had lasic 6 years ago. Best decision ever made.

Awake for it, terrifying to experience.

I had Lasek about 6 years ago.  I choose Lasek as apposed to lasik as I do physical sports and didn't want the risk of dislodging the flap.  The disadvantage is the couple of week recovery time.

I had it done in Korea.  I was living there at the time and it cost about $2000 total for both eyes.  Best thing I have ever done.

It was painful.  (difference between lasek and lasik).

I do have poor night vision now.

My wife went through the LASIK procedure in 2013 in Canada.

I'm not a fan of medically invasive procedures, when she first suggested it I was against the idea (and anyway thought she looked cute in her trendy glasses)

But one rainy night she (wearing contacts) was the DD driving me and some of the boys home - and nearly ran a police roadblock.
Scared the cr*p out of us - and the cops. Thought we were going to get shot.

In the debrief the following day she said her night vision in some situations was pretty marginal, especially in contacts, but glasses caused issues too.
The glare of oncoming traffic would cause halos, or ghosting, and her peripheral vision was reduced so she'd have to look down at the gauges, back up and refocus on the road.

So we did the tests, she signed a waiver that graphically depicted all the things that could go wrong.
Being nearsighted, with astigmatism, and dis-similar eyes, she had LASIK (Keratomileusis) on one eye, PRK (Keratectomy) on the other.
We purchased the Lifetime "Vision Enhancement Plan" which requires a biennial LASIK vision check, but we'd do that anyway.

The cost wasn't really an issue, but it helped that it was classed "an allowable medical expense" by the Canada Revenue Agency.

They deliberately over corrected her vision during the procedure, to allow for changes during healing process. That worked perfectly.
After 5 years she doesn't regret it at all. Had her licenses changed to remove the 'corrective lenses' requirement, a massive improvement in night vision, vision in general.

She does suffer from dry eyes, and has artificial tear drops.

I had LASIK on both eyes in 2005 in Melbourne.  I was about -3.5 ish in both eyes prior.  I had both eyes done at the same time.  Procedure was quite nervy, the worst part was mechanically cutting the flap as the suction onto the eye made my vision go black and they hadn't explained this would happen (my wife had LASIK a couple years ago and I believe they now cut the flap with the laser).  I vividly remember the light I was looking at becoming clearer as the laser did its thing, and walking outside (with the eye patches on) but being able to see objects through the holes.

One of my eyes regressed very quickly so I had the procedure re-done on my left eye after 3 months.  The  worst issue I have is trying to read long distance signs under low light, doable but difficult. Overall its still the best decision I ever made and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Here is the video of one eye of my procedure (100mb file) if anyone is curious, about 2min mark the flap gets done/opened, laser after that. http://users.on.net/~amosau/LASIK/

Amosnz:

 

 

 

Here is the video of one eye of my procedure

 

Aaaargh!

I saw the surgeon today.

Various tests and eye scans and he says all looks good from that POV so it's scheduled for the end of June (to fit in with my travel schedule) which gives me plenty of time to have second thoughts if I want to!

The risk of something messing up that seriously affects your vision was given as 0.1% which is pretty good. Common general surgery has a mortality rate of 3% to 4%...!

snooparoop: In saying that my brother in law had an intra ocular lense inserted in one eye, with the intention of blended vision.
He regrets the decision immensely nd refuses to proceed with the other eye.

Did he say why? I had this done about 8 years ago and it's been (by and large) great!

mudguard:

 

My eyes are -6.00 so no Lasik at this stage for me. And I've possibly left it too late. I'm getting close to 40 so there's a risk of age related change.

 

Still if you are wearing contacts and aren't using daily ones, it might be worth a try. I don't miss cleaning or storing them at all. 

 

I was -7.5 and -7 and at age 42 decide I needed to stop wearing contact lenses all the time yet new glasses would be $1k without being able to try them finished with lens etc. Plus the inevitable onset of  long sightedness would mean even more expensive glasses.

So I had Lasik with Nick Mantell at the Eye Institute in Dec 2014. Worth every cent, no regrets. I had to go back for a second session on one eye but no big deal.

I suggest you go for a free consultation to learn more.

ad:

 

mudguard:

 

My eyes are -6.00 so no Lasik at this stage for me. And I've possibly left it too late. I'm getting close to 40 so there's a risk of age related change.

 

Still if you are wearing contacts and aren't using daily ones, it might be worth a try. I don't miss cleaning or storing them at all. 

 

 

I was -7.5 and -7 and at age 42 decide I needed to stop wearing contact lenses all the time yet new glasses would be $1k without being able to try them finished with lens etc. Plus the inevitable onset of  long sightedness would mean even more expensive glasses.

 

So I had Lasik with Nick Mantell at the Eye Institute in Dec 2014. Worth every cent, no regrets. I had to go back for a second session on one eye but no big deal.

 

I suggest you go for a free consultation to learn more.

 

Nick Mantell is a good bugger - I've known him since before he got his Ophthalmologist ticket. Not too many eye docs who can say they played hooker for Waikato in a Ranfurly Shield winning side!

I'm curious - in a rough price range how much these days does Lasik cost in NZ - anyone know?

esawers: In Christchurch $6900
I think it’s cheaper in the north island
Im sure the price is going up more than inflation, it was only $6000 last time I checked

Wow, hope that's for both eyes then!

No wonder people are tempted into the risks of surgery tourism when it is so much more expensive here.

I had mine corrected in 1992/1993 (one surgery per eye) back when I was 22.

At the time, LASIK wasn't yet available and I had a proceedure called Photorefractive keratectomy. 25 years now of not wearing glasses has been awesome!