Anyone else fed up with glasses???

[1iagobblergetter]

I'm getting closer to Lasik eye surgery. Tired of my glasses fogging up when turkey and deer hunting. When riding my Harley I can't wear sunglasses. Contacts are also not much fun in my eyes. Lol... anybody have any pros and or cons?

[M Sharpe]

I am!!!!!!!!!

[outdoors]

I HAD THIS DONE YEARS AGO , CANT REMEMBER EXACTLY , BACK WHEN GAS WAS $1.60 gl.
The OLDER YOU GET , YOUR EYES GET HARDER WITH AGE ..... SO THE YOUNGER YOU ARE THE
BETTER ........YOU WILL PROBABLY BE TESTED TO SEE IF YOU CAN GET IT DONE 
ONE MORE THING , I HAD ONE EYE FOR FAR AWAY AND THE OTHER FOR UP CLOSE SO I DIDNT HAVE
TO WHERE GLASSES ...  NEARSIGHTED AND FARSIGHTED .......... GOOD LUCK ON YOUR CHOICE ......

[wvmntnhick]

I'd thought about it but I'm not really all that blind to be honest. I'd had the same prescription since 7th grade and it was -1.0 in both eyes. I'd stopped going for a while (5 years) and just got tested again this year. Turns out, they're better than before. Both eyes are now -0.5. I can get by without them but it sure helps with the fine details. I believe your prescription has to stay the same for 2 years before they'll consider the surgery. Don't quote me on that though.

[Deputy 14]

Recently got contacts after wearing glasses for 9 years. The contacts are a game changer, will never put glasses back on if I can help it.

[wvmntnhick]

Recently got contacts after wearing glasses for 9 years. The contacts are a game changer, will never put glasses back on if I can help it.

There will come a day, trust me. If your eyes dry out like many others, you'll find yourself back in them in no time. Having said that, I'm thinking of getting back into the contacts as well. They just seem to play games with my eyes later in the evenings.

[allaboutshooting]

I hate glasses but I wear them because they make things just a bit sharper. I used to race road bikes in 6 day races. At that time I wore hard contact lenses. I remember being on the line and a lens slipped out of place just as the race started. It was maybe 30 miles and I raced most of that time with one eye shut. That was the last race where I wore contacts.

My younger son had Lasik surgery about 12 years ago. It worked well but now he need glasses when he drives but he has no regrets whatsoever.

Thanks,
Clark

[wirtbowhunter]

I'd finally had enough and had lasik done just over a month ago. I was -4.5 in one eye and -3 in the other.  Couldn't see anything without glasses or contacts. I'd worn one or the other for 25 years. I should have done it years ago but I was a little scared of someone taking a laser to my eyes. I'd do it again in a minute.

[WNCTracker]

I hate them!  HATE.  Shot a buck today, glasses fogged so bad I couldn't track it.  When I took them off and left them on a log I went back an hour later and they were still fogged up with dew.   

[mtns2hunt]

I had considered lasix surgery but declined after hearing of some bad side effects such as difficulty driving at night or seeing at dusk or in the dim light of morning. There are also some issues with dry eyes.

Most of my information came from doctor's as I worked in  the medical field for many years. At that time most doctor's I knew also declined the surgery and this had a huge influence on me.

One ray of hope is that the process is always improving. Its just difficult to judge how each individual will react. But I have known at least a dozen who have had the surgery and loved it.

My suggestion is to research it on the internet and then visit one or two doctor's. One could then decide if the side effects are worth it to you. Personally I have had  only a small amount of fogging with my glasses. Good luck!

[KentuckyHeadhunter]

I was legally blind and wore glasses and contacts both since the fourth grade.  I think I was -6.25.  In 2000 I brought back a rare bacteria in my left eye from the Solomon Islands and was told I could never wear contacts again.  LASIK was fairly new and didn't guarantee perfect results with my vision being so bad.  After the procedure, one day later, I was 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other.  Better than perfect.  16 years later I am still 20/20 despite a couple of severe corneal abrasions.  The only drawback is at night I see halos and starbursts around lights to an extent.  It was the best money I ever spent.

[merocustomcalls]

The more modern LASIK procedures offered today result in far less halo effect than years ago.  I had LASIK about 8 years ago and could not be happier.  I work full time as a firefighter/paramedic so getting up at 3 am to go on a call and then fumbling for glasses or contacts was a problem. 

I actually had to go back a year later and have my right eye redone.  The astigmatism I had regressed.  It was fully covered, only about one percent have to get warranty work.  My wife got the same procedure about a year ago and she wishes she would have done it years sooner. 

If you factor in all the eye exams, new glasses/contacts, and prescription updates, LASIK is actually cheaper over time. 

[Marc]

I am an eye doc (optometrist)...  Lasik is a great option for some, for others not so much.

Lasik is great for near-sighted (myopic) patients, and will work well with astigmatism up to 3.0 diopters (and in some cases even higher).

Lasik is an awful choice for far-sighted (hyperopic) patients, or patients with excessive astigmatism.

After 40 years old, you will need glasses to read or see close.  Mono-vision (one eye corrected for distance and one eye corrected for near) is an alternative for some, but a poor alternative for physically active or outdoors activities where depth perception is important.  It is important to remember that lasik is generally not glasses-free, it just makes you far less dependent on them.

If you have dry eye problems, there is a good chance that lasik will make that issue worse.  Whenever someone with dry eyes is considering lasik, I first treat the dry eye issues.  If I am not completely successful in treating the dry eyes, I will try to talk the patient out of lasik.  The worst dry eye issues I deal with in young patients are often due to lasik.

If you are considering lasik, go to a good optometrist and get a referral (if he/she thinks lasik is advisable).  I get to see the post-op work from almost all the surgeons in my area, and I have a real good handle on who to go to, and who to avoid...  Even a crappy surgeon will make most people happy (75%), so going on word-of-mouth of other patients is not the best means of choosing a surgeon.  I have seen a number of unhappy patients, and a number of patients that I believe would have been even happier had they chosen a different surgeon.

Do NOT price shop for lasik.  You are paying for two important things with lasik surgery, a good surgeon and good updated technology...  You will generally pay to some degree for both of those.

[FL-Boss]

great info from the eye doc.

I recently took a hard look at Lasik. My eyes aren't that bad.. think 1.0. Anyway .. the thing I didn't like about it was that I would still likely need glasses at some point years later. Plus the idea of any complications,  even though it's rare.. it's your eyes which is the most important thing we have in my opinion.

Like the OP said, glasses made hunting difficult for me. And I hunt a lot.. so the fogging issue was getting on my nerves.  I tried contacts in the past, but couldn't stand them.  Anyway, after a few years I decided to give contacts one more try and my doc found a lens type I can actually tolerate.   I just need to use some wetting drops a few times, but can wear them for most the day.

During the non-hunting season months I rarely use the contacts, just stick my glasses when I need them. Not really an inconvenience when I'm outside during the day as 90% of the time I would wear sunglasses anyway.  I have both prescription and non prescription sunglasses depending on if I wear my contacts. 

[Cove]

I'm very blind. Very. To be exact I am -8.00 in one eye and -7.00 in the other. In other words, it's hard to tell which way is up if I don't have my contacts in. I've worn contacts since the I was very very young. Luckily, my contacts give me very few issues. But that leads to me not taking care of my eyes as well as I should. So I've considered lasik on my docs suggestion. Just not sure if the risks/ side effects are worth it being that my contacts give me so few problems. I'm still thinking. . . . and I don't even own a pair of glasses.