Getting LASIK never made sense to me given the risks.
Essentially, take a very very low risk of permanent eye problems to not have to wear contact lenses.
I'd rather pay for contact lenses forever, put them in, and take them out every day than risk anything to my vision.
Obviously contacts have risks as well but infinitesimal if used correctly.
I had PRK done at Stanford in 2007 or 2008.
Now it's nearly 20 years later, and I just turned 48.
My vision has deteriorated from "old age" enough now that I might have considered getting the procedure done again. Touch-ups are/were free at the Stanford clinic.
My vision has not deteriorated in the past 5 years or so, I am farsighted enough now that it is more comfortable to hold fine print things at arms length to read. And things far away are a bit blurry again.
But, I now think that getting eye surgery now to fix your vision is a bad move if glasses can correct it.
It's really just a strategy decision in the 'game of life'.
"Pretty soon", we are going to have wearable AR goggles that actually work.
When that threshold is crossed, "everyone" is going to have AR glasses, just like "everyone" has a smart phone right now.
Since you're going to be wearing glasses in a few years anyway, why risk the surgery?
I started buying safety glasses with side shields. Now I have less worry about something getting into my eye because "it was just one quick cut" accidents. Since my glasses never leave my face I get added protection for free. (it isn't perfect. I know someone who was wearing a face shield over safety glasses and still got something in his eyes - but the chances are greatly reduced)
Once I realized the above was an option I lost all interest in eye correction.
Previous discussion (132 comments): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44938818
I'm wondering: if you get LASIK to fix myopia, then does this mean you'll need reading glasses to read fine print ?
Glasses are annoying, and I’m not particularly risk averse, but unless I was completely blind or in excruciating pain, I can’t imagine any scenario in which I would elect to have someone cut, lase, or reshape my eyeball.
That’s amazing. I love hearing about basic research like this. Keep the innovations coming!
> potential to replace laser surgeries in ophthalmologists’ offices in the future, for a fraction of the cost.
The cynic in me says we won't be seeing adoption of this technology....
[dead]
That'd be nice. I had LASIK a few years ago and the number of Windows Vista generic error sounds (BONG BONG) I heard during the procedure was a little unsettling. Ended up working out just fine though, so far at least.
EDIT: Given some of the comments below, for reference: mine was done almost six years ago.