I had gotten LASIK in January 2016 and hadn’t gotten an eye exam since then just because I felt my eye sight was fine. Then I realized that my work insurance pays for a free annual eye exam, so why not take advantage of it. Plus, although LASIK helped me see better, I still should get the health of my eyes checked.
After scheduling an exam a month out, I went and got the usual puff in both eyes. I was then asked if I wanted to have my pupils dilated or pay an out of pocket cost of ~$35 for a computer model. I chose the computer model because a) I could afford it and more importantly b) there’d be a saved image on the computer so they can view any changes year over year.
Then the moment of truth came – the eye exam. This was the part I was most excited about. I wanted to see if my vision got worse since LASIK. The technician made me read the letters in each eye. I got all of them right. Then she tested me with both eyes. I got all 6 right on the 20/20 test. She wanted to move on, but I asked her, “Can we keep going? I want to see how far I can go.” She pulled up the 20/15 chart. BOOM! All 6 right. At this point, she was into the “game” I was playing. She flipped the 20/10 chart. Man it was hard. Of course they put the “e,” “o,” and “c” on there. There 3 of those. I got the other 3 correct (the “t” and “h” type of letters.) I was able to guesstimate one of the c/e/o letters and got it right. Thus, I got 4 out of 6 correct. The tech said she had a hard time reading them and she was 2 feet closer. She also let me have it since I had gotten 4 of 6 correct. She said if I had only gotten say 2, then she would have dropped me down to 20/15.
Everyone who has gotten LASIK has told me that it was one of the best investments of their life, and I couldn’t agree more. I know you must be thinking, “C’mon it only takes 2 minutes every day to put in and take out your contacts.” While that is true, the convenience of not having to do that, not having to pack contact lens solution, not having a contact bothering your eye, etc makes the money spent on LASIK worth it. I just wish I had gotten it done sooner in life.
I got PRK in 2013 and seriously agree – best investment ever! I haven’t gotten a vision test since maybe mid-2014 at this point but last time I was 20/15. (Before I was about 20/40, so really not *that* bad). Would be curious to see if it’s still as good now!
I haven’t noticed that my near vision is worse now, but I do feel like my night time depth perception isn’t as good.
That’s because you’re still super young, Caroline!! 🙂 The night time thing is likely due to your eyes dilating more in the dark outside the zone of treatment. I’m surprised you mention depth perception more than things like halos and glare though, that’s probably the more common complaint. Anyways, getting a dilated eye exam is still recommended every 2 years even if you’re seeing 20/20, 20/15, or 20/10. Like Vinh said, especially for people who used to be nearsighted, it’s important to get the health of the eyes checked since most eye diseases have no symptoms.
Congrats. LASIK was the best thing I ever did 21 years ago after so many years of glasses then contacts….until I got older and developed cataracts.
Cataracts took away my near vision so reading glasses are now needed.
I have noticed my near vision has gotten worse than before, which is the side effect of LASIK. Can you read your phone w/o reading glasses? Or only when you’re reading a book and such?
When I move the phone further away I can read it but I’ve made my type much bigger.
Ooph. That’s what I was afraid of. I guess you can’t fight off old age.
Optometrist here…it’s not necessarily cataracts that ruins your near vision. It’s presbyopia, which affects everyone starting at approximately age 40-45 and gets progressively worse each year until it tops out at +2.50. This is why people need stronger and stronger reading glasses, starting at around +0.75 or +1.00 and then topping out when you get to +2.50 after several years. Nearsighted (myopic) people do not notice this until a few years after other people b/c their nearsightedness acts as ‘built-in reading glasses’. Farsighted (hyperopic) people may notice the near vision getting worse even earlier.
When you get LASIK, you are no longer nearsighted or farsighted (sometimes they overcorrect you a bit, so you may become farsighted, but most LASIK patients are young and likely won’t notice because you can accommodate through it due to your young age). So you are likely to start losing your near vision a little earlier because you no longer have your built-in reading glasses anymore.
Vinh sounds like he may have been slightly over-corrected, since otherwise I don’t think his near vision would have been affected at this age.
However, this is not meant to be discouraging. Reading glasses are only needed for close-up stuff like using the phone or reading. The benefits of not having to wear glasses for the distance anymore far outweighs the few times per day you need to wear reading glasses for up close.
And you can always get multi-focal contact lenses or progressive (no-line bifocal) glasses too!
E, what about if you’re already farsighted? is LASIK recommended for someone who wishes to see things closer up more so? or is LASIK mostly only for nearsighted folks who cant see things far out? is there any other perma operation available for those that can see well far but have trouble seeing things closer to their face?
Do you mean hyperopia, or presbyopia? Based on your age I imagine you are asking about hyperopia (there currently really isn’t a refractive surgery like LASIK for presbyopia, but there is a surgical option called KAMRA inlay). LASIK can be done on hyperopia (not very common). In any case, you would need a consultation and imaging to see if it would work for you.
By the way, there is a awesome procedure now called SMILE, which is better and less invasive than LASIK because instead of cutting an entire flap, only a small incision is made. For people considering refractive surgery in the near future and can afford to pay a little more for the best, this is what I would recommend, but LASIK and PRK are also great. I would recommend PRK if you have the time required for recovery.
yeah I’m guessing hyperopia… since my near vision isnt blurry or any of those symptoms of presbyopia, it just takes a lot more energy to focus on close objects (I can feel my eyes working harder lol) – currently mitigated by reading glasses even thru most of the work day.
I checked out SMILE, apparently that’s only for nearsightedness? so seems like my options are either PRK or LASIK as of this moment, and even those are on a case by case basis since they’re not very commonly done for ppl in my situation. I guess best thing to do would be just to go see an optometrist & see what they recommend/suggest. or maybe I’ll just be stuck with lenses & glasses for the rest of my life :/ atleast I can see far, woulda been super useful back in the hunter-gatherer days I suppose haha.
p.s. still getting good use out of those optiv refresh gel eye drops you sent over!
Yes, SMILE is currently only approved for myopia, sorry that part of the comment was a general comment for readers. 🙂 You may be a candidate for PRK or LASIK but definitely need to check. You may go straight to a refractive surgery center and ask for a consultation from one of their optometrists.
Unfortunately the whole “takes more energy to focus up close” only gets worse. Even if you get refractive surgery, like I said in earlier comments, presbyopia happens to everyone and you’ll still end up needing something for the closeup vision. The most common options are:
– get refractive surgery done as monovision (one eye for close, one eye for near – most people are able to adapt and this works out well for them)
– wear glasses (progressives aka no-line bifocals) or contacts for presbyopia
– wear reading glasses just for close up/computer and remove for other times
Haha yeah most of these options still end up with glasses, but at least you’re not 100% dependent anymore and for most people that is a huge relief.
Yayy glad the eyedrops are helpful 😀