My LASIK surgery

It is very important if you are considering LASIK that you make yourself as well informed as possible. Read everything you can find and then consult with your eye surgeon.

UPDATE 2016. I'm still happy I had LASIK and still glasses-free. I've reverted to being about -1.0 dioptres short-sighted which has meant that I don't need reading glasses. I wear disposable contacts to play tennis but apart from that, I live without glasses or contacts. The information below is now quite old, but most of it is still valid. Technologies have changed, lasers are better and prices seem to have risen!

Here is the movie of my left eye (around 2Mb, digitised from the original VHS tape!) being corrected. This is a fairly heavily edited version of the procedure showing the "highlights" only. You will see the microkeratome being put in place and making the corneal flap, then the flap being lifted and a tiny bit of lasering (there's not much to see of the lasering), then the flap being replaced. The laser was actually in use for about a minute and there is a 2 minute wait at the end for the flap to heal back into place sufficiently. These and other edits reduce the total time from about 5 minutes to the 30 seconds or so you see here. This is simply to make the movie small enough for you to download in a reasonable amount of time.

Answers to some Frequently Asked Questions

• I had my surgery done at Vista Laser Eye Clinic (they're not around any more) in Canberra in 1999. I was about -7.5 dioptres short-sighted in both eyes and was corrected to 20/20 vision without glasses or contact lenses. The cost for me was around AUS$1600 per eye (in 2004, I've been told it can cost as much as $2100 per eye). Prices vary significantly from surgery to surgery and change from time to time as technology changes. This is an expensive business (e.g. a Hansatome microkeratome costs around US$60,000 and I hate to think how much an excimer laser costs) and your particular eye problems may mean you'll pay more. In 1999, another surgery I talked to wanted $2,000 per eye. I heard of another asking nearer $3,000 per eye. I went with the people who had the best combination of experience and free sandwiches.
• I had both eyes done at once and was on the table for about 15 minutes. A local anaesthetic was used, so I was fully conscious the whole time. When I stood up after the surgery and looked out the window, I could read signs on the sides of buses driving past - without my glasses! I was able to drive the day after surgery and was playing tennis after 4 days. I still haven't quite recovered from how such a short and simple procedure has cured my dependence on glasses and contact lenses.
• The surgery itself is painless thanks to the local anaesthetic eye drops. There is minor discomfort when suction is applied as part of the process of cutting the corneal flap. There is minor discomfort (which varies from person to person) for a few hours after surgery. You may need to apply anti-inflammatory and antibiotic eye drops for about a week after surgery.
• I may need to use glasses for reading and close work in the future. This has nothing to do with the surgery and happens to nearly everybody as they get older (it's called presbyopia). I would have needed bi-focal or multi-focal lenses in my glasses if I had not had LASIK surgery. If you don't want to rely on reading glasses after age 45 , consider asking your surgeon to tell you about monovision.

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