Many LASIK patients may wind up with glare, halos or other visual symptoms

I got LASIK as soon as I could pay for it after getting a decent software job out of school. Found contacts pretty annoying and wasn't interested in wearing glasses full-time. I think it was a holdover insecurity from childhood, associating glasses with being a 'nerd' -- I had worn them since 2nd grade. By the end of college I still didn't like the way my glasses looked on me and avoided wearing them whenever possible.

It's been a few years since the surgery now. The side effects are minor. My night vision has degraded somewhat: halos around lights can make depth-perception while driving slightly difficult, and I can't distinguish shapes in the dark as well. Not a big deal, mostly just slightly annoying when camping.

But I now realize that I miscalculated. I've become somewhat more fashion-conscious since college and now see that it would have been much easier and more cost-effective to actually find some glasses that made me look good. If I knew what I knew now about 'looking decent' I wouldn't have done it.

And this is why I bit the bullet, and went for the longer healing, but less side effect Lasek[1] (although this applies to PRK as well)

It was a "fun" 3 weeks of healing ( versus 1-2 days for lasik ), but PRK based procedures have substantially less of these side effects.

edited: to note that i had lasek done.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorefractive_keratectomy

I'm so glad people are talking about this!

Here's a question for you:

If LASIK involved a 1/10,000 chance of losing ten thousand dollars, would you do it? How about hundred thousand? One million? I would probably stop here - would wan't to be in one million debt.

So what's functioning eyesight worth to you? Because to me it's more than $1m, more than billion, more than all the money in the world. I wouldn't risk it even if there was one failed case to millions.

Anyway, this is my setup:

1. Contacts for sports/social activities

2. Lightweight glasses for work (like Snowden in his iconic photo). Don't like to wear this in social setting. I would feel nerdy.

3. Fashionable round glasses with that spotted texture. Can't get used to the plastic glasses, so I don't wear them a whole lot, but no problem wearing them in social setting.

I had a SMILE (which is the next generation procedure) operation done a year ago. I went from -9 with heavy astigmatism on both eyes to around -0.5 on one and -0.15 on the other with a slight astigmatism. It was two awful weeks of pain because of eye drops I am allergic to, but worth every moment of it.

See, I've worn glasses since I was a kid. At age 8 my prescription were more -6. I ended up being a goalkeeper on my soccer team because I kept getting my glasses smashed. When I got older, I found out I couldn't use contacts because my eyes were always too dry. My glasses cost af fortune, I only had one pair and when it broke, I had to do it without for weeks. So I became cautious.

I knew the surgery existed. But for a lot of years I hesitated. I feared what if the surgery went bad, what if I went blind. Or my vision deteriorated. I use it evey day for my job. So even with the promise of a free, corrective surgery (thank you, public health care) I chose not to.

But last year I realised that if I ever were to have this surgery and not wear glasses at all for a while, it was now. Because in ten years I'll have reading glasses. So I went for it, and now I'm certain I'm bringing my own kids when I exit the public pool.

My eye sight isn't as perfect as it was before (120 %), but I had a corrective LASIK operation done two months ago on the "worst" eye, and it's above average now. Even though it's worse than it was, it's been an awesome trade off.

I had it done nearly 10 years ago and ever since, my eyes are much more sensitive to light and I do see halos around lights at night. That said, I'd still have it done again without a second thought - the benefits for me far outweigh those drawbacks.

Tell me about it. I'm stunned what a hugely amateurish pastime lasik turned out to be. One of my eyes was an entire diopter out and had to be reworked. I get nasty kinda splodges at night (a mere halo would be delightful). And had someone told me my view of the night sky would be ruined forever I might've thought differently about it.

I had a great outcome, dare I say ideal? Knock on wood...

I got Wavefront LASIK more than a year ago and it feels like I was born with perfect vision -- I seriously have no side effects. Seriously, what are halos? I couldn't describe it to you even if I tried. The first few months were pretty dry (to the point where I had headaches) but that eventually subsided. If you're in the market for LASIK and actually do your due diligence, it's pretty common to see people who are dealing with side effects. My advice is to (1) don't cheap out and feel comfortable with your doctor, and (2) adopt a healthy lifestyle to let your eyes heal.

LASIK was one of the best investments I've ever made. I think most people who've had the procedure will say the same.

I too longed for the day that I could have laser surgery. My eyes didn't particularly enjoy soft contacts, and I did not like wearing (even fashionable) glasses.

But I held it off because of the downsides, such as relapses in eye prescription strength, the constant need to water your eyes and permanent visual artifacts. That and the not inconsiderable price.

Very glad that I basically chickened out, because instead I discovered overnight vision correction contacts [1]. They are hard contact lenses you wear during the night, and they reshape your cornea during the night so that your my/hyperopia just dissappears during the day. During the day, it allows you to function with normal vision without any aid whatsoever.

It's really quite amazing for me. Downsides are a halo effect (but one that actually diminishes to the point that I don't notice), and the fact that you have to wear contacts during the night, but I much prefer that to wearing any during the day. I can happily recommend trying this before considering more permanent solutions such as eye surgery if you fit in the eye prescription range that it works for.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthokeratology / apparently marketed as "Ortho-K" in NA?

I had done a ton of research back when I first had Prk done on both eyes in 2010. At that time. The military only allowed waivers for prk for pilots and I wanted to be a army helicopter pilot. My doctor and nurses kinda told me (secretly) later that most everyone opts for Lasik and that they thought prk was better and had less complications. Beyond the moderately more upfront discomfort. That long term the stats were better for prk. It took a bit before I stopped regretting it(from discomfort). Eventually I came around to thinking it was best decision. My quality of life has gone up a lot(not having to deal with glassses/contacts) Simply being able to see the clock in the middle of the night. And I recently had it done a 2nd time on my right eye. Currently try in healing now (2 days ago) it was significantly less bothersome this time. No idea why. And while I never had any noticeable night time driving issues. I think this is probably a decreasing concern in that in a few years with the rise of autonomous cars. Most of us won't night drive anyways.

Wavefront/custom LASIK completely removes or greatly reduces these side effects. If you are getting LASIK now, you should not settle for anything but wavefront LASIK.

The reason is, regular LASIK applies the same "fix" to the entire cornea, and the further from the center you go, the more this "fix" will be off by. So in low light situations when your pupils expand, they are now letting in light from the outsides of your eye where the fix is not as good, and you get blurriness, halos, or glares. It's quite simple to understand and really makes it obvious that you should only get Wavefront LASIK at this point.

I have terrible vision and have been short-sighted since first grade. I wear daily contact lenses now and this is fine for me. For those experiencing dryness with contacts, be sure your ducts aren't clogged - I had this problem for a while and a warm wet washcloth held gently to the eyes for 20-30 seconds a day helps unclog them.

LASIK and PRK make me nervous as I do a contact sport (BJJ). I really don't like the thought of a weakened eyeball under these circumstances: my doctor pointed out years ago (when I first considered this) that I have a "healthy but deformed" eyeball. Given the fact that occasionally someone might wind up squishing down on my head with a great deal of force, the thought of having a bit of scar tissue there is not comforting. As it stands I lose a contact lens on the mats every couple of months (yay, disposables).

I have worn contacts 7 days a week for over 20 years, can't stand wearing glasses.

Modern daily disposable contact lenses are so easy, probably takes me total of no more than 25 seconds a day to deal with them and once they are in I have great vision and cannot feel them at all. I literally cannot tell whether I am wearing them other than the fact I can see properly.

Last time I did the math on LASIK the cost was equivalent to about 5 years worth of lenses. The convenience and flexibility of lenses outweighs the risks of LASIK for me.

Results may vary. But I had it about 10 years ago and while the glare/halos are noticeable (especially at night) they're a very minor thing. Would still have done it.

i know it's off topic; however, i'd like to share my eyes improvements.

0. light is important. mouse in complete darkness develops nearsightedness (-20 diopters iirc). outdoor kids got better eyes. -> nowadays i turn all my screens on full brightness level.

1. vary sunglasses for different ranges. for example, i was at -4. i used -4 for driving car, used -2 for coding and used -1 for phones instead while still comfy.

2. under sun, wear less power. notice during the day, i was still comfy wearing -3 for driving car and naked eyes for phone. the reduction can go as far as -2.

3. if you can't do less near work, wear plus lens. plus lens therapy is a long term investment. it's slow; however, there's no side effect. i'm now at the point that i can drive motorcycle and coding with naked eyes. i started around new year, so it's almost a year. it's okay. it took me three decades to get to -4, a year is nothing.

NB: for 1 & 2, you can experiment using your old glasses. don't be afraid to use your old lenses. the worst that can happen to your life is that you get a slightly blurry vision for a minute. for 3: plus lens therapy. i prefer it to lasik, which has side effects and can degrade anyway. it's not instant, that's the feature -> if anything go bad, i can stop and things revert back gradually. with lasik, it's binary. you can't go back if shit happens. to be fair, lasik is not instant too, you need months for recovery.

Yeah, I got it done a couple of years ago.

I splurged and spent 7200 on possibly the most reputable place in the area, and they took great care of me.

The best advantages for me is that I can just wake up and go, and I can buy sunglasses/safety glasses easily, without spending lots of money on custom lenses. Plus when I wake up, I can just look around and figure out what time it is.

I don't really see downsides here, I'm sure that other people have worse experiences, but my experience has been a) don't skimp and b) be happy.

I wore contacts for over 30 years. I had astigmatism and only one brand of contacts worked for me. That was great until the company discontinued them and their suggested replacements didn't work for me. I had LASIK and I've experienced none of the problems most people have. I used artificial tears for a couple of months after and now just occasionally. I would do it again in a heartbeat even though I need reading glasses.

My optometrist confirmed what I've worried about for decades. We are finally at a point where there are older people who had LASIK 20+ years ago and it's not good. It complicates cataracts. It's also less effective to start with for people over 40. Glad I never got it. But then I had a thought. Since I'm past the age where my lens has hardened - can't focus up close - I asked if I could just get cataract surgery NOW. He said yes, and the lenses won't get cloudy later and I might never need glasses again. I asked about focus up close and he says there are some magical progressive lenses they can use - I'm not sure how that works and neither was he. Only problems: 1) It's 5K per eye and not covered by any insurance because its cosmetic. I think that's well worth the price. but 2) I have astigmatism which can be corrected but they have to get the lens within a couple degrees of the correct rotational angle or you'll need glasses anyway. He said there's about a 2-4 percent chance of that even with the best guy doing it.

So it's still glasses for now.

50 YO here. I started wearing prescription glasses a few years ago. And readers a few years before that.

Now, normally, I wear progressive lenses (far, middle + close) that enable me to read, drive, watch TV, etc without switching glasses. But for extended computer work I still fall back to plain readers.

Also, back before I started wearing the prescription progressive lenses, I had to use reading glasses to read my phone -- that was a pain. The progressive lenses are great just for this reason.

I don't think established Lasik tech will alleviate my need for reading glasses, so there doesn't seem to be much point now to go forward with surgery.

There are new procedures that purport to correct nearsighted/reading problems. But they are new (to me at least) so I want to wait and see how they perform over the long run.

On the other-hand, I experience some issues, such as diminished night vision, halos, and other stuff, that are related to wearing glasses today (mostly caused by reflection, smudges, and glare I guess). So, the common issues caused by surgery would probably be acceptable to me if I could figure out a way to stop needing reading glasses.

I think many people forget the risks of using contact lenses. The risks of being blind after LASIK are extremly low, the risks of blindness due to an eye infection with lenses is higher (had a source for that, can't find it at the moment, on mobile). Even if you're very careful, you can never avoid to get bacteria on the inside of your lense, with potentially horrible effects.

From personal experience:

My girlfriend had LASIK a few months ago. We went for a slightly more expensive clinic, for the ease of mind. They tested extensively to make sure everything's alright before the surgery. The surgery itself was good. One eye was perfect after 1-2 days, the other one had problems that slowly disappeared. She had 20/20 or better immediately, but one eye stayed a bit blurry for 4-6 weeks, probably as she reacted bad to the steroids after surgery. Turns out she's allergic to steroids which she didn't know before. Luckily the doctors detected high eye pressure very soon, switched to other drops and lowered it. The right eye is still somewhat more sensitive than the left, although that's something she only feels after long days in front of the screen. Driving at night is also harder (but possible), although she'd always had problems with that.

Overall a great experience, for her not thinking about lenses or glasses outweighs any inconveniences she has now. Waking up and being able to see, diving without the fear of saltwater in the eyes, coming home late and not remembering to get lenses out are all amazing benefits for her.

It's still surgery, all surgeries have risks and need healing. Some people can leave the clinic after LASIK and see perfectly, for others healing takes a bit (my gf had to wait nearly a week before she could use a computer for several hours). But if you get it done in your late 20s you have a high chance of not needing glasses for several decades, sth very valuable.

I just got my eyes done about 5 months ago at the office of the best doctor in San Francisco. My vision is 20/15 and I think the operation was a complete success. I had PRK done, but that is irrelevant in the discussion.

Interesting that I couldn't find any mentions of the actual laser used. The newer EX500 laser doesn't have this issue. According to my doctor, the problem with the older lasers is that they would flatten out the cornea. The flat edge is what causes the glare/halos. The newer laser actually rounds the edges so no more issues.

https://www.myalcon.com/products/surgical/wavelight-refracti...

I wear contacts, and I have glare, halos, double vision, and dry eyes. I can also run the risk of losing several hundred dollars in the blink of an eye.

Having to deal with my hard contacts on a daily basis is a royal PITA, and expensive as hell (special saline, contacts are several hundred each, also need hard contact cleaning and storage fluids).

If your eyesight sucks, you're just SOL, period. You have a plethora of bad choices available to you: Glasses, which aside from their stellar looks can break, get scratched, lost, and hurt to wear with headphones. Contacts, which require constant cleaning and care (especially if you need hard contacts). Lasic, which is a medical procedure with all of the attendant potential side effects.

That said, if Lasic were an option for me, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I had custom LASIK done about 7 years ago where they cut the "flap" with a laser. After a month my vision stabilized but it was still not good enough, so they did a second "touch up" operation. I've had great vision ever since.

I even had an injury to my eye where a tree branch came full force into my eye, and there was no damage to the "flap".

I have had very little if any glare or halos symptoms.

Given this, in hindsight I would probably go with PRK because it seems to give the eye more structural integrity and possible more post-operation options?

In speaking to an opthamologist recently, she mentioned that lense implants are her preferred choice.

I had LASIK done in 2005 (Perth, Australia). I was warned about the side effects (e.g. halos, night vision) before the surgery. I still consider it the best $5k I have ever spent. I'm 43 now and my eyesight is still perfect (I used contact lenses for years prior to the surgery, -7.0 in both eyes). My night vision is not as good as it was before the surgery, but compared to the complications I had with contact lenses, and the problems wearing glasses caused me as a kid, I'd get the LASIK again every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

I just got custom wavefront LASIK done at Stanford, and I'm very happy with the procedure.

Yes, I see halos at night, but they are "there" -- they don't bother me at all. If anything, it's like the overused HDR bloom effect in video games in 2005. I can still see and drive perfectly fine at night.

They're also going away. It's been a week since my procedure, and they have been going away every day. It can take 3-6 months for vision to stabilize.

I didn't want to wear glasses, and now I don't, and I'm happy.

I wonder how this compares to similar, but different procedures. I had PRK done 7 years ago, and it was probably the best $4000 I ever spent. It went perfect for me - no new issues. However, I did it one eye at a time, just in case!

PRK differs from LASIK in how the top layer of the cornea is removed. In LASIK, a flap is cut and peeled back, then put back in place at the end of the procedure. In PRK, the top layer is scraped off and has to grow back in, a process that takes several weeks and can be somewhat painful.

I've been using daily contacts for years until I had a minor irritation in my eye for a few days, went to see a doctor, who told me I have an infection and I'm in real danger of losing my eye. Got antibiotics and luckily everything turned out OK.

I got the impression that eye doctors are not big fans of contacts, and that my situation wasn't uncommon.

Had a LASIK shortly afterwards, worked out OK, so far of course. I'm sure it has risks, but I haven't seen proof those are worse than contacts'.

> glare, halos or other visual symptoms

As someone with LASIK, I'm not actually sure what these mean.... My gut reaction to reading this is, "Wait... do I have those?"

That being said, I do think its fair to say that we haven't studied the potential side effects of LASIK as much as you'd like to, but the fact remains that in doing so, you are accepting that there are risks.

If the risks aren't worth it to you to remove your eye impairments, then don't get LASIK?

I also underwent SMILE about 1.5 years ago. I had ~3.5 myopia in both eyes with ~1 astigmatism. Prior, I was using contacts for about 4 years, as well as glasses on off days and nights (after I came back home). My eyes were a tad bit drier than average (my eyes required lubricant eyedrops after a few hours of computer use if I wasn't well rested, for example).

Compared to contacts, my eyes are actually much less dry now. Contacts dried my eyes a lot. My eyes used to start getting dry and scratch by late afternoon/early evening. Compared to using glasses, it either is the same dryness or less dry. SMILE was a huge improvement for me, both for correcting my eyesight and slightly improving eye dryness.

For those who are considering: I was initially suggested PRK due to the potential downsides of LASIK but learned about, and ultimately opted to, SMILE. My mother had LASIK done at age 45 and she still is very happy with it. I had about a day of post-surgery burning sensation in the eyes but nothing afterwards. In the grand scheme of things, it was the easiest surgery I've ever had (and I had a few).

If you can afford it and SMILE is an option from a decent doctor, it will be one of the best investments you'll ever make.

Well, pretty timely to have this today. I'm getting LASIK in less than 24h. Perfect to have second and third thoughts -.-

For anyone in the same situation I recommend to read all the way through the comments. The first ones are incredibly negative, and they keep getting better towards the end.

I've used glasses since forever. And never really worried too much about them. From the aesthetic pov I didn't care at all. Glasses have obviously some inconvenients, not going to list them now, but those never really troubled me. I just woke one day with the idea that I could as well get rid of them because getting new glasses/sunglasses every x years was going to cost more than just LASIK. This reasoning sounds incredibly stupid right now that I have to face the risks.

I got my eyes checked at Barraquer in Barcelona, and it's them who recommended me into it. Apparently, it's here where they developed LASIK, so I guess that's a big relief, not exempt of risk. Feels good that we are on the map for something science related though, so I guess I'm just finding more excuses to feel confident for tomorrow :P

Hopefully I can keep reading HN in the future...

I've gotten custom/wavefront LASIK on two separate occasions.

The first time, left eye came out perfect: 4k hd quality, better than blu-ray.

Right eye however had noticeable visual aberration running diagonally that made it impossible to read for long periods. I adapted, but after a year I went back for a top up.

My second LASIK was easier, and my vision seemed promising. However, a few weeks later, I suddenly and without notice found my eye leaking like a sieve for maybe an hour. Needless to say I was a bit more than freaked out, but I got better fast, and over my next two visits to the LASIK centre found "nothing to be wrong". While my vision started to deteriorate, they thought it might recover after the swelling had subsided.

Six months later, and for my most recent catchup, they noticed a "corneal wrinkle". Got everyone in the joint to take a good look at my eye, and then they've lifted me up again to try to "smooth everything out". So far so good. 5/7 would do again.

Data point: I had LASIK ten years ago. No halos or glare, but my eyes were a little dry for six months afterward. Unfortunately, now the effects are completely reversed and I'm back to the same exact prescription as I had to begin with. It's not that bad, in fact I can get by without glasses about 90% of the time, but it was a complete waste of $4500.

I wish I'd never done it.

My night vision is full of terrible halos, something I wasn't warned about and completely ignored after the surgery.

This is my opinion but the way LASIK consultations go, the results aren't clearly shared. From my understanding, the doctors should know with fairly accurate determination whether the laser you're paying for will result in light diffusion: they dilate your eyes so they know the diameter of your pupil and they know the diameter of the laser. The wider the laser, the more likely light won't pass damaged or original tissue. So I feel the operators know the odds they you'll experience defects but don't tell you. Instead, they "recommend" larger lasers. Personally, if defects are a certainty, then that information should be shared. The language used in these consultations make the buyer feel that the results are not certain, that no defects will likely happen when in fact, the operators know full well what defects you'll likely experience.

That said, I wish I had taken my chances with PRK.

I got Lasik about 7-8 years ago and they said I could have issues described in the article for several months and in some cases it could affect your night vision for a few years (which it did). The symptoms subsided over a few years. My vision is now awesome. Were other people warned of these potential (temporary) issues?

I did ReLEx SMILE at https://www.smileeyes.de/?L=1 since I didn't want a full flap and didn't want the pain of Epi-LASIK. First run they left some epithelial cells in the pocket which caused astigmatism. They fixed that with a flush. I'm left with some astigmatism of the left eye and overall 20/25 vision. It also took ~1 year to "stabilize" as I was having a lot of spouts of blurriness. Overall liveable but I guess I'd probably do the Epi-LASIK instead and just deal with the week+ of discomfort. I also noticed that I think the lens can still move as if I rub my eyes too much it seems my vision gets blurry but eventually "snaps" back.

What do you expect when a laser cuts into your eye?

Joke aside, I'd like to know not just that these things happen but if the person who is experiencing these issues is more or less happy compared to before the corrective laser eye surgery. There are always potential complications to surgery but often times the outcome, including the complications, are positive for the patient. I know one person who needs to rest their eyes as it gets later in the evening/night because their eye apparently swells or is noticeably more difficult to focus due to the way the surgery happens but is generally okay otherwise (my understanding is that the laser cuts a flap under the iris or some part of the eye near the pupil and that cut may not always heal properly, leading to various issues).

I get asked constantly why I haven't done LASIK yet. My response, which is usually met with incredulous eyes, is that I find it too risky.

Starbursts and halos are bad enough, but some people do not get them. And halos can be mitigated to some extent, you can just avoid performing the procedure if pre-surgery exams find out that your pupil is too big.

Not sure if starbursts can be avoided. It must suck if your job involves staring at a screen all day (as mine does).

What is more concerning is the damage to the cornea. First, there is dry eyes. It's not a question if you are going to get dry eyes or not, is how much and if it will be enough to still maintain sufficient lubrication. The nerves are damaged when the flap is created, not all return. And that is serious, people have committed suicide over dry eyes.

Then there's the flap. The fact that a doctor can lift the flap again years after the procedure is very concerning. The cornea has a complex fibrous structure that never heals after the flap is created. You just have to hope that you are not subject to strong G forces. Or trauma, more generally.

At least the pre-surgery exam battery is complete enough nowadays that we can predict ablating too much of the cornea so that the eye's structural integrity is no longer compromised. This was at the expense of a few early adopters, though.

There is also the question of how the operated eye is going to age. There is just not enough data. If issues arise, these are usually blamed on older equipment. "Oh, that was a Nth generation Laser, it [did not have enough resolution, did not create the flap, was not wavefront, whatever]". Well then, when is the tech going to be "enough"? Last I checked, the resolution still wasn't too great. The cornea would look like the surface of the Moon under a microscope.

If I decide to do it eventually, it will be a LASEK. At least there won't be flap-related issues. A few weeks recovering time is nothing if it means avoiding entire classes of issues for the rest of my life.

>> The study analyzed outcomes for two groups of LASIK patients. In the first group, which included 262 Navy personnel with an average age of 29.1, it was 43 percent reporting new symptoms.

I'm in the middle of a multi-year application process for a job in the armed forces. They are VERY suspicious of all laser eye surgeries. I had several tests specifically looking for evidence of surgery. They didn't find any, but they did find a tiny scar in my cornea left over from when I was a teenager. My point: think long and hard about laser eye surgery if there is any change that you may want to work with or for any armed service. You cannot hide these procedures.

Flip side: If they implement a draft, lasik might get you a pass.

I've been considering PRK for quite some time, but am a little iffy on it due to the recovery time. I see some people saying it takes 3 weeks, others saying 7 weeks for a full recovery. Like many others here, I'm a developer so I have to look at a screen for a significant portion of the day for work. Do these recovery times mean no working at all, or just that it may be strained? I don't really get enough vacation time to be off work for that long :/

Reports of this, and having a friend suffer from similar effects after laser eye surgery years ago, have always kept this as a "look again in a few years" thing for me.

As I've aged, my prescription has got stronger (I'm long sighted), and I've realised these effects can be caused by stronger spectacles too. Long term contact lens use can also commonly cause symptoms.

With hindsight I wish I'd just gone ahead in my 20s or 30s!

I haven't had LASIK, but I've always been bothered somewhat by glare/halos when outdoors at night.

In the last few years, it's become worse due to the super-bright LED street lamps that are going in everywhere. Not only are they brighter but they don't seem to bother putting shades/lenses/diffusers on them, so the LEDs themselves are directly in your line of vision. Horrible!

For the unaware, you can now get 1 month sleep in contact lenses. No removing every night!

Shits works!!!!

I own an online eye glass store and rarely wear my own frames.

I have -7.5 and -8 on my L/R eyes and I've considered LASIK multiple times growing up (got my glasses when I was ~3 yrs).

But recently (After getting a job), I've grown less and less attached to the procedure and don't intend to have it in the foreseeable future. (complications and side effects make me feel that what I have right now it is not too bad).

> The researchers cautioned that the study may not generalize to the LASIK population as a whole because of its small sample size and short follow-period, which was typically three months.

The short follow-period is a problem with the study. I had halos for the first few months and dry eyes for the first year. Nowadays (~4 years later) everything is fine.

Is anyone here using ortho-k lenses? I've replaced my usual soft contacts and been wearing them for half a year now and it's so much easier on the eyes. Although I still see slight halos and by the evening my vision is noticeably worse, I can't complain. And I have an option to undo all this, unlike some poor LASIK patients.

Had lasik about 5 years ago (at 30) and still believe it was a great decision. Yes, I don't have great night vision, but wearing glasses or contacts had the same effect (but much, much worse), so overall it's a win. Not having to deal with glasses or contacts is such an improvement, it was worth every penny.

I had surgery with my first salary more or less when I was 21. It took a year or two for the halo effects to disappear.

My night vision feels like it's like "4x" worse than it it was but it is really hard to tell. Seeing in the dark is difficult in the first place and I don't have any hard data.

I got Lasik on 13th oct(40 days before), I am quiet satisfied with the result. The only side effect is early morning dry eyes and minor fluctuation in vision of left eye. According to doctor, I will recover them soon. By the way i got complete 6/6 score!!!

I'm really interested to understand which of these have just had spherical correction models applied (ie non-wavefront).

Given that most of these in the article are higher order effects, it only makes sense that if you simply ignore higher order error, you get bad results.

I got my eyes fixed with LASIK a while back. I noticed glare and halos for a while, but they subsided. Overall I've been very satisfied with the how it went. I wish that more medical procedures worked this way.

According to my previous eye doctor, most patients just fail to fully cooperate with and follow the conditions that exist before and after the LASIK surgery and that's why they end up with bad side effects.

I got LASIK in college. My side effects were minor except for the fact it wore off after 10 years. Now I'm back to wearing glasses since you can't wear contacts after LASIK.

I had LASIK done two years ago, one of the best things i've ever done for myself. Couldn't be happier despite a few small side affects, quality of life has improved.

My vision is constantly getting worse every year. I can just change glasses. I thought about surgery, but what I would do next year? Surgery again?

This isn't hacker or startup related. It's just amazon news being upvoated by.... Well hang on, now that makes me wonder. Does Bezos make more or less money by people getting laser eye work done?

I had LASIK i 2013. This was right after I got new job. I took the most expensive option because I didnt want to risk my eye because of few pennies.

Outcome: I could see perfectly day after. I had halo during nights but this gradually faded away to something insignificant.

I cant speak for all people, and I cant comment on how this will end up in 5 or 10 years but I am really happy I did this.

I used to wear contact lenses that went dry after half a day. If I spent the day out I had to bring with me couple of pair of lenses + 1 more for safety. Why so many? Some lenses no matter how I try to fit on my eye just glided down and fell. I used to spend 5-10 minutes every morning just to get them to fit. It was such an daily obstacle.

Aircon blowing from the car? Lens dry.

Now I dont even think about the LASIK surgery or lenses. I just moved on with life

Uh, yes? These are known and common side effect and has been for years. How is it news?

Better than being blind.

My dad had been just letting his cataracts go, since he's the stereotypical stubborn person who doesn't like to go to the doctor till it's too late. So, one morning he woke up and panicked because he was effectively blind.

He somehow managed to get a hold of my sister (I was away from home; she lived in the same neighborhood luckily) who helped him get an appointment for LASIK. Long story short, he ended up with nearly 20/20 vision afterwards.