Pros and Cons of Lasik

So you didn't even HAVE lasik, you had PRK, which is a different procedure, with different after care, healing times, recovery time, pain issues, etc.

The OP is considering having lasik, not PRK.

You're talking apples and oranages.

Now I realize that. I had initially gone to him for Lasik surgery and he ended up doing the PRK procedure on me instead. I thought that PRK fell under the Lasik surgery category - I was wrong. What I had done was still laser eye surgery, just not Lasik. I am very happy to have 20/10 vision now and recommend to anyone considering Lasik to also consider PRK.

The recovery time was quite painful, but well worth it. I have been fortunate to have had no complications since having the surgery. Going from being nearly legally blind to seeing every blade of grass is nice.

I haven't seen that, and, gaaaaah, don't want to. Memories of the film with L. Olivier as a dentist. Marathon Man.

I'm the whiner here, but I did have six surgeries involving laser eye stuff. The first one was terrible and I heard all the commentary going on during it. Lasted a couple of hours instead of a few minutes. The one to fix that neared three hours and a hell of a drive in the middle of the night, me with exploding eye pressure.
Back then, much was beautiful with what one saw in surgery. My recent surgeon explained that this had changed and why.

On the other hand, all of the later surgeries have worked out.

What is my point? Being me, I'd do an eye at a time if I wanted to laser set my eyes for cosmetic reasons. I understand it is not efficient.

I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experiences with your first laser eye surgery - I'm glad the others worked out. Six surgeries is a lot for you to go through.
I was pretty scared going in for my laser surgery (PRK), but I knew several people who had used this doctor and they didn't have any complications. I finally got the surgery because my contacts were irritating my eyes so much I was miserable and I was seeing halos at night around everything. My night vision was awful. I do have a lot of astigmatism - I don't know if the PRK fixed that or not - the only negative thing I can think of that has happened as a result of having it done is that I have a bit of dry eye from time to time. If I consistently take flax or fish oil, it goes away and I don't even need to use eye drops.

The general complications, (based on what I’ve read from my doctor's blog), are the discomfort from post-operation recovery. This includes some tingling or burning in the eyes, and it will take about a day to a week for you to start normalizing. The effects of the surgery are said to be almost instantaneous – you’ll see better rather quickly. My advice: Consult first then take the plunge because success rates for LASIK are very, very high.

yup! even I have heard the same that they are good but its just few people views there are still many people who are afraid of this.

I have a friend who is blind in one eye. They refused treatment on the other, so I assume that while the risk is very low, it is still somewhat significant. That, or maybe the insurance company won't expose itself to that kind of liability.

Actually it could be that the doctor was acting very ethically "first do no harm" type of thing.

When I went for mine, there was a question if the doctor would appove me, as he didn't like the slightly elevated pressue in my eyes. It was only on further testing they determined I was not a risk for glucoma (more on this in a moment) and proceeded with the procedure.

I remember asking "What if you determine I'm not a good candidate due to this, and I say go ahead anyway?"
He told me he would refuse to perform the procedure, regardless.

I really respected that, and it made me realize I personally wouldn't go anywhere else to have a 2nd opinion, and potentially get it down by someone who would look at my results and say "that's good enough"
It also made me wonder how many people would go and look for someone else to do it, and would find someone willing. yikes.

Re the elevated pressure. I go back to the same practice every year for my eye exam, and it's been pretty much determined that's just normal for my particular pair of eyes. Although they keep a watch out for any change.

Have the people who are "afraid of this" done research? Or are they just generally afraid?


Edit:
I can understand the hesitation. I know I sound like a commercial, but through all the research I did before hand (over several years) there was not one other doctor I would have let perform lasik on me, besides the one I chose.

I'm someone who's both done research and is afraid.

While complications would be bad for anyone, they'd be catastrophic for me (I'm deaf and rely wholly on my eyes to navigate the world), and I'm staying well away from it. I wear glasses and I don't like 'em much, wear contacts occasionally but like 'em less, and would love to have my eyes fixed so that both would be unnecessary.

A friend of mine just had Lasik (he had one eye done at a time, that didn't seem to be a problem btw) and he's very happy with it. Most people I know are... but I have known or read about just enough people who had serious complications that I'm not willing to take that small risk for a cosmetic procedure. Glasses/ contacts are fine.

yes, I would very much hesitate if I were deaf (or Deaf )

My eyes are not unique, but still special in a way. One is very good for distance. Actually extraordinary for my age. The other is almost perfect for reading. I have heard that some people have laser surgery to achieve the same condition. For myself, NOT NO WAY IN HELL am I letting someone dink around in my eyes with a laser because glasses are inconvenient. I say that even though I have no slightest question of my eye doctor's competence.