• Aevironis@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    15 days ago

    I had issues with dry eyes and wasn’t a good option for lasik, so I had EVO Visian Implantable Collamer Lens surgery 2 years ago. Was $3500 per eye so $7000 total.

    It’s not very well known. I had to ask for it specifically and even the receptionist thought I meant lasik until I clarified where it was listed on their own website.

    It’s similar to cataract surgery but instead of removing your lens and replacing it; they just add a second one with your prescription in front of it. Basically it’s a permanent contact.

    They slice a very small incision, slide in the folded lens, and then smooth it out. Takes 20-30 minutes. Doesn’t remove any tissue from the eye like other procedures or leave a flap. It can be reversed by removing the lens in another procedure, and can be redone in the future if your prescription changes a lot. They can also correct an astigmatism using these lenses.

    After surgery, I wore eye shields at night for a week, and had to do the same eye drop protocol that is done after cataract surgery. 3 bottle of drops, 3-4 times a day for around 21 days. They had a single bottle option that combined all the meds which would’ve been only 1 drop 3-4 times a day, but it was $200. So I filled the 3 bottles at the pharmacy for a total of $30 instead.

    Vision was perfect right after surgery. Eyes felt mildly dry for maybe 2-3 days but that could’ve been some of the drops.

    So happy to not spend $800+ per year on contacts and solution, or worrying about losing a contact while swimming. I would do it again if it’s ever needed.

    • Dempf@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      14 days ago

      I had the same surgery for $7600 a year ago.

      My glasses prescription was really strong, and my corneas are really thin, so LASIK wasn’t an option for me.

      Anyone considering this surgery should research the side effects and risks (there are some meta-papers in medical journals that go over these items).

      I experienced all of the visual artifacts below in the days/weeks after my surgery. At first they were very bad/noticeable.

      After a couple of weeks, the only major issue was still getting halos. (Occasionally I also get the ghosting like in the Netflix image especially if my eyes are very tired).

      Those have gradually diminished over the last year, and 99.9% of the time, I don’t even notice that I have the lenses in.

      Night driving is a bit more annoying because I still get a lot of halos there, but it’s manageable, and my brain is better at filtering them out.

      Overall getting this surgery was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I see better than 20/20, and no longer have to wear glasses/contacts. But I’m saying (to anyone reading this and considering it), go into it with the expectation of some risk (e.g. could cause early cataracts), and give your body time to recover from the surgery and your brain time to adapt & filter out the halos.

  • pagenotfound@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    15 days ago

    The most cost-effective way will always be a pair of glasses.

    I’m too poor and cowardly to have a laser fix my eyes.

    • Justas🇱🇹@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      15 days ago

      A pair of glasses would have cost me about 350 euros every 3 years. Eye surgery cost me 980 euros and I should not require glasses for at least 20. So surgery has saved me at least 1350 euros. Failing at calculations like that is one more way for the poor to stay poor.

      • Thavron@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        15 days ago

        Your last sentence is an example of the Boots Theory

        The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. … A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. … But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

      • pagenotfound@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        15 days ago

        Doesn’t translate with Asian countries. Glasses are dirt cheap whereas lasik operations are pretty expensive af.

  • OmegaLemmy@discuss.online
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    14 days ago

    My eyes are horrible and I can noticeably see it becoming worse every six months

    The only solution seems to be LASIK for me which my brother also got

    Here in Turkey, glasses go for about 3k liras and LASIK for 30 to 45k liras

    Converted to dollars that would be 70 dollars and 700 to 1200 dollars

  • WolfLink@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    15 days ago

    It really depends on what’s wrong with your eyes. Glasses or contacts are probably the best method (in terms of safety, reliability, and cost) for the most common problems, but I’m guessing if you are asking this question that either won’t help your case or you aren’t happy with them.

  • Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    15 days ago

    I had LASIK in 2012. Best decision of my life. I went from -8.00 in both eyes to 20/20 vision. I’m sure the technology has only gotten safer in the past 12 years.

  • neidu3@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    15 days ago

    I just wanted to relay my coworkers opinion that laser operation was worth every Øre (our equivalent of Penny)

  • Tiefling IRL@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    15 days ago

    If really depends on why your eyesight is bad. I have a degenerative condition called keratoconus and was told that if I get LASIK I’m at risk of going blind, so I have to use glass sclerals. The benefit is that the scars on my eye have been smoothing out.

  • mke_geek@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    15 days ago

    There’s LASIK. It’s been around since 1989. The downside is that the procedure only lasts about 15 years from what I’ve seen – people who got it have to start wearing glasses again after that time.

  • peereboominc@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    14 days ago

    What worked for me was getting allergies under control with medication. I used too have red eyes at least 3 times a week and full time irritated. Because of that, my eyes were always a bit swollen and thus my prescription was different than it should

  • andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.worksOP
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    15 days ago

    My focus distance is around one meter, I can’t really tell whatever happens above it.

    If there’s some service to fix it, I’d love to.

  • ultranaut@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    15 days ago

    I think it can be possible even without eye surgery.

    When I was poor I would only wear one contact at a time to make them last longer. I would alternative eyes, and would either take it out or switch to glasses when I was reading or looking at a screen for any extended amount of time. My eyesight improved after a few years, not to the point of being cured but my prescription got weaker. I don’t know if there’s actual causation, and the optometrist just said “hmm, interesting” when I brought it up, but it does seem like that is what improved my vision.

    Also, I know someone with a rare vision issue who had to see a vision therapist to do eye exercises and whatever they did was helpful for them. That’s a more specific situation though than your typical eyesight problems where corrective lenses can be used because I think it involved how their brain processes visual input.

    • BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      14 days ago

      LASIK isn’t life long, it corrects your vision at the time, if your prescription changes the LASIK is no longer effective. It comes down to how long you can reasonably keep a pair of glasses without breaking them.

  • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    15 days ago

    Lasik, prk and others. You’ll want the most experienced doctors you can so shop around. It’s your eyes after all.

    Ask your current eye doc and they should point you in the right direction