I am near sighted and in my 50's and just decided to continue with glasses. I use polycarbonate lens and I would need safety glasses to shoot anyway so I'll just keep the glasses. So I don't "see" any tactical advaqntage except in the instance that I lose or misplace my glasses. My close-up vision is excellent and most people my age need reading glasses so I wear mine when I need to see distance. The whole "flap" thing worries me.
LASIK and its "tactical" advantages?
- Thread starter vandyatc
- Start date
69machone,
, you say your right eye is "almost legally blind". I am assuming you mean that you are very blurred without the contact lenses, but are you correctable to 20/20 with the contact lens? If a person only has good vision possible in one eye, and the other eye can't see well, even with correction, they are a very poor candidate for any refractive surgery.
You also asked about dominancy changing. The visual effect of Lasik would be the same as wearing a contact lens. If you sight with your left eye with the contact, I am sure you would also post-lasik.
You also asked if it has to be repeated years later. That is rarely done with Lasik. The surgeon can lift the flap and do an "enhancement" in the months after surgery, but years later that would be difficult and more risky. Enhancements years later would be more feasible with PRK. Usually refractive surgery is considered to eliminate, or largely eliminate a large prescription. The eyes can certainly drift a little over the years and develop a little myopia or farsightedness, but most of the time no further surgeries are done years later.
And the best all-around situation past the age of 40, is to have good distance vision in one eye and a small amount of nearsightedness in the other.
, you say your right eye is "almost legally blind". I am assuming you mean that you are very blurred without the contact lenses, but are you correctable to 20/20 with the contact lens? If a person only has good vision possible in one eye, and the other eye can't see well, even with correction, they are a very poor candidate for any refractive surgery.
You also asked about dominancy changing. The visual effect of Lasik would be the same as wearing a contact lens. If you sight with your left eye with the contact, I am sure you would also post-lasik.
You also asked if it has to be repeated years later. That is rarely done with Lasik. The surgeon can lift the flap and do an "enhancement" in the months after surgery, but years later that would be difficult and more risky. Enhancements years later would be more feasible with PRK. Usually refractive surgery is considered to eliminate, or largely eliminate a large prescription. The eyes can certainly drift a little over the years and develop a little myopia or farsightedness, but most of the time no further surgeries are done years later.
And the best all-around situation past the age of 40, is to have good distance vision in one eye and a small amount of nearsightedness in the other.
I did PRK, not LASIK
The difference is that instead of slicing through the cornea of the eye, flipping back a flap and drilling "under the hood" as with LASIK, PRK slices around the external sides of the cornea. Therefore, there is no flap to pull off (and that flap never heals completely through).
The pros:
++if you're active--I do jiu jitsu and road/mountain biking/cyclo-cross/hunting, then you never have to worry about ripping the flap off your eye and waiting for a corneal transplant.
+You end up with 20/15 or 20/20 vision just as with LASIK.
+If you fly for the Navy, you can get PRK and still fly. Not so with LASIK. (Not that that was a show stopper for this land-lubber).
The cons:
-it hurts like there's sand in your eye for a week after surgery and your vision in the fixed eye is weak. If you've ever scratched your eye, you know what I mean. I got one eye cut at a time and waited 3 weeks between surgeries.
-some people (not me) complain about "dry eyes
-at the end of the day your prescription changes slightly and things get a little fuzzy. You're HD in the AM, but eh-ok in the late PM. Reading tiny street signs at 40 mph can be a challenge while driving. Some days are better than others. I think this explains the "night blindness" I hear about.
-my ability to distinguish green-on-green/green-on-grey/grey-on-grey forms has diminished. I CAN stay out until dark hunting, but my ability to distinguish antlers from tree branches in the murk just before total darkness is not what it used to be. Maybe this can be a plus, if you feel like getting back to camp before 8 pm to grab that first beer after the day is over...
I don't regret my choice. My shooting hasn't suffered. In either case, you will be very happy as you can live a normal 21st century life (home, car, TV, movies) perfectly normally w/out lenses of any stripe.
The difference is that instead of slicing through the cornea of the eye, flipping back a flap and drilling "under the hood" as with LASIK, PRK slices around the external sides of the cornea. Therefore, there is no flap to pull off (and that flap never heals completely through).
The pros:
++if you're active--I do jiu jitsu and road/mountain biking/cyclo-cross/hunting, then you never have to worry about ripping the flap off your eye and waiting for a corneal transplant.
+You end up with 20/15 or 20/20 vision just as with LASIK.
+If you fly for the Navy, you can get PRK and still fly. Not so with LASIK. (Not that that was a show stopper for this land-lubber).
The cons:
-it hurts like there's sand in your eye for a week after surgery and your vision in the fixed eye is weak. If you've ever scratched your eye, you know what I mean. I got one eye cut at a time and waited 3 weeks between surgeries.
-some people (not me) complain about "dry eyes
-at the end of the day your prescription changes slightly and things get a little fuzzy. You're HD in the AM, but eh-ok in the late PM. Reading tiny street signs at 40 mph can be a challenge while driving. Some days are better than others. I think this explains the "night blindness" I hear about.
-my ability to distinguish green-on-green/green-on-grey/grey-on-grey forms has diminished. I CAN stay out until dark hunting, but my ability to distinguish antlers from tree branches in the murk just before total darkness is not what it used to be. Maybe this can be a plus, if you feel like getting back to camp before 8 pm to grab that first beer after the day is over...
I don't regret my choice. My shooting hasn't suffered. In either case, you will be very happy as you can live a normal 21st century life (home, car, TV, movies) perfectly normally w/out lenses of any stripe.
handgunchick
New member
I had LASIK way back in 2001, and I also worked as an ophthalmic technician in an ophthalmogist's office for 7 years. Like you, my vision was so lousy that I couldn't see my alarm clock without my glasses. My vision started out as 20/400, then the afternoon of my surgery was 20/20 and has been 20/20 ever since. I had a little bit of halos around light at night short term, but that went away. I haven't had any trouble with glare at all. I had the surgery when it was still new, before the wavefront technology and all of that high tech stuff, and still got a perfect result.
I definitely recommend it because having better vision (even if it's not 20/20) can improve your chances of grabbing your gun and shooting it if an intruder happens upon you in bed, plus it's useful out at the range. However, whatever you do, don't go to cut rate LASIK places. LASIK is definitely something you don't want to do on the cheap, and those cut rate places (I used to work at one) have high, high volume, cheap prices, and little concern for the patient's results or ocular health after the procedure. Bad infections and even blindness can happen without good aftercare.
I definitely recommend it because having better vision (even if it's not 20/20) can improve your chances of grabbing your gun and shooting it if an intruder happens upon you in bed, plus it's useful out at the range. However, whatever you do, don't go to cut rate LASIK places. LASIK is definitely something you don't want to do on the cheap, and those cut rate places (I used to work at one) have high, high volume, cheap prices, and little concern for the patient's results or ocular health after the procedure. Bad infections and even blindness can happen without good aftercare.
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That's good advice to watch out for the 'discount docs". Lasik is a fairly skill intense procedure. Some docs do a much better job of the surgery. The postop really isn't as important. Basically, you use your eye drops, keep your appointments, and don't rub your eyes ( to avoid messing up the flap).
The better surgeons will always do a careful topography map of your cornea and look at your corneal thickness. They will (should) turn away people who have suspect topographies and too thin a cornea. The volume places deem anybody with a valid credit card to be a good clinical case
The better surgeons will always do a careful topography map of your cornea and look at your corneal thickness. They will (should) turn away people who have suspect topographies and too thin a cornea. The volume places deem anybody with a valid credit card to be a good clinical case
I had lasik done on both eyes back in august. I was -8.50 in both eyes. The procedure went great, and shooting became more fun without contact drying issues and such. But...not to hijack, my left eye (not my dominant one) never fully came into focus, we found that it was undercorrected and it still had a slight astigmatism. PRK touch up seemed to be a good option and I just had it done. It's hard to write this, my eyes hurt like crazy. But my vision is slightly worse than before the surgery. I hope that's normal??