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It has worked pretty well. I have to tell you the procedure is a bit graphic since you can't close your eyes. It starts out with them giving you some mild meds, which you can ask for more of if you want. Next was getting setup in some sort of chair and having an incredible amount of pressure put on your eye, so much so you go temporarily blind. This is also where some incisions are made. At this point when the pressure comes off you are seeing through a fog of blood. If you ever played Call of Duty you know what I mean. Then comes the real Clockwork Orange fun... At this point the walked me to a chair where they propped by eyelids open and warned me I may see and smell some smoke from the laser in a few moments. Now part of my cornea was peeled back so the laser could hit what was underneath. It was at that point I was probably legally blind, pretty scary. I was thinking "I actually PAID for this shit!" Then the laser starts working, hitting your eye, all while you have to constantly stare at an orange light without moving your eyes. I did indeed started seeing smoke at this point. After the laser shuts off they put your cornea back in its place. I saw almost 20/20 immediately. They give you goggles and tell you not to open your eyes for 6 hours. My wife drove me home and I went to bed. I woke up, took the goggles off and could see. The whole thing was almost painless and it went by pretty quickly. I followed up pretty frequently with the doctors after that and my eyesight did go in and out slightly, which freaked me out, but never so much I didn't have good vision. This procedure is definitely not for everyone and I was warned by the doctors before I had the procedure I may see some halos at night when I look at lights, which has happened. I don't really notice anymore though and it doesn't interfere with anything like driving. I would recommend it with caveats. If someone isn't prepared for it I could imagine them losing it during the operation since you can turn away. I'm really happy I had it done despite the horror show I described.

Re: Glasses, Contact Lenses

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Go get it fixed. My wife was heading for a pretty lousy life and had it done and it was an outpatient procedure and fairly easy. She's a nurse and understands what all is going on during a procedure, she's also a lousy patient and pissed off if she's limited in actions and ignores restrictions all the time. Cataract surgery was pretty easy, she didn't mind it.

Which reminds me of an older method to correct sight before the laser stuff was worked out. That involved removing the lens entirely, freezing it solid, mounting it on a tiny lathe, machining the lens curvature needed, thawing everything out and sewing the lens back on. Recovery time was a bunch more than 6 hours.

The other method involved cutting sections out of the lens then sewing it back together hoping they got it right. So as you can see, the laser stuff is a huge improvement.
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Glasses, Contact Lenses

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Yeah LASIK is not for the faint of heart, especially since it's really not "needed". Cataract surgery I heard is a bit less stressful. I know someone who recently had both eyes done and she was happy she did. They even gave her a video of the procedure. I'm not sure why you'd want that though.

Glasses, Contact Lenses

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I also had LASIK and can attest to how wonderful it is. But, to answer your question, when I had glasses I usually kept my pair with my old prescription around. I think one time I got a deal and had two pairs of glasses, but then my dog ate my favorite pair.

So yes, a good idea to keep an spare pair (even if in an old prescription) just in case something happens.

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Lifting an old thread to add that I got a bunch of cheap backup glasses online from zennioptical. We did all the measurements at home with a ruler and a copy of the prescription. The glasses were something like $15 a pop. Ditto for eyebuydirect. My 'real' glasses come direct from the doc's office, but the online ones are stashed in the car, gymbag, emergency bag.

I'm strongly considering LASIK.

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spares. I even travel with spares.

Wanted to investigate LASIK a bit but spouse won't permit it. She's a clinician specializing in retina stuff. I guess she has seen what happens when LASIK goes bad and I don't have a particularly stellar record with successful surgical procedures. She figures I would be foolish to tempt fate. I guess she's winning this disagreement because I haven't gone any further into it.

But damn, would I like to get rid of the spares.
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bigmike0301 wrote:I was told I should consider cataract surgery.
I watched from then next room while my father went through it. Prep took some time, but the actual surgery was over in literally minutes once they got him in the chair.

My optometrist says I have one but that it's too small to be worth going after at this point. When it gets big enough to be troublesome, I won't hesitate to have it out.
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I've worn glasses since I was 5. Too much astigmatism to be a good candidate for alternatives like Lasik or contacts.

I often went around half blind without them due to vanity when I was young. One benefit was that I gained skill recognizing people at a distance from their posture and gait, when I couldn't make out their faces.

Now it's glasses at all waking hours, and I'm fine with that. The 3-stage progressives (near, far, and middle distance for the computer screen and the front sight) are not cheap, but meet my needs. I have a current prescription in clear and sunglasses, and can get my hands on my next-oldest clear pair as a backup if needed.
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I had progressive glasses for everyday, computer glasses for computer, sunglasses for outside stuff. I wore contacts but couldn't stand them for long periods anymore. My closeup vision was excellent with no correction. Changing glasses constantly was driving me nuts.

So, I finally took the plunge and had a form of PRK in 2005. This is where they peel back the epithelial layer of the cornea and focus the laser on the cornea - no cutting. BEST thing I ever did. I had great fear and concern and it came down to putting my faith in a doctor who had done over 10,000 surgeries.

I took valium and after a bit they had me lie down on a table. He did each eye. I did not feel a thing. It was over in minutes. I sat up and saw G&G outside the room as though she was standing next to me. WOW. After needing vision correction since I was in 6th grade, it was AMAZING. They put on contact lenses to hold everything in place over the weekend and when they took them off on Monday, my vision was fuzzy. I didn't panic as they had explained this was part of the healing process.

The procedure was not cheap and it was painful for a few days, enough to take a percocet and sleep the afternoon after surgery. He also gave me a sleeping pill which I did not take.

My vision is now about 20/25. The correction I got is called monovision. You can get it with contact lens and glasses too. One eye is focused for distance and the other for closer up.

I have distance in my right eye and closer focus in my (dominant) left eye (still need off the shelf reading glasses for serious closeup stuff). I did get prescription glasses which I use for driving at night or seeing movies in a theater, but I rarely wear them. No need for prescription glasses to shoot either. No halos at night. I do get dry eye at night and keep eye drops next to the bed. It's not severe. Dry eye can also be a result of living in a dry climate and aging.

It's a big decision but so worth it. I can see small pebbles through the water on the beach and individual blades of grass while standing. I can drive without glasses. TV without glasses. Computer without glasses. What I see is clearer to me now.

So here's the thing. There are different types of eye correction surgeries you can get. Lasik cuts the cornea, PRK doesn't. If you decide to proceed do your research and find a doctor who has done a lot of these. It's your eyes and you only get two. Good luck!

additional info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorefra ... rsus_LASIK

[youtu_be]http://youtu.be/aEYGoVcQvCw[/youtu_be]
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Had to chime in on this one- I had LASIK done as well probably 8 years ago or so- best money I ever spent! It definitely isn't for the faint of heart, but the valium helps a bit for sure. With that being said, the biggest side effect for me wasn't night vision, but dry eyes- living in Colorado it's something I live with, but it's daily eye drops for me or I look like I went out on an all night bender or took advantage of the new drug laws here in Colorado. Totally worth it though.
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bigmike0301 wrote:I was told I should consider cataract surgery.

Still: eyeballs - razor blades and Conspiracy Theory.

Flashbacks of Mel Gibson sitting in that chair with his eyelids pried open.

OK call me chicken
I had it 5 years ago. Nothing to it. It's bloodless surgery. They make a microscopic incision in your lens capsule, liquify the lens with ultrasound and suck it out, then slide the new lens in through the same little incision and position it. Total in-office time was about an hour and a half. Surgery time maybe ten minutes. About a week's recovery to full vision. Both eyes done two weeks apart. Get your eye doc to certify as medically necessary - in other words it's gotten so bad that glasses won't correct it- and health insurance will pay for it. Otherwise you'll be out at least 2-3K per eye.
Also, do extra homework on choosing your lens implants and how you want your vision corrected, close up, distance, multifocal etc., as you can't get them changed out once they're in place.

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I haven't looked into any corrective surgery. I carry my older pair (still a close prescription) as back-ups. I've only had one pair of glasses wrecked in my life (someone sat on them while I was out camping). I've had screws come out and a lens pop out. That's part of why I carry a SOG Crosscut multitool. It comes with a precision flathead driver that will fit eyeglass screws. One of the few that will. However, the tweezers of any Victorinox pocket knife will also fit in an eyeglass screw, in a pinch. it's not like a lot of torque is needed.

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Sonofagun wrote:I don't wear em but my wife and kid do. The idea of accomplishing anything without first putting on your glasses is detrimental. No? Anybody got an extra pair ready for action?
2, absolutely blind without my glasses. Mine are featherweight and they're close to a 1/4" thick. I can use them to focus the sunlight into a powerful beam to slay mine enemies.
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Out of curiosity, how much does LASIK really cost?

I have pretty fucked-up vision in my right eye, whole my left eye is good. I could wear a contact or a monocle, but I usually get by with Rx sunglasses and a stupid sense of vanity.
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Dropbear wrote:Out of curiosity, how much does LASIK really cost?

I have pretty fucked-up vision in my right eye, whole my left eye is good. I could wear a contact or a monocle, but I usually get by with Rx sunglasses and a stupid sense of vanity.
Depends on how bad the vision is along with some other factors, but anywhere from 1k per eye up to 2k or so. I shopped around a lot and found a well reviewed dr with lots of local patients, cost about 3k for both eyes.

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