(no subject)

[seventhe]

Laser vision correction -- good idea, or terrible idea?

Comments

[venefica-aura.livejournal.com]

My dad has to get some form of that (lasik, I think) because he's got cataracts. And huge fucking glasses.

I dunno, if your glasses are getting insane, it might not be a bad idea.

[churched.livejournal.com]

Good idea! As a perpetual contact wearer, I'd jump at the chance.

[clarify.livejournal.com]

I vote yea, since I'm getting it myself.

[darcenciel.livejournal.com]

I've known several people who've had it and had nothing but good things to say about it!

[lassarina]

I hear really good things.

However, I hear tell that sometimes you need to get it re-done after a few years, so just be aware of that, I guess?

[katmillia.livejournal.com]

My mom swears that I should do it. I wouldn't have a problem with doing it unless I was sure my eyes weren't going to change again afterwards (because then you've basically thrown money away)! But I don't think it's a bad idea!

[divka.livejournal.com]

I don't think it is a terrible idea. My father-in-law had LASIK done, with no regrets.

I'm a bad candidate for it because I have huge stoner-like pupils. There are non-laser sorts that I can apparently get. Essentially, there are contact lenses that work like orthodontic braces for your eyes.

[shanaqui]

From what my dad has said from his research -- so this is, what, third hand information by now? -- it might not be permanent and there's only so much they can do. It was also pretty expensive in Britain last time I looked, but obviously you have different circumstances.

And sometimes it just isn't suitable for one reason or another.

Buuuut if it's affordable and there's a good chance of it working (could you get that assessed somewhere/somehow?) then I would go for it.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

Like many others here, I've heard lots of good things about it from those who've had it, and my vision is bad enough that I've considered it. But I'm still leery. It almost doesn't matter how small the chances of something going wrong are -- my vision is too important for me to willingly risk it. I think it all depends on how annoying your vision problems are, and what your risk tolerance is. Bad as it is, my vision is still completely correctable by glasses or contacts; if it weren't, then I might feel differently.

[rosencrantz.livejournal.com]

Well, you have special eye problems so this is just a shot in the dark. But I'm generally against laser vision correction for a couple of reasons:

1. if they get it wrong you're fucked worse than you were when you started

2. it can reduce your night vision, which in turn could lead to unexpected consequences besides just hitting walls in the dark. like, not being able to drive as safely as before during the night

3. this is the kicker: if you have normal short-sightedness, which is what most people usually go in to have that corrective surgery for, well: when you hit your 40s, your vision eventually starts getting more and more long-sighted. I mean this is why a lot of elderly folks have to wear "reading" glasses even if they didn't need them in their youth. In laymen's terms that means farsighted people get screwed as they get older and short sighted people reap benefits. Since you're already over that 25 year old hill, you'd only be reaping about 15 years of benefits before corrected vision could start to bite you in the ass the other way around.

I'd just stay away from it if I were you. Actually, I'm me, so I just went with contact lenses when my glasses actually bugged me. (They don't anymore. My glasses are like anti-dog eye protectors now. It's my one great advantage over Chris when Maxi leaps up to greet us with her pointy nose.)

[not-cynical.livejournal.com]

I think it's slightly more 1) would it help, 2) if yes, do you want to do it, and 3) if yes, can you afford it? If yes to all three, then, well, it's probably a good idea?

I think lasers-in-eyes is kinda a BAD thing, but that's more a disinclination to lasers after hanging around my scifi friends than based on any actual knowledge about it.

[dmcclean.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

Bad idea, but only because you look hot in glasses?

-Doug McClean, from "back in the day", randomly browsing the interwebs and stumbled on this page