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Comment by ek | Hacker News Reader

Honestly, basically all of the upsides that he lists can be gained from using contact lenses, which are amazing. Also, with plain old American vision insurance (VSP), I get a year's worth of contacts for free, every year. As a longtime glasses wearer I switched to using primarily contacts a while ago and it's amazing. Contacts have their share of (mostly minor in my experience) issues, but as long as LASIK continues to have bugs like the halo thing OP describes, I'll stick with them.

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From a cl user :

- Increased self-confidence, this is subjective, but I prefer how I look without glasses. (check)

- Going out to nature is awesome, as you can see everything without a frame in your view. You feel more immersed in reality. (check)

- Swimming is less fuss, as there is no need to switch between glasses / prescription swimming goggles. Just swim. (this is a sore point for me I have to use goggles or the lenses wash away. In a swimming pool it's no problem, but at sea I feel uncomfortable)

- I have started exercising more thanks to the above two things. (check)

- You can see immediately when opening your eyes in the morning. (minor inconvenience. I usually have my lenses on five minutes after I wake up, tops)

- No frustration or time wasted looking around for lost glasses or needing to think about where to place them at night, before taking a shower or changing clothing. (minor inconvenience. if a lens falls to the ground it can be very annoying)

- No risk of accidentally stepping on your glasses. (check)

- No money wasted on renewing glasses or buying contact lenses, although later on I may need reading glasses, but for the next 10 years I should be good. This may end up saving enough money to just about pay for the cost of the operation. (3000$ dollars are 15 years of lenses at current prices for me)

I suggest, to those considering surgery and coming from glasses, to spend some time with contacts. You get to try many of the benefits without ¨committing¨.

> - No frustration or time wasted looking around for lost glasses or needing to think about where to place them at night, before taking a shower or changing clothing. (minor inconvenience. if a lens falls to the ground it can be very annoying)

I've been wearing soft contact lenses for 7 years and yeah putting them in / out everyday is a bit annoying. My optician recommended I try hard contact lenses as she uses them. Apparently you can wear them for a month continuously without having to take them out.

I'd wear daily disposables for a week or two - if they fell out I'd just throw a new one in.

I cannot wear contacts due to a pretty strong astigmatism, it make them extremely uncomfortable. I've heard that PRK is more proven and though it takes longer to heal it's a more permanent solution since with LASIK the layers never truly heal.

I can't wear contacts either, at least, not anymore.

I am considering PRK (LASEK), but have not yet made my mind about it, as it is a procedure that is done less frequently than LASIK, so there might be issues that haven't been found yet.

Contacts aren't an option for people with very dry eyes. My spouse and I both have the same problem, so contacts can only be used sparingly (once a week or less). It has nothing to do with computer use either, as my spouse doesn't stare at a screen all day.

And LASIK is not indicated for people with dry eyes either. It will make it much worse, to the point that some people consider suicide due to the never ending pain.

Glad you are happy with contacts. I found using them a bit annoying, and figured it would be nicer to just "get it over with" and fix the issue once.

The halo thing honestly isn't a big issue, but I didn't want to hide the whole truth when writing that post.

I wore contacts for a long time but then my eyes started going dry after coding all day. I guess one blinks less when staring at a monitor. Anyway, it took a few weeks of glasses to recover from the effects of the dryness. After a few attempts, it's glasses all the time.

Yeah same here too. I use extreme h2o 54% and they never dry up like others did and I never notice that I wear them. Glasses seem cool sometime too. Part of my geek chic setup. :)

So blasting my eyes with lasers at this point seems kind of extreme, IMO.

my 2c.

What type of contacts do you use?

Mine were Toric, I replaced them every 3 months more or less (it was per usage count, really)

I can say I was very satisfied with them, but the dry eyes are an issue

So, I'm considering Lasik now (day by day usage I have glasses but it also has some problems)

Edit: toric lenses have and added PITA: placing them in the correct orientation/axis. And no, the manual for mine didn't state it 100% fully how to do it

They are spherical, so orientation doesn't matter. I do have a slight astigmatism, which orientation-sensitive contacts correct for, but it's minor enough that it's prescribed in my glasses and not my contacts. My brand is Air Optix Aqua, but this just happens to be what I was prescribed.

In the morning or on days that I don't have to conduct business (I'm a student), I just wear my glasses, which frankly have superior optics anyway. For sport, and for activities where I have to present myself to others, contacts are unbeatable.

I have somewhat dry eyes also, but my eyes seem to be generating more moisture because I am used to wearing contacts by now. I also use Blink eyedrops very occasionally, because they're not something I want to have to rely on, but are useful in an emergency.

To be honest, I'm not hugely against laser eye surgery, and I'm considering having it down sometime before I'm 30. I'm also strabismic in one eye and although I have relatively strong eye muscles, it's something I was also considering fixing via surgery.

Agreed. My quality of life got a lot better once I switched to (monthly) contact lenses. Half a year ago I switched to dailies which was again a drastic improvement to my everyday life. I've been toying with LASIK but to be perfectly honest the surgery just scares me. The idea of cutting open my eyes and shooting lasers at them isn't to appealing to me.

What made the daily contact lenses better than the monthly contact lenses?

cTEN laser surgery removes the cutting open part and just goes straight to shooting lasers at them.

I've worn contacts for 25 years, since junior high school. I love them compared to glasses but I'm concerned about the long-term effects of putting something on my eyeball every day for maybe 75 years.

Your concerns are correct. I've been wearing lenses ever since I was 11 y/old. My eyes started to become irritated after 20 years or so. I got ARTIFLEX implant contacts a few years ago. An eye-opener! (And removeable, instead of Laser-treatment).

If you don't mind, how are you finding the ARTIFLEX implants? I recently got consulted for LASIK and my prescription is too strong (-12.5 and no signs of stopping) for that to be an option. The semi-permanent nature of the ARTIFLEX implants really interest me, because should my prescription get even worse I could theoretically replace the lenses.

Did you have any complications? Is the procedure any more risky than LASIK?

No problem. - 13/14 here. The procedure takes about 10 / 15 min. and is done one eye at a time. Procedure in the morning, I was able to see again for a bit in the eavening, and almost good again the next day. The cut is so small it doesn't even require stiching. (The lens is flexible and is folded before inserting). I do think your eyes need to be stable at least a few years though. My vision was 120% (felt like that guy in "Interview with a vampire" who gets bitten and sees everything in a new way. Even gave me a bit of a headache, so sharp. This stabalises after a few weeks, to 100%). The halo's were annoying, especially when stepping in to a dark enviroment (a pub). In the beginning driving a car at night HURTS your eyes, because the pupil contracts a lot. Yellow glasses help.

A few years later my retina ripped at the back and inside of my eye. That can happen when you've got -13/14. They were able to operate on me because the doctos knew I could take it, I've had these implants and was like a statue then. Only difference was, that time it lasted 3 hours, was during midnight and they drained my eye. (Lesson: Don't take static black spots lightly).

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