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Ask HN: Anyone had LASIK and, while successful, still doesn't see "well"?

16 points by manuelflara ↗ HN
I wore glasses since I was a kid, for 15 years. Then a couple of years ago I had LASIK performed, and after a second touch up procedure I ended up with a "perfect" lens on my eye (according to three different doctors). So the LASIK was a success, I see as well without glasses now than with glasses before.

BUT, I never saw too great with my glasses before to begin with. I can totally have a normal life, but I need to be a lot closer (than people with a normal vision) to text to be able to read it. This affects me greatly on my day to day as I'm a developer, and I need to be staring at text on my screen all the time. I can work just fine (larger font, screen closer to me, etc) but the biggest problem of all is, I tend to get my head closer to the screen a lot to see smaller text, consciously or not, and I have ridiculous neck and back pain as a result. I've been suffering this already for a few years. I've been to several eye doctors and all say wearing glasses or more LASIK wouldn't make a difference since "my eye is OK", and of course I've gone to every kind of back expert on Earth. All agree it's a posture issue (doh!) and while a good massage is a relief, the relief doesn't last more than a few hours, so that's not helpful.

Has anyone gone/is going through the same? Any ideas what could I do to improve my vision?

I know all about "stop working every X time and do this and that exercise to relax your back", and would appreciate any "amazing and not-well-known exercises", but I'm mostly interested in improving my vision, if that's at all possible.

Thanks a lot.

22 comments

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newman314
Every couple of years, I consider LASIK and its variants. But I keep coming back to "How do I find a good doctor?"
manuelflara
After so many years and such a high success rate in LASIK procedures, I don't think it's a problem at all to find a good doctor. Mine came very recommended, and as examined by several doctors afterwards, "my eye is perfect". Apparently the problem isn't from any distortion or issue with anything (visible) with my eye.
smnv
Given the progress in making of a LASIK machines, you should ask yourself: "Which LASIK machine is better?"

Doctor's work nowadays is just holding your head while the machine cuts the flap, burns your eye to the pre-calculated geometry and applies flap to it's place. And then a little correction of a flap, to make sure that it is in place.

So the parameters you should consider are:

- flap cutting method (by laser, sapphire blades etc)

- laser working diameter (should be more than your pupil's size, or you will have night and dim-light vision problems - halos)

- how calming the doctor is

- what emergency measures do they have is case of problems with the procedure or after-procedure complications.

You should get a good amount of pre-operation procedures and know of possible complications, and know, do you qualify for correction. There are a lot of conditions when you shouldn't have the procedure.

I had a high myopia. Really high, like huge glasses. I've made a wavefront-guided LASIK procedure three years ago, the most expensive one they got at the clinic. I have applied drops for one and a half months as per doctor's order and haven't used them since, I don't have the dry eyes problem. Drops, btw, are just antibiotics and steroids to speed up the healing process.

It takes time to get used to the new optics of eyes. I had near-sighted face mimics for about 18 months (you know that when you see a nearsighted person without glasses). I had sensed some fatigue in my eyes for an year. I still have halos at night and my astigmatism hasn't gone away completely. But I think, it worth the inconvenience.

I have a great vision, something like 20/20 by the measuring, but it's not like the one I had as a child, when I had a perfect vision. It's not THAT good, but it's better than glasses and contacts.

Think of LASIK not as a cure: it's just like a always-on contact lenses, but better. After all, it's just a cosmetic surgery.

rsanchez1
Maybe you can try reading glasses? Seems like a step backwards to wear glasses again, but they are made to correct vision problems.

I can't convince myself to get LASIK or a similar procedure. I've been wearing glasses pretty much every day for more than 15 years too. Being a developer as well, I don't want to risk my sight. I know doctors will always tell you LASIK is a safe procedure, but there's always that small chance that accompanies even the safest surgical procedures, and glasses have worked every single day for 15 years.

manuelflara
I've had tests done twice, and both with same results: glasses wouldn't improve my vision. I wish I could wear glasses, even just for work, and improve my vision, but they don't seem to help.
voidr
Get your eye examined, maybe you need lighther glasses.

I opted in for contact lenses, I feel "whole" with them without the expensive surgery and I can adjust them to my eye every six months.

If you don't want to go back to glasses but need sharper sight, then I would recommend wearing contacts.

Whitespace
It might just be that you're getting older but sticking to font sizes for teenagers, so you should simply increase your font size.

I'm 29 and I wear contacts, even though glasses are better for computer work. I have a slight astigmatism in my left eye; so slight that it can't be corrected by contacts. As such, it strains my eyes to read tiny text. So what did I do? I bumped up my font size.

Let's use HN as an example. I'm on a 13" MacBook Air with a screen resolution of 1440x900. In Chrome I hit Command-Shift-+ four to five times to make the text comfortably readable. In Terminal, I use Anonymous Pro at 16-22 pt. I often use OS X's Ctrl-Zoom feature to make things bigger.

I use F.lux to change the white point all the way to tungsten (2700K) at night. Since I was a kid I constantly focus through objects towards the horizon to relax my muscles.

I do all of these things to help my eyes, because I strain them all day long looking at screens. And I'm still in my twenties!

So do yourself and your eyes a favor and make your text gigantic.

manuelflara
Hehe. Seems like I just wrote that comment. I'm in my twenties, constantly CMD+'+' to increase text size, use F.lux all the way to tungsten at night, use a 13" macbook pro (although have a 24" inch monitor).

The thing is, sometimes some text can't get bigger, so I tend to get closer to the screen, and my neck & back suffers.

smnv
Just want to add, that you shouldn't have full brightness and contrast on on your monitor in the daylight either. First thing I do with the new monitor is cut factory set brightness to half and then play with the contrast to make it comfortable. On some monitors you should want to cut brightness even more. At first it may seem not that comfortable, but after some time eye fatigue is much less.

Also, if you're using glasses, you need a little more brightness on your monitor.

And use correct light enviroment on your workplace! Side-facing light, the usual.

flagman5
the after surgery eye drops are critical, make sure u religiously put them in after the surgery to prevent problems.
manuelflara
I did put them on several times a day after the procedure, as told. It's been two years since I had LASIK, now I only use them sparingly when my eyes get dry.
CyberFonic
I came across the "Bates Method" in a very old book which I found in a second hand bookshop. Now there is a web site for the method: http://www.seeing.org/intro/index.htm

It has helped me preserve good mid-range vision and I can comfortably use computers all day long without strain or discomfort.

smnv
If you have a high myopia, Bates is useless. But it really helps when you have a little nearsightedness.
tnorthcutt
How ironic that a vision-related website would have a default font size of 12px.
digitalengineer
Guy with - 13 here. I've had LASIK surgery a few years ago and seeing good is magical. (My insurance in the Netherlands/Europe even covered all expenses). THE IMPORTANT THING IS: Your eye will still grow old and become less flexible. The image you see is corrected via the lens, but the muscles holding your own 'real' lens become less flexible over time causing you to see/read details up close less well. (This is why people with perfect vision have reading glasses. Their eye-muscles are less flexible and can't contract good enough to read close-up text). Have you tried using reading glasses?

Also (in time) your real lens can get 'cloudy'. This is why (mostly) older people get a new lens). Your eye looks good they say, so I don't think it's a cloudy thing, but you never know.

In my case, a few years later my right-eye retina completely imploded (thanks to KRAV MAGA training years before) causing 95% of my vision to disappear. They've drained and patched up my eye back to 90% visibility, but there are a lot of laser-scars on the retina. This causes me to see bits and pieces of my vision less well. I need to keep moving my head a bit in order to 'see past' the scars. Does moving your head make you read text easier? Have you had your retina checked? It's easy, painless and quick checkup, any doctor can do it. Good luck man!

incognant
gulp, off topic but how did krav maga screw you up? I was thinking of trying it out
AznHisoka
anyone know the % percentage chance there will be complications afterwards?
digitalengineer
Risks Complications are relatively rare and can in most cases be dealt with during follow-up treatments. Very rarely, the quality of vision may deteriorate. Complications may include: - Temporary increase of eye pressure. This, however, is only a temporary phenomenon which can usually be adjusted with drugs. - Infections/inflammations. Early detection allows these to be treated easily. - Lens replacement (if the power is incorrect) or lens reinsertion (if the lenses are not in a sufficiently central position).

http://www.ophtec.com/consumer/en/artisan-artiflex/faq and http://www.ophtec.com/consumer/en/artisan-artiflex/safety-an...

brudgers
Get a monitor with a larger dot pitch.

For a given size, this means one with a lower resolution.

I have a 20" and a 22" display. It is far easier to read text on the 20" because it is 1600x900 while the 22" is 1920 x 1080.