I had +8 vision (similar to 20/200 in US terms, almost blind), and corrected it to perfect with 2 LASIK surgeries spread across 2.5 years. AMA.

Did they consider alternative procedures? I have extremely bad vision ( I believe it was +7 or 6) and my doctor talked me into Gentle Molding / Ortho K, which uses contacts to mold your eyes to proper focus. I've been using them for three years, and haven't had a single problem other than overlapping the treatment with quitting smoking (which, BTW, can cause infections, guys!) What kinds of treatments were discussed, if any?

Oh wow, this part about using permanent contacts makes me feel very uncomfortable! At least that's what I understand it is?

I haven't really had many alternatives.

Didn't your parents ever tell you not to shoot lasers into your eyes?

They did and they were extremely worried about it

You said after the first surgery you had no depth perception, among other problems. How long did that last?

It never really went away, and got fixed after the second surgery.

It was really really bad. Up to the point that I couldn't drive properly.

How did the metal thing hold your eye in place? Like it went into your socket? And how much did it hurt? Or could you even feel anything? I have 20/600 vision that is 100% correctable with lenses (glasses or contacts) but it is such an inconvenience to not be able to see anything further than 5 feet away otherwise. I've been urged to get the surgery, but I have an eye phobia. Even just reading your post made me panic.

So this metal thing is like a circle that goes down on your eye, around the retina, and fixes it in place. My eye lids were spread out, so I guess it went into my socket? Should've taken a selfie right there to know exactly

retina is inside your eye, at the back. the curvy bit at the front of your eye is the cornea

Right, thanks for clarifying -- I get mixed up in medical terms, all of my procedures were communicated in Latvian

Did they give you any odds for something going horribly wrong?

They said it's about 5% per surgery, had to sign loads of disclaimers that I wouldn't sue them if things go wrong, it's at your own risk, etc

I've read those disclaimers on lasik, and with 20/200 the risks are easily outweighed by the potential outcome, because your vision can't get much worse without going to black.

I might be off with 20/200 -- having trouble finding what +8 converts to. It meant I was unable to read anything up close. I could read giant signs that are far away, but nothing on paper.

The bigger issue though was that most clinics wouldn't operate my bad eyes because the laser would burn them out before fixing them

Ophthalmologist here. When we speak about visual acuity we like to use the term BCVA (Best corrected visual acuity). It means that if the eye can achieve 20/20 (wearing glasses, contacts, etc) in a broad sense, the eye works fine. Now, the +8.0 is the power of the lens needed to see clearly, not the visual acuity itself. A + sign means you are hyperope (farsighted) and - sign means you're myope (nearshighted). On the other side, if you look long enough, you'll find always a doctor wiling to go "one step further", willing to take your case. If many doctors turned you down, is because they know better and have seen enough complications in this particular scenario. The patients only hear what they want to hear. You're right; you will need reading AND distance glasses soon. And please, if that MD suggest another surgery, please don't!

Thanks for the comment and clarification!

But I will disagree with you. Even when I do need glasses, they won't be as thick as the ones I'd be wearing all my life -- and I get to enjoy hopefully a decade of no glasses in my normal life

See, I am the opposite. I'm -8 and -8.5, except i'm only 16. It's such a pain to have such bad vision. What was your breaking point to decide having LASIK? Like at what moment made you decide to go for the surgery, knowing risks and complications.

When I got contact lenses and realized they are too thick to put in.

My wife would help me get them in, and it'd be the best days of my life -- having a very wide angle of view, without the glasses, it opened up the world to me in ways I haven't seen before. That was when I got determined to get surgery to fix it.

What system is "+8" coming from? In Canada we use dioptres which measures the optical power of a lens, for a near sighted person like yourself it would be a negative number, for far-sighted it would be a positive number. Also there are separate measurements for each eye, and another measurement if you have astigmatism. -8 in dioptres is pretty near sighted but not normally so bad as to require 2 surgeries.

I was far-sighted, so the +8 meant that I couldn't see upclose

What did you find most stressful about the whole thing?

The part where he was using small scissors in the second surgery to cut my eye open. I felt his hand starting to shake after a few unsuccessful attempts and almost had a panic attack right there, wanting to GTFO with just one eye fixed.

Whoa that sounds scary! Seriously though I would have probably crapped my pants right there and then.

I seriously considered that option.

That bit about the eye not opening made me cringe. Congratulations on recovering your sight!

Do you get halos?

I got halos after mine (ten years ago) and kinda waiting for the technology to come along that can fix it. Did you come across anything while researching your procedure?

Now that you mention it, I believe my halos are gone. I had them after the first surgery, but after the second one I constantly used theraputic eye drops and "night gel" for the eyes. Now I'm sitting here looking around trying to find them and can't.

I had 20/400 in one eye and had lasek several years ago. Have you noticed your results have faded at all after a while?

I actually see it getting better and better as long as I live a healthy life style (no drinking, exercise, less weed).

What's strange is just how much exercise adds. It's like the bloodflow stimulates my eyes to work properly.

My vision is best when I play in poker tournaments and exercise in-between.

After a night out though, I will wake up and start searching for glasses in the room, only later remembering I don't have them anymore

Kudos to you on being brave enough to go through with surgery. I have 20/400 vision without contacts, but mine is correctable to 20/60 with lenses. When I was younger and considering the surgery option, I made the mistake of asking to observe someone else's surgery, and the doc made the mistake of letting me. Had to leave the room, and now I'm pretty sure I'm just going to have to learn braille.

Did they give you any sort of sedative or were you just able to stay calm while they sliced your eye?

haha, I was expecting a sedative! it caught me completely off-guard when they just told me to lie down and not move

I was like "am I getting strapped in or something?" -- and no, I wasn't

So in which country did you have the procedure performed?

It was in Latvia, the site is www.lasik.lv and I can only recommend them after this adventure

Hi, as a person who's done PRK (a LASIK variant), it excites me to see others talk about these laser vision correction procedures.

What resources did you use to decide to go for LASIK, as opposed to LASEK, PRK, or many of the variants of these vision correction surgeries?

How long did your rehab take for both procedures? (mine took about 2-3 weeks, for anyone curious)

Hey! I didn't do much research into different procedures, just asked about what would work in my specific case and everyone went for LASIK. I don't like to be a smartass trying to tell doctors what I need.

Recovery time is.... I don't really know. After the first surgery I got straight into my car. Idiotic idea. After the second - same, also idiotic idea. Was told to not use PC, but my line of work (I run www.tinybuild.com) required me to be online. I'd say I was acting normal about a week later, and ideally should've taken two weeks off.

Are those complications like dry eyes and depth perception permanent, or temporary?

So depth perceptio is now fixed and I can catch a ball flying at me. As long as I don't drink alcohol it's totally fine.

Dry eyes now come and go. I have eye drops with me all the time and just use them whenever my eyes are dry. It became part of my routine and I can totally deal with it

Is this common, or was there something special about your vision that let this happen?

I'm at a +5.5 & my optometrist said Lasek wouldn't be of any use to me, that I'd still need glasses after Lasek.

Sounds like bullshit to me. Consult many different doctors.

Most people -- especially in the USA and West Europe -- won't want to take the risk, they have steady jobs and don't want to do anything complicated. I was willing to take the risk.

At What age did you start wearing glasses?

I started wearing glasses since age 3 and I'm kinda worried but I know my vision is under 20/100

I can't open my eyes under water if that matters

I started wearing them at about 4

My 3 year old daughter has +10 vision in both eyes, I was hoping the Lasik would be an option for her in the future. How has your life improved since the surgery?

I became a really good poker player at the table. I can now use my peripheral vision to look at opponents. I gained much more confidence in general. People make much easier eye contact with me. I feel like it was the best decision in my life.

Are you now wary of KFC chicken?

hahaha, I actually now remember my eye surgery every time we get KFC, and remind everyone in the group about my surgery

Several people stop eating instantly, because the mere thought of having your eye open and fried with a laser makes them very uncomfortable :D

A few questions:

Are you a shill? Or do you REALLY want to share your TRUE experiences?

(don't forget, the Reddit hive will expose liars!!!)

I'm a public figure in the game development scene, just google up my name. I wouldn't lie about these kinds of things.