Looking to have LASIK procedure done...... (very serious about this issue too)

Ok I'm looking to have either LASIK, IntraLASIK, or the LASIK HD procedure done on my eyes done within the next week or two weeks but I have questions to those of you here who have had it done on your own eyes.

- I would like to know ALL the downsides to having it done.
- What are all the issues (good and bad) that you have encountered during the procedure and/or during recovery?
- What should I expect during the LASIK surgery?
- How do I keep from blinking to keep from messing up the procedure and the laser burning a hole in my eyelid?
- What is the average recovery time for the procedure once it has been finished?
- How long until you can resume physical activities and see perfectly?


Will I need my ?

P.S. - My eyesight is horrible.... I.E. - Like 20/287 & 20/264 with astigmatism in both eyes but worse in left eye.
I don't mind about wearing eyeglasses again after the age of about 40 because I've been wearing glasses since
I was about 6 years old. I just want to not have to wear glasses for the next 10-20+ years or as long as
possible until I really need them again... if it comes to that point. My eyesight is decent for reading
up-close so I'm hoping I eventually won't need glasses for reading after the age of 40.

My personal reasons for wanting LASIK:
- The dire need and want to wear SUNglasses while outside without the need of expensive Rx sunglasses or contacts.
- Seriously thinking about joining the US Air Force but after further review of all the US military branches none would ever accept me on the condition of my eyesight due to still being over-the-limit/cutoff.

I've been blessed with good eyesight, so no personal experience, but the good thing is, I haven't talked to anyone that's had this done in the past 5 years that has had any negative side effects. It seems to me like these surgeries have been virtually perfected.

It's got to be a tough decision, I'm sure glasses are a pain in the butt.

I know a lot of people that have had it and love it. I had it done, and I tell anyone that asks that it was absolutely the worst decision I have ever made in my life. I can no longer drive at night, and I wear glasses all the time. All the lights at night are horizontal streaks across my entire vision; I see two moons, can't enjoy the stars anymore, and all the signs, etc are double-vision.

In the USA, the surgery is judged a "success" if you can see close to 20/20---even if it means one eye is "ruined". And I don't believe that they measure quality of night vision. Read about it internationally, and whatever you do, don't read the success stories or the information from the various clinics that perform the procedure. This is all sales hype for sure, and, like so many highly profitable industries, the doctors, and the LASIK makers have big bucks to promote its "wonderfulness" The success rate is less than 50% based on different defining criteria.

It will likely work out OK, but in "hindsight" it was a risk that I have always regretted. I just wish my doctor had asked me ONE important question: Do you prefer to see with clarity and sharpness, or is is more important for you to try to not have to wear glasses....even if it means a significant reduction in the overall quality of your vision?

There is no way to correct my problem, and I have to live with it for the rest of my life. I'm not trying to freak you out. I just terribly regret it, and you should carefully weigh how you might feel about it if it doesn't go "as planned". Don't let the excitement of not having to deal with your glassess "blur" your thouroughly reviewing the consequences----this is what I did.

2oo9,

What year did you have the procedure done?

Reading this make me feel lucky that I have great vision.

Good luck bros

I would guess that one downside is that women become less attractive.

I base this upon my observations of my local TV news reporters pre- and post-HDTV. Once I got the HDTV, they all got noticeably less attractive somehow.

Quote:

Originally posted by Crabs

- How do I keep from blinking to keep from messing up the procedure and the laser burning a hole in my eyelid?



Will I need my ?

-

- ..guess you need him

Best thing I've ever done. Over time however your eyesight will get weaker again. Especially at night. I'm talking 20 years down the line. I had the procedure done when I was 26. It took 45 min. I went home with my eyes wrapped up. Slept through the night. When I woke up the next morning, I took off the bandages and it was like seeing an amazing pair of breasts! It was heavenly. I was able to go to work right away with protective glasses of course.

Bottom line, for me, it was well worth it. My vision is still very good. I'm 38 now. I would imagine in another 10 years I might have to wear glasses at night or possibly for reading. Who knows.

Just do it.

I did my procedure about a year ago and it was the biggest success I've ever done. Did it at a company called Memira in Sweden. Costed me 32 000 SEK (~3500 euro) for both eyes.

Came in on Wednesday and they did a check of my eyes to make sure I was suitable. They ran all sorts of tests. On Friday, around 17:00, they did the procedure. First, they reran all tests again to make sure no one had made any mistakes. They concluded once again that my eyes was suitable. Before the procedure, they asked me if I wanted to take a pill to make me more relaxed, less anxious. I declined, cause I felt very relaxed.

The procedure began and I was asked to lie down on a operation table, kind of. They put a cushion under my legs, put some drops of anesthetic in my left eye and finally put some tape on my other to keep it closed. They then put an metallic ring inside my left eye to keep it open. It was now time for the procedure.

A large white camera like machine was put over my left eye. A suction device fixated the eye, and I was asked to look at a green dot, while the machine ran a laser to cut my eye open. They informed me that if I at any moment would look away, it would be ok. The laser would turn off and wait until I looked at the green laser dot again. This procedure took around 30 seconds and the assisting nurse was counting down to 30, so I knew all the time when the pressure of the suction would stop. It was not painful, but not comfortable either, so for keeping me calm, the count down was an excellent help.

After the machine had cut my eye open, the doctor took some tool, probably tweezers of some sort, and folded away the cornea. I was now asked to look at a bright red dot while a laser would sharpen my eye. This took perhaps 10-20 seconds and was totally pain free. Smelled something smelling like burned skin though. After the sharpening, they folded back the cornea, taped the left eye and did the same procedure to the right eye.

After the procedure, I was led to a very dark room and asked to sit there for 45-60 minutes. I was told me eyes would start hurting within 20 minutes but they would give me anesthetic drops every 30 minutes. I tried to open my eyes to look at some little light I saw but it was too painful. I closed my eyes and after about 20 minutes tears were coming from everywhere. It was like someone had put onion in both of my eyes. 10 minutes later, they gave some more anesthetic drops. I lay there for another 30 minutes and was then picked up by my father.

Before I went home I was given eye shields and was instructed to tape them on every night before sleep for at least a week. Got some anesthetic drops, eye drops and general instructions of what I could and couldn't do during the following month. I could absolutely not swim or engage in basket ball or similar sports where there was even a slim chance of hitting the eyes. However, after a month it would be totally fine to get into a bar fight. ;-) I was also asked to come back the following week to check on my eyes. They also informed me that I would have follow-ups 3-4 more times, and more if I needed, free of charge. With my eyes mostly closed, we went to the car, but I noticed that my eye sight was much sharper. I would however never ever managed to get home without the assistant of my father cause I could hardly see because of all the tears.

My eyes kept hurting after 20 minutes, because I was only allowed to take anesthetic every 30 minutes. I had lots of tears running for at least half the evening, but around 21:00 my eyes felt really good and at 22:00 I was at a friends place eating burgers, but extremely sensitive to light. The next day, I was not so sensitive anymore but still saw auras around pretty much every light. Took around a month too get rid of those, and around half a year to get rid of the feeling of having dry eyes. I guess it took so long time for the tear production to grow out and resume its functionality.

So all in all, extremely few down sides so far I can tell. I've pretty much had no problems over the year so far and my sight is perfect.

Quote:

Originally posted by Crabs

Ok I'm looking to have either LASIK, IntraLASIK, or the LASIK HD procedure done on my eyes done within the next week or two weeks but I have questions to those of you here who have had it done on your own eyes.

- I would like to know ALL the downsides to having it done.
- What are all the issues (good and bad) that you have encountered during the procedure and/or during recovery?
- What should I expect during the LASIK surgery?
- How do I keep from blinking to keep from messing up the procedure and the laser burning a hole in my eyelid?
- What is the average recovery time for the procedure once it has been finished?
- How long until you can resume physical activities and see perfectly?


Will I need my ?

P.S. - My eyesight is horrible.... I.E. - Like 20/287 & 20/264 with astigmatism in both eyes but worse in left eye.

Age is def. A factor because you will still need glasses to read.
Dryness, glare are also cons, but their are some drops to help eliminate that.
You are not going to burn your lids, they will probably give you xanax to take before & after.
The procedure for Lasik is 10 seconds. Just make sure you had the proper measurements. Topography, pupil size, corneal thickness...e

I had mine done a year ago. What they do now is they have a metal ring they suction cup to your eye (after numbing it of course). Thats what keeps your eye open. Then a laser attaches to the ring and cuts the "flap". Then you get swung to the other laser that does the correcting of the vision. At least where I had it done here in WI, they gave me vallum to relax me before the surgery. I was in and out of the O.R. in about 30 min. The actual procedure is something like 1 minute for each eye.
My recovery took about 1 month. During that time, I occasionally felt like something was in my eye, or my eyesight clarity varyied. Halos were bad at night for the 1st month too. However, now i'm 100%. 20/20 in one eye, 20/15 in the other.
One thing to consider is that the greater the correction, the lower the chance you'll get to 20/20 or better.

first and foremost, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT DOCTOR. My doctor was the second doctor to do LASIK surgery in the USA and when the first doctor wanted to have the surgery done, he came to my doctor (in Houston). I started wearing glasses when I was 5 years old and had my surgery done when I was 55.(In fact, the hardest thing for me to get used to after the surgery was not reaching for my glasses first thing in the morning! I was one of those who needed my glasses to find my glasses) I was very far sighted and I kind of thought that my age and far sightedness would be a factor to make me NOT be a good candidate for the surgery but they said I was a good match (much to my surprise). THEN they went over EVERY ASPECT of the surgery, what I could expect immediately after the surgery and what I could expect 6 months after and the a year after. They were very detailed and they answered every question I had while they were explaining things to me. It was the best decision I ever made and I would highly recommend it to anyone IF they are a good candidate for the surgery and, once again, we get back to MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT DOCTOR. Make sure your doctor knows what he/she/it is doing, talking about, etc and doesn't just need a boat payment or some such.
1. "Recovery time" is all in the way you view that term. You will need someone to drive you home as you eyes will be a little sensitive and you will still be under the influence of whatever drug it is that they give you before the surgery (I avoid drugs if at all possible so I don't even remember ... Oh, yes I do! It was a Valium. I have no idea what the dosage was but it was probably pretty small since it didn't seem to affect me much, just relaxed me a bit. That was it: 1 pill in the lobby.) After the surgery I was put in a semi dark room for 1/2 hour. The doctor came in to check me out one last time and then sent me on my way. I needed sunglasses - I always wore them anyway (when outside) but the admitting lady didn't like mine. She gave me another pair; said it looked better on me. And she was right. My sister drove there so we got in her car and hit the freeways. While we were driving, less than an hour after that surgery, I started noticing how much I could see without glasses. Before the surgery, I could see next to nothing without my glasses - everything, near or far, would have been a big blur. Now I was riding in the car wearing only sunglasses and I could read license plates on the cars next to us, and then I noticed that I could read the plates on the cars 2 lanes over, and then I started laughing and reading everything! Near or far I could read it. So the process is that quick and the results can be seen that quickly. NOW - as to how quickly do you heal; you'll be able to go back to work the next day with no problem (although my doctor required me to come back in for a "check in" the next day, 6 weeks later and then 6 months later) but the actual healing of the eye takes a total of about 6 months to completely heal. However, it is a rare event that causes any problems. I had eye protectors that I was instructed to tape on at night when I slept. (Better than a "dog cone", I guess) That just kept anything from getting into my eyes or me from rubbing them in my sleep. They took a little getting used to - meaning until I went to sleep that first night.// The next day, I drove myself to the doctor's office. My sister called to see when she should come pick me up and I was so amazed that I could see I told her I didn't need her to drive me BUT just to be sure, I drove around the neighborhood for a while and called her again to confirm she had the day off from driving me around. I drove there - about 30 minutes of freeway driving - had the check up and was on my way in 30 minutes (of which almost all of it was waiting room stuff). The doctor who did the check up looked in my eyes and asked me to read the smallest line I "can comfortably read on the chart" - her exact words. So I read the manufacturer's information below the bottom line - and I started laughing again. Now, by the time of the check up I was already back at reading a book I had started before the surgery - 2 books actually - and I pointed this out to the check up doctor. One book has (I don't know what it is called so .. ) paper pages? and the other book had glossy pages. I found that I had some trouble reading the glossy pages. I COULD read them but they were not as clear as the unglossy pages of the other book. I was assured that that was normal - it was the excessive light reflecting from the glossy pages (excessive as opposed to the regular paper pages). I was told that the ability to read the glossy pages would revert when my eyes healed a little more. I also commented that I was amazed that I could read such small print and see so far away. The doctor told me that that extreme vision was just temporary. Eventually I would lose some of both. I would probably need drug store "readers" for reading and my distance vision would be considerably better than my "glasses" vision but not what I was seeing now. (now that I think about it, I was told that before the surgery, too, because I was still unsure that at my age and far sightedness I would be a good candidate for the surgery). "Eventually" would be within 6 months. Everything that they told me before the surgery was correct and went right down the timeline they said. I do use readres for close up work now but I get them at CVS or Walgreen's and they cost $15. 1.25 strength. So... Once again, let me emphasise GET THE RIGHT DOCTOR.
2. Someone above said that that they could not drive at night anymore and, I have found that my night driving vision is not as clear as it was with the old glasses but it is not a hinderance to my night driving or I wouldn't do it. I have also found that my left eye is now very sensitive to dust; it starts watering, tears streaming when there is something in it. Now, either of those conditions can be easily remedied IF I do one simple thing that I don't seem to be smart enough to do: use the eye drops I carry around with me! I would imagine that if you have ever worn contacts that the eye drops would be old news to you. I have only worn glasses of increasing strength and the idea of eyedrops was just foreign to me. I had to get used to using them after the surgery - I wasted a bottle or more due to bad aim and constant blinking but eventually I got to where I could do it. I carry a bottle around with me always now but I just do not seem to be smart enough to recognize when I need them. I guess I need my brain LASIKed. So, a drop every now and then makes all the difference. I drop my eyes before I renew my drivers license so I can read the chart clearly. Maybe I could read it without the drops but why take chances? It's not like the drops are the only thing that lets me see these days.
3. I was concerned about the blinking aspect of the surgery, too, but I did fine ... and because they really did use an eye opening contraption similar to Malcom McDowell's picture above. It's not that sinister in real life and they don't play Beethoven while showing you violence during the surgery. In fact, the surgery lasts a total of about 20 seconds - 10 or so for each eye - so the clamps are not on for very long. A minute or so. The machine that does the surgery - cutting the lens and lazering the inside of the eye - has a light you are supposed to look at and focus on. Look at it, focus, the doctor moves the machine in place and does whatever he does and then they move to the other eye and repeat the process. It sounds bad but it is really nothing at all - remember that Valium? Zip Zap and it is done. The doctor patted me on the should as he was leaving and said, "You did great." I said, "thank you. You did, too." He laughed as he left to do another surgery in the next room. They unhook you, and send you to the dark room to sit for a few minutes .... I think I got a drink and a cookie there but that may be the Valium talking. As I said, it's a rare day when I take a drug so ...
To sum it all up, it is a very easy procedure. I had mine done in 2008 and, as I said, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. My glases cost me about $500 + change and I was having them replaced every 2 years since I was about 45 or so. Insurance paid for my eye exam and cheap (Godawefulugly!)frames but the lenses I needed were so "custom made" that they didn't cover any of the cost them. My insurance covered less than $100 of the total bill but I was paying in more than $100/ year so I stopped the insurance.
Last word - I'm not sure if I said this before but BE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT DOCTOR FOR THIS SURGERY. It is worth the extra money for the right doctor. This isn't a boob job: it's your eyes. Don't be cheap about it.

There are lots of words in this thread. I read some of them.

Quote:

Originally posted by fidgit01

first and foremost, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT DOCTOR. My doctor was the second doctor to do LASIK surgery in the USA and when the first doctor wanted to have the surgery done, he came to my doctor (in Houston). I started wearing glasses when I was 5 years old and had my surgery done when I was 55.(In fact, the hardest thing for me to get used to after the surgery was not reaching for my glasses first thing in the morning! I was one of those who needed my glasses to find my glasses) I was very far sighted and I kind of thought that my age and far sightedness would be a factor to make me NOT be a good candidate for the surgery but they said I was a good match (much to my surprise). THEN they went over EVERY ASPECT of the surgery, what I could expect immediately after the surgery and what I could expect 6 months after and the a year after. They were very detailed and they answered every question I had while they were explaining things to me. It was the best decision I ever made and I would highly recommend it to anyone IF they are a good candidate for the surgery and, once again, we get back to MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT DOCTOR. Make sure your doctor knows what he/she/it is doing, talking about, etc and doesn't just need a boat payment or some such.
1. "Recovery time" is all in the way you view that term. You will need someone to drive you home as you eyes will be a little sensitive and you will still be under the influence of whatever drug it is that they give you before the surgery (I avoid drugs if at all possible so I don't even remember ... Oh, yes I do! It was a Valium. I have no idea what the dosage was but it was probably pretty small since it didn't seem to affect me much, just relaxed me a bit. That was it: 1 pill in the lobby.) After the surgery I was put in a semi dark room for 1/2 hour. The doctor came in to check me out one last time and then sent me on my way. I needed sunglasses - I always wore them anyway (when outside) but the admitting lady didn't like mine. She gave me another pair; said it looked better on me. And she was right. My sister drove there so we got in her car and hit the freeways. While we were driving, less than an hour after that surgery, I started noticing how much I could see without glasses. Before the surgery, I could see next to nothing without my glasses - everything, near or far, would have been a big blur. Now I was riding in the car wearing only sunglasses and I could read license plates on the cars next to us, and then I noticed that I could read the plates on the cars 2 lanes over, and then I started laughing and reading everything! Near or far I could read it. So the process is that quick and the results can be seen that quickly. NOW - as to how quickly do you heal; you'll be able to go back to work the next day with no problem (although my doctor required me to come back in for a "check in" the next day, 6 weeks later and then 6 months later) but the actual healing of the eye takes a total of about 6 months to completely heal. However, it is a rare event that causes any problems. I had eye protectors that I was instructed to tape on at night when I slept. (Better than a "dog cone", I guess) That just kept anything from getting into my eyes or me from rubbing them in my sleep. They took a little getting used to - meaning until I went to sleep that first night.// The next day, I drove myself to the doctor's office. My sister called to see when she should come pick me up and I was so amazed that I could see I told her I didn't need her to drive me BUT just to be sure, I drove around the neighborhood for a while and called her again to confirm she had the day off from driving me around. I drove there - about 30 minutes of freeway driving - had the check up and was on my way in 30 minutes (of which almost all of it was waiting room stuff). The doctor who did the check up looked in my eyes and asked me to read the smallest line I "can comfortably read on the chart" - her exact words. So I read the manufacturer's information below the bottom line - and I started laughing again. Now, by the time of the check up I was already back at reading a book I had started before the surgery - 2 books actually - and I pointed this out to the check up doctor. One book has (I don't know what it is called so .. ) paper pages? and the other book had glossy pages. I found that I had some trouble reading the glossy pages. I COULD read them but they were not as clear as the unglossy pages of the other book. I was assured that that was normal - it was the excessive light reflecting from the glossy pages (excessive as opposed to the regular paper pages). I was told that the ability to read the glossy pages would revert when my eyes healed a little more. I also commented that I was amazed that I could read such small print and see so far away. The doctor told me that that extreme vision was just temporary. Eventually I would lose some of both. I would probably need drug store "readers" for reading and my distance vision would be considerably better than my "glasses" vision but not what I was seeing now. (now that I think about it, I was told that before the surgery, too, because I was still unsure that at my age and far sightedness I would be a good candidate for the surgery). "Eventually" would be within 6 months. Everything that they told me before the surgery was correct and went right down the timeline they said. I do use readres for close up work now but I get them at CVS or Walgreen's and they cost $15. 1.25 strength. So... Once again, let me emphasise GET THE RIGHT DOCTOR.
2. Someone above said that that they could not drive at night anymore and, I have found that my night driving vision is not as clear as it was with the old glasses but it is not a hinderance to my night driving or I wouldn't do it. I have also found that my left eye is now very sensitive to dust; it starts watering, tears streaming when there is something in it. Now, either of those conditions can be easily remedied IF I do one simple thing that I don't seem to be smart enough to do: use the eye drops I carry around with me! I would imagine that if you have ever worn contacts that the eye drops would be old news to you. I have only worn glasses of increasing strength and the idea of eyedrops was just foreign to me. I had to get used to using them after the surgery - I wasted a bottle or more due to bad aim and constant blinking but eventually I got to where I could do it. I carry a bottle around with me always now but I just do not seem to be smart enough to recognize when I need them. I guess I need my brain LASIKed. So, a drop every now and then makes all the difference. I drop my eyes before I renew my drivers license so I can read the chart clearly. Maybe I could read it without the drops but why take chances? It's not like the drops are the only thing that lets me see these days.
3. I was concerned about the blinking aspect of the surgery, too, but I did fine ... and because they really did use an eye opening contraption similar to Malcom McDowell's picture above. It's not that sinister in real life and they don't play Beethoven while showing you violence during the surgery. In fact, the surgery lasts a total of about 20 seconds - 10 or so for each eye - so the clamps are not on for very long. A minute or so. The machine that does the surgery - cutting the lens and lazering the inside of the eye - has a light you are supposed to look at and focus on. Look at it, focus, the doctor moves the machine in place and does whatever he does and then they move to the other eye and repeat the process. It sounds bad but it is really nothing at all - remember that Valium? Zip Zap and it is done. The doctor patted me on the should as he was leaving and said, "You did great." I said, "thank you. You did, too." He laughed as he left to do another surgery in the next room. They unhook you, and send you to the dark room to sit for a few minutes .... I think I got a drink and a cookie there but that may be the Valium talking. As I said, it's a rare day when I take a drug so ...
To sum it all up, it is a very easy procedure. I had mine done in 2008 and, as I said, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. My glases cost me about $500 + change and I was having them replaced every 2 years since I was about 45 or so. Insurance paid for my eye exam and cheap (Godawefulugly!)frames but the lenses I needed were so "custom made" that they didn't cover any of the cost them. My insurance covered less than $100 of the total bill but I was paying in more than $100/ year so I stopped the insurance.
Last word - I'm not sure if I said this before but BE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT DOCTOR FOR THIS SURGERY. It is worth the extra money for the right doctor. This isn't a boob job: it's your eyes. Don't be cheap about it.

OHHH...that's why people don't like me.



Sounds like this bro has a lot to say on the subject, helpful business.

Maybe break the paragraphs up with a hilarious gif here and there join the team.

I thought hard about having it done. Had a plan on how I wanted to pay for it and I'd gone through an initial consultation.

Risk factors were too much for me though. I'm a visual artist and I'm very active. The idea of a voluntary procedure that could possibly ruin my eyes forever was too much to take. In our thread starter's case, sure you have a dream to go into the military and this will help you. Plus you said your vision was absolute shit. Mine vision was workable. I wanted off the glasses and the glasses were becoming a problem for my activities -- can't wear them and a hockey helmet at the same time and its hard to curl with the glasses cause I'd lose site of the broom when I was in the hack (we can have a thread where I explain that later).

On the flip side, the doctor in DC I went too has a gorgeous British chick that works there. I could wag my little bean all day thinking about her.

British chick wasn't enough to justify the risk though. I'd never forgive myself if I screwed up my quality of life over inconvenience in vanity. Glasses weren't keeping me from my dreams, they are just a clunky pain in the dick some times. I'm so sorry to hear about the one dude having all the problems. That sucks man. But that shit does happen and I couldn't justify the risk.

So I got contacts last week instead. They have their own problems, but they are good with the sports and my vanity so what ev's.

Not a detailed personal experience, but it is the thought process that lead me to the decision to pass. Might not be helpful though, as you and I had very different reasons for looking into it.

Contacts seem like they would be itchy...

(To Honda)
Contacts can be very itchy to the point of feeling like shards of glass or sandpaper rubbing against your eye until you are at a place to take them out safely and sanitary (NOT including the ol' take your contact out and put it in your mouth to wet it and return the contact back to your eye cuz that's just nasty, UNsanitary, and will most likely catch an eye infection if that act is done many times). Think of the feeling of itchy contacts like having sechs with a woman who's just plain abnormal or an outer space alien who's inner walls are made of sandpaper or glass.... it's possible to do but WHY would you for a lengthy period of time?! On top of that, contacts dry out your eyes almost completely with some drying your eyes out more than others. The drying-out of the contacts on your eyes usually becomes bad once you are about to hit the cut-off of the recommended wear time and severe once you surpass the recommended wear time.

(I.E. - Variations of the AcueVu Brand like the wear-all-day or 8-12 hour wear ones <-- which the wear-all-day ones take a long while to dry out and you can sleep with them in your eyes overnight with some of the all-day ones on your eye, while the 8-12 hour wear ones dry out in about 5-6 hours instead).

Not only that, they sometimes tend to move around in your eye just on occasion or get moved and temporarily stuck in the back or on top of your eyeball and you have to practically dig your finger into your eyeball some kinda way to get the contact back to the front of your eyeball ON the front of your cornea. Don't even think about sweating so hard that your sweat runs into the corners of your eyes, swim in the pool underwater with them on, swim in the ocean at the beach and the water splashes into your face, or play any sand-related sport like volleyball because you will want to rip your eyes out with a spoon, spork, fork, or knife!

I personally don't like contacts for those many reasons above but they're great if you don't participate in those activities and/or wear them longer than you should.

As a side note, I was coming back from work one night alone (around midnight) just making my way back home and I remember looking out the window at something and slightly swerved in my lane. Little did I know a cop was behind me, 2 lanes over. He eventually stops me (cuz he apparently was upset about running out of donuts and had no coffee left, had coffee but no donuts to dip them in, or had donuts but no coffee left to sop up like the pig he was). So I pull over and roll down my window and says the usual shit but also says "Your eyes look a little red." I say "Yeah, I know. My eyes are dry." Then he tells me get out and stand in front of him so he could administer the follow-the-flaslight-with-your-eyes test to determine if I'm under the influence of paraphernalia or alcohol. Before the eye-flashlight test starts I tell him once again that I know my eyes are red but they are red because I wear contacts. Not only did I tell him, I showed him my Oakley aluminum eyeglasses case, my Oakley glasses, and Contact Rewetting Drops yet still administered the fucking test.

After I pass that (while looking at him sarcastically like he's a dip-shit the whole time) he then tells me to sit on the tailgate of my truck while he calls backup and searches my truck. It was a long day and was starting to become an even longer night/morning because by this time it's about 1 am. So after backup arrives, I give them free reign to search. The initial cop whom I spoke with asked me if I had any drugs, alcohol, or weapons in the truck and I said "The only thing you may find is a knife that is laser inscribed with my name on it that was given to me years ago but it's not long enough to give me a ticket for or arrest me because I haven't committed a crime AND under the TX State law passed about October/September of 2009 it falls under the 5 & 1/2 inch size limit." (The only reason I basically quoted the part about the "illegal knives" section of the TX State Penal Code was because I had read that it was passed about 2 months prior to me getting stopped by them).

At that point he got nervous and jittery like a coke addict who hadn't had his daily hit and then had one of the other pigs search the truck. In the meantime, I sat on the tailgate of my truck just smirking while looking at the cop car's dash camera from a distance because I knew the whole thing was being live taped and I was smirking due to the fact that ALL 3 of them were fucktards! They eventually had to let me go because they didn't have jack-schitt on me.

So what did we learn here kids? ..... Don't wear contacts for longer than recommended while you are driving either at night or during the day but mainly at night WHILE IN TEXAS?!

Thanks for ALL the input everyone, I really do appreciate all the details! I am now looking forward to my 2 appointments this Friday and Saturday!!

Contacts can get itchy. It depends on the person. I have one friend who they both so little she forgets they are in and goes to sleep in them. My wife usually takes hers out when she gets home each day cause they are dry.

The point is though, when they don't feel well you remove them and go back to the "factory" state you were in. You have a choice. With Lasik you won't. Good or bad, that will be your eyes from that point forth. Its not a small thing.

I think you should do it. For what you want to do, go for it and get them burned. Statistically the odds are that you'll be 100% tip-top by the end of it.

For me though, since my vision is an inconvenience and not a roadblock, it seemed like an unnecessary risk to take. And even the people who loved their lasik that have posted still mentioned halos and weird night vision. There are going to be cons as well.

Just sayin.