to hear "I have done a wonderful job to your eyes, dont try to mess".

Fortunately, my night vision is good, the only think is that "starbursting" thing that got higher and never went away.
Unfortunately the astigmatism is still untoched, only god knows why.

Anyway, my vision is good as my english, you get a picture.

Wish you luck, and would like to hear from you soon.

lex

[hyperoptimistic]

I am booked to go to India in February. The laser will be the Wavelight Concerto 500mhz. I noticed they now have the Wavelight EX500 500mhz laser in South Carolina (only one in USA so far). They also have one in Costa Rica. Considered both those options, but decided on India.

I will let you all know how it goes.

[croanster]

So how did it go?

[lex]

Please, tell us if 500 mhz can make a difference or that just the 'guesstimates' is still ruling hlasik , the so called 'reasonable results' in higher hlaisk?

[hyperoptimistic]

How did it go??

Well, it didn't go...because when I got to the airport, they wouldn't let me fly because I didn't have a VISA for India. After weeks of very helpful emails back and forth, between the doctor's office and myself, you'd think they would have mentioned that I needed a VISA. I guess I should have known, but there you go. So it's back to the drawing board. I found a place in Costa Rica with one of the newer 500 mhz lasers, but they tried to talk me into intra ocular lenses and I'm not doing that.

So I'm just rebooting my search and starting over. I'm supposed to talk to someone in Montreal this week as well. I'll keepya posted