Laser eye surgery made my vision WORSE
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มี.ค. 2023
- PRK or LASIK laser eye surgery: Should you get it? Taran says "no!"
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The fear of not being able to see properly after surgery is why I could never do it, no matter how bad my eyes ever get. Hope you get better eventually!
yeah, i guess the fear of losing things should stop you from making your life better, i better cower in my bed for the rest of my life just in case i step on a bug or something
@@luizcastro5246 it's not that simple.
The result is irreversible and people are rarely correctly informed about what to expect. It has nothing to do with fear. If you don't know how the result will be fear is irrelevant. Even if you are fearless and you think that your vision will be perfect, you will get disappointed when you get surprised by the compromises you will have to live with.
@@luizcastro5246 jeez man let people make their own decisions in peace
@@luizcastro5246 this is not taking a risk on a relationship or a new job. Its the function that lets you do almost everything. Not wearing goggles while working with power tools is not "living life and not being afraid". Its just being safe. I had no idea about all of these possible vision problems that could occur with lasik or pkr. But contacts are easy enough and I can always take them out and use something else if I want. There's no undoing the surgery. It's risk vs reward here not failing to live life because of your fear.
@@luizcastro5246 hope the responses to this bait gives you whatever fullfillment you're not getting out of life.
I'm an optician myself and I always tell people the same thing. You need to wonder why most eye specialist wears glasses and don't opt for surgery
this explains alot. Thanks
What about no flap surgery
what a load of nonsense, the vast majority of eye specialists doesn't wear glasses in the first place, what is this ill-informed fear-mongering
and just because specialists, who are just as prone to personal biases, preferences, and fears as the next person, doesn't mean they have to follow their advice, nor does it mean that the treatment highly scrutinized professionals offer is bogus. Especially not LASIK, by far one of the safest and most surefire procedures... even considering that people with such a severe prescription incur a higher risk of failure or diminished results.
Educate yourself.
Because as surgeons, their life depends on being able to see extremely well. Taking a 0.1% risk isn't even worth it.
What is your view about co2 laser for skin resurfacing , for scars
Please tell my doc says i need 10-15 sitting
I had LASIK done some 15 years ago in Amsterdam. Very pleased with it. No complications whatsoever. If you have problems with dry eyes, look at the current prices of groceries, no one can keep their eyes dry with that.
You are SuperDutch xD
Fucking a right 😂
😂 lol
😂
This made me wheeze 😅
I had PRK back in 2014, and suffered from the starburst effect for several months. However, it did eventually go away and I’ve been very happy with the results. It’s improved my quality of life more than anything else I can think of.
Me too! It did go away on its own.
I just put the lubrication drops few times a day and i am good to go
Can you guys read 8 font from 10 feet away now? Do you find people are intimidated by your eyesight?
@@robovac3557 I had Lasik done ~6 months ago. My latest checkup placed me above 20/20. 20/15 easily, and "almost" 20/10. I'm in my 30s and wore glasses (or contacts) starting back when I was in the 2nd grade. My girlfriend says I'm not allowed to look at her ankles on the days she doesn't shave them. 😞
Go back to sucking dust, @@robovac3557
I get plenty of starburst effects from my glasses
(Optometrist here) As with any surgery, there is always a risk that the outcome isn't what was aimed for.
I think in your case, with such a high refractive error (and previously thought to be outside of what could be corrected for with LASIK, PRK, SMILE etc), the introduction of aberrations to your right eye is the likely cause of your issues. These aberrations are worse with a larger pupil.
Some lasers used in refractive surgery use wavefront guided ablations to minimise these issues.
PRK is also used when the corneal thickness (usually 520 to 540 micron) is deemed too thin, and/or, the desired correction is very high, as in your case.
You may have had the option of an implanted collamer lens (ICL) but that depends on a few things as well but these are at least reversible in case of complications.
Some patients have a clear lens extraction with lens replacement, where they remove your lens inside your eye and replace it with a new lens, correcting for your refractive error.
In your case, perhaps a simple pair of glasses may help.
You may also have a small postop refractive error that may be able to be corrected and used for night driving. New ophthalmic lens designs can, in some cases also improve clarity.
Even choice of lens material can reduce chromatic aberration.
Good luck.
So I really don't get full benefit from lasik ?
I get some but I lose some?
@@zawhernos2541 it seems like an upside of prk is that you can do a caratact replacement later if stuff sucks for you.
Sucking out the lens juice and replacing it with new, clear lens juice.
@@ayoCC I hope it's a one time thing
I just wanna do it and then forget
@@zawhernos2541 my Z lasik surgery went great and I don't have any problems phantom vision or anything and I see better than ever before tho astigmatism in my right eye could not be corrected completely because my corneas are too thin. Still my vision is great.
@billy4eyes, dude, let's be real: LASIK and PRK have led to negative patient outcomes for SO many people that it's become plainly obvious the procedures themselves are higher risk than the typical outpatient surgery. This shit ruins people's lives yet is blithely recommended by quack opthamologists who don't have their patients' best interests in mind. LASIK is a huge cash cow and the profit motive is strong (as is true in so many medical specialties these days).
I've always had Starbursts in my vision. I asked about Lazer eye surgery to fix my poor vision. They warned me that if I didn't already have Starbursts that I might get them from surgery.
That's when I found out that not everyone is completely and utterly blinded by all lights at night. I feel biologically cheated
Mileage varies and healing is different for everyone and not saying its a guarantee but I had starbursts before prk and none after!
I had starburst for many years. Saw a couple specialists when I was younger all said they saw nothing wrong.
Finally pulled the trigger on PRK. Starbursts are marginally worse than prior to surgery but I still have driven through the night. I guess I don’t mind because I had it for so much of my life.
But if I never had and got them post-op I would probably be pissed. It’s hard to say because I don’t remember not having them so a slight worsening but not having to wear glasses is worth it for me.
Everyone has starbursts in their vision. It's an inevitable quality of all lenses. It does occur to varying degrees though. But main difference is how much we are consciously aware of it. Some people are not very discerning about these things, so they don't realize they have it.
@me-ye6ld didn't end up getting it. Went through all the prep and at the last minute the cost jumped from 1k to 6k so I backed out
@@bobowon5450
Do you have an Astigmatism? That’s a very common cause of starbursts.
As someone who had dry eye problems without surgery, here are some tips:
- You can keep your eyes moist, by wearing a moisture trapping sleep mask such as Tranquileyes. They are basically comfortable swimming glasses but the only ones decent on the market.
- With some practice, you can apply your eye ointment directly to the eye lid. That way you don't run the risk of getting an infection from something on your finger. I am not sure if your doctor really meant you to apply it with your finger.
- Use eyedrops without preservatives. They ruin your eyes over time. You can spot those either because of single use containers or complex multi-use containers (so that they stay hygienic without preservatives).
I agree with this commenter. It's easy to put eye ointment directly on the lower lid directly from the tube. Even the label says "to avoid contamination, do not touch tip of
container to any surface"
For the rest of my life??
Have thought of laser eye correction in passing several times throughout my life. Always came to the conclusion that I'd rather wear glasses than risk complications. I probably won't seriously consider any eye surgery until I'm losing or at risk or losing my sight.
At that point its too late
@@MrCipasa Too late for what? To lose my sight early with an elective procedure?
Doctor Probst with TLC Laser Eye Centers in rockford IL is excellent.
He wrote several books on it
@@MikeC1 eye correction is not magic, it doesn't cure near blindness. And the bigger correction you do, the higher the risk.
This is why I'll keep using contact lenses, 20/20 vision and no weird stuff at night. I considered the surgery but it would take me like 14 years to break even instead of just using contacts. And the risks, and seeing so many optometrists with glasses made me suspicious 🤓
There are a few jobs that require somewhat decent vision without glasses or contacts. For example, pilots, and in many countries even becoming a police officer.
u think Taran could get 20/20 vision with just contacts?
@@graealexpilots can use corrective lenses, it's a myth that they cant as far as I am aware
@@hapybratt8640 They can use lenses obviously, to some degree. What I was pointing out is that some jobs require at least some reasonably good vision without any corrective measures. For example, many airlines want you to have no more than +/- 3 dpt without any corrective measures (and 0 dpt WITH measures). And just don't call everything a myth if it takes less than 30 seconds to verify.
@@graealex well it is a myth that they aren't allowed to use lenses, because they are almost universally. Maybe some small air force in some country requires it but by and large pilots can use lenses
I literally just had a convo with my optometrist about this. He said that it is surprisingly common for people getting this kind of surgery for astigmatism, to regret it.
you mean its common for people gettign surgery for astigmatism to regret it, or people who get surgery and regret it because they develop cases of astigmatism?
The prior…
Eye shape is different to lenses
Well this just confirmed that I am not going to do the surgery.
Oh, wow. I've had glasses for 2 years, I hate it so much, but hey, I see clearly and no more headaches. I did wonder about Lasik surgery, but never really took the step of looking it up. Will definitely do check it really closely now that you say this, as I'm basically only dealing with astigmatism in both eyes.
@@wobblysauce It would be the latter or the former. Both statements are prior.
Eye surgery legitimately feels like a lottery, ngl. My grandmother got a pretty basic cataract surgery one eye at a time to have a back-up in case things went wrong and despite a rather difficult healing period of roughly 2 months, the end result was great. When my father did a more advanced version of the procedure, with a foldable lens that was supposed to correct all of his eyesight issues, a laser alignment software and all the bells and whistles for which he spent 4 times as much, he did both eyes in successive days. It's been more than a year and his eyesight is still awful and to top it all off, now he's got a crescent shaped black area at the top of his field of view. It doesn't matter how fancy a clinic you visit or how much you spend, it really is just the luck of the draw.
All surgeries are a lottery
@@psgamer-il2ptmillions of gullible sheep playing Russian roulette with their lives (thousands of people with LASIK complications of committed suicide) for a procedure that’s elective is absolutely crazy. Russian roulette is the most apt description of this. You roll the dice, say a prayer, pray that you’re not one of the 4-6% with long term life changing complications.
I got LASIK about a year and a half ago. Was absolutely blown away at how effective it was. Biggest downside I had was body dysmorphia from not ever seeing myself without glasses before. I was worried about starbursts but thankfully none encountered.
i’ve never had lasik or any eye surgery, up until two years ago I thought “starbursts” were normal, apparently it’s relatively common for some people
@@owenoreilly_20 pretty sure its another word for astigmatism, which lots of people have. TransPRK should fix it iirc
@@owenoreilly_20is it a bad thing to have?
@@owenoreilly_20I have starbursts because I have astigmatism, which fucking sucks
A lot of people THINK they have Starbursts. It’s 100% normal to see small streaks from light at night but if it’s huge streaks then that’s when you’ve got a problem.
So glad you made this! The next time someone asks me about laser eye surgery, I'm sending them to this video rather than try to explain it myself. Most don't realize LASIK and PRK are a thing, they just assume all laser eye surgery is LASIK since that's what gets advertised the most. I had PRK in 2011 after my eye surgeon suggested it over LASIK, with the caveat that the recovery time would be longer. I'm glad I went with PRK.
12 years later, I'm thankful to report I don't have any issues with dry eyes or starbursts. The most annoying long-term effect for me has been extreme light sensitivity. I simply cannot be outside without sunglasses, even on a cloudy day. Otherwise, my eyes immediately tear up uncontrollably. I also noticed my vision for objects very close up did take a bit of a hit after the surgery. Sorry to hear about the starburst and dry eye issues you are having. That sounds very annoying for sure.
Oh yeah, and even after 12 years without having glasses, I still occasionally reach up to my face to adjust them, haha.
Myopia causes your eye to see much better at close range and allows it to focus at shorter range. It's just a matter of physics. So, if you fix myopia with LASIK, it's normal for your close range vision to worsen.
Your light sensitivity sounds similar to mine. But i was born that way. it's annoying, but tolerable IMHO
@@KilianGosewisch for sure. If anything it probably makes me take better care of my eyes than most with all the UV protection. Since, you know, I kind of have to or I look like I'm crying, haha.
I still wear glasses, but your closing anecdote made me chuckle. I occasionally look for my glasses while wearing them... oof!
But didn't the guy say PRK was what gave him the side effects?
Hey Taran, sorry that didn't work for you! I used to have a -14 & -16 prescription plus astigmatism, so none of the laser surgeries were an option. Thankfully ICL (kinda new) came up as an alternative and it has been a godsend. It is more expensive because the implants are made to order and not many ophthalmologists feel comfortable with it, but it has been 6-7 years and besides the first week after surgery, I have never had any problems with it.
Pros:
- Reversible, the implant can be removed or replaced in case your prescription changes
- It doesn't remove or reshape the eye, so if the implant is removed, you just return to your original prescription
- Less side-effects than any of the laser surgeries
- Works for more severe prescriptions
Cons:
- More expensive (5-15x the price of LASIK)
- Newer, so if any long-term side effects exist, we don't know them yet
Overall, 100% recommended if you can pay for it.
Edit: One thing Ido share with the others is the light sensitivity, but a pair of sunglasses by my door and in the car take care of that.
i was told that it's a bit problematic to mess with the inner or the eyes - it's risky and could result in increased risk of retinal detachment - which is why I said no thanks. But when we're old, it's a good procedure because everyone will replace their lenses anyway (cataract surgery). It should be almost the same procedure, ICL vs cataract surgery, as I understood it...
I am currently at -12 and it is still getting worse over time. When my eyes are stable I really want this surgery. Cool to see someone who had this surgery and being so positive about it.
@@Ramon314 sorry, I meant: when we're old, it's called CLE - alternative to cataract surgery. Cataract is considered really close to 100% safe - get lenses exchanged with lenses that reduces or eliminates near sightedness...
@@Ramon314 I had -10 or so each eye, and it's been fantastic, so good luck on stabilizing vision, i know that frustration.
@@mrsubrange retina damage?
I already have my retina cells dying so idm
I had LASIK back in 2007. Absolutely amazing from a vision perspective, even 16 years later I have perfect vision. Like mentioned frequently from others, while I'm happy I did it and I was sick of wearing glasses and contacts, I do suffer from night-time starbursts around lights and dry eye at night. I was hoping it would get better over the years, but it really hasn't. It doesn't bother me like it did the first couple years.
Similar experience here. I had LASIK some ten years ago. Great results and I don't need glasses to this day. I get starbursts at night and they got a lot better over time, but no issue with dry eyes here. Overall a huge net positive for me personally.
@@roddbroward9876 what's your age? And what was your eye power before surgery?
Excellent description! I had free treatment as part of the development programme for PRK here in the UK. It was already established in the US and Russia but new here. What I didn't know then was that I have a genetic connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome hypermobility type and the epithelium never pegged back properly, just like yours. So I know that excruciating pain of ripping your eyes open in the morning. I already had dry eye as they'd stream if I went outside in a breeze, but the PRK made it worse. I always had light sensitivity too but the glasses just reduced it. The benefits lasted me 7 years and then my myopia became worse and I had to wear glasses again (until cataract surgery). Now it's just Hyloforte drops, sunglasses, and avoiding night driving as much as possible because of blinding starbursts (cataracts and astigmatism made it worse). Good luck with managing your life around it too.
Coming from a licensed eye doctor, this is actually an amazing video for high myopes that are considering laser eye surgery.
Is it? What I get out of it is "For the love of god, don't!"
Which is what the doctor should have been telling him, IMO. I think if it was me, I'd be visiting that guy with a ski mask and a baseball bat.
You think it's fine for low myopic people instead?
Myopes is a cool word
@@GodKing804 no, it's not.
''Licensed eye doctor'' isn't even a thing. People love to put labels on their names to sound credible.
I got LASIK (and also had a negative experience), but the center has been extremely kind and accommodating and my eyes are about 90%-100% of perfect imo (it kinda depends on the day). When I was experiencing dry eye, they gave me drops that were extra thick, they were almost gooey/slimy. These would only be used at night and did a much better job and handling sleeping dryness. The brand was called "blink geltears" and one of the taglines says "extra long-lasting relief"
I use normal genteal drops. But I live in a humid environment. Might be worse if I lived somewhere that the humidity was under 30%.
May I ask when you got Lasik? I got mine about 4-5 years ago, and I had very dry eyes for years but I've noticed as time passes it improves.
@@giraffe1219 I got mine in October 2022, so about a year ago! I still get pretty bad dry eyes when I'm tired (late at night or waking up)
I had the exact same experience but I had a retreatment which made the starbursts even worse. Please DO NOT get a retreatment! I cannot state this enough. I could go on forever but really you covered it all. My first surgery was PRK, with lasik retreatment. Night driving is pretty much off the table for me aside from around my city. Nothing long distance.
You need eyesight driving in your city just as much as long distance. You can hit a kid near where you live as well. If you can't drive long distance you can't drive locally.
Most accidents happen near your home anyway.
@@janhetjoch It can't be worse than your old parents...
I got LASIK done last year to the month and to me, its 100% worth it. I was "legally blind" previously and could only read the big E on the eye tests. After surgery I immediately was testing at 20/15 better than perfect vision. Yeah, I get some starbursts at night but their not bad at all and I had them previously so no real difference there for me. I havent experienced that cursor phenomenon he mentioned but the words on my computer screen look ever so slightly blurry but before the surgery I couldn't read smaller print like these comments at all without leaning towards the monitor to look closer so still a massive improvement in my case and feels almost knit-picky compared to the plus sides, I can still sit back and read at normal pace just fine which I couldnt of done at all before. No near sightedness or far sightedness as of yet, I can see perfect close up and far away. And yes my eyes occasionally get a little dry at night but only at night and only when I stay up on my PC really late so thats pretty much normal and nothing I deal with during the day at all. So all in all I havent really experienced anything out of the ordinary or "bad" and in my case coming from being legally blind and relying on contacts to see, its a massive improvement. Especially if you wear contacts because not having to buy those repeatedly will make up the cost of your LASIK surgery eventually and after so many years will actually end up saving you money. I financed the LASIK surgery at 0% APR through care credit and made monthly payments about the same as my contacts cost for a 3 month supply so theoretically it will pay for itself in 3-4 years for me atleast. And honestly that surgery was so quick and painless and the recovery was so lightning fast I was astounded. I laid on a table for what felt like maybe 5min max and as soon as I sat up I immediately could tell my vision was fixed. It was obviously blurry but it was the kind of blurry like I had my contacts in but my eyes got wet. But I didnt have my contacts in. So I just immediately knew it was a success. By time I got home, took a nap, and woke up, I was greeted with perfect vision and 0 discomfort. Was amazing. So all in all if your legally blind, 10/10 would recommend. If your not legally blind and still can see 'okay', it probably isnt worth the risk of any side effects some people report. Thankfully my experience has been pleasant but even if I had to deal with afew side effects, in my case, I'd probably still find it worth it. Being legally blind was no fun. Without my contacts in I felt almost disconnected from the world not being able to see it correctly. Even feels weird talking to people when you cant see them fully in detail to make eye contact. It wouldve been worth side effects to change that. It was also just such a big risk to have the potential of something getting in my eyes and having to take my contacts out when I wasnt home to replace them, I wouldn't of been able to drive myself home and been legally blind for the duration of wherever I was at and immediately would kill any fun that was being had.
i am like that too and i really want to get it done, bit a bit shared
Bro can you add 5 more pages. Not detailed enough
You should really break up your paragraphs, bro.
100%. I did it in 2011, and I would do it again without hesitation. My night vision was so bad that even with glasses it was a scary proposition to drive at night... Now, I take it for granted that I can see.
I’m glad that went well for you!
For me personally, I don’t think it is worth the risk. I have between 20:40 and 20:60 vision, so not horrible, and I personally like wearing glasses. Also, the thought of having your eye cut into, creating a flap that could come undone from simply rubbing your eye sounds absolutely terrifying.
I feel validated by this video, I got lasik around 2 years ago and looking online I couldn’t find testimonials that line up with nightly eye drops multiple times through the night, but that is totally my experience too. I had astigmatism so the starbursts remained fairly consistent for me before and after surgery. I do notice a bit more eye fatigue from focusing on something close like a screen for an extended duration, it never used to feel good to focus on something far away, now it feels like I’m literally stretching my eyes.
Did it get better ? ..is it worth all the pain? Just wondering
@@zawhernos2541 My dry eyes definitely have not gotten all the way better yet. I used to need them during the day too, but now it is mostly only at night and when I cut onions. They stick and itch whenever I wake up and I have to use a few drops. It's worth it to me, it's more just discomfort than pain. I tried a goo similar to the one Taran used in the video, but it was super hard for me to apply and all it did was make my eyes water and remove all the goo just as Taran described, but even when I was super sleepy. I just make due with excessive dry eye drops right before bed and a few when I wake up.
@@zawhernos2541 Also, the only real pain I had with recovery was the day of, but I had LASIK. It was weirdly unbearable uncomfortable, but then I passed out from the Vicodin and when I woke up it was just a little itchy. after that it was really mild and absolutely no biggie. I'm super glad I did it, to be clear, but that first day was real rough.
@@TheTrio3331 I've had such a mixed opinion
Specially from people (and me) who expected every issue would just disappear by this and I guess it's better to wait to get more clear concept
Thanks ♥️
@@zawhernos2541 Was wearing glasses since I was 6 y/o. Had bad astigmatism. Got LASIK 10 years ago, do I regret having LASIK? absolutely NOT!
I now have prescription glasses back because of starbursts and I was too young when I had the surgery (was 17, they say your eyes still change shape). I only use them when out at night, but even if I don't, it isn't as bad as what is told in the video. The super dry eyes went on for about 6 months post surgery. I don't use eyedrops now (I probably should).
Bottom line is, do it on your mid 20's at least. Do it if you are close to being blind without glasses/lenses, and/or wearing them are very limiting for you.
Of course case to case basis. Different eyes, different doctors, but I'd still recommend it.
Thank you for making this video. I got LASIK 9 years ago and am now legally blind. I can't drive or read books or draw anymore. I can barely walk. It's awful. My life is absolutely wrecked because of LASIK. We need more awareness about these negative outcomes
Damn I’m so sorry to hear, that was my biggest fear before pulling the trigger. Was it a degradation that started right after surgery or it took a while to begin?
I'm so sorry that happened to you. I'm sending you so many blessings.
I got lasik 11 years ago. It was fine. Slightly weak prescription, but eye dryness is no different than they were before the surgery. I rarely have to wear glasses. Did you have lasik where they cut the flap with a laser or did they use the blade tool? The latter has worse outcomes than having the flap cut with a laser. The video does a piss pour job describing lasik because Taran never got lasik. His misconception about prk just being better is rather silly. Lasik from the 90s and early 00s is not the same as modern lasik. It is odd he said the older the tech is, the better, then cites old lasik 90s issues that have nothing to do with more modern lasik.
"am now legally blind" explain how lasik made you legally blind.
@@_PatrickO we've got Lasik inventor here ready to promote his dangerous Lasik experiments
@@unclesam8862 The inventor of lasik has nothing to do with lasik done by a laser that is computer controlled. Grow the fuck up.
I also had some issues after PRK eye surgery (done 15 years ago), I would see objects slightly double afterwards because of dry eyes. Adding eyedrops fixed the double vision for a while, until my eyes were dry again. But ... I preferred those annoyances above having to wear glasses or contacts. After a few years, the problems went completely away. I'm now very happy to have had laser eye surgery as it made my life a lot easier.
About wearing contacts ... They made my eyes very sensitive and dry. In the beginning I could wear those for about 8 hours, but after a few years I couldn't wear them longer than 2 hours.
*26min of talking about the downsides and complications of PRK* "Get PRK over over LASIK. It is soooo much better. I've had a ton of issues but my mom with LASIK has had none but the internet told me it was bad."
Seriously wtf was this video even for?
Yeah... that confused me.
@@MyMessyMind
It is to discuss some of the risks and side effects of PKR, which he believes is still less than that of LASIK
Lmao ikr
Its just information. Do with it what you will. Wheres your video?
I'm glad I watched this. As someone who has lived with glasses most of my life, I'd always thought about getting lasik, and every time I heard about it, I heard about how easy, cheap and safe it was. Never did anyone mention there would be permanent side effects like those starbursts, or the ability of the flap to open back up. The dry eyes issue would probably be the worst overall - I already have such a complicated and picky sleeping routine that the mildest of annoyances keeps me awake.
Dry eyes after LASIK is the most common side effect. I read 40% of ppl get it
It's a gambit to be sure. My dad was legally blind without his glasses before he had LASIK and was able to see fine afterwards, but I know some people that got messed up by it.
You realize he said in the vid he *didnt* get lasik but the alternative method right ? In my small irrelevant sample size of me and multiple coworkers wanting to get rid of contacts/glasses while working on computers all day, the ones including me that got lasik never had dry eyes problems but the ones who couldn't get it due to small cornea and went with the alternative methods are the ones who had dry eyes for ages... Also that flap isn't gonna go anywhere unless you get elbowed in the eye 15 minutes after the procedure. But tbh depending on your age it might not be worth it anymore anyway.
@CalgarGTX ya I got lasik and couldn't be happier. They told me that for at least the first week don't rub my eyes. That doing so could cause problems with the flaps. Well that was fine with me as I had already stopped doing that since by rushing your eyes you are thinning out your cornea. Making it harder to see and get treatment for vision problems. Lasik was the best choice I've ever made so far. But at the same time before I got lasik I was wearing contacts around 14 hrs a day every day. If not longer. Glasses caused distored vision while driving so was really unsafe for me to wear glasses if not at home. Got lasik at 40.5 yrs. I personally had no pain or discomfort during or afterwards. Next day I already had 20/20 vision. And prior to it my prescription was 3.75 for both eyes. For seeing far away plus I had astigmatism in both eyes. I get no Starburst though sometimes the brightness of lights at night are brighter now then before. As things are more clear now then before. It's like going from 1080p with glasses to 4k with contacts and 8k after lasik. Much more used to the lights at night now and eyes have adjusted lot for night time since got it. As for prk. I've had some places say if they can't safely do lasik they won't do it as prk risks are too high. But ya as with all things there is a risk involved. To say won't do something for the chance to improve your life because of possible negative outcome. Then why on here. Being on here is a risk and so on. A job is a risk that could end up in legal troubles or something else.
Not saying that they apply to your comment but merely adding to it.
I had LASIK in 2008. I remember just before it was my turn for the surgery, there was a woman sitting on the sofa outside of the operating room, for lack of a better term, and she had just had it done so she had very dark glasses on while she sat there waiting for her follow-up tests. You could see that she was just looking around the room seeing what she could see and experiencing it. I asked her what it was like, as I was starting to get nervous, getting closer to the moment that I would go on for my surgery. There was a pause and she said "it was very.... intense."
I didn't quite know what to make of that statement. I thought I knew what it meant, but then I wasn't sure. Well I will tell you now, to this day I use the exact same description when someone asks me what it was like. Because there are simply no words more fitting to describe it once you've had the experience. There is some slight pain as their little mechanism slices the flap on your eye, but that felt sort of like a dull ache. Beyond that it was completely painless but you are laying on the table staring up at this light, terrified that you're never going to be able to see again, so your body is tense while you're trying to hold very still. It was indeed, a very INTENSE feeling. But the entire operation from start to finish took less than a minute per eye and only seven or eight minutes after I went into the room, I was back out; myself now the one then sitting on the couch with dark sunglasses on.
I did have halos around lights for the first year or so, diminishing over that time but that's about it. Halos aren't really the right word for what I'm looking for.. I didn't have the refraction effects that you describe in your video. For me it was more like , well anyone who's ever looked at the street lights down the road on a foggy night will know. You know that glow that sort of surrounds the light as the light bounces off the water droplets in the fog and you have this pale glow around the street light? That's what it was like for me. That's about the most accurate way I can describe it.
Since then I've had excellent vision. For the first couple of months after surgery, I would wake up with very dry eyes in the night much like you describe, where they really hurt to open. Plus I was afraid that my eyelid was sticking to my eyeball and I would find myself afraid to open my eye for fear that it would pull the flap back off my eye. The second night after I had the surgery I even whacked my eye in my sleep, and that hurt so freakin bad! That really frightened me and the next day I went right back to the surgeon to make sure everything was okay. I do get dry eyes more often than I did before the surgery but not as bad as it was the first two or three years after my surgery. I used to have to keep eye drops in my pocket and I would use them several times throughout the day, and often wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning and have to use them again. Today I keep some in my lunch pail, and some in the medicine cabinet. I need them maybe two or three times a week and it's worse when I'm smoking pot as I tend to get dry eyes then anyway. Most people I know that have had LASIK don't suffer from the same issue that I do however.
Now, all these years later, I am getting to where I will probably need reading glasses soon as the people at Lasik MD did warn me would happen when I approached 45. But my faraway vision is still really good and I can't say that I regret doing it.
One quick aside, your eyes never technically heal after lasik. They are not made of the type of cells that regenerate the way other parts of your body do. Instead, the flap on your eye sort of glues itself back into place. When I heard this, which unfortunately was after my surgery when I read some things online, I was a little unsettled at the idea. But what I have found out is that the amount of force it would take to undo that "gluing" that has occurred, would actually have damaged your eye anyway. So even though the flap is not technically healed like a cut on your hand would heal, it's also not going anywhere. It's on there good.
neat! thanks for sharing your experience!
thank you for your lengthy and detailed account!
not reading lol
When they separate the cornea now, you don’t feel a thing, provided your doctor uses good and enough numbing drops. I didn’t feel a thing and I had it done 3 weeks ago.
I ain’t reading all that. I’m happy for you tho or sorry that happened
Wore glasses since i was 6, got LASIK 8 years ago, with nearsightedness, right eye was -11, left was -9. In last few years my vision got a bit worse, now it's like 60-70% when i'm really tired, and 80-85% when well rested and not stressed. The one thing that bothers me, is that my eyes are very sensitive to the tiniest particles of dust/makeup/eyelashes.
Aren't you sensitive to light?
Did you get Mouches Volantes? Is this a vitreous opacity?😊
Hey! I had PRK at the exact same place as you, sometime around 2008-2009. My correction was also pretty severe, and i also had some pretty noticeable starbursting after. Curious if you noticed a decrease in your night vision as well, I believe I did as well but it may have just been made worse from the starbursts while driving at night. I have had occasional dry eye issues but nothing as bad as you. If you have central air i have noticed it made dry eyes more likely in the morning. Now many years later the starbursting is no longer noticable/bothersome but it was quite noticeable for many years (5-10+).
My biggest issue was that pre-surgery going over the complications they were NOT upfront about the starbursts and loss of night vision. They were somewhat dismissive with my concerns with the bursting after.
As someone looking into laser eye surgery, with an astigmatism, night driving is already rough enough… glad to have watched this, so I know what questions to ask when the time comes.
astigmatism can be easily fixed with glasses.
@@ZoxtorPK starburst stay even with glasses on... they can be quite annoying tbh, at least i'm luck and I only have a thin diagonal line for bright light sources during the night, glasses off everything is blurry added the starburst, glasses on only the starburst remain
@@ZoxtorPKThere are even contact lenses to correct astigmatism
Both of my eyes were -7 and I was told LASIK was not an option.
So instead in December I went the route of getting ICL lens implants which put a lens between your cornea and iris. I had a slight haze for a day or so which was to be expected but after that first day I had 20/20 vision without an complications, no pain or anything afterwards and the only thing I had to do was put in eye drops for three weeks. The only side effect I have that has since diminished to a point I don't even notice it anymore unless I focus on it, is that when there is a bright light source in my field of view I get some sort of halo in my peripheral vision (kind of like lens flare). In the end I'm insanely happy with the result and if I had to choose again I would do it.
I'm at -12 right now and it is still changing. It would be amazing if I can get 20/20 again. Even with perfect made glasses I am not getting 20/20 right now.
my wife was at -11 or worse i dont remember and still had lasik. that was over 10 years ago and she is still fine.
How does it impact your ability to change focus?
@@projectnemesi5950 I have no issues with focusing, even when sitting behind my screen for countless hours a day there are no problems.
@@Giraffe21_ So the muscles in the eye can still find focus
I always thought about getting laser eye surgery but knowing how eyes are such precious and fragile organs I was always terrified of something going wrong if I were to get it, even if most doctors say it's a safe procedure. The thing is my near-sightedness and astigmatism degrees are not even that big and I'm in my mid 20s, and I've also been practicing the 20-20-20 technique to help stimulate my optical nerves and I've been getting good results as the years go by, I think for the next years I'll just stick with my good old glasses, there are contact lenses as well but I could never get used to those with how careful you need to be everytime you put them on or take them off.
Every few years I go through this cycle of wondering about getting laser eye surgery and ultimately feeling like a total coward for never going through with it. I sincerely hope things get better for you but am also grateful your video exists.
RELEX SMLE procedure was awesome for me. It's as good as it gets 👍better than LASIK for sure
This is an edge case
@@cringeginge7663the problem is, if you end up being the edge case, it really doesn't make you feel much better knowing that most other people are fine.
imagine being a visual artist and doing this
Don't sweat it. I did the same thing throughout my 20s before finally getting LASIK at 29. Three years later, and I still regret that decision every day.
The "safety" of the surgery is way oversold by surgery centers. Look up the FDA statistics from last year for more accurate information. 1 in 6 people end up with permanent dry eye problems. Those are crap odds when it comes to your eyes, and that's only one of the things that can go wrong.
I had SMILE (kinda like LASIK, but no flap.) surgery early 2021, one of the best things I ever did. Even though my vision was -1.0, I hated not needing glasses with everyday life, but having to use them sometimes like movie and driving.
I had the star vision at night for a few months, but now my vision is great. So happy I did it. Shame it didn't work out for you.
That's great that it worked out for you!
I've heard some reeeeeally bad stuff about SMILE going wrong
@@TaranVH yeah, from what I've understood, SMILE _really_ is mostly dependent on the surgeon and their experience.
Complications will arise with the same risks of LASIK, so moving during surgery etc.
IIRC if the surgery went sideways, they would resort to doing LASIK instead.
But it's really depends on the person, doctor and method.
My surgeon was half surprised how well my surgery went (correction wise), especially as it was such a small correction.
Didn't even need to go for my 6mo checkup as 1mo was fine.
@@TaranVH I was one of the test patients for SMILE when it was getting approved in the U.S. I had to have it redone with LASIK as it did not take. Fortunately it did not cost me anything. All good now except my night vision is SO good now. But also way more sensitive to on coming headlights like in your thumbnail.
One of my coworkers had PRK and was COMPLETELY blind after for several weeks. They did know if her vision would come back or not. She is fine now but it was really scary at the time. Long story short they all have risks.
@@TaranVH I had my eyes fixed with SMILE too in 2021, but had to delay the operation due to it going extremely wrong for the person having it done right before me. The machine broke in such a way that the doc hadn't seen "anything like this in 20 years" (which I suspect was to make me feel at ease). The persons eye that was being operated on was quite messed up. As I live in a relatively small place, I heard they kinda managed to fix the eyer after a year of healing/waiting, but had to use some other method instead of smile.
Still glad I took a calculated risk and went through with it, was quite afraid of the side effects in dark (I drive a lot during nights), but luckily had no issues. Went in hoping to get a solid 7-15 years without glasses and after that maybe get lasik or lens replacement surgery if needed due to age (I was told SMILE can only be done once, and lasik can be done to the same eye after a 6 months if needed).
@@Trespas aaaaghg haha that would have scared me off permanently!!
This is my literal terror. I've been wearing glasses since 3rd grade and I'm in my mid 30s now. I've always flirted with laser eye surgery but once it gets messed up, it's a done deal. If I ever do get it done, I'm definitely doing them a year or two apart.
it has a 99% success rate. its a really common surgery so of course you'll have many bad stories
I got my PRK surgery around 24 or so after wearing glasses.
Let me tell you as someone that wore glasses for that long, the immediate feeling of reaching for your glasses automatically and realizing you don't need them anymore is the best feeling.
No way will I ever do this surgery. Fuck it. All I need are glasses, and if I want to, I could get contacts. People have been wearing glasses for like forever tried and true. I'm sticking with it.
Wanted to throw in my two cents here. I had -8.5 in both my eyes with mild astigmatism and went into SMILE surgery about 5 months ago. Procedure went great. Can recommend from my experience.
@@theendurance 1% rate of failure is fine for something fixable, 1% rate of permanent uncorrectable eyesight damage and pain for an optional operation is way too high.
There's one advantage of having poor eyesight for me. Every now and then, I don't want to look at people and I just take of my glasses. People's faces look muddy and I can't see what their facial expression is like. Helps me get through the day when I'm riding public transportation.
Lol exactly it's like built in censorship hahah
I didn't knew about this feature, will definitely use in future
I had LASIK about 2.5 years ago. I'm very pleased with the result.
It was a relatively minor correction, but being able to see sharp at a distance is such a joy, especially out in nature.
Yes, I also noticed an increase in starburst effect, especially at night when staring at bright lights as you indicated, although it's nowhere near as bad as yours.
Generally, the greater the correction, the more actual physical removal of tissue is necessary, and this in turn increases the chances of potential complications.
There is a limit to how much tissue they can remove, and this in turn limits the maximum correction that can be achieved. It sounds like in your case it was on the edge of what was possible, and you kind of paid a price in terms of increased side effects.
Just keep in mind that being near sighed is a real handicap that would bother you all day, while the halo and starburst effect are only really there a small part of the time.
Would you really want to go back to poor vision? I guess that's a question people need to ask themselves before getting the surgery done.
No one cares about the opinion of someone who had a minor correction. Don't be involved in this conversation. High ego loser, your advice is meaningless, don't give it.
What was your eye power before surgery?
How incredibly conveniently timed, I was just looking into PRK vs. LASIK [which is probably why youtube recommended me this video]. My nearsightedness isn't as bad as your was, but it's still really bad and it annoys and worries me a lot how dependent I am on my glasses, and since I don't need perfect eyes for my profession (IT) I'm still going for it, but you definitely helped me decide to go for PRK, so thank you for the video.
Edit: It's been a week since I had my PRK done. The first 24 hours were hell, couldn't open my eyes even to just put in the 3 different eyedrops I had to use without taking the pain meds. Light sensitivity went down gradually and 3-4 days after the surgery I could already stay without sunglasses while inside. My night vision is awful right now, lots of bloom around lights, I'm not seeing the starbursts like in Taran's images, but instead a smooth halo, it's quite annoying if I'm trying to use my phone while I'm in bed 'cause I'd have it at minimal brightness and with a very strong orange tint, but if I do that now I can't see anything, it's all just a blurry, orange mess.
Haven't had dry eyes at all, one time, one or two days after the surgery I had a slight bit of pain when opening my eyes when waking up, but I think it was just because I opened them too fast. Got another appointment with my doctor next Monday, I might keep updating this comment, but probably only when it's a month after surgery now.
Working on computer requires good near vision. If your near vision at the moment is good, it might not be so after refractive surgery.
its a wierd recommendation if the "better" procedure chosen turn out suboptimal. The risks of lasik regarding the flap are actually quite minor and du to the smaller surgery maybe the chance of side effects as taran describes here would have been lower with lasik or smile.
In europe prk is only considered in cases where lasik is not possible due to less side effects and better healing.
Plz update
Any improvement?
Lol, you have listened to a youtube tech guy who blows up extremely rare side effects of lasik to a ridiculous proportion. And you went for an inferior procedure which complications (various visual disturbances) are typical and you and author both got them.
I drove my best friend to get LASIK done, I personally never needed glasses and have pretty good eyesight, but I was astounded how he literally left the surgery with better eyesight than I do, even using sunglasses he could read highway signs a couple dozen yards before I could while driving
Has he faced any type of disadvantage
@@developerAKX no long term side effects, he did say that in the first weeks it wasn't pleasant, like always having sand on your eyes, but it's been some years now and he's totally fine
That was my experience too! Right after surgery i have never seen the world more clearer. Then it gets blurrier after a while and lasts a couple of days and then it clears up and settles. Not as good as the super post surgery vision, but still good.
I had PRK in 2020 and I never had issues. I have to say cornea was thick enough. Also the doctor was VERY clear about the whole procedure. He said. I will do the surgery in less than 10 minutes total, including the drops.
I'm not implying anything about what you did but he insisted to say that many people have issues because they don't follow strict instructions like using the drops after surgery, wearing sunglasses and trying not to look into light sources. I had Starbursts with like thousands of little spikes but only for a couple of weeks. I did use the drops a lot and went to sleep early to heal (something people don't realize how importat it is to have a regular sleep schedule).
A colleage of mine also told me the same has been told him about hair transaplant. People would complain how their hair did not restore after surgery but ended up being because people stopped taking Minoxidil and Finasteride for the peroiod of time they asked them to do so. My colleague did everything with precision and he's totally ok without issues.
Same goes for me. I had 16/10 on both eyes and I still today can see so far away.
I have to say that I am aware that the Laser used for my PRK surgery is very recent, so that probably played an important part.
So finally I can say. No surgery is perfect and every person can have a different erffect. This effect can be amplified by not following the given prescription and procedure.
Some people might have to follow it precisely and some might not because we're all different.
But even if the first week was annoying more than painful, I would do the PRK any day. It changed my life by a lot. I don't even think I'm appreciating it enough.
I had LASIK in may this year and for the first month my nightvision was terrible, I basically couldn't leave the house safely at night. at 3 months it was a lot better, now at around 5 months I still have starbursts but they're quite subtle and I believe they're still getting better. I had some dryness in the first months but that also got a lot better and usually it doesn't bother me anymore. definetly glad I got it cause I used glasses for 20 years and it was expensive as heck because my myopia was so bad, the surgery was completely covered by my health insurance in Brazil, I just had to pay for the eye drops.
After watching this, I feel incredibly lucky that my surgery went so well.
For me, surgery was a must. I do martial arts, so contacts are just gonna get knocked out, and glass are an obvious no. This isn't even mentioning how miserable my astigmatism was as someone who has to drive at night on a daily basis. So to see well while I pursue one of my greatest passions, I needed to do surgery, and PRK was my only option because LASIK would be too risky for me.
The recovery definitely sucked, but I recovered quicker than expected, I have no dry eye, I have no starbursts, it fixed my astigmatism (I am no longer terrified to drive at night), and I can see 20/20 at the time of writing this (I still have potential for improvement up to 20/15, but I'm content regardless). I would absolutely do it again in a heartbeat. It was 100% worth it for me.
From what I've read, statistically, most surgeries are successful (95%). However, it is good to be informed of the risks before undergoing it. There is the 1 in 20 chance you could be one of the cases that would not be deemed successful, and if that isn't a risk you are willing to take, you may want to stick with glasses/contacts. However, I would like to reemphasize how absolutely amazing not having astigmatism or wearing glasses is. It is genuinely life changing how easy so many things became for me. It is ESPECIALLY helpful as someone who rides a motorcycle. Having perfect vision on a motorcycle can NOT be overvalued.
how myopic were you before the surgery?
Why would contacts come off with martial arts? Is your opponent hitting you in the eyes?
@@johnpulawski35 The day after, I was hardly able to see more than a few feet in front of me, but it quickly improved. By the end of the first week, the scratch had completely healed (no more weird sleeping goggles!), and I could see clearly up to 30-40 feet (excluding text). I even felt comfortable driving after two weeks.
After about three months, I reached the 20/20 mark, and I have made very, very slight improvements since. I improved faster than expected though. Most people might expect a similar pattern, but at a slightly slower pace.
Luckily, I'm a college student, and I did all of this over winter break. I didn't have my life too horribly interrupted by the recovery.
@ They wouldn't ever do it intentionally, but it is something that does unfortunately happen when your goal is to punch the other person in the face, and there isn't much you can do to avoid it (aside from never getting hit; something I have yet to master unfortunately).
If they don't come out, they could also get shifted way out of position to under your eyelid, which isn't much better.
I could *see* (haha funny) contacts being great for other sports, but I wouldn't recommend them for martial arts if you strike to the face at all. It's best to just go in without glasses or contacts.
what was your astigmatism rated at?
Gosh, I've had so many people in my life try to push me towards getting this surgery and I just couldn't. Reality is, I like how I look with glasses! I wouldn't change that for the world to be honest. Like yourself, I'm also in need of my vision for my job because I work with colour rendering and photography. I suffered dry eyes consistently for a good 2 years after a severe eye infection in 2015, and it was so frustrating to deal with. Thank you for the information, it's definitely made me feel like I've made the right call
The main reason I hate my glasses is that I lose some of my field of view, it's still there just unusable. Also the reflections on the edges of the glasses distract me at times too.
Haha, I am somewhat conflicted in terms of looks because I like the way I look either way, even though I do look quite different with or without glasses. If I needed to choose, I would say that I prefer no glasses if I shaved, but glasses are nice if I haven’t shaved for a while. And because I'm lazy, I'm usually in the latter category. :)
Also, I am sure you made the right call. If you want to try the "no glasses" look, you should get contact lenses. It's easier on the wallet and reversible. Even if you simply looked better without glasses, it's not worth the risk when your job is dependent on having a good pair of eyes.
@@leonro oh yeah def. I've worn contacts in the past, I'm okay with them? Personally I still like how glasses can do a lot to make your face look rounder. At least with larger sizes 😊
Laser eye surgery is temporary at best, if you are lucky to avoid complications. You still need glasses again a decade later since eyes naturally get worse with age. So it is literally a totally pointless risk. Lewis from the Yogscast is a perfect example. Got the eye surgery in like 2012 and has glasses again since like 2020. And besides, glasses are adorable on women. You can change out for all kinds of styles. You can change prescription when needed. And you keep your natural vision and zero issues with your eye health. Definitely worth staying natural.
I got LASEK back in 09, and honestly it was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made. I also had around -8.5 in one eye and -9.5 in the other with my prescription before the surgery. I had really bad light sensitivity to the point where I couldn't drive at night for around 2 months, and I needed to wear the ray charles glasses during the day for the first 2 weeks or so. After that however it has been amazing.
Oh wow -9.5? Was that reduced to 20/20 or do you still have some blur?
@@ernest48914 after the surgery it was increased to 20/15 in my right eye, and 20/13 in the left. I haven't had my eyesight checked outside of when I renew my license, but its still at least 20/20 in both. The reason I was given lasek that they told me was because my eyes were so bad if there was a need for a touchup if I had lasik I wouldn't be able to have a followup due to the scarring.
@@ernest48914 one eye was corrected to 20/13 and the other was 20/15. I have no idea what they are now, but they do feel like they have gotten slightly worse. Whenever I have to look at the chart in the DMV they are still above 20/20.
Is there a reason you picked Lasek over Lasik? The only thing i understand about the difference is how the surgical site is cut, i think one takes the whole part off then sticks it back down the other i think does a flap.
@@randallcraft4071 The surgeon recommended it because my cornea's were apparently thin, and if they just directly applied the laser there wouldn't be a second chance for a touchup if I didn't end up with 20/20 vision after the surgery. What he didn't actually describe was how terrifying it would be to see the knife press against your eye, and distort your vision during the cut before I agreed to it. However after the first eye was cut and finished he told me to hold perfectly still the second time I didn't want to leave the other eye unfinished.
Yeah, I got starbursts after LASIK, but either they went away or my brain adapted to it in such a way that I don't see or notice them anymore. It's a minor issue for me, having almost perfect vision without glasses was way worth any problems.
and this is why lasik is not perfect
@@raven4k998 sucks not having perfect eyesight, but it's near perfect and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
What's your age and eye power before surgery?
@@sarahyy.yy_3 I was around 30 (46 now), 5 and 4.5 degrees I think
How long it took for the starburst disappear?
I had Epi-LASIK (which is a PRK-like procedure, _NOT_ standard LASIK, basically PRK with a different method of removing/treating epithelium) 6,5 years ago. I have EXACTLY the same experience and problems. It doesn't get better... :( I even still experience the 'cursor' effect, I just got used to it, I guess...
I don't have such a problem with dry eyes like you do, but sometimes during the night I do wake up with terrible pain in one of my eyes. Not every night, though. Will try Muro 128.
Apply with a clean qtip, not your grimy-ass, half-washed fingers plz
I’m sitting at -10 on both eyes. I was also told PRK was the way to go. When I asked questions about these exact issues I was told to just “trust them”. That was 10 years ago and I’ve always wondered if I should have just had it done. Thanks for posting this and helping with my perceived regret of not going through with it.
Ah yes, "just trust me, bro", the phrase that should be the tip off that your doctor is a fraud.
"trust us", "this is normal", "it will get better with time"
I’m -5 when i had my PRK 6 months ago. The research I read said from around 6.5 it becomes much riskier to get a good result.
My recovery is longer than expected. Well my right eye was good after 2 weeks. My left eye is like 90%, a very slight haze or blur only notice if I close right eye.
Otherwise I had a very slight worsening of starbursts which I already had before surgery. Dry eye when I wake but just do eye drop and it’s good for the day.
I think you made the right choice in not getting it with -10
Reasons why I haven't done it yet as well, im still young i think ill do it when im 40-50 yrs old(?) A point in my lifespan that another 20 yrs id be ok going back to glasses
@@semekiizuio That is the complete opposite and a terrible idea. You want to get it done as soon as your prescripion stabilizes as an adult. Your body does not get better at healing with age, especially something like eye surgery.
Sorry to hear about your experience. I got PRK 9 years ago, and it's been really good for me. I haven't had any side effects and my vision is around 20/30.
I’m an ophthalmic technician (not medical advice): warm compresses twice a day and refresh PM gel drops are also good dry eye treatments. gel drops could potentially help prevent tearing/flushing out the muro128. dry eye never goes away, you unfortunately have to treat the symptoms & very rarely can you “cure” the root cause.
Glad to know controlling eye focus is a thing. I got used to doing it because of those auto stereogram books (magic eye) at the doctors office, so I can do it on command pretty easily. I LOVED the 3DS because of that. I never had a problem with the 3D, especially on the newer version.
Magic eyes are so easy for me!
stereograms are viewed by controlling the convergence of both your eyes though, controlling the focus of each eye isnt necessary to see them. but i suppose while trying to see the images you could have been training your ability to focus each eye too.
I also loved the 3DS's 3D screen! I could never understand the complaints about the 3D effect not working, lol. Even on that low resolution display, the 3D game worlds just felt somehow magical.
I never had issues seeing the 3d on the 3ds, but I can NEVER see magic eye pictures, never, no matter what I do.
@@ge2719 I have never really thought about it before, but just tested it and controlling the convergence of my eyes does seem to automatically adjust the focal distance at the same time.
For a different purpose I’ve had a different kind of laser surger to remove abnormal blood vessels (diabetes complications) and the starburst vision caused by my eyes being slow to dilate takes me a month or so to settle after surgery. I hope it all comes together for you.
Had PRK myself (opted over LASIK) due to flapless and lower incidence of dryness despite rougher recovery period in the immediate short term. Currently at 2.5 months on and loving every part of it, found as a chronic contact lense wearer I had much higher dryness day to day working in a room with AC. Post laser surgery and I can often go the day without a single eye drop, often just putting one in the morning, far less hastle than glasses and eye drops.
I'm 6 months out of PRK and having the same experience as you, it's way better than the daily contact lens dryness especially working an office job where I have to stare at a screen all day my eyes got SO dry before
@@Wolstenholmie Great to hear! Many people do experience some dryness but it's never weighed up against chronic dryness (blepheritis) that long term contact lense wearers will develop undoubtedly that then make getting laser eye much harder!
I got lasik done. Had starbursts and halos in the beginning but it got so much better. The dryness isn’t that bad compared to the dryness I had with daily contact lens wear.
I got LASIK done 2 years ago and the halos never went away. my doctor told me that for whatever reason my scars didnt heal and wont ever fade.
@@00WhiteBlade what was your eye power before surgery?
First view, we miss you at LMG buddy!
I thought you were Linus’s son for one second
Almost
@@Jdudhhsuxbsksjthis is the other Jake
Damn
Light machine gun?
Thanks for the video!
I used to have very high myopia and decided to have Lasik 20 years ago, results were okay initially but not great; specially if considering that before surgery, I had 20/20 vision when wearing contacts or glasses, but after surgery I never achieved that quality of vision ever again).
Things started going "south" about 7 years ago... long story short, my vision is terrible now. I have a hard time reading, driving at night is not possible anymore and my eyes have become drier and drier (I now need some expensive eye drops 4 times a day).
I would not recommend Lasik to any friend or family member; severe risks do exist and if you are unlucky, you may end-up with an incurable condition that will impar you... for the rest of your life.
This video also doesn't mention one of the worst potential side effects: terrible chronic eye pain...
oh wow... thank you so much for your comment. it's rare to hear from people who are 15+ years in.
I got evaluated for LASIK and I was a borderline candidate, with a thinnish cornea and already dryish eyes. Having to put drops into my eyes three times a day would have defeaty the purpose of being able to wear makeup, so I just got frameless glasses instead
ICLs are an option/
As someone who had both LASIK AND PRK (had to get PRK as a follow up as apparently my left eye kept adjusting causing my right eye to compensate in a bad way), The starburst don't really bug me near as much, but that is probably cause I had really bad astigmatism (which couldn't be treated). The dry eyes are deff a nightmare.
Has anything improved/worsened over these 5 months?
@Chronically_ChiII Nope pretty much been stable, the only thing ive had happen, which is not related was a blown blood vessel in my left eye. That was not fun
I've had astigmatism my entire life and I just figured it's how eyes worked for everyone. I have visual snow as well, and I was surprised to learn that that isn't normal either. It was shocking to see the world without startbursts when I got my first pair of glasses in my late 20s. Unfortunately, as a 16-hour-a-day computer user, I know they're going to come back. Astigmatism comes with the territory, it is what it is. Not to say that yours wasn't caused by the surgery, the rather sudden onset seems to suggest as much, but maybe thinking of it as "certified nerd vision" could make you feel ...better? about it? Worst case scenario, you can just don the glass once again. At least in my case(which looks pretty much identical to the images you made), the glasses make them go away completely, one hundred percent. Since astigmatism is caused by a physical deformation of the eyeball, the lenses can be similarly deformed to refract light in that same manner. It's very effective, aside from the fact that the eye will likely continue to deform as you age, requiring a new prescription every now and then.
Just a thought: It's very easy to irritate your eyes. Constantly jamming your fingers in your eyes to apply eyedrops and creams and whatnot adds a lot of bacteria to that area which can cause inflammation, which is difficult to track chronologically. The infection could be introduced to the tissue today and you'd only feel its effects in two days time, which could then last for several days, etc. You'd be surprised how ineffective washing your hands for anything under 5-10 minutes without proper technique can be when it comes to actually removing bacteria and debris from them. You might be stuck in a vicious cycle of irritating your eyes every time you try to treat the symptom of irritation. Washing your eyes an inordinate amount can also have that effect. You could try prescribing yourself some NSAIDs for like a couple weeks while making sure to never touch your eyes under any circumstance to see if anything changes. Again, just a thought, this is not financial advice.
HMMM interesting, you may be right that I should not be jamming my fingers into my eyes every night. Even though that's how the doctor showed me to do it. I'll see if there's another way to apply to Muro 128
@@TaranVH You know what they say. When you're in the hammer business, a lot of nails, et cetera. All I know is that acne creams never worked for me. Then, when I got glasses, touching my face became a liability so I stopped doing it, now I only get acne on my chin.
Some type of gloves would probably work for applying... But I am not sure which ones because there are so many and they all have different kind of properties. Like the stuff getting stuck on the glove, bu not the eye. I think some set of reusable gloves would work but you'd wash them with alcohol/soapy water before using everytime.
You can get glasses that correct the starbursts? I haven't had any glasses that fixed them.
I was prescribed for astigmatism glasses but I don't feel they help a lot with the star bursts. I'll double check them with another optometrist to see if I can make this annoyance go away.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Tarun, I stay in Vancouver and went through a similar experience. I now have extreme dry eyes due to lasik, I saw some of the renowned doctors in BC but they either put a punctal plug in or just prescribed some medication and drops. Only recently did I travel to the US and saw a doctor who checked my meibomian glands, took lipiscans and informed me that the dryness is being caused for the extreme level of meibomian gland dysfunction. Please see a doctor in Canada who can do your meibography. I have lost almost all my glands in the right eye and once lost they can’t be regenerated but if you catch the issue in time you can take measure to help the remaining gland stay alive. Do some research about mgd and how it attributes to dry eye disease and take measure to go to the root of it. This dry eye issue is a progressive condition.
Perfect honest feedback man! Good job 👍🏻! I am right now 12 years after LASIK and my eyes were so dry like yours… fortunately it was starting to get better after 8 years and now I can use only ordinary artificial tears very occasionally. On the other hand the glare, starburst and these light side effects remain all the same - and yes I have exactly same shape on both eyes as you showed, just in opposite directions.
I had considered laser surgery years ago and even went for initial tests in a clinic to see what options would be best. Based on doctors in that clinic due to my eyes being somewhat flat they advised against LASIK and to go for PRK (LASEK) instead. After reading through quite a bit of content and watching videos on the topic in the end I decided against it. Having to deal with months of impaired vision due to the PRK and potential problems afterwards with maybe a time frame of 9-10 years afterwards with good vision and then potentially requiring glasses or another surgery again was just to many ifs and buts for me (and let's not ignore the risks of surgeries in general).
I'll rather stick with glasses...
Awesome video Taran! When I got my surgery, my doctor said I could do either LASIK or PRK, I really wanted LASIK at first but after a lot of research and feedback from friends, I went with PRK. I was super scared during the surgery due to having stuff being put in my eye even though I haven’t felt anything, but everything went well. I did have starbursts that disappeared after the first few months, it was way worse on my weak eye (left). Years later after my surgery the only two side effects were a little bit more sensitivity to bright light that can cause me headaches sometimes and dry eyes (but nothing compared to what you mentioned in the video, I use eyedrops every couple days).
Thank you for sharing the experience!
I had PRK to correct my shortsightedness and light astigmatism a decade ago.
It was like in a science fiction. I just lay down get some eye drops and then the laser does its thing. No cutting of flaps and no fixation of the eye - the laser reacts fast enough that you can just stare at it and it does it's thing. Was a feeling like being in that iconic scene of Total Recall...
After the procedure, i got protective contact lenses and two kinds of drops to use. For a week or so my eyes where burning like on fire. It was the most painful experience of my life. My eyes where also extremely sensitive to bright light. Looking outside the window into daylight hurt. But as the eyes healed, the burning sensation disappeared and the sensitivity toned down a lot.
It is only a decade that i didn't need glasses or contacts now but it definitely was totally worth it. That 4k bucks where the best investment i ever did and i am willing to repeat it even enduring the same pain again when my aging eyes at some point in the future need correction again.
My eyes are slightly more dry than before (always had occasional dryness issues but it's not so bad that i would need drops).
I also have some starbursts at night now (orders of magnitude less than you though) - but i actually sortof like them.
But my night vision is now actually slightly better than before (maybe just because glasses have always some specks of dust on them which eat and diffract some light).
TLDR: PRK changed my life for the better.
Early on, I felt I'm fine with contacts/glasses, which is an inconvenience, but not a major one, and I don't _need_ surgery and I thought within 5-10 years the procedure is going to get so much better. And now, 25 years later I still hear the same stories of dry eyes, some LASIK horror stories of accidental poke in the eye, or some particle got in the eye, so the flap moved and had to be readjusted, some say their vision was not 100% corrected, it was a 0.25 miss... some people are thrilled, some have minor or more major problems, dryness, star vision, but the eyesight gets worse over decades - which has nothing to do with surgery - and they need glasses again. Seemed to me it was a coin toss, I could be lucky or I could not be, and whatever it is, it's irreversible, can't be undone, once you've committed to it, you're in it. So, what's the most you've ever lost on a coin toss?
See you've got a little more convenience on one hand against 0,1% chance of horrible daily problems, 1% chance of medium terrible daily problems and 10% chance of minor daily problems.
Once they will have a procedure that will guarantee 20/20 vision after procedure, with zero side effects, no aspect of vision being worse, no dryness, nothing in the long term, then I suppose I'll do it.
I had PRK about 10 years ago. I chose PRK over LASIK because I was boxing at the time. I had the same issues you're describing for the first 5 years or so. I had to force myself to keep my eyes closed when I woke up in the mornings to keep from wanting to gouge my eyes out. The pain was TERRIBLE. It felt like I had slept with sandpaper on the inside of my eyelids. Then I went keto and started fasting. I can't remember the last time I had dry eye or starbursts. Seriously, it's been years. I can drive at night and oncoming headlights don't starburst anymore.
I personally had an EBK surgery and it was honestly a fantastic experience (it's the newest method and it was done on me by one of the doctors who invented the method).
It's like a much better version of PRK with less to no side effects.
Less people can get it because there are certain cases that simply cannot have it done (they do checkups prior of course).
It works almost immediately but as the healing process goes, for 1-3 days you require someone to take care of you since it's so agonizing and you can basically not function (sleeping is great to reduce the time you are in pain). Then for a few extra days you can put the eye drops yourself and the pain is extremely lessened.
Overall it takes about a week to heal and another week to get used to your new eyesight or so.
I do see a tiny bit worse in low light and I do get a tiny bit of the star burst effect (far lesser than the video shows).
I personally do recommend going to a doctor and seeing what they say on the matter.
No wearing glasses is fantastic and I personally didn't require any extra routine care two weeks post surgery.
EBK is objectively superior to PRK but it is not available everywhere (I did my surgery in 2017, close to when it was invented).
Or leave your glasses on if you prefer. It's not that big of a deal and it's expensive to do the procedure (no extra payments beyond the surgery though which is nice).
I hope this comment was helpful to someone :]
EDIT:
EBK can also be performed many times. So if something goes wrong or after 20-30 years you require a new operation, you can just do it again no problem.
In which country did you perform the surgery, if you don't mind sharing? Was curious if it's available in Europe.
First time I'm hearing EBK. Great to hear but again, we'll always be waiting for the "next improvement"...
@@Enderplays12 I personally did it in Israel. I don't know where else it is available but I'd assume there are places in North America and Europe that provide that service.
Taran: As a refractive surgeon with over 30 years experience, I can tell you that you definitely should NOT have had laser vision surgery (whether PRK or LASIK or SMILE). You don't say what your prescription was in diopters (your glasses Rx) but it was obviously quite high or whoever evaluated you would have recommended LASIK, not PRK. [My own upper limit is about -6 Diopters.] In my experience, there is little if any difference in terms of possible side-effects and complications between the two, especially in terms of optical distortions. Refractive clinics that encounter a patient unsuitable for LASIK often will tell you "but you can have PRK safely." I do not believe this is true and you are a good example of why. The higher the degree of myopia being treated, the more aberrations there will be -it is not a matter of being perfectly safe up to a certain level, then jump to PRK. The weird and disabling optical issues you describe are a function of your high Rx, not the procedure itself. The higher a person's degree of myopia (near- or short-sightedness), the more corneal aberrations there will be. These are what cause the distorted images you describe with your excellent graphics. There are other options your doctor should have educated you about. I am deeply sorry you have had this outcome, but please realize poor patient selection , not the procedure per se, is the reason.
so he would have gotten better outcome if he’s done Lasik?
Nooo don't burst his bubble. I am sure him being one of the few people that got the bad outcome is classified enough to be able to give his intitled opinion
Why the lines are cut
I mean given his line of work and habits, maybe they should have measured his pupil size at different light levels, a subjective dilated pupil tolerance test, and potentially offer ICL as an alternative...
Almost 20 years ago I had lasik. It was the worse experience and I’ve a lot of issues, starbursts being a minor one of them. I’m happy I only had one eye done
Thanks for sharing your experience! That’s really helpful.
Thankyou so much for posting this. You have probably saved many many eyes from this devastating surgery. It must have been very hard emotionally to do. I had SMILE 4 years ago and it has comprehensively destroyed my life. I am unable to work and am now on disability allowance.
Taran you have long been a favorite. Sorry to hear you're having ongoing issues, and thank you for telling your story. This is really startling, and it's good to know that my instinct to avoid eye surgery unless absolutely completely unavoidable was correct. It's not good to hear that you're going through this, but you get my point. As a trucker and heavy equipment operator, I could never take the chance, unless my eyes get career endingly bad.
This is absolutely correct. Eyes are delicate and precious that you should only get surgery when its unavoidable and strictly medically necessary. Eye surgeons know this and they would never get LASIK or PRK, which are completely elective surgeries. Yet most of them offer LASIK/PRK like used car salesmen to their clients/patients.
Hey Taran, I had PRK 12 years ago and still suffer from the same morning dry eye rip your eyelid/eyeball problem that you have. I tried the ointment in the past but it didnt seem to work too well. What does work is taking flaxseed oil (or fish oil) about 3000-4000 mg a day (more than the dosage on the bottle). My eye doctor recommended it several years ago and its the only thing that I notice makes a difference. Apparently, ingesting that much Omega 3 oil will make some of it migrate up to your eyes and help keep them lubricated. You have to take the oil every day to build it up in your system, and it takes a week or 2 to notice the difference- but it definitely helps. The other thing that helps is wearing a sleep mask somewhat tight on my face- that prevents me from opening my eyes accidentally and causing the peel. Instead, when I wake up, I take care to rub my eyes a bit before opening them and make sure they're not stuck to my lids. The mask also helps prevent any airflow in the room from working its way into my lids and drying my eyes more. With these methods, I only get the peel about once a week (if I missed a dose of oil).
How is you dry eye now??
For me it was an amazing improvement.
Sure, the starbursts are much more intense, but they don't make it much harder to drive, you can get used to it. I only get it when driving at night. I also get dry eyes.
I've had LASIK surgery years ago, and I still notice the amazing difference. I've had minus 7-8 eyes, so being able to see the leaves of trees that are 100s of meters away is magical.
Being able to do sports, especially swimming, without having to worry abuot losing my glasses (or being almost blind toe verything outside of 5 meters) is also awesome.
I got laser eye surgery (LASIK) back in 2001. I had halos and starburst for about a year. I've heard many people that have had issues with PRK but nearly nobody I know has a problem with LASIK. Also, the military often pays for LASIK for soldiers. After that first year, I've never had any issues with my eyes.
Yeah, the accidental eye gouging was one aspect I did not anticipate before getting PRK. Having built-in safety glasses had unknowingly made my life much easier and safer. I don't know how well sighted people keep their eyeballs intact throughout their life. 😅
This is so true. I cannot count the number of times I've heard or felt some small piece of debris tick against my glasses. Whenever it happens I think, thank God that didn't hit my eye!
Глаза не такие беззащитные как кажется на первый взгляд. Моему мужу на работе часто попадали щепки в глаза. А я один раз ударила в глаз углом книги. Если присмотреться это выглядело как разорванный пластик на зрачке. Ничего все зажило
This is something I only noticed after one day when I was working under my car using contacts. I was unbolting something and some rust fell in my eye and man that sucked. Fortunately my tears were enough to get rid of it and I didn't need to visit my eye doctor.
I had been living my life with "safety glasses" on the entire time and not knowing it. After watching this video, I'm happy to wear glasses. If there's any side effects to wearing glasses, they are positive like "constantly wearing safety goggles".
@@AG-ym6iw Если вы вставили его комментарий в переводчик, то не составило бы труда свой комментарий перевести на английский?
Браузеры уже давно автоматически переводят текст на странице. @@Xeem_Pad
This is the reason I backed out the week before my surgery, I did more research on the results of LASIK and found many people that had these star bursts. It's the kind of thing that would drive me absolutely nuts like looking through a dirty windshield. I'd love to get it if it weren't for the almost guaranteed starbursts and dry eyes making me rely on drops to keep my eyes moist.
the video starts clearly stating what he had WASNT lasik
I initially thought I was the only one facing this issue, so thank you for sharing. It really bothers me that I get so distracted whenever someone enters the room and turns on the light. I find it hard to watch TV because the starbursts obstruct my view. Moreover, when I play badminton indoors and the shuttlecock comes from above, I look up to hit it, but the ceiling light starbursts block my entire upward vision. This wasn't a problem before my operation.
I notice that I squint a lot, which leads to headaches and occasionally migraines. For instance, while on Reddit, if someone posts content that isn't dark mode-friendly, it feels like I've been flashbanged. I had -0.75 on my right eye and 0.25 on my left (so never wore glasses), and underwent a LASIK operation to correct the difference, hoping it would alleviate my increasing migraine occurrences. It worked for about 7 years, but after 10 years, I had another LASIK operation on my left eye to correct a -0.5 difference that had developed over time.
Now, I wear yellow anti-glare glasses which are indispensable, especially while driving at night. They also have a blue light filter, which significantly reduces eye strain when I'm on my computer, and eliminates cursor starbursts. Regarding the eye migraines (with aura), they became less frequent and less intense after surgery. Additionally, I discovered that acupuncture has entirely prevented them, provided I get a treatment at least once a month. I'm relieved to have found ways to mitigate the initial struggles, and personally, I'd trade a migraine for starbursts any day. I encourage others to share their experiences so that individuals can make informed decisions that best suit their circumstances.
I had the exact opposite happen to me. I had terrible night vision with tons of rays from lights all over my vision. Went for laser eye surgery and now I see basically as good at night as I do in the day. The rays coming off lights (streetlights in this example) went from like 12 feet long down to like 6 inches
Also when was your surgery? because even under normal circumstances your eyes will probably feel dry for like 6 months to a year and half after surgery which I think is normal. Part of it is recovery and part of it is the fact you get used to extremely moist eyes because after the surgery you have to take drops constantly for a period of time.
i had the lasik btw
Ah damn! I had TransPRK so it's a bit different, in Amsterdam. No issues, no pain, healed quickly etc.. I was like the perfect example of how everyone wants it to go. Perfect eye sight even after 5 years now. Much strength to you! :( I would be devastated if I had your journey to endure.
How old are you when you did it? I'm almost 50 and I'm wondering if I should do something.
@@ShibaInuWoof wrong country lol
@@ShibaInuWoof What
@@TedTheAtheist Almost definitely not. If you're 50, you already have presbyopia. IMO, in our modern world, moderate to strong myopia is much less irritating than hypermetropia. Unless your myopia is so bad like -1000 and above, then you might want to reduce it.
Plus, as we age, the likelihood of getting cataracts increases. If you needed IOL, or just decided to get one because of the presbyopia, the probability of adverse outcomes increases if the patient previously had LASIK or PRK. You can't just go cutting into the eye over and over and over. Frequently, IOL surgeries are followed by "touchups".
Same here. I had PRK in Brazil 5 years ago, and it was the best thing in my life. Never regretted.
I do think a certain amount of starbursts is completely normal for everyone. I have very good eye sight, close to perfect i would say (though it's been a while since i've gotten it testen) and i do have them as well. Not to the degree that you have them, but it is definitely the same thing because they also get more pronounced the starker the contrast between bright and dark areas. Mine have about 1/3 to 1/4 the size of yours if i would have to put it in perspective and they also get slightly more pronounced when i close one of my eyes, likely because of the pupils getting larger as well.
Fingers crossed that yours will get better in the future!
Sorry to hear this :/ although I never went through this I went legally blind in my left eye from multiple sclerosis optic neuritis, it happened to also be my first relapse. Sadly this is now permanent. Hoping my right eye continues to work for many more years! I believe my brain has also compensated quite a bit for the loss of vision. Would you consider placing an LED strip rather than a light on your dashboard? An LED strip might be less glaring with the diffuse light.
I got Lasik like 18 years ago. I also had a heavy prescription all my life so I was ecstatic to have it done and not have to wear contacts or glasses. I will say the surgery was terrifying because people doing stuff to your eyes while you are conscience is terrifying. The only and biggest drawback is what I guess you call starbursts but I just consider it seeing in the dark, like you say driving at night or watching tv/movies in a dark room. I did find that using a very light prescription eyeglasses solves that problem completely though, I wonder if it would work for the color correction issue since I don't have that.
I'm mildly near-sighted. I was at -1.75 in both eyes. I started wearing contacts about 15 years ago I'm 30 years old. I found that if you choose a flatter base curve for your contacts your vision can improve over time. I'm now at -0.75 and some days in the morning especially I don't need contacts. The flatter base curve for most people means the contact will slide off your eye easily, but the upside is the shape is slowly polishing the eye in the right direction.
Check out orthokeratology, one wears hard contact lenses overnight that flatten the cornea to correct the refractive error. The effect takes a couple of days to slowly dissappear, so you have to keep wearing them at night to keep the new cornea shape. Also for some reason, wearing them when you are a kid is likely to stop your vision from getting worse.
@@TheDimsml damn wtf? This is so interesting
@@TheDimsml interesting any useful sites to use to research or videos on TH-cam?
Wow, I never heard of that.
@@TheDimsml wearing them as a kid may stop the vision from getting worse, but wearing glasses or soft contacts might do the same thing.
The main point being that if you can't see well, you squint. When you squint for long periods of time, you physically squeeze and deform the eyeball, which worsens the problem (myopia can be caused by an eyeball that is slightly elongated). Get some sort of refractive correction (glasses, contacts, ortho-K) and you remove one component (eye strain) that could potentially worsen the problem.
Incidentally, there's some research that suggests exposure to bright sunlight (e.g. spending time outdoors, NOT staring at the sun or a lamp) reduces the risk of developing myopia as a child
I got SMILE surgery. You didnt talk about that as an option, but it could perhaps also have helped you. Smile is better than lasik in terms of avoiding the flap you also talk about. I cannot stop thinking about if the dry eye problems are caused by prk - but I also got more dry eyes, after smile surgery. However, it's never a problem when I'm outside - it is a minor problem at night at home and when working in front of the computer and after I wake up. But I never wake up, because my eyes are dry and hurts. I use the eye drops in the mornings or evenings - luckily not during the day. Thanks a lot for being so honest and tell about the risks, to inform people about this decision! And I hope your eyes will still heal even more so you eventually hopefully can get rid if those eye drops and pain from dry eyes!
All laser eye surgeries have a very high chance of causing dry eye syndrome.
Responsible doctors even specifically caution people who already have it against having laser surgery, because if you already have dry eyes, it can get VERY bad.
I got PRK done in 2015. I have never had any issues with dry eye due to the surgery. I used to have a lot of problems with dry eye from wearing contacts which did lead me to only using them during athletic activities and glasses at all other times. In fact, I actually often forgot to use the prescription eye drops because I never noticed anything wrong with how my eyes felt post surgery and I never set any kind of alarm to remind me. I've always been a very touchy person when it comes to my face, so my hand eye coordination quickly corrected for the lack of glasses in front of my face. On the other hand, during the healing month, every time I accidentally subconsciously rubbed my eyes, it would ignite a fire-like pain more intense than anything I have ever felt in my life. Actual 10/10, worse than even a kidney stone in my opinion. I did have a problem with my natural point of focus in my eyes still acting as if I was wearing glasses, so I would constantly have to consciously refocus my eyes. It took maybe two years for my eye muscles to retrain their muscle memory and the problem to stop, I think.
I also now have starburst issues in high contrast lighting like you, but I do not feel that mine is as severe as yours. I find the starbursts largely do not affect my life, but in very specific driving scenarios, I do find that the starbursts are enough of an issue that I feel unsafe until the situation passes. I don't think in these scenarios I am at risk of crashing into other cars or stationary objects, but rather that I wouldn't be able to see if a pedestrian or animal entered the street in front of me. I try to slow down in these cases to lessen any potential risk, along with avoiding driving during certain times of day if possible.
I would still get PRK knowing what I know now. I think the complication rate for corrective eye surgery is something well under 1%, so people with such extreme problems are the minority by a significant margin. Not needing to worry about losing or breaking my glasses has been a massive quality of life improvement for me. I've also been told that recent developments in LASIK techniques have significantly reduced the chance of flaps popping open due to head trauma or pressure spikes (like from skydiving).
Also, my vision went from 20/400, -4L -4.5R I think to 20/15. I have better than 20/20 vision now. But I too cannot read tiny text less than 6 inches from my face any more.
I had PRK’s 23 years ago (2000) and wish I had done it earlier. Lasik was a nono for me, due to the forever loose flap. Recovery from PRK was pretty painful for a week or so. At a certain point I even had to get a bottle of xylo- or some other caine to drip into my right eye a few times. Dryness was an issue for me too, but only for a few months. The starburst effect was REALLY annoying, and it made driving pretty difficult and even somewhat dangerous. It lasted for a very long time. But you live with it, and you don’t notice when it disappears. I’d guess it was for a year or so.
23 years later, my eyes are still much more light sensitive than before the surgery. I have to wear sunglasses as soon as the sun gets out.
Hope your eyes improve soon!
I thought I'd share my experience as well. I had a -1.25 prescription with some astigmatism, so I was seeing starburst somewhat less intensely than you. My eye doctor always told me I had dry eyes but I never needed to use eye drops. My cornea was also thin. I went in for a consultation to get laser eye surgery and when they saw my thin corneas they recommended I come back in 6 months so they can be sure it wasn't getting worse over time. After the second visit, they were comfortable with recommending PRK to me. I did it, suffered the pain for the first few days, dealt with shotty vision for about a month and a half while my eyes healed, and after 3 months I had 20/20 vision in my left eye and 20/25 in my right eye. After 6 months I was 20/20 in both eyes, and after a year I was 20/15. My dry eyes is worse, but I only need to take eye drops in the morning when I wake up. I experience a similar sensation as you do where my eye sticks to my eyelid when I suddenly open them and it can be a bit painful after waking up so I need to open them slowly and I keep my eye drops on my night stand. My dry eyes are clearly not as chronic as you explained in your video though. As for my astigmatism, it has completely gone away. No more starburst, just a slight blooming effect with bright headlights at night which I believe is common for everyone with normal vision. Overall, I am quite happy with my surgery. I wonder for the severity of your prescription if an ICL exchange was the way to go?
Hey Taran, I had roughly 20/700 vision and went the LASIK route, because my dad had great success with it about 20 years ago. I thought I was alone in the starburst phenomenon, as the surgeon said it should be fully gone at six months which has come and gone.
I think the worst part of LASIK was smelling my own burning eye flesh. Other than that, not too bad, and was able to drive the next day!
very informative video, Thank you! I didn't know much of the potential problems but everyone around me was telling me I should do it because to them, it seems like getting perfect vision back almost instantly. to me, it felt too good to be true and that, in the best case scenario, you'd get that for a couple of decades then you'd need reading glasses which for me, are worse because being able to see closer things without glasses and needing glasses for further objects is more comfortable and practical not to mention that I can still see close objects with glasses which isn't the case with reading glasses. thinking about potential risks and how you may not heal as well as you want and most importantly, the fact that once you do it, there's no going back. really makes it not an option for me. glasses do give you perfect vision as long as you wear them and they don't harm your eyes, contacts have the risk of infections but with proper care, easy to avoid and treat if it does happen and again, perfect vision instantly for as long as you wear them. both have been serving me well for about a decade now and growing old, I wouldn't need reading glasses. I personally don't think anyone should consider surgery unless their vision is so bad, they're almost legally blind especially it is getting worse over time. otherwise, try to get used to glasses/contacts and invest in good sunglasses to protect your eyes especially when you're wearing contacts.
I got laser surgery last year, I had some complaints - but my concerns were significantly alleviated when I made them give me a prescription. My prescription is very very mild and most for an astigmatism. Have you looked into vision with astigmatism - the images look like they could be partially caused by that.
I also found once I started wearing glasses again my dry eye went away and I stopped using drops completely. (Although, my dry eyes are very different than your prk experience)
One thing to consider is air conditioning especially in the car blowing at your face will dry out eyes. Glasses help prevent that air blowing over your eye.
🤷. Just a thought
I LOVE the results of my lasik surgery. It`s been 18 years from the surgery and my eyesight is still perfect. I had dry eys maybe the first year after but that is all. I had -6,00 eyesight before so I could not see much of anything without glasses before 😅 Edit: my eyes being dry was never that severe, I never had to put eyedrops in the middle of the night or anything like that
do you have starburst? is it still 20/20?
I've had LASEK (I think), the first first weeks were amazing during driving to actually be able to perceive depth, but the night starbursts are blinding and I usually avoid driving when it's dark since it feels like I need to drive blind for 0.5s every time opposite car drives too closely. My vision decayed with time after it got restored so I'm close to where it was originally and wearing glasses again anyway. Dryness in eyes doesn't happen often, I just randomly get an itch/'burns every few days that pass away in a minute, so might need to use eye drops more often or touch eyes less. Luckily no starbursts on cursor or I would go insane.
You described what happens to me. I had lasik 20 years ago and since then using eye drops daily for dryness and see starbursts just as in your picture, both eyes. Really hard for me to drive at night. I have glasses with yellow glass which makes it a bit better and turn on the small light in the car, but so far didn't find a cure. For dryness I use hylo gel which is very thick, so I can use it 3 times a day and not every hour. Thank you for the video, first time I see someone talk about it.
Hi there!
I was wondering if you’ve ever talked to an optician about the starbursts.
There might be an astigmatism left on the cornea or it might even be an astigmatism of the lens of your eye.
It might be worth a try.
@@FleurDeLaNuit91 yes. And that's what he said so I bought glasses just for the cylinder which was a very small number. But it didn't make any difference.
Thank you Taran for sharing your experience. It's important for me to know I'm not alone in this. I had LASIK 3 years ago and had dry eyes and starbursts ever since. Both have gotten better, but I still experience them. Starbursts for me are more evident when staring at LED lights of cars or traffic lights, which makes sense in the high contrast scenario you said. I'm also very sensitive to dust particles now. I've tried similar eye gels for sleeping, but they all end up drying up and becoming like goo by the morning, effectively slowing down my eye movement, ultimately giving me a headache for the rest of the day. I'll try Muro 128 as well, one can only hope...
Do you experience starbust/ghosting when you read white subtitles in a dark scene? And what's Muro 128?
This content is the stuff I subscribe to other channels. Amazing visualization, great script and just quite amazing documentation. Thank you!
I used to suffer from oil over production which then became chronic dry eye, due to a set of different circumstances. I used to wake up with dry eyes every morning, used eye creams to keep my eyes moisturized while I slept, and it still didn't help. I couldn't see for the first few minutes when I would wake up in the morning. Went to various eye doctors but it wasn't until I saw an eye surgeon when she made the single best suggestion for my dry eye: extremely warm almost searing hot compresses. I used a really hot towel that was soaked in hot water (straight from the faucet, I just kept the water running on hot only), dabbed it over my eye lids for no more than a couple seconds at a time (as to not hurt myself, as much as I could stand). Resoaked the towel and repeated the compress for 10-15 minutes sessions, I would get used to the heat so I could perform the compress for up to 4-8 seconds. First week I did this 3-4 times per day, two times per day on the 2nd week, and then after 2 months I stopped all together. I started notice results after 2-3 weeks; my eyes stopped being so dry during the day and at night, I'd start getting dry eye by 3-4 am... but it wasn't a big deal, that was always my sign to go to bed anyway. I could still go to bed without eye drops or oils and wake up with nothing more than some eye crust that I could easily rinse away after a shower or face rinse over the sink. I could just wake up and see normally.
From what I understand, your tear ducts? that allow for the equilibrium mix of water and oil that naturally occurs to lubricate your eye maybe plugged/semi-plugged. The hot compresses in theory should dissolve/soften any material blockage in those ducts. I also used that same brand of eye drops in your video (the green bottle), I suspect the oils in those drops were plugging up my tear ducts because I used to use them frequently (10-20 applications per day), and I don't think they're designed for that. My dry eyes were also causing those starbursts that you talked about. You can validate whether the starbursts come from dry eye by applying eye drops and immediately opening your eyes after and looking at light sources that cause starbursts. If the starbursts are reduced or eliminated, it's your dry eye that's the problem. Not the eyes themselves. Our situations are different, not even sure you'll read this, but I hope that it helps if you do. Not having to worry about dry eye anymore, is a huge blessing. Feels great to not have to do eye care every night. Wish you the best.
warm compresses are amazing for dry eye, as you said that's exactly how it works. could look into higher strength dry eye drops such as celluvisc 1% used every 4 hrs
Interesting. Makes me wonder if accutane use is correlated to dry eye issues with lasik/prk. Accutane works to treat acne by essentially causing the body to produce less oil. Perhaps it also affects tear production but not in a way that is as noticeable without a reason to need extra tears.
Just for more anectdata. I used accutane as teen in the 90s (dermatologist father so we were somewhat guinea pigs when the stuff came out). I had LASIK in 2005 and went from -5.5 with slight astigmatism. I recall some dry eyes in the first year and my doc over corrected on purpose so that the healing would settle into a good result. It was great ever since and never while I had some starbursts at night, they actually were less than the starbursts I had with regular glasses. Corrective lenses cause starbursts as well but I guess it feels less strange since it’s part of the expectation with wearing glasses and they tend to be sharper starbursts rather than the blurry smudgy starbursts caused by, in my cause, my dialated pupil being larger than the circle cut in the lasik procedure so until it fully healed it would cause that.
Anyway dry eyes were not an issue after the first 6 months or so. But what an interesting correlation potential with accutane.
This is incredibly useful advice. I get bouts of dry and itchy eyes and this is the only solution that works!
@@_-_-__-_-_5428 I've tried a few variations of drops but I always defaulted to a warm compress. As a result, I've had to do fewer warm compresses over time. To the point where I hardly do them at all.
@@BaumSquad I also used acutane in the 90s for acne. I had a severe reaction, I lost the skin to both of my palms; once the reaction was connected to accutane i was immediately pulled off of it. Till this day I still suffer from the effects of accutane. Dry hands (aveeno eczema cream reduces this to an inconvenience) and dry lips.
My dry eye issues were mostly resolved after just a couple months of hot compresses but I do wonder what other lasting effects accutane has had on my body.
I've read way more complaints about PRK than LASIK. I got LASIK and it has been amazing thus far. none of the issues you've mentioned besides "a little" dry eye, but apparently I already had dry eye before the surgery anyway so it was pretty much guaranteed i'd still have dry eyes.
I had lasik but have similar starbursts. I tried Muro128 but ended up using restasis at least 2 times a day. I almost gave up after six months but my doc said to try it four times a day and that’s when I noticed it working. For shrinking pupils, try Alphagan brimotidine tartrate. Put one drop in each eye 10 minutes before you drive and it reduces starbursts by like 80-90%. Just don’t put it in again for a couple of hours because it’ll try to shrink your pupils too much and it’ll hurt.
Do you find alohagan gives any side effects?
I've lived with myopia for 20+ years now (at least at a level I could perceive, which was around -1 diopter as far as I can remember), always using contact lenses for the most part of the day. Now my myopia is stable at -3 at both eyes and I really don't consider making eye surgery, but for some reason YT dropped this video for me; and I'm glad it did, because I really enjoyed it. The interest you showed for the theme and the meticulous effort you've put on the video is just incredible. It is so hard to find people with that much attention to detail and thoughtfulness, you even use metric system... what's not to like? You also granted Nebula a new subscriber. Cheers from Brazil!
Thanks for sharing this. I had LASIK done in 2001 and have suffered many of the side effects you describe in detail for over 20 years. I saw amazing with contacts, a crisp 20/15, but I also had strong eye allergies to contacts, and found glasses very annoying. I wish I had waited longer or maybe gone to a different doctor, but it's hard to say that my outcome would have been appreciably better. The frustrations you describe are well known to me and very hard for those lucky enough to not suffer to fully comprehend. Maybe one day some better therapies will alleviate our lingering issues.
This was very useful and informative. Thank you for making this!
I'm a bit confused. I understand the risk of the flap getting separated when being hit in the eye after getting Lasik (which I personally went for around a year ago) and honestly, I'm dealing with some side-effects. The thing is, this whole video has been about you having pretty severe dryness and starburst problems with your eyes after going for PRK, yet you mentioned your mom went for Lasik and she's told you to have no problems at all.
I myself have problems with reading small white text on dark backgrounds ever since my surgery and even though, I've been encountering some dryness, as well (especially in the evening while working on a PC), my eyes have never dried out so much they would hurt and I'd be waking up multiple times to apply eye drops. I've been wondering, isn't a chance of much worse dryness higher with PRK, considering the whole removed area has to regrow?
Yeah, and it was dissolved with alcohol, which dries things out after it rapidly evaporates
We can't judge on two cases(your and author's)
@@guycomments do you mean alcohol stays there forever? That's dumb