I’m contemplating getting laser eye surgery to correct my near-sightedness but I have no idea how to go about selecting a surgeon. I trust my current optometrist from a medical and technical standpoint but he’s definitely a salesman and will get you for every penny he can, so I’m reluctant to just automatically go with him.
I also have a few friends who have gotten the procedure from a number of different surgeons, but the plural of anecdote is not data. I’ve tried searching google for reviews and such, but there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot out there.
I had mine done I think 13 years ago, but as for me I asked my eye doctor, who I respect quite a bit, and he told me the Emory Eye Clinic was the place to go. So I went there.
I really want this done and I’ve opted in to my employer’s savings towards medical expenses program so I should have at least as much as I need for a downpayment, hopefully I cna then work out a payment schedule with the doc.
I do need glasses to drive at night and watch movies - just stuff that happens in dimly lit environments. Which they did say might happen. I suppose I could go get it touched up, but I’m pretty happy with it. It was funny, because when I did need to get glasses my eye doctor was all apologetic but I was excited, because I’d never gotten to get ANY glasses I wanted to - previously my vision was so awful I had a limited selection of frames.
I’m very happy with it on the whole and don’t mind wearing glasses for those specific tasks.
I had Lasik done about 11 years ago. I was referred to the doctor who I ended up using. So advice #1: referrals/references.
When I went in for the “pre-procedure” evaluation and meet the doctor, I asked why I should use her to both the assitant doctor, and the surgeon herself.
The assistant doctor gave a pretty good answer: he told me that the surgeon had been doing the “pre-lasik” procedure, called a “cold cut” where, instead of a flap, they actually separated the piece of the cornea before applying the laser, for 10+ years. So in the (absolute) worst case scenario, where, instead of a flap, they cut all the way through, she had tons of experience in dealing with it.
But the surgeon herself gave an even better answer. She said that as with so many of the other lasik doctors in the area, she could also quote the many 100’s of patients she’s treated. But she said that she was confident that she had performed the lasik procedure on more doctors than any other clinic could claim. To me, doctors have the “inside scoop” on who to see for their personal treatment, and this claim spoke loads to me.
I have been very pleased with my results. And my normal eye doctor, who did all the follow up check-ups, said I had about the best results he’d ever seen. And in the years since, he’s recommended some of his patients who went to cheaper lasik doctors, to MY lasik doctor to correct the problems from the crappy procedures !
Hope this helps (unfortunately, the lasik doctor I used is in the San Diego area).
Make sure you have your cornea thickness checked out to make sure that you are a proper candidate for Lasik or Lasek. If your corneas are too thin, you should not have the Lasik or Lasek procedures done, as their is limits margin for error. Some eye docs will do people with very thin corneas even though they are a risk, because they need the money.
If you happen to have very thin corneas you can still have an intra-ocular lens implant done. The costs is very close to the laser procedures.
Talk to your opthamologist or optometrist about recommendations.