Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by cityofdelusion 756 days ago
LASIK is amazing when it’s no side effects. I’m needing to repair my corneas about 7 years post LASIK through stem cell therapy. My eye surgeon told me that LASIK severs an incredible amount of nerve endings and many eyes basically stop producing tears. The surface of the cornea then slowly erodes away. There are alternative procedures that don’t destroy as many nerves. I wasn’t aware of any of this before I went under the knife, wish I did.
3 comments

If you had to do it over again, which procedure would you choose, or would you skip it altogether due to the potential risk?
Alternatives like implantable contact lenses? I hesitated because something with cataracts and them needing replacement every ten years.

My eyes are -10.5 each and my biggest risk is retinal detachment.

I got ICLs 16 years ago and my advice is I would think twice about it.

Right after the surgery and ever since I get very bad halos in high contrast environments. I haven't been able to drive at night ever since because the halos from street lamps and headlights obscure a significant portion of my vision making it very dangerous.

In addition I had an eye checkup several years ago and was told I had cataract and would need to keep an eye on it. I tracked down the surgeon who did my operation all those years ago and got a second opinion. He told me my eyes were actually fine, and wrote a letter to the first optometrist explaining what she was seeing and recommended me a different optometrist who he knew had experience with ICLs.

I recently needed glasses to drive again as my vision has gotten slightly worse over time as it does naturally.

On balance I have extremely mixed feelings about it.

Is this also true for PRK?