# Lasik - Downside or negative experience ?



## Lenochka (Apr 19, 2008)

Dear experienced Listers,
I am wearing glasses...and as some of you certainly know does not only have positives...
therefore I am contemplating to correct my vision with Lasik Laser Treatment.

I heard of lots of people who have done it - some even state that "it was the best thing I've done in my life". This sounds all very good...however, I am vary of missing the, surely existing "other side of the story"....

Does anybody had any experience with a negative touch, knows any downside or even knows somebody who regrets to having it done ? if the latter is the case then I would appreciate the contact details and/or details of the negative experience. 

Any information/background etc is very much appreciated. 

Thanks and best regards
Lenochka


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## bubble_boy (May 28, 2008)

My wife had it done a few years back. She will fall into the "best thing I have done" category. There have been no drawbacks since then.


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## Lenochka (Apr 19, 2008)

Many thanks for the feedback !!


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## Abacha (Nov 9, 2008)

I got a devil's advocate story for you to think about -- I had a business lunch in Trinidad about 5 years ago and there was this one guy at the table who was reading his TGIF's menu from about 3 feet away, I asked him about it and he told me that he had recently had Lasik surgery and that it left him with vision so damaged that he couldn't see anything clearly closer than 3 feet or past 5 feet, he was basically blind. I dug a bit more as I've worn glasses for the past 30 years and had been thinking of getting this operation and I have the following observations: 
1. don't bargain shop this procedure, get plenty of recommendations and go to someone with a good reputation who has performed thousands of them, if necessary pay the extra money for the top recommended guy. The guy I met tried to save a few bucks and had the procedure done in Venezuela to save money.
2. I have heard dozens of first hand positive stories about Lasik, in fact the above is the only negative one I have ever heard, and yet since it was so first hand and shocking it has prevented me from getting the procedure done, I probably never will. I just figure that putting my contacts in each morning and taking them out again at night isn't such a big deal. I'm also apprehensive that they don't have long-term data on the procedure, what happens 30 years from now, that you may have to go in and eventually re-do it down the road, stuff like that.
3. I do hear that they've gotten a lot better at the procedure in the last couple of years, I also hear that if they make a mistake then they can often correct it, there was one doctor I remember in Houston who was making a name for himself as the guy to go to when other people screwed up your Lasik procedure, advertised as such.
4. All things considered, if you were my son/daughter, really want it or couldn't live with glasses/contacts and asked my advice then I'd definitely say "do the above and go for it (it's just not for me)".


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## Kenny C (Jul 16, 2009)

*There is lots to know about LASIK*

If you get laser eye surgery, avoid normal LASIK because it will cut a flap in your eye that is there for life. There are several different procedures and there are different types of equipment. You want to have the latest laser equipment and the doctor should have the latest software. These are most often found in research hospitals but big volume practices often have them too. However, big volume practices push LASIK and not the *lower risk EPI LASIK*. Lasers and equipment are not all equal. You also want to choose a very conservative doctor who has lots of experience. How do you do that, you need to know insiders in the business or read the scholarly journals to find out which doctors are doing what. These are just two of them: journalofrefractivesurgery . c om Journal of Refractive Surgery or ophthalmologytimes.modernmedicine . c om Ophthalmology Times 

Doctors who perform LASIK do it for over 80% of their patients while doctors who do EPI LASIK perform it on over 80% of their patients. Choosing LASIK is a better business decision for doctors, especially high volume doctors. They have less phone calls and the patient has a greater wow effect and the recovery is "faster". I put faster in quotes because you never really recover when you get a flap, it is there for ever. The risk is if you ever get trauma to the eye, i.e. an air bag in a car crash or a ball in the eye, this trauma could knock the flap loose and you may need a cornea transplant. The chances are low but they are real. There are other risks as well that lead to cornea transplants. You do not want a cornea transplant. 

There is much more to know but the bottom line is this: *Avoid a stromal flap*, find a doctor with several years of experience, find a doctor with the latest equipment. Accept the fact that it will be more uncomfortable for the first 24 hours but will be better for life. Chat with the nurses if you can. They should have lots of experience too.

There are forums just for refractive surgery too. Find them and get to know what doctors do what in your area.

Read what wikipedia has to say about LASIK and EPI-LASIK and look at the list of complications. You may not know what they mean but you can see that the flap of a LASIK procedure has lots of potential issues. The flap created in an EPI procedure is only epithelium cells and is sometimes put back and other times it is thrown away (It does not really matter). A stromal flap must be perfect and is never discarded that is why it carries more risk.


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## Lenochka (Apr 19, 2008)

very good - thanks for the comprehensive feedback.

Anybody know if the 

British Lasik & Cosmetic Surgery Centre on Beach Road, 

opposite Jumeirah Beach Park in Duba is good ?? I know 4 people who went there and they told me about 15 of their colleagues/acquaintances have been there....

Cheers
Lenochka


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## Timberwolf78 (Jun 18, 2009)

bubbles said:


> My wife had it done a few years back. She will fall into the "best thing I have done" category. There have been no drawbacks since then.


I had it done a couple years ago and I am in this category as well.


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## Kenny C (Jul 16, 2009)

The question should not be whether they are good or not. The question is, what procedure do they offer and what equipment do they use? Call them an ask how old the laser is and what procedure they perform. You can do some more research from there.

The fact is that most people have great results no matter when they had it done or what procedure it was. You have to choose how much risk you want to take. There is also factors about your eye that are different from other people. If the eye is too bad, ironically a conservative doctor may tell you it is too risky.


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## Lenochka (Apr 19, 2008)

Will do, Kenny - thanks very much for your feedback !


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## Trevorbob (Jul 17, 2009)

I had mine done at the British Lasik & Cosmetic Surgery Centre on Beach Road. Other than the fact that the only British thing about it is the name, i haven't had any problems so far.

The Dr did change my procedure at the very last moment (when i already had the anaesthetic drops in my eyes) from Intralasik to PRK. He explained the reasons (thin cornea) and it showed that he was looking after my well being. The procedure i ended up with was 2000 dirhams less than the procedure initially suggested.

In conclusion, it's not the best thing i've ever done (I've seen The Smiths in concert) but it certainly beats messing around with contacts every morning. I used to be -6.00 in both eyes.

If you really want the 'other' side of the story - check this out:

www(dot)lasikdisaster(dot)com/

oh, and they sometimes make you wait ages in the waiting room even when you have booked an appointment.

Hope the above helps.


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## Kenny C (Jul 16, 2009)

Trevorbob said:


> If you really want the 'other' side of the story - check this out:
> 
> www(dot)lasikdisaster(dot)com/


From the site mentioned about, point number 10 is the alternative I am talking about.

_10. Safer alternatives to LASIK exist
Some leading surgeons have already abandoned LASIK for surface treatments, such as PRK, which do not involve cutting a corneal flap. It is important to remember that LASIK is elective surgery. There is no sound medical reason to risk vision loss from unnecessary surgery. Glasses and contact lenses are the safest alternatives._

It can be PRK or a similar treatment with a blade that separates the epethelium at the Bowmans Layer above the stroma. LASIK cuts into the stroma and that is the problem with this procedure and dry eye is a result that means you need eye drops forever (Point #1 on the list). 

Advanced Surface Ablation is the fancy word for the safer treatments.

Here is a bit I took off a web site:

_*Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA)*

Advanced Surface Ablation is a relatively new laser vision procedure that has addditional safety features over LASIK making it an ideal aternative for some patients. Instead of cutting a flap on the front of the cornea, the surface skin cells (epithelium) are loosened with a diluted alcohol solution and removed. The corneal surface is then treated with the laser and covered with a bandage contact lens.

The margin of safety with ASA may be greater than that with LASIK as the need for a microkeratome is eliminated, so there's no risk of flap complications. You do not need to worry about rubbing your eye or bumping it after surgery and having the LASIK flap slip or wrinkle, because there is no flap. The nerve endings that control tear secretion are not cut, so ther is less of a problem with dry eye after surgery.

ASA removes tissue within the cornea to treat low to high levels of nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism._


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