Laser eye surgery

My father's had it done, they had to take 3 goes at his left eye to get it just right but they got the right one first time, he's absolutely delighted with it, hasn't had to wear glasses or contacts since, and has had no other problems at all, apart from a slight discomfort for a day or so after, but worth it ten times over.

Well- there have been no major detected contraindications yet- however the technology has only been in wide use for a relatively short time. As of yet- there are no reported signs of long-term damage- but 10 years is far too short in medical terms to assess such a thing especially with radiation surgery conducted on the cornea- a tissue extremely prone to malign change.

I'm happy to stick to the policy of advising the people I treat that new procedures should be given a chance to assess long-term risk before patients themselves expose their bodies to such risk. Safety first isn't a problem- and corrective lenses are still the safest and most effective long-term treatment plan for myopia.

I would advise that you discuss the risks with your medical practicioner and see what he/she tells you- if you're happy to take the risk- then well and good. Personally, I have no problem with myopia- I'm just acutely astigmatic in both eyes- and I usually find glasses and torric lenses work fine- it's up to you at the end of the day- but don't forget to consider the risks of corrective surgery.

Bob the Unlucky Octopus
=E Pluribus Unum=

Sounds OK from what a lot of you have said already... I've only ever heard of the 'horror stories', which I hope are few and far between

Still, contacts are almost like having normal 20:20... after a while wearing them you forget you ever had bad eye-sight.
I can't even feel mine anymore, and I wear them most of the day... takes less than 60 seconds to pop them in and even less to take them out.
They're not as much hassle as they're made out to be.

Pfft, glasses?! No, sir... I'm faar too attractive to wear glasses

Does anyone know how much this surgery costs?
Or can you somehow fiddle your health insurance to cover it?

Just remember to use the drops to stop your eyes from crusting over.

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If there's one thing I hate, it's people.

You might want to also check out your insurance (e.g., car) regarding premiums and whether with it or whatever you can get a lower rate (if they are charging you extra because of having eye deficiencies).

I suppose the same would apply for your job if it involves a needed accuracy of your eyes, like driving or flying.

Price was £1500 an eye as of a few months ago, that covers any amount of times they have to have you back in to correct it, and can be written off against tax afaik.

Had PRk done two years ago, and, sorry for shouting but, IT WAS THE BEST MONEY I EVER SPENT ON ANYTHING EVER!!!!! I had mild short sight, -1.75 in each eye, but enough that I needed glasses. I never took to contacts, they irritated the ****e out of my eyes. I had it done with optimax in the uk, they were quite reasonable, did both eyes the same day, but that was because they were doing the prk and the chances of success were good. There is another technique called lasik which involves a more complicated procedure, but much less healing time. it's more expensive, they also won't do the two eyes the same day. Recovery from prk was excruciating. Two days in a dark room, wandering around the house with my eyes closed. It also took three weeks or so for my eyesight to stabilise to any normal degree, and several months before I had results that I was happy with. After two years I'm very happy with the results. I have some haze around lights at night, but not much. I think optimax charged £1000 sterling for both eyes the same day, I was able to have checkups in ireland. Check out their website (.co.uk) there's also some good info on the US FDA website about the options, pros cons and risks.
About the same time I had it done, a bunch of mates also had it done, not a bad result among the lot of us. One guy had miserable eyesight and astigmatism, he's not got perfect eyesight now, but he doesn't need the glasses, he had the biggest correction needed, but the bigger the correction, the more unpredictable the result.
The laser surgery does not correct the need for glasses though for reading and all that lark come your middle age spread.
Hope it helps make your decision. There is a risk that it won't go well, it is very dependant on how your eyes heal, they also don't know the long term results as has been pointed out. But for now with me 2 years later, best cash I ever spent. Even better than the money I invested in the beer belly.