- I can wake up and glance at the time instead of having to lift something up and put it centimetres from my face to tell the time.
- I can do sports without the glasses falling off, getting mashed into my face, etc.
- I look a lot better, with a -13 prescription, my glasses were heavy and thick
- My nose and ears aren’t in pain from carrying the weight of my glasses all the time.
- I’m not having to constantly adjust my glasses whenever my nose sweats a bit.
- I’m not completely blind any time I have to take off the glasses, like when I take a shower or go in a pool, or especially swim in the ocean where there are big waves.
- I’m not utterly helpless because I’m blind if I lose my glasses. If you’re blind without your glasses, and your glasses aren’t where you expect, you can’t really use your eyesight to find them.
- I don’t have to deal with all the problems of using and potentially losing contacts.
- …
For me, before I got laser surgery, I was once swimming in the ocean at a very big and popular beach. I was wearing contacts because obviously wearing glasses in the water is next to impossible. I got hit by a big wave, tossed around, and lost my contacts. Now I was almost completely blind, in a foreign country where I knew almost nobody, and trying to find my beach towel and bag among thousands of others. I actually can’t remember how I resolved that problem, but I do remember the massive stress and panic being blind like that caused. When I got back from the trip, I got my eyes fixed within a year.
Not necessarily useful to you any longer, but you can utilize a pinhole lens for situations like that. You can even use your hands/fingers to make the lens. You’ll look fucking ridiculous, but I doubt it’s bother you too much when it’s that or being blind.
To expand on that, you make a very small hole by curling your index finger, and look through that hole.
That has limits. Not sure what it comes down to exactly, but under the most ideal conditions I have pulled off yet, I’d estimate it improves sight by 3-4.
-8 with the fov of a pinhole is still blind.just tried it and it work?? how
When your eyes are open and unobscured, light is coming in from every direction. The lens is shaped in such a way that light rays parallel to the eye’s axis are focused on the macula, the center of your sharp vision. A near-sighted (myopic) eye focuses those parallel rays in front of the retina, and a far-sighted (hypermetropic) eye focuses them behind. The farther away the ray is from the eye’s axis, the more it is refracted by the lens, and the more obvious its out-of-focus-ness becomes if the lens has an incorrect shape.
Corrective eyewear works by refracting the light before it enters the eye and essentially cancelling out the lens’ imperfections.
A pinhole works by obscuring light rays that are farther from the axis and contribute to the blurry image, only letting through light rays that are near the axis, already aligned more or less with the macula, don’t have to be refracted as sharply, and don’t contribute as much to the blurry image. This is why the camera obscura works, and why apertures in modern photography are used to control both the image’s exposure and the strength of the depth of field.
Same reason why squinting also kind of works iirc
The worst one is when you wake up having drunk a little bit too much and you can’t find your glasses. You are now effectively blind and helpless and hungover.
If I was at home, I always knew where I had some backup glasses. But yeah, wake up at a friend’s house or something and you’re screwed.
I once had a friend forget to take out his contacts when drunk. He woke up bleeding from his eyes and struggling to get the things out in severe pain…
Had all-laser LASIK done in 2007.
Was scary, and the excimer laser sounded like a giant electrical wasp, but overall, I’ve had zero problems. Best procedure I’ve ever had done.
My older sibling had it done back then, too. No issues. 2 other close friends did the same. Not a single issue.
Give it a rest people.
Go get checked to see if you’re a valid candidate, and have the procedure done by a professional ophthalmologist with an “all-laser” setup who has more than a decade or so of experience and also has the $200,000 equipment to do it right and a lifetime contract-backed guarantee, and you will be happy with the choice you made.
Honestly that meteorologist that sadly took her own life several years back after having really bad complications from laser eye surgery was more than enough to convince me to not get it done.
Source on that?
As sad as that was, the article only mentions that the family suspects it was the operation as they “don’t know what else could have caused the suicide”, to paraphrase it.
Not saying that Lasik couldn’t cause any of these issues, just that this particular example is just a suspicion
I did it because I was blind. Hella blind. -6 and -9. When covid hit I suddenly realized that if supply shortages ever hit hard and I lost my glasses, I was absolutely fucked.
I could not drive, I could not use two monitors, I would be functionally blind… I always joked I would be dead weight in the apocalypse but in the midst of a hurricane, a wildfire, I could be absolutely fucked. With months before a replacement pair could be acquired. And with all the shit that went wrong with covid… I just wanted to hedge my bets.
What’s the success rate? Oh yeah, over 95%. Get outta here
Xcom players: nah. Fuck that
meaning around 1 in 20 people who do it end up facing consequences? that sounds like quite a lot actually, at least when its about longterm health.
I’m not sure if I look better without glasses or I just look better in SD
Glasses are a hotness superpower
: Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys enters the chat :
Spoken like someone who has normie glasses
Talk to me when your prescription is -13 or worse, your glasses always have to be special ordered with the most expensive high index lenses, your glasses are physically heavy, and they distort your face so the area around your eyes looks far away.
You go to warby Parker and get the $99 frames but it’s still somehow $230. Even a place like Zenni is $75 for 1.74 lenses (not including frames).
Also you have to be cautious about what frames you pick because the larger your lenses are the thicker they’ll be. You one of those zoomers that wants cute big grandma glasses? Bad plan
Not just that, but you’re absolutely blind without your glasses. Someone sexily takes them off to look at you sexily, you’re now squinting and can barely see their face. You wake up in the morning and either put on your glasses or pick up your phone and put it right next to your face otherwise you can’t see it.
There’s a reason why any scene where an actor wears glasses they have essentially zero prescription, unless the goal is to make someone look nerdy. (Aside: Stephen Root is an incredible actor!) In fact, it gets even more ridiculous. There are pictures of Brad Pitt wearing glasses going all the way back to the 1990s. But, when he’s in a movie role he’s wearing contacts and then has zero-prescription glasses on.
230 bucks? I usually paid twice that. Then I spent 7000 bucks on getting ICLs implanted. The years later my eyes got worse again so now I’m wearing glasses again plus I’m a bit farsighted from the ICLs.
But those glasses are only at -2 dpt and are so comparatively cheap that I’m still saving money over my expected lifespan.
So. Fucking. Worth. It.
Warby Parker, Zenni optical, eyebuydirect, etc are finally breaking the luxottica monopoly. 5-6 years ago my glasses were easily 2-3x that
Very jealous of the ICLs. I need the toric kind (or to also get lasik or also continue wearing glasses/contacts) and the last quote I got was 5-7k per eye. It should be covered by insurance, ridiculous
I will be with you there soon.
-7 and deteriorating like a mother fucker.
Yup, same. - 7.75 and -8.25 plus astigmatism on both sides. The last lenses, which weren’t even the most expensive ones, including the health insurance benefit cost me nearly 700 Euros.
Does Europe have options that break the luxottica stranglehold?
I have some major qualms with zenni optical, warby Parker, etc but the fact of the matter is that luxottica/essilor had a stranglehold on many independent opticians, places like Walmart and target, chain stores like LensCrafters, etc and drove prices up substantially. Those other places have issues but they bring costs down substantially
My newest glasses I got last week. -15, -15.25, astigmatism both eyes, prism. Warby Parker frames were $99 and 1.74 index lenses brought to 230, with insurance it was $130 because they pay for frames. Zenni would’ve been even cheaper because they have frames super cheap and the 1.74 index for like $75 but warby Parker has actual stores near me where I can get an exam and also get the glasses adjusted if necessary.
Whereas a few years ago I was in the same boat as you. My script was closer to -13.75 then but the local optician only had luxottica brands: Gucci, Ray ban, etc. a few no name ones that still cost like $150 instead of $250-300. High index lenses were like $3-400. Insurance would bring the $6-800 glasses down to 4-600
Someday I’ll get implantable contact lenses. They recently approved the ones that correct astigmatism in the USA and can correct up to -20. No insurance coverage though. “Cosmetic”. $5-7000 per eye. Sigh
I was a very early adopter, as soon as lasik came out I got it, the radial-k that preceded it couldn’t handle my prescription. It’s regressed over the intervening 30 years, but even now I wear thin light glasses and can at least sort of see without them.
You know what sold me on this, even though the vision isn’t as good as I could get with hard contacts? My mom had to go back to glasses after wearing contacts for years because the contacts wore away her corneas! At least the glasses I have to wear at this age are only like a -2 prescription, that’s much more comfortable than what they would have been.
My mom had to go back to glasses after wearing contacts for years because the contacts wore away her corneas!
That’s a slightly horrifying thought… My wife has keratoconus and has to wear hard contacts (scleral lenses, but functionally the same thing) in order to see at all.
Yeah it was unsettling.
My hope lies with science. Two women at my work had to have cornea replacement and both of them don’t need glasses at all anymore - one is 65 and one is 70.
And oh yes I was profoundly nearsighted and hard contacts gave me superhuman vision. They are the best correction by far. But I am really hoping that good artificial corneas are available soon.
at work
70
Excuse me wtf?
yeah the lady who I taught how to use the new computerized inventory system was like 74 or something. muricaaaa
MURICA, land of the freedom to die at work.
There’s a lot of folks in the comments who are pretty cavalier about the safety, yet the CEO who produces Lasik machines refuses to get the procedure and just wears glasses.
Obviously there’s a lot of folks happy with it.
However, many people end up needing glasses within ten years. “Relating to the legal requirements in Germany, sufficient visual acuity was found in 76.7 % of the LASIK group, in 73.9 % of the Ortho-K users and in 85.7 % of the reference group (72.7 % in the adult group, 100 % in the juvenile group).” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23508754/
“Nearly 5% of subjects were dissatisfied with their vision after Lasik… eyes feeling irritated (50%), glare (43%), halos (41%), and [trouble] seeing in dim light (35.2%).” Source: Mamalis N. Laser vision correction among physicians: “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2014 Mar;40(3):343-4.
“Lasik Suicide” is a real thing, most of the folks who have been affected don’t take the time to say much about the excruciating pain, they just commit suicide.
https://www.lasikcomplications.com/suicide.htm
Definitely think very carefully, your eyes are something you can’t fix if you get this surgery. For some people enough nerves are damaged to cause persistent pain that doesn’t go away.
I almost got the surgery a few years ago, if it worked 100% of the time I would have taken the risk. But vision is so important that I didn’t want to take the risk. Several of my family members did get it and still have dry eyes and halos ten years later, and two now need glasses again anyway.
The sample size of that study was only ~300 people. A study with 20,000 participants in Singapore found that 90% of patients had 20/40 or higher vision after 10 years. It found that high-myopia (-14+)(the most extreme form of near sightedness) patients had a much higher rate of regression, with 39% of those patients losing 2 points or more from their vision within 10 years of tratment (and likely choosing to wear glasses [not listed in the study] or get retreatment [27%]).
So basically, if you have extreme vision problems before LASIK you’re much more likely to have to wear glasses again down the road.
Also, worth pointing out that almost everyone will need reading glasses as they age regardless of LASIK. This conversation only surrounds glasses for near sightedness.
To each their own, I guess. For me, it was some of the best money I’ve ever spent. My research ahead of it suggested that the most likely permanent side effect was halos, and I’m inclined to think that even if that had happened, it still would have been a net positive.
Had mine done almost 18 years ago and absolutely 0 regrets. One eye went from 20/200 to better than 20/20. The other wasn’t as bad and was corrected to be 20/15. Vision has not regressed at all in either eye. Dryness was mild at first but completely recovered after several months. I’ve had no halos or night vision problems. The most important thing to remember is that not all procedures are equal, and not all clinics are either. Go to a few different eye doctors and ask who is the best in town, and then go there. Don’t get quotes, don’t shop for coupons, and don’t go with the 2nd lowest bidder. If you can’t afford what the best surgeons in town are charging, then you don’t do it. I had to save for 4 years to pay for mine (I think it came out to around $5000 but I can’t remember for sure anymore). The next most important thing is to follow every instruction and post-op care recommendation they give you to the letter. I wore those sleep goggles, stayed out of the pool, and avoided touching my eyes for 2x longer than they recommended.
Granted, my research on this is all 18 years old but this was not a brand new procedure even back then. I was convinced that the vast majority of horror stories came from people who did not go to good clinics or did not follow post-op care instructions. If you remove them from the dataset the procedure looks a whole lot less risky than what the naysayers in this thread would have you believe.
