10 Reasons Not To Get LASIK

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Theseus

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An attorney wrote this paper outlining the risks and misconceptions about laser eye surgery. It is very well documented and briefly explained.This is more than just about rare side-effects but the facts underlying the statistics, the permanent complications that most people don't know about until after they've had LASIK (i.e. diminished contrast sensitivity), statistics for night-vision when driving, etc. Use this as a resource to help yourself and others in making educated decisions about the pros/cons.
 
Theseus said:
An attorney wrote this paper outlining the risks and misconceptions about laser eye surgery. It is very well documented and briefly explained.This is more than just about rare side-effects but the facts underlying the statistics, the permanent complications that most people don't know about until after they've had LASIK (i.e. diminished contrast sensitivity), statistics for night-vision when driving, etc. Use this as a resource to help yourself and others in making educated decisions about the pros/cons.
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link?
 
okay this article was written in 2004 and its argument of lasik being in its infancy is invalid now that it has made many advances (everyone knows that technology changes every month or so) so imagine this 3 or 4 years outdated argument due to its most recent source that it provided was only from 2002, so therefore I don't see any creditablity in this article


and which journal was this published or was this a coursework?
 
Sugar Addict said:
okay this article was written in 2004 and its argument of lasik being in its infancy is invalid now that it has made many advances (everyone knows that technology changes every month or so) so imagine this 3 or 4 years outdated argument due to its most recent source that it provided was only from 2002, so therefore I don't see any creditablity in this article


and which journal was this published or was this a coursework?
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Sugar Addict, you're absolutely right. I can't find the source of this article, since the website I got it from doesn't cite its source. If it came from an online medical journal, that doesn't mean it'll be publicly assessible. It's still an error on my part for not checking out its source first. Sorry.

Yes, technology is quickly progressing every month. But that doesn't mean there's something in a journal that wasn't exposed to the public so its information (whether true or false) can be used as a follow-up to see if it's still true (assuming it is). I had never heard of "diminished contrast sensitivity", for example. I could look that up based on information from this article to see if that's a problem nowadays.

As for LASIK being in its infancy, I believe there are still a lot of long-term unknown side-effects that can happen. How long has LASIK been approved by the FDA for widespread usage in the U.S.? Only since 1998. How long until the last cited source in the article? Four years to 2002 (last source). Then another four years to 2006 (now). Infancy is a relative term. To you, maybe LASIK is no longer in its infancy; but to me, it is still in its infancy because the long-term complications remain unknown and it's still in an experimental process.
 
I still would not take the risk. Even though I'm hearing, my eyes are too important to me to risk losing them like that.
 
I had the surgery a few years ago, and so far, no problems.

Before I had the surgery, I had to wear glasses to drive. Now, I don't need to wear glasses to drive.

I can watch TV, swim in the ocean, bowl, shoot, etc., without glasses. I love it.
 
Reba - I'm glad to hear all went well for you. It probably works most of the time that way for most folks.

But I have to agree with Gnu on this. Since I'm deaf with a CI, I can't (in my mind) afford to take a risk like that even if it were warranted. Fortunately, for me my eyes are still very good as I approach the half century mark. I only need reading glasses once in a while. I have learned to never say never but unless my eyes got real bad (very unlikely at this point), I can't see it happening for me.
 
I want to chime in here as a naysayer as well.

My reasoning is alittle different. I'm hearing, but I've also had numerous surgeries. My eyes are one part of me that hasn't be "worked on", and I'd like to keep it that way.

I am funny about my eyes. I wear glasses for an astigmatism, and have since I was a toddler. I have had optometrists push Lasix at me, but I've always refused. The idea of having my cornea reshaped just freaks me out.

Eh, maybe I'd consider if I truly needed it. However, it's elective and my glasses have served me well since I was nearly 2yo. I think I'm gonna stick with what I know. :)
 
Jeremy have that type also and he wears glasses as well. I don't want the idea of lasik in me.. I know i d be scared and blink right away! :Ohno:

Oceanbreeze said:
I want to chime in here as a naysayer as well.

My reasoning is alittle different. I'm hearing, but I've also had numerous surgeries. My eyes are one part of me that hasn't be "worked on", and I'd like to keep it that way.

I am funny about my eyes. I wear glasses for an astigmatism, and have since I was a toddler. I have had optometrists push Lasix at me, but I've always refused. The idea of having my cornea reshaped just freaks me out.

Eh, maybe I'd consider if I truly needed it. However, it's elective and my glasses have served me well since I was nearly 2yo. I think I'm gonna stick with what I know. :)
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FelixKat930 said:
Jeremy have that type also and he wears glasses as well. I don't want the idea of lasik in me.. I know i d be scared and blink right away! :Ohno:
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me either, really. If it was *needed*, I'd consider it. But, to go under the laser just so I can "see better"? Um, no.

Incidently, I started wearing glasses when I was 18 mos old. I'll be 38 in Oct. :D
 
Wow.. I do wear glasses too and I am 23. I will get a new glasses soon. :mrgreen:

Oceanbreeze said:
me either, really. If it was *needed*, I'd consider it. But, to go under the laser just so I can "see better"? Um, no.

Incidently, I started wearing glasses when I was 18 mos old. I'll be 38 in Oct. :D
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FelixKat930 said:
Jeremy have that type also and he wears glasses as well. I don't want the idea of lasik in me.. I know i d be scared and blink right away! :Ohno:
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Me either. I haven't thought about undergoing laser eye surgery... I started wearing glasses when I was 17 years old, but I don't wear glasses. Now, I am wearing soft contact lens for about 12 years.
 
I'm not really crazy for any kind of surgery. There will always be side effects of any kind of surgery and we will still suffer more.
 
My reservations have less to do with the chance that the surgery will be a disaster and more the fact that by dealing with the symptoms, people are setting themselves up for subtle problems down the road.

As stated per the Journal of Refractive Surgery Vol. 21 No. 5 September/October 2005 , "The mean tensile strength of the central and paracentral LASIK wounds showed minimal change in strength over time after surgery, averaging 2.4% (0.72 ± 0.33 g/mm) of controls (30.06 ± 2.93 g/mm). In contrast, the mean peak tensile strength of the flap wound margin gradually increased over time after surgery, reaching maximum values by 3.5 years when the average was 28.1% (8.46 ± 4.56 g/mm) of controls." This means LASIK flap is only 2.4% as strong as normal cornea post-surgery, and in time heals to only 28.1%. Consequently, it is much easier for complications to occur.
 
I have astigmatism but I started wearing glasses 10 yrs ago.. although I did not know I had astigmastism becasue at that time growing up , there were no equipment to detect astigmatism till I found out 10 yrs ago after I notice myself squinting more often so I decided to get myself tested again but this time they had the equipment and now I know I have one. Funny things is that I recall noticing that the view looked different if I close one eye then switch to other eye. If I explained that to the doctor, I am sure he would say "ah, that is sympton of astigmatism" oh well!

I did consider Lasik ages ago but never got around to it so instead I went the eye contact route. :)
 
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