Hacker News Reader

Comment by simonebrunozzi | Hacker News Reader

So, this poorly written article at least sparkled a good discussion here on HN.

I have an "Ask HN" for you here: it's the year 2018, I am 41, live in Bay Area, have myopia (~2 sx and ~3 dx), and have pondered doing surgery.

What's the absolute best option I have? Is it LASIK? Are there different types of LASIK? I spoke with two eye doctors in the past 5 years, and none of them managed to either convince me, or to clarify the various pros and cons of different approaches. (p.s. I really hate the US healthcare system).

Thanks for any help!

View on HN

There is an alternative to Lasik. It is a new generation of PRK. the difference is you dont get a flap in the surgery and instead they burn and take away a layer from the eye.

The type of surgery I had done was TransPRK.

The benefits are less halos, extreme acuity and perfect dark sight.

I have no halos, no dryness and see better in the dark than before.

The healing process takes a bit longer than Lasik. You need to wear a contact lens for two weeks to protect the new layer growing over your eye. During this time your eyesight fluctuates and there is some nausea associated. This was thoroughly explained to me and I had no problems since every day it got better.

On some days I can count leaves on far away trees. Read license plates on cars way ahead of me. I would do it again even if it cost triple.

The best option available when I started looking into this a year ago was ReLEx SMILE(Trans PRK being second, LASIK third). I have since had the procedure done (see my other comment in this thread for my experience but TL;DR is I highly recommend it).

From what I remember LASIK is the oldest method with the highest chance of complications and side-effects and longest recovery period.

Trans PRK is the least-intrusive procedure because they don't touch your eye during the procedure but is more painful after the procedure and you have to wear protective contacts for 2 weeks.

ReLEx SMILE is 'latest and greatest' and has the quickest recovery period but is the most expensive option.

Thanks to both for the info! Will do some more research now.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com