Those that have had laser eye surgery did you have IK or EK?

From I can find out EK seems better for active lifestyles, although quite what they mean by active I don’t know!! EK also seems to have a longer healing time.

IK seems to be the most popular procedure and has quick results, at least from the marketing hype.

I’m concerned about any big knocks that I may get to the face, ie I go over the bars and hit my eye of a tree/rock etc at speed. Touch wood, never happened yet, but due to the law of sod could well happen.

Have you had EK or IK? What made you choose one over the other and which provider and surgeon did you use?

Many thanks

MM

check that you can have cataracts fixed in later life…

marketing hype and eye surgery doesn’t sound like a good mix…..

Had LASIK about nine years. Slight discomfort during op (smell of burning flesh) but no pain.

Took two painkillers afterwards, slept for about 12 hours and woke up with 20/20 vision – absolutely amazing. No problems whatsoever.

Would recommended it, good friend had same op, again no issues.

Have fell off my bike numerous (lots) times since and can still see.

Pricey but worth it IMO.

Had Lasik in 2005. 20/20 within a week but it took about a year to fully settle down – light flaring at night, poor night vision, doubled up LED lights. There is a lot more to vision than reading letters on a card from 6 feet away.

No long term problems. If anything its made me a little more careful in situations where an eye injury could happen, which is no bad thing. Contact sports like boxing are out of the question.

I go over the bars and hit my eye of a tree/rock etc at speed.

Even with out eye surgery you’d have problems if you land on your eyeball at speed. You could always close your eye and absorb the force of the impact with your eyelid 😛

Seriously though displacing or tearing the IK flap is a real risk even years later. Worth thinking about; IMO it was a low risk.

Jota – You have to cut the flap in the cornea first.

I had EK – it takes longer to heal as the corneal epithelium is softened and pushed out of the way – this is effectively a corneal abrasion and needs to heal. IK has a flap cut which is lifted up and then drops back down. The flap will never fully heal and there is a small risk that it can flap up again eg if you get a blast of air on your face. I cannot afford to take the latter risk as my job exposes me to blasts of air.

I saw a surgeon at Moorfields – Julian Stevens who is pretty much the best in the UK and I am very happy with the results. No halos, no dry eyes and great vision.

I had LASIK 10 years ago. I agree with busyfool about the op – not painful but there is a barbecue smell. I had atropine eye drops to dilate the pupils fully so the surgeon could make sure that the corrected all the cornea where the pupil could reach. One eye didn’t return to normal the next day, so I stayed off work with a bandage over it. I was back to normal the next day, except that I could see for the first time ever without glasses.

Danger is infection, so use the antibiotic drops, and keep it moist in the early days with ordinary drops.

Results depend on your prescription. I was -4 diopters so in about the best spot at the time. Results can’t be guaranteed, I’ve got perfect vision in one eye, and about -.25 in the other so I don’t need glasses at all. I’m nearly 49 and I still don’t need reading glasses, so it’s lasted better than expected.

Finally, I went over the bars 3 weeks ago, and landed on my Oakleys and my face. Bled a lot but no eye problems, and if is still worn glasses I’d probably not have been in oakleys and probably bashed my face worse!

I agree with all the advice here on the whole. The choice may not be entirely yours however, if you have a thin cornea or an irregularly shaped cornea LASIK is not advisable. There are other techniques besides LASIK and LASEK that may be applicable to you depending on your prescription, neither of which are available on the NHS though.

One needs to consider your prescription as well, there is a culture these days of the quick fix option being suitable for everyone, although there may be a surgical procedure for every condition it’s not always suitable for every individual. All eye surgery comes with a risk (albeit a small risk) of blindness or partial blindness….

For completely impartial advice, visit the Royal College of Ophthalmologists website and look under the section on ‘excimer laser refractive surgery’…purely professional and impartial advice.

As with the post above you will be told which one of two (or indeed both or none at all) is suitable..

Had mine done about 8 years ago in Optical Express.. Fast procedure and could see fine with no pain after about 6 hours.

You have to wear goggles like Bono’s sunglasses for a month afterwards (while you sleep) and not rub your eyes but really no dramas.

Bit of starring at night from oncoming headlights but worth every (interest free) penny!

lasik healing