Lasik Eye Surgery Advice

[IkemenTommy]

I've been wanting to do this procedure for the longest time -- laser corrective vision surgery -- but never had the right resources to do it. I hear a lot of people say that I am the right age to do it (past 25 so the eyesight will no longer change). I refuse to wear glasses, but it's becoming a pain to have to wear contact lens and having to get your annual eye exam.

I like to know what you guys can recomend from either personal experience or from others'. Who are the good local doctors in the Tokyo area? How much cost am I running into and such.

Thanks ahead for the help.

[maimeesatang]

Do as the Nipponjin do, hop on a plane and go to Thailand for lasik. I had lasik done at this facility: http://www.lasikthai.com and was thrilled with the results. I believe they do the most lasik procedures in all of Asia, and they have staff fluent in English, Japanese, Thai, and/or other languages in which you feel comfortable. Good Luck - it's scary to go through, but the results are awesome.

[IkemenTommy]

Thanks for the reply.
I thought of doing the same by doing the procedure in Malaysia when I was in Singapore. But then I realized that there are after-care and post-surgery visits to the doctor's and my stay there at the time wasn't long enough to achieve this.

[Charles]

I regret to inform you that your vision will continue to change despite you being over 25 years old. In fact, it will change quite rapidly once you get to about 40 years old. I have no idea if a lasik at your age would be a good idea considering that almost everyone develops presbyopia when they're about 40.

My personal advice is to avoid lasik and continue to wear your glasses for another few years. They're always improving lasik techniques, the longer you hold out, the better the technology gets. If you can hold out until you're over 40, doctors will probably have some even more revolutionary method, and they'll laugh at how crude the old lasik techniques used to be. I'm personally hoping to live long enough for bionic implant eyes.

[kurohinge1]

I regret to inform you that your vision will continue to change despite you being over 25 years old. In fact, it will change quite rapidly once you get to about 40 years old. I have no idea if a lasik at your age would be a good idea considering that almost everyone develops presbyopia when they're about 40 . . .

Actually, short-sightedness should be stable by about 25-30. It sounds like IkemenTommy already knows this but Charles' post confused it. Sure, presbyopia starts to kick in later but getting LASIK would simply mean you may only need reading glasses in later life rather than bi-focals (for both short and long-sightedness)!

You can find out a lot about LASIK on the 'net but be careful of the source as some sites will just be self promoting. This US Health Dept site is probably as good a starting point as any.

I know two colleagues who've done it and they were very satisfied. There are risks but the reputable places have now been operating for a long time and the prices have come down considerably. Nevertheless, I chose not to do it . . . for now.

I've heard reports of some "ghosting" (from lights) at night with some people, but that may have been limited to the old technique of lasering the outside of the cornea (which left a surface not as perfect as the old cornea and thus could cause some "ghosting" under lights), rather than the newer technique which is to lift the cornea and laser under it then replace the cornea - leaving the original outer surface intact.



I think you're going about it the right way - find out as much info as you can including talking to those who've done it, then make your decision.

Good luck.

[IkemenTommy]

Just an update:
I made a visit to the local eye doctor, and he told me straight up that my eyes are not bad enough (current refractory index: -2.25 per eye) to get Lasik surgery and the risk of failure is far greater at the condition to justify the surgery. I need more like a -6.00 or greater and be blind like a dog to be a prime candidate. I still can get the surgery, but he highly advised me not to as it is not really worth it. He says that is the "honest" doctor's opinion but it sounds like a self-righteous bull crap to me so I am going to get a second opinion.

[hodensaft]

Hmmm... I didn't realize there was a lower-end cutoff for how poor my eyesight had to be in order to qualify for the surgery. My eyes are each running around 4.25, and have been for the last three years or so. I wonder if I'd get the same response from my doctor.

[Taro Toporific]

Hmmm... I didn't realize there was a lower-end cutoff for how poor my eyesight had to be in order to qualify for the surgery. My eyes are each running around 4.25, and have been for the last three years or so. I wonder if I'd get the same response from my doctor.

Nope. Anyone short-sighted and over 3.00 is a candidate in the real world. IkemenTommy's doctor is rather conserative.

[Taro Toporific]

Hmmm... I didn't realize there was a lower-end cutoff for how poor my eyesight had to be in order to qualify for the surgery. My eyes are each running around 4.25, and have been for the last three years or so. I wonder if I'd get the same response from my doctor.

Nope. Anyone with short-sighted and over 3.25 is a candidate in the real world. IkemenTommy's doctor is rather conserative.

[Charles]

I still can get the surgery, but he highly advised me not to as it is not really worth it. He says that is the "honest" doctor's opinion but it sounds like a self-righteous bull crap to me so I am going to get a second opinion.

Stop and think about that for a minute. You went to an eye surgeon who does NOT want to operate on you. I know a lot of surgeons, and they all positively LIVE to operate, it is their greatest pleasure in life. LASIK is particularly lucrative, and is an elective surgery. And he said you should NOT get the surgery, and you should NOT pay him thousands of dollars.
It is highly likely he is right. Sure, you could go around to other doctors and find someone who wants to operate on you. But the first opinion is probably right. You have nothing to lose by waiting, and everything to gain.
Let me give you an example. My brother wanted LASIK. He was always complaining about how his glasses got in the way when he was jogging. I told him he should wait, his vision wasn't really so bad, and they're always coming out with improvements to the procedure, and since he was a computer geek, he spends all day looking at monitors so if he had any problems with his vision, he'd regret it, he's solely dependent on his vision for his work. But he hated wearing glasses while jogging, so he was determined to have the surgery. I told him that as soon as he had the surgery, they'd come up with improvements, he responded that it's like new computers, they come up with faster, better models every few months, and the improvements are only marginal. I said he only gets one shot at this, he only has one set of eyes and they don't come with sockets you can swap out like a CPU chip. He had the surgery anyway.
Sure enough, 6 months after he got LASIK, the local university announced their new LASIK method, they had a new way to map the surface of the cornea with lasers, making a "topographic map" to an incredible degree of accuracy, improving the quality of the laser surgery dramatically, resulting in vastly improved visual results over the old methods. And they said more improvements would come, as they continued to develop this method.
So for GOD'S SAKE listen to your surgeon. Just get a nice set of eyeglasses and hold out for a while. If your vision is not quite bad enough to qualify for LASIK, consider yourself lucky, you can wait for improved methods. I've seen surgical methods under development that make LASIK look primitive, but you won't be able to get them for a few more years. And even then, let someone ELSE be the beta tester.

[IkemenTommy]

Just get a nice set of eyeglasses and hold out for a while. If your vision is not quite bad enough to qualify for LASIK, consider yourself lucky, you can wait for improved methods.

Sure enough, I settled with contact lens this time around.

I can wait but I figured I am going to get it some day one way or another, so mind as well get it now and get it over with.

[TennoChinko]

Before you consider LASIK eye surgery, take a look at this site:

http://www.surgicaleyes.org/

You may think twice before considering LASIK.

Several of my friends have undergone LASIK but more than half admit (only after you prod them) that:

- their night vision has decreased significantly
and/or they have become far-sighted (Hyperopia) and now require reading glasses to see objects up close... they try to reason away the last side-effect by saying "that eventually happens to everyone anyways".

If there were a side-effect free solution to perfect eyesight, I would do it right away. For now though, I will stick to contact lenses and glasses until I can be convinced the procedure is 100% safe.

[GomiGirl]

I have tried and tried with contacts but they just make my eyes water too much and they itch plus they take too long to get them in. As I do so much computer work, my eyes have just gotten worse and worse over the last few years.

I wear glasses at work, for driving and for the movies but otherwise I just walk around seeing the world blurry - I kinda like it like that though.

[cliffy]

I wear glasses at work, for driving and for the movies but otherwise I just walk around seeing the world blurry - I kinda like it like that though.

Is that not the side effect of emptying many glasses GG?
I am short sighted but I am very wary of lasik just yet, the vague promises of the cure I have been given are just too much for me to trust with my vision just yet.

[IkemenTommy]

I have tried and tried with contacts but they just make my eyes water too much and they itch plus they take too long to get them in. As I do so much computer work, my eyes have just gotten worse and worse over the last few years.

I wear glasses at work, for driving and for the movies but otherwise I just walk around seeing the world blurry - I kinda like it like that though.

Yep, my eyes got infected the very last time and I went through the whole grueling pain. It still hurt on the third day and couldn't put in the contact lens so I went to the doctor's.

The doctor said the same exact thing.. it's the result of spending too much time behind the computer screen. In that instant, I knew the exact reason.. damned FUCKEDGAIJIN!

[sublight]

Two of my co-workers (39 y.o. gaijin male, 28 y.o. nihonjin female) had it done this year at the Shinagawa clinic in Ginza. Neither of them had severely bad eyesight (about 2-2.5), and both have said they're really happy with the results. My vision is around 3.0 and I'm planning to give it a try next year.

[IkemenTommy]

Shinagawa clinic in Ginza

That sounds kinda shady. Kinda like the Miami University of Ohio...

Do let me know of your results when you get your treatment though.

[Delinjapan]

I'm also considering doing this operation. Does anybody haveany information regarding this? any more experiences?

I was thinking of doing it at the following place :

http://www.minamiaoyama.or.jp/en/english.html

Any feedback would be welcome!

[L S]

Not to be a scare monger, but there are cases when Lasik does go wrong.

I had never heard of a bad incident until a family friend in the US, who is a internal medicine doctor, did the procedure about 4 months ago. Somehow he ended up with a severe infection after the procedure and permanantely lost most of his vision in one eye. He has quit practicing medicine as he feels he can't perform his duties adequately.

A rare case I am sure, but there are risks.

[Behan]

That sounds kinda shady. Kinda like the Miami University of Ohio...

Do let me know of your results when you get your treatment though.

Miami University of Ohio is older than the Florida one and, actually, it's in the Miami valley. There is a Miami River and a Miami native American tribe.

Just being a jerk about this because...

It's my alma mater!

Actually, not much good to say about it.

[sublight]

Despite the fact that my last post was a year ago, I still haven't gone through with it. I still want to, though. Especially now that I bike everywhere, I'm tired of only being able to see clearly in a tiny range right in front of me.

Two more people from my office have gone to that Shinagawa Clinic and both are very happy with the results.