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This makes no sense. Shes -1 diopter(-.75 contacts) and got lasik


I saw this in another forum. I have yet to reply there because I cant think of anything nice to say and dont want to offend her and others. The story she says is she wanted monovision so she got myopic lasik in one eye and hyperopic in the other. Her intent was to make the dormant eye plano instead of the -1 it was. She wanted MORE myopia in her non dormant eye so she can see from near without reading glasses. Well she got it all right and is now -1.5 in that eye. LOL she still complains now she says she cant see her computer monitor clearly! The bad thing is her dormant eye got overcorrected and shes now +1.25 so its blurry at all distances! Shes probably gonna enhance that eye but may still not be plano. Point is she should have left things alone but made a foolish choice, wasted the money, took the risks for nothing and she will still need glasses or contacts!


The moral of the story is this: If you are less than -2 diopters, do not think about lasik, I repeat! leave things alone! You will exchange your ability to see from near for distance and instead of minus glasses, youll need plus! I know one guy who did that, he appearently took his near vision for granted and paid no thought to presbyopia. Guess what he wears reading glasses now and has not reduced his dependancy on glasses, he only traded dependancy. She did the same thing as well.


edit: here is the link!


http://www.asklasikdocs.com/forum/main/3731.html#3

Last edited by Myope5, 11/10/2005, 11:33 pm
11/7/2005, 8:09 pm Link to this post Send Email to Myope5   Send PM to Myope5
 
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Re: This makes no sense. Shes -1 diopter(-.75 contacts) and got lasik


her origional story below


Lasik for Mono-vision. Pre-Lasik: wore a -.75 contact in left and right eye.
Post-Lasik: Left eye is -1.25/-1.50 and right eye is +1.25/+1.50 The new Dr. wants to only treat my right eye. However, I use to be able to read books and the computer screen without glasses. Now I can only read numbers on pagers and over-the-counter medication with the left eye. Can't see the computer screen well with either.

What is the actual prescription strived for on the under corrected eye for mono-vision? I am 45. Do you think the Dr. thinks that correcting the over-correction on my right eye will allow me to see the computer screen? I work on the computer screen eight hours a day.

I had the Lasik at the end of Aug. I need an answer to this before I have my eyes tested again on Nov 11 so I know whether to put money in Flex Spending for one eye or two. That day is our deadline. Thank you kindly!

11/9/2005, 9:57 pm Link to this post Send Email to Myope5   Send PM to Myope5
 
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Re: This makes no sense. Shes -1 diopter(-.75 contacts) and got lasik


my response to her:



I hope whatever I say does not come as rude. I am not going to put you down for your decision, but I was marely wondering. Do you feel that your uncorrected vision was bad enough to take the risks of lasik? We would have strongly urged you not to take the lasik risk for 20/30 uncorrected vision which is very good, thats my BCVA! Lasik would have not helped reduce your glasses dependancy anyway, just trade your ability to see from intermediate for distance and youd then need reading glasses. Were things blurry from near with your -1 pescription? You mentioned you wanted more myopia in the non dormant eye so you can see better from near which you did. Now things from 1 meter are a little blurry. Its unfortunate your other eye got overcorrected. I would enhance it back into slight myopia and leave it alone from there. Youd be back to square one with slight myopia in each eye and an experience to tell everyone NOT to get lasik if they are less than -2 diopters. I am not against lasik, but I think its "not worth it" if your already seeing well without glasses, especially from near. I see you got partially refunded for your lasik but one cant put a price on their eyes. Right now im trying to talk this guy whos 20/15 with glasses, 20/40 without from getting lasik. I told him there is no guarantee he will see 20/15 or even 20/20 after lasik and he may still need glasses anyway, especially if he gets overcorrected. I told him he will lose his ability to see well from near once presbyopia sets and he will trade minus glasses for plus reading glasses. Thanks for reading and I would be interested to hear back from you. I extend my consolences for the un-neccessary lasik experience.
11/10/2005, 11:32 pm Link to this post Send Email to Myope5   Send PM to Myope5
 
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Re: This makes no sense. Shes -1 diopter(-.75 contacts) and got lasik


this is sad. read what she said. Her eyes have been ruined by un-neccessary lasik! There is no way anyone in their right mind should have gotten lasik if they were seeing 20/30 with -1 glasses giving you 20/15! She only "needed" glasses for driving and TV. Now shes gonna need glasses probably more than before!




Thank you for the feed back. You are right that I can not see well at any distance. I saw 20/30 without glasses 20/15 with. Now even with a contact, I can't see 20/20 with my right eye and words are blurry at any distance.
The Dr. was aware that I worked on a computer for eight hours a day. I questioned the mono-vision and strain on my eyes by only having one eye for close up. They had three different people call me and tell me not to be concerned. I even stated to the Dr. not to do anything on my eyes that he wouldn't want done on his if he had the same prescription. The orginal Lasik site agreed to reimburse my money but I still have to pay to have the problem fixed. I don't call this an enhancement because my sight is worse than it was before. Because I can't see 20/20 in my right eye with a contact but could see 20/15 before, the new Lasik site can not guarantee me that they can get it back.

Yes, I now know that having my eyes as they were with just wearing glasses for driving and TV was the best possible result that I could have asked for. The eye they did for close up and only see the first foot in front of me. I use to be able to read menus/books at a regular distance; the computer screen at a further distance away. Now I can read the small print on over-the-counter medication but not comfortable trying to read/write.
11/10/2005, 11:39 pm Link to this post Send Email to Myope5   Send PM to Myope5
 
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Re: This makes no sense. Shes -1 diopter(-.75 contacts) and got lasik


another response to her:




you said you are having your eyes tested again on the 11th. what is your pescription in each eye now, whats your uncorrected vision and best corrected vision in each eye? I hope you can still be corrected to 20/15. Werent you a -1 in glasses in both eyes before lasik?


"I actually canceled my Lasik procedure because my eye Dr. stated he didn't think my eyes were bad enough to warrant it and that I should try out mono-vision contacts first."


that was a very good idea. we also tell people with low pescriptions that their eyes arent bad enough for lasik and just to leave things be. It is common concensus that if you can see well enough to legally drive without glasses, you absolutely should NOT consider lasik.


"I received a call from the Lasik place who had three different Dr.'s call and reassure me that they should be able to get me 20/15 without glasses."


should and will are different. There is no guarantees with lasik. You may or may not get 20/15. If you end with any over/under correction or induced astigmastim and high order abberations, you wont have better than perfect 20/15 vision. 20/30 without glasses is very good vision and this is as good as I see with my best corrected glasses!


"that if you are gaining distance, you are giving up close up (vice-versa with the other eye)."


yup. I know quite a few people who did not know the full effects of presbyopia. They took their ability to see from near(er) for granted and didnt pay much thought to presbyopia. Well they were shocked and upset when they couldnt see a thing from near! Many doctors now make note that lasik does not correct presbyopia and you may still need reading glasses which may be the case for you and others.


"They simply state that if you can see 20/15 with glasses, they can give you that without."


only if everything goes well and you end up right on plano with no induced astigmastim, high order abberations or other complications. I have gotten a lasik consolation and spoke to a technician/optometrist and they said "we can get you to 20/25" now I realize that is not guaranteed. However its pratically guaranteed I will improve from the 20/500 I get now without glasses. If I get overcorrected, ill need bifocals. If I get induced astigmastim ill need glasses most of the time. If I end up undercorrected, this isnt a bad thing but id still need glasses part time. The best I can hope for is a reduction in dependancy of glasses. 20/500 vision requires glasses full time.


"but I didn't realize the close-up eye, wouldn't see the computer screen at the distance that I had before. The close-up eye, only sees the first ft."


then you have about -3 diopters now in that eye instead of -1 and therefore can only see 1/3 meter or 13" away. Good for reading up close though but its trading computer vision for close up reading vision.


"The Dr.'s were aware that I worked on a computer eight hours a day. Unfortunately, they are in the market to make money and will state things in a way to make you lean towards making the decision."


Thats the sad thing. Some doctors are too greedy and their ethics are lacking. An ethical doctor would put your eyes first before profits and should turn away anyone seeing 20/40 or better without glasses or presbyopes with mild myopia. They of course should turn away anyone that isnt a good candidate or has a reduced chance for a good lasik outcome. If you had posted here before getting lasik, the doctors here and we could have given you our opinion and that would be one of leaving things be. Sorry to hear you didnt know of this forum before lasik.


"At this point, the best thing I can do is have my over-corrected eye Lasik'd. (Hoping to gain my vision back.)"


I hope things work well for you. If you end up plano in that eye, youll still need reading glasses. If you end up myopic again youll be back to square one. I also hope you can achieve the 20/15 BCVA you used to have. If not you could be seeing with glasses what you used to without. I dont even know what 20/15 vision is like since the best I see is 20/30 with glasses.


"and like I did before for driving."


although 20/30 vision is well within the legal requirement for driving, 20/15 is even better. You arent legally required to wear glasses for driving or anything at all. It would be good measure to see as best as you can for driving but for anything else, theres no need for glasses.


"DEEP REGRETS! DIDN'T REALIZE I HAD THE BEST VISION I COULD HAVE HOPED FOR ALREADY!"


I am sorry to hear emoticon At the least, others will learn from this and not make the same mistake. I am trying to talk my friend out of lasik, hes 20/40 correctable to 20/15 from making the same mistake! If you make a website about your own uneventful lasik diary, this will help thousands avoid the mistake of lasering a -1 diopter 20/30 vision. You wore -1 glasses before, right? Also tell everyone you know NOT to get lasik if they can see well enough without glasses!


"Next appointment, Nov 16. (Need to know whether to put money in flex-spending for one eye or two.) Lasik on right eye scheduled Jan 12."


Keep in touch with the board. We will gladly answer any questions and concerns you have and offer support. Also link us to your online lasik diary once you finish making it.


origional link:


http://www.asklasikdocs.com/forum/main/3731.html#5
11/12/2005, 12:25 am Link to this post Send Email to Myope5   Send PM to Myope5
 
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dont get lasik for 20/40 UCVA!


another classic example but not as disasterous.



His dilemna:


It's been roughly 6 weeks after my Intralase surgery. My unaided sight was 20/40. With glasses I saw 20/15 in both eyes, but the left eye was sharper. My right eye is 20/20 clear with 20/15 blurry, but I can make out about half the 20/15 line. My left eye is 20/20, but half the line is fuzzy even though I can make out the letters. When I just slightly squint my left eye, it sees razor sharp and I can read the 20/15 line. When squinting my right eye, my vision doesn't change at all. I had my 3rd visit to the doctors today and he said I had no swelling and my astigmatism was the cause of the fuzziness. He added .25 and I could see the 20/15 line just fine. My question is, how long will I take to heal and what are my chances that I will be able to see 20/15 clearly after full recovery? Again, when I squint even slightly, I can see very well with the left eye.


my reply:

what was your glasses pescription in each eye before lasik? You got me curious why you got lasik with an uncorrected vision of 20/40. Are you active in outdoors and sports? As for healing, different people heal at different times. This is why they make you wait 3 months minimum for an enhancement but in my opinion its definately not a good idea for -.25 or -.5 myopia and/or astigmastim remaining unless you dont mind possible overcorrection and additional risks.



so why take the lasik risks for such a low pescription and visual accuracy good enough to drive legally? He didnt need glasses to begin with, maybe except to drive as good measure. Now I dont think hes happy that hes seeing worse than he did with glasses. I would have never reccomended lasik for this low pescription and told him he may not be happy with what he sees vs. what he saw with glasses. I am not bashing lasik but find it absurd sometimes people that have a UCVA good enough not to depend much or at all on glasses think lasik is so safe they get it.
11/17/2005, 10:20 pm Link to this post Send Email to Myope5   Send PM to Myope5
 
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Re: This makes no sense. Shes -1 diopter(-.75 contacts) and got lasik


he replied again.


My original prescription was 1.25 in both eyes. I'm unsure of the astigmatism readings. One reason was I just didn't like wearing glasses. Contacts were noticeably less clear because of my astigmatism (which really wasn't bad) and I my work environment really dried my eyes out while wearing them. I also play softball spring, summer and fall and I found it very difficult to judge the ball with glasses. I now notice that everyone isn't shortemoticon
What are my chances that my left eye will continue to get better?


my reply:

>My original prescription was 1.25 in both
>eyes. I'm unsure of the
>astigmatism readings.
I am gonna assume its likley between -.5 and -1 for astigmastim or your UCVA vision would be worse than 20/40. Your amount of myopia(plus astigmastim) is consistant with your 20/40 UCVA


>One reason was I
>just didn't like wearing glasses.

understood. I dont like them either but with my -5 pescription, I see 20/500 UCVA!(20/30 BCVA) How functional were you without glasses? I would imagine 20/40 is good enough not to need glasses, except perhaps driving at night. My brother is 20/60 UCVA(very near 20/20 BCVA) and only really wears glasses to drive.

Contacts
>were noticeably less clear because of
>my astigmatism (which really wasn't bad)
>and I my work environment really
>dried my eyes out while wearing
>them.

Did you try toric contacts? I have worn contacts and they too dried my eyes(lots of computer usage sure didnt help)I cant tolerate contacts well either plus they make things blurry from near due to my mild presbyopia.

>I also play softball
>spring, summer and fall and I
>found it very difficult to judge
>the ball with glasses. I
>now notice that everyone isn't short emoticon


Were you able to play better uncorrected? Seems strange -1.25 glasses minifies and disorts enough to be noticable. I can notice some with my -5 glasses but its subtile.


>What are my chances that my left
>eye will continue to get better?


No one can be sure, but its still early. How happy are you with your vision right now? Do you feel its better than it was without glasses? Do you feel like getting enhanced if it stays like this? I doubt an enhancement would be "worth it" if you end up 20/25 due to risk of overcorrection among other risks but its up to you and your doctor to decide. Thanks for your time responding emoticon



I had more to say but was being as polite as I could as not to offend anyone. I was thinking of telling him he shouldnt have gotten lasik but I figured he and the doctors who read and post there would take offense and just delete my post. Low myopes like him will be very picky because their UCVA leaves very little to desire and they are functional without correction so they expect to see as good(or better!) than glasses after lasik. High myopes on the other hand usually are just happy to be less dependant on glasses and trade their cokebottles for a thin, attractive pair of glasses to be worn occasionally. Many of them are informed they may still need a thin pair and they wont be exactly plano(20/20, 20/25, 20/30, whatever they saw with glasses)
and they are ok with the possibility of needing glasses for stuff like driving and are just happy to be functional instead of "blind" without glasses. A bonus is if they end up mildly myopic is they can put off reading glasses emoticon emoticon
11/18/2005, 3:50 am Link to this post Send Email to Myope5   Send PM to Myope5
 
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Re: This makes no sense. Shes -1 diopter(-.75 contacts) and got lasik


I dont have much more to say except I hope your new vision continues to improve! Yes 20/20 is still better than 20/40. You indeed were functional without glasses but wanted better UCVA. For many people, 20/40 UCVA isnt worth the risks of lasik but you had specific needs and also lead an active life, one where glasses are a big inconvinence and one where any improvement in UCVA was welcomed. My brother doesnt really play sports and he does alot of studying and working on the computer so his 20/60 vision is perfectly fine and he doesnt really wear glasses except to drive. How large are your dilated pupils by the way? Mine could be 9mm so I think lasik is probably out for me. That and id need reading glasses too. Have you used reading glasses?
11/19/2005, 6:32 am Link to this post Send Email to Myope5   Send PM to Myope5
 
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Re: This makes no sense. Shes -1 diopter(-.75 contacts) and got lasik


"10 days post op and no improvement"
Posted by Pat - Novi, MI on 13:26:21 11/27/2005
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I had LASEK with wavefront on the Bausch & Lomb Zytronix (Spelling) machine on Thursday, November 17th (10 days ago). I previously had Lasik six years ago with a -9 prescription. After some regression I settled into a -1.75 in the left eye and -.75 in the right eye for the past several years.
I decided to give Lasek a try given my now thinner cornea and so the doctor performed LASEK custom wavefront. Ten days later and I can only see 20/60 in the left eye and can barely make out the Big E on the eye chart with the right eye. This has been the same for the past 10 days. My left eye improved to 20/60 within two days or so, but no improvement in the last eight days and no improvement ever on the right eye.

I wnet to the drug store yesterday and got a pair of +3.25 reading glasses which enable me to write this message and funny enough my distance vision is better with them.

Isn't 10 days a long time? Should I just be more patient or is there a problem?

Thanks Pat
 
   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. "takes time to heal"
Posted by ace - wpb, FL on 22:30:41 11/27/2005
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Message on Reply
surface ablation may take weeks to heal and settle down. Personally, I would have only done the -1.75 eye and left the -.75 alone as it was near plano and the slight myopia it had would be great for monovision and delayed the need for reading glasses. Anyway give it some time to heal and let your new pescription settle down. If you still end up with a refractive error, you may need a new pair of glasses. I hope you do end up closer to plano than where you were.

Hope this helps.(not a doc)
 


my additional comments

I did not want to be rude but I think she made a big mistake correcting both eyes. I probably would have left things well enough alone as the slight myopia was what kept her out of reading glasses. Now shes facing the possibility of being a hyperope and needing bifocals. Before that she barely needed glasses at all due to her natural monovision of -1.75 and -.75 which would have given her around 20/100 in the worse eye and 20/30 to 20/50 in the better eye. She didnt really need glasses except perhaps for driving. If she still wanted correction, I would have only done the -1.75 eye. She does need time to heal but theres no guarantee where she will end up and her visual accuracy and quality may be even worse now!
11/27/2005, 10:39 pm Link to this post Send Email to Myope5   Send PM to Myope5
 
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Re: This makes no sense. Shes -1 diopter(-.75 contacts) and got lasik


With the negetivately ive spewed reguarding lasik, one may think im an anti-lasik zealot. Nah, not really. Just aware lasik isnt right for everyone. For the wrong people, yes I will try to inform you that lasik isnt a wise decision. For the right people, I will inform you of the risks and realize theres a good chance your gonna be happy but problems can still occur...
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