Laser eye surgery

My mam had it done last Saturday week in the Roseville clinic in Terenure... she didn't get Lasik as her eyes weren't suitable she got another (the?) other kind. Anyway, she was in and out in an hour and she had to wear sunglasses for the first few days but now her near vision is perfect and her distance vision is improving daily... her doctor says three months is when she will have certifiable 20/20 vision again. Overall she's had a great experience and has told me she doesn't regret it for a second.

ive spoken to an eye surgeon in the states whos a friend of the family. lasik is a bad idea. in a few years the front of ur eye might start lifting off, as its flapped.

prk is much safer but a little painful. do not even consider lasik it is way to invasive and there are no long term studies as of yet.

Blitzkrieger wrote:

Does he dribble a lot? I have never heard of that before in all the horror stories on the net about lasik. My sister had it done 5 years ago and has had no lasting side effects. I also had it done in the same place (Wellington Clinic) and had no side effects at all.

flapped being medical jargon for elevation of ur cornea, and a small flap made. this can then lift at any point and become unbonded. the reason lasik took off was it was a painless way to have it done, and generally people dont like pain. prk has more clinical data, and frankly yer man said if he was getting it done he would avoid lasik as if it was manure. having said this he does it to other people but thats life for u.
incidentally he still wears glasses himself for shortsight, makes u wonder. this is not bull**** its the truth.

also 5 years is nothing from a long term study point of view. time will tell in 15 or 20 years. nothing can take from the fact that lasik is very very invasive. i would avoid it. edit~ i should say lasik is still the treatment of choose in severe myopia. however the majority of people are safer with prk MUCH SAFER
here are a few possibilities- he also mention weak cornea being a problem

11. CORNEAL ECTASIA. - Cutting a corneal flap for LASIK can cause structural weakening of the cornea. Although LASIK has been performed since 1996 in the USA, the cutting of corneal flaps has been performed worldwide since 1959 for treating corneal diseases and refractive errors. I have learned that if I cut too deep of a flap or remove too much corneal tissue with LASIK, I can structurally compromise corneal integrity, resulting in a "weakened" cornea that may "bulge" months to years after LASIK. This is called "ectasia" and can cause significant regression of the LASIK treatment, resulting in the recurrence of significant nearsightedness and/or astigmatism. Retreatment is not possible and would even make the regression worse. In the rare case of extreme ectasia, a corneal transplant would be necessary to regain useful vision. I have a 1/1000 incidence of corneal ectasia and I have had one patient require a corneal transplant after LASIK. To minimize the risk of ectasia, I do corneal topography and measure the corneal thickness (pachymetry) of every LASIK patient prior to LASIK to identify patients that are at risk for developing ectasia. I will not perform LASIK on any patient that I think is at risk for developing ectasia. Approximately 2% of LASIK candidates that I examine are at risk for ectasia and cannot be safely treated.

. PERMANENT UNCORRECTABLE BLURRY VISION OR "GHOST IMAGES" - Rarely, a patient may have corneal irregularity after LASIK that causes blurry vision or "ghost images". "Ghost images" are similar to a TV picture with poor reception; overlapping the main image is an identical, but dim second image. A retreatment may not be able to treat a post-LASIK corneal irregularity.

DISLOCATED CORNEAL FLAP - The corneal flap is remarkably stable after LASIK, but I have had one patient's flap dislocate after surgery. The patient had an uneventful LASIK procedure. However, when I saw her the day after surgery, her flap had come loose, and was tucked up under the upper eye lid. It was still attached at its base to the cornea. The patient had experienced significant non-LASIK emotional distress three hours after her LASIK procedure, and had sobbed heavily for approximately five minutes. This probably caused the flap to dislocate. I brought the patient back to the Laser Center and easily repositioned the flap. Fortunately, the flap remained in position and the patient had 20/20 vision 48 hours after the flap was repositioned.

EPITHELIAL INGROWTH - Small cells from the corneal epithelium, the "clear skin" that covers the cornea, can become embedded under the LASIK flap. This occurs in less than 1% of LASIK cases. The cells can start to grow and form a thin sheet of epithelium under the flap. This will affect the vision. The epithelial cells are usually easy to remove by anesthetizing the eye with eye drops, painlessly lifting the flap, and irrigating or mechanically removing the aberrant epithelial cells. I have had two patients with epithelial ingrowth; both were very successfully treated and have had no further problems.

FLAP WRINKLES - When I replace the corneal flap after performing the LASIK procedure, small folds in the flap are common, and are easy to identify and remove at the time of the LASIK by simply refloating the flap. However, small folds can occur rarely in the flap in the first few hours following the procedure. Wrinkles probably occur when the patient inadvertently squeezes the eye tightly shut. Visually significant wrinkles occur in less than 1% of cases. If wrinkles occur, I take the patient back to the Laser Center, anesthetize the eye with an eye drop, relift the flap and smooth out the flap to remove the wrinkles. This usually removes the wrinkles successfully. If this does not, I repeat the retreatment procedure a second time.

THIN FLAP - When we use the Microkeratome to cut the LASIK flap, there is less than a 1% chance of a thin flap occurring. If the flap is too thin, I cannot perform LASIK. If I did Laser over a thin LASIK flap, visually threatening corneal irregularities and haze would occur. Fortunately, it is easy to identify a thin flap. If one occurs, I reposition the flap immediately, and do nothing more. Within 2 to 3 days, the patient will have usually regained his or her original vision, and can see again with their original glasses or contact lenses. We can then repeat the LASIK procedure in 3 months.

the problem is people think of lasik like buying a bigmac. the reality is that they use a micro buzzsaw to cut a wafer thin flap-this is the bit i have the problem with not the next bit which is the nukingbit with the laser.
anything this invasive cannot be good. however if one has poor sight then this can still be the best option ie more than -6.

KlodaX wrote:

I can't wear contacts ... well I can but I've dry eyes so they just irrate ...I can only wear them every so often... and I've a tendancy to break glasses and keep touching my face when I wear them.. really annoying .. just never got used to glasses..... so I'm left with no other option. I really want to be able to see. People keep saying to me that their auntys or cousins have it done and its great.... but I don't know where they are getting it done? I'm looking for recommendations of someone who has had it done successfully. I'm pretty certain I'm getting it done... I just need to find a place. Likewise if anyone has had difficulties .. where and when did you have it done?

where is the wellington clinic?

Klodax if you have dry eyes you'll likely not be allowed get the surgery. I'd advise against it.

joedublinka wrote:

flapped being medical jargon for elevation of ur cornea, and a small flap made. this can then lift at any point and become unbonded.

I would presume the eye like any other part of the body will heal, thats like saying scars from any operation/accident could burst open at anytime.

Suppose so. Would your ability to heal have any bearing on this?, some people heal faster after operations than others for example!
What about Zyoptix, still the same amount of cutting involved?

It has been my dream to get the proceedure done. I have only pure hatred for glasses, I cant seem to keep the contacts in for more than 5 hours without them giving me trouble. Waiting for the SSIA to mature next year to do it. 4000 grand is a bit steep, I am sure I could scrap it together. Thank you to the other posters, its good to get some conise info from Irish people. because when you go to the website all you seem to get is how brillant everything they do is with no prices.
I would not go abroad to get, it would be a bit messy for post op care

JohnK wrote:

Only €3,000 with Optilase and if you join Vivas you can claim back €1,000. Dont forget that you can also claim back the tax on the remaining amount.

Is it not that you can claim back tax relief on the total ammount i.e. €3000 regardless of whatever deductions have been made.