LASEK eye surgery review.

From around the age of 10 my eyesight has deteriorated to about -1.75 (in both eyes) at age 18-20, and have since remained stable.

I have worn glasses, monthly soft contact lenses, and daily contact lenses. For the past few years I have simply used dailies, but only on days where I had anticipated needing them. Mostly for badminton, because I hate sweaty glasses and while -1.75 isn't that bad, it makes a huge difference in reaction time (also forget about making accurate line calls). For badminton I only wear them for a few hours, not all day. The only other times I wear dailies is when I need to read at a distance, so for example if I have a lecture. In the Netherlands, the legal requirement for participation in traffic is -1.00 or better (0.00 is perfect vision). But I have never noticed any trouble navigating traffic, with or without lenses. You don't need to see perfectly sharp lines to see where the cars are.

My mother had laser eye surgery some years ago and has described it as her best purchase ever, and for the first time in a while, we have the disposable income so I decided to just do it, mainly to just never have to worry about lenses and glasses again. I see it as a permanent upgrade to my body, so it probably the best thing to spend money on.

I'm not a doctor, and I only have a vague understanding of the exact procedure.

With the more common LASIK, a laser cuts a flap into the outer layer of the eye, then after the flap is open, another laser does the actual correcting. With the LASEK surgery I had yesterday, the vision is corrected in the exact same way, but the method to 'open up' the eye is different. I don't know what is done exactly, but unlike the LASIK, there is no cutting involved.

Both operations are painless. You will be awake and alert, but you won't feel anything. You will smell something burning when the laser does the correcting, and they squirted my eye with water very thoroughly afterwards (to put out the fire?).

The experience of the procedure isn't what sets these 2 methods apart. According to the surgeon, the recovery for the LASIK surgery is more comfortable. It is nearly painless and you can go to work the next day, or 2 days at most. You also see perfectly from right after the surgery.

The recovery from LASEK surgery on the other hand is mild to severe pain for up to 2 days after surgery, and up to 5 days of blurry vision. (and let me tell you, those days of pain are miserable).

So why would anyone choose the LASEK over LASIK? For some, their eyes are unsuitable for LASIK. If the outer layer is too thin, it is too risky to cut it with the laser and it would vastly increase the chance of complications.

But the main reason for my decision is long term recovery. After the pain is gone and the vision is clear, for LASIK nearly immediately and for LASEK after 2 to 5 days, you can mostly resume normal life, but for quite a period afterwards the eye is still going to be unusually fragile and susceptible to damage and infection. Due to the cutting involved in LASIK, it will be fragile for far longer than with LASEK.

All contact sports and some other sports that have certain hazards should not be practiced for up to 4 weeks after LASEK. The prescribed time off sports after LASIK is a staggering 3 months. This was the main consideration in my decision to have LASEK instead.

With badminton the main hazard is getting a shuttle in the eye. Of course the chances of this happening are slim, but it is still simply not worth the risk.

I will post updates with my experiences of the recovery.

 

So today is the first day after getting the surgery. Sleeping was fine, but you need to wear eye shields so there is no risk of pressure on the eye. While a little cumbersome, they were very ergonomic and not uncomfortable.

The pain yesterday was irritating but not debilitating. The pain this morning was... worse. Closing your eyes hurts more than keeping them open. Blinking hurts. It is like there is a huge grain of sand in the eye, except it's constant, and closing the eye doesn't help.

Aside from eye drops that help reduce the chance of infection, I have eye drops that act as painkillers for the eye that I can use as needed, but no more than once every 2 hours. They are perfectly effective and eliminate all pain...

for about 1 hour.

I'm fine, shut up. I'm not fine, it is very miserable.

For anyone who has ever had a toothache and they couldn't get to the dentist for a while. This is comparable, except for your eyes instead of your teeth. At least the eye drops give you an hour break.

I'm also on paracetamol.

Take my complaining with a grain of salt, because my wife says I'm the biggest baby when I'm ill or in a situation such as this.

I agree with her.

 

I have not considered it. I should not put pressure on the eye (avoid it at all costs), so maybe against my cheeks or temples would be possible. The surgeon did not mention it. Aside from the eyedrops against pain, I also got 'nothing'-drops, which I was encouraged to keep in the fridge to help alleviate dry eyes. Unlike the pain-drops, the nothing drops has no use limit, so I use them quite a lot.

Today has been an hour of pain, a painless hour, an hour of pain, a painless hour, etc. But it is slowly getting better. I don't know if that is because I'm getting used to it, or if it's actually getting slightly less painful. I am optimistic. Tomorrow should be the last painful day, and I imagine it will taper off rather than stop abruptly.

It also helps to know that the pain does not affect the healing process at all. So the pain is nothing to worry about. It's just there to be endured. That perspective helps me deal with it.

Part of the recovery is protective lenses put on after the surgery to protect the eye, while the underlying tissue heals. On Tuesday I go back to have it removed.

 

The procedure is permanent. However, I'm not immune to the effects of aging and in time I will likely need reading glasses. They insist your prescription before the surgery has been stable for a few years, because the procedure doesn't stop the eyes from getting worse. It is simply a one time correction. My eyes have been the same for almost a decade so I'm safe.

Sunday was not fun. I had trouble getting to sleep Sunday night because of the pain. I tried to use the pain eye drops and fall asleep within the hour. The first attempt I got a little slumbery but woke up due to the pain. The second attempt 2 hours later was successful and I slept until the next morning. Monday was far more manageable. I didn't need to use the eye drops and while I was on paracetamol on Sunday, I didn't need those on Monday either. My eyes still felt a little gritty, but not to the extent they did on Sunday. Also unlike before, closing my eyes helped to be almost pain free, so most of my Monday I simply stayed in bed with my eyes closed, listening to music. By 4, the pain was completely gone, which is almost exactly 48 hours after the surgery.(they said it would be 2 days of pain). Now the only discomfort I feel is from the protective lens. If any of you ever forgot to take out your lenses and slept with them, you know how it feels. It is not pain, just discomfort.

Today at 12 is my appointment to have the protective lens removed.

-1.75 and -7.25 are the same when it comes to badminton. Not adequate. The procedure is generally very safe. Take a look at some local clinics if you want to get the exact numbers. I think it helps that I know some people that have had it done. I was nervous for the procedure, but never afraid of the result.

 

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since the operation. Right after the surgery, my vision was clear, but over the course of the healing process, my vision was blurry for about a week. Not to the point where I can't function, and generally better than my previous prescription. It fluctuated as well. It's hard to say when it stopped being blurry, because it was a very gradual process, and my vision still isn't completely perfect. However, it has gotten to a point where I don't notice in my daily life. Reading at a distance is not a problem, and I can't play badminton yet (no badminton for 4 weeks after the surgery, so I'm halfway), but I definitely have badminton grade vision. It should continue to improve over the course of months. Even up to 6 months later gradial improvements still happens for some people.

I have a follow up appointment on monday where they will check my eyes to measure the improvement.

 

Today I played badminton for the first time again. I didn't play very well, but not because of my eyes. I've just lost some fitness and consistency in my absence.

On court I did not feel like my eyesight was any different from before when I wore contact lenses to play badminton. I also didn't experience any trouble with judging distance that @thyrif spoke of, but then I always played with contacts instead of glasses. I think it would be a greater adjustment period for people who played with glasses before surgery.

Speaking generally, the vision in my right eye is perfect. The vision in my left is slightly slightly off. I only notice it when I look into the distance with my right eye closed. With both my eyes open I don't notice this imperfection. It has been slowly getting better and better, so further improvement is still possible (even upto 6 months after surgery). Now that badminton is again possible, my life is effectively back to normal. I am still required to take some eyedrops, but not nearly as many as at the start. Also I need to wear sunglasses whenever I'm outside, not because I'm sensitive to light, but because the eyes will be unusually vulnerable to uv-light for up to 6 months compared to normal eyes.

 

Actually I feel like there is less glare compared to when I wore contacts. The surgeon also said there is a good chance I'd be sensitive to light for a while, but I haven't experienced that either, aside from the first day.

 

It can be permanent. It is a one time correction. It does not grant immunity from possible future deterioration, but similarly the eyes aren't destined to deteriorate or 'revert' to what they were.

I've played badminton a few times since the recovery, pretty terribly, and I skipped some sessions due to life. But last Sunday for the first time I again played like myself. I restrung my racket with a little lower tension to be easier on my shoulder (that had been complaining a bit after my hiatus) and give me some more feeling in my shots. That seemed to have done the trick.

I have another follow up appointment on Thursday. I am no longer taking scheduled eye drops, only when I notice they're dry.

 

Not before. The surgeon gave me some local anesthetic for the eyes some minutes before the actual procedure. I was also advised to take vitamin C as part of the recovery, but that was after, not before.