Nervous about Lasik, need personal experiences!?!

Nervous about Lasik, need personal experiences!?

This December my dad and I were going to get Lasik surgery together but after watching some videos of the procedure, i'm not so sure anymore. Also, I am nervous that I will not be able to keep my eye steady when they use the laser, what if i move it and the laser touches the wrong part of my eye?! I am really nervous so tell me about your experience, good or bad, how you felt, and if you are happy with your results and if the procedure was definitely worth it.

Here are the movies I watched so let me know if it was anything like this, or just comment on them in general.

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=29...

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=10...

Also, in the second clip they poke something into the tear duct but not in the first one, but maybe they just didn't record that part, but do they always do that??

4 weeks ago
If you have had the surgery, are you able to rub your eyes like you could before the surgery? or do you have to be more careful when it comes to that?

4 weeks ago
Because I know they have to peel part of your eye up for the procedure and wanted to know if they fully heal (as if they never cut your eye) so you can normally rub your eyes again if you have an itch.

Hi there AskandAnswer! I just had PRK last week...and my husband had LASIK about a month ago. I work with a group of ophthalmologists...and didn't watch the procedures until I watched my hubby's procedure...and walked out of there like NO WAY!! After researching the procedures and surgeons and technology, I thought again.

The newest technologies have "eye tracker" systems...where they will lock onto the pupil for small involuntary eye movements.

I was soooooo anxious and nervous...even when I went in for my consult I was shaking! Let alone the day of my PRK...I was a nervous wreck.

They did offer me a valium, which of course I took! and that helped take the edge off my anxiety and nervousness.

They got me all situated, and there was this little amber flashing light that I stared at for the whole procedure. I tell you, it was so quick! They had mapped out my entire cornea (twice because I had to have the custom wavefront) and had everything entered and checked in the computer that drives the laser three times or more. Just before my surgeon did anything to either eye, he used numbing drops that took effect immediately. There was a tiny bit of pressure, but absolutely NO pain. It actually took longer for the prep than for the actual laser, and the techs counted down how much longer. I didn't have anything put in my tear duct. I know that plugging the tear ducts helps with eye dryness for people who do not have laser correction surgery, so perhaps it's what that particular surgeon does to help with the postop dry eyes. It looks like what they did was insert a "punctal plug" into the eye's drainage system to help with dry eye postop.

I had the PRK, which is a little different than the LASIK. I didn't have the flap created. Instead, a very very thin part of the eye called the epithelium (only about 1/4 the thickness of the LASIK flap) was removed. After my procedure, I was put in "bandage contact lenses"...yup...just plain no power contacts used to help the cornea heal...and was in those for four days. I could see the instant I came out from under the laser. The next four days were an experience with some fluctuating vision, some dry eyes (more like when your contacts are dry), four times a day drops (three meds), and keeping my eyes closed as much as possible to help with the healing and other symptoms. The PRK procedure does have a slower healing time, and wasn't as comfortable as my husband's LASIK.

Well, I finally got those bandage contacts off this past Monday...and here...one week postop, I am seeing better than I have in my life without correction! I'm not 20/20 yet, but it's still TONS better than the 20/400 and worse vision I've had my entire life. The discomfort I had over the weekend (and they did give me numbing drops and Vicodin along with Motrin) was worth it.

Now, my husband was seeing 20/30 and 20/20 the day after his LASIK, had only dry eye symptoms, and today, about 4 weeks postop, is seeing 20/20 in his 'bad eye' and 20/15 in his good (he'd been previously correctable to 20/10 in his 'good eye'). I do not know my actual vision (next postop they will check...and it's not til next week), but I think it's at least 20/30 in my 'good' eye and at least 20/40 in my historically weaker eye...and I've been seeing steady improvement all week.

We are both VERY happy with our results...and I tell you...even if I end up needing some driving glasses and reading glasses in the next few years...no biggie! It is sooooo much better than the real thick glasses and expensive contacts that I used to have. Yes, the videos are pretty similar to what I saw with the exception of the purple dye and the punctal plug, with my husband's surgery.