Hi,
I'm going in Police Foundation Program starting this sept and my eye sight needs to be 20/20. I havent got a eye check for last 3 years, i think my left eye is 20/20 while my right eye isnt. I cant see clearly from my right eye so i think i have to get a laser surgery. Has anyone here done it? If so, how successfull is it? After getting the laser Sur, Does ur eyes stay 20/20 for life time or does it go bad after a while? I can either wear contacts which i dont want to or get a laser sur. How much am i looking at cost wise? Where could i get it done from?

Thanks
Manbir,

 

Hi Manbir - I got it done in the U.S when I lived there. Before I had it done I wore a prescription of .775/.75, which is pretty high, afterwards I was 20/20 in my right eye and 20/15 in my left eye, however over the last 5 years my sight has deteriorated a little bit. Whether or not you will retain the perfect vision depends a lot on how old you are when you get the surgery done. The younger you are the more likely it is that your vision will change again. Most doctors won't perform laser surgery on people under 21 (that's what I was told anyway), and most don't recommend it until you're 25+. I was 22 when I got it done.

It cost me $6300 total to get it done, it was the newer kind of surgery. There are two kinds and variations of those - the major difference is in the older kind they cut a flap on your eye and then use the laser to burn the inside of the eye based on your glasses prescription (you get tested before they do the surgery). The other kind is more expensive and requires no cutting, and the laser is guided by some whacky computer printout of your eye - anyway it's supposed to be more precise. I got the newer version done, I really don't know what the difference between the two is in terms of results.

I don't regret doing it at all, since I had the money - however since I will likely need to get it done again in the future I kind of wish I'd have waited. Although you do only live once. I think you're in your teens? If so and it was me I'd wear contact until I was 23-24 then get it done. Maybe see what a doctor says.

 

my wife had her eyes done. the 2 methods they told her about was lasik (newer ... cutting of the eye.. blah blah) and pkr (older... they scrape your eye ball then shoot it). there's also a third one... wavelength... more expensive... don't know much about it though. my wife wasn't a candidate for the lasik because apparantly the lense of her eye was too thin or something. she got the pkr one... was in pain for about a week. but she now has 20/20 vision. haven't heard her complain about any side-effects or anything... so everything is good. been about 2 years for her. we paid about 900$/eye. young-eglinton laser. we went to a few places... they all seem to do the same thing. i was in the operating room when they performed the surgery. feel free to pm me if u have any specific questions. side note: there's no way to guarantee that she'll have 20/20 for life. no one ever does... that's what old age is all about. but for now she's happy. so far i've been lucky with my vision. knock on wood.

 

My wife and I have both had our eyes done by the newest "no-touch" laser technology. My vision is now 20/20 and my wife's is close as well as her eyes were much worse than mine to start.

The whole procedure, not including prep time, was about 60secs per eye. The eyes were "mapped" and assessed to determine the lens thickness prior to the actual procedure- A computer scan of the eye gives them the data they need to program the laser which does the re-shaping of the lens.

Two passes of the laser per eye were made and it took about 60 seconds per eye. Could take longer depending on how much re-shaping is required.

All corrective eye surgery is not permanent due to our bodies aging and the muscles around the eye becoming weaker. Typically laser surgery will last into your late 40's and then reading glasses would be required for close-up work.

Check out www.londonplace.com for details on the procedure I had done -- people come there from all over North America.

 

I had it done a year and a half ago, to become a police officer as well.

It was painless, quick and I now have 20/20 vision.

I had mine done at the TLC eye center at Yonge and York Mills. It was about $4000 and I did receive a small discount when I mentioned I was becoming a cop.

I would highly reccomend it, and to become a police officer you must have 20/20 vision prior to joining the Police Service, but if your eyes start to go after you are hired you are allowed to wear lenses or glasses.

 

damn, i'm deathly afraid of any type of procedure involving the eye (I can't even do eye drops). Just reading this thread makes me cringe

 

My wife is the same... that's why we went with the "no-touch" procedure.

 

Is it really no-touch? What scares me is the whole slicing a layer of the eye thing...I would need to be heavily drugged for the procedure.

 

D'oh, anyone know where the no-touch technique is used in Ontario?

 

I had it done in Metro Detroit last summer. My eyes were HORRIBLE. My contact lens prescription was -7.0 which means I was BLIND. Without my contacts in I couldn't see something that was further than a foot away from my face.

I had the procedure done and my eyes are 20/15! Amazing! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the procedure. There was minimal discomfort afterwards. But I went home and took a sleeping pill. I woke up 8 hours later and was amazed that I could see perfect!

It was worth every single penny it cost!

 

Absolutely nothing touched my eyes during the whole 120 second procedure. Sleeping pills, drops containing a mild numbing agent and drops containing an antibacterial agent were supplied post procedure. After 3 days of some mild discomfort I was seeing better than I could 20 years ago. A month later I was tested at 20/20 vision.

I researched eye surgery options for months and came to the conclusion that the "no touch" was the best option for me and my wife. Check the website above and decide for yourself.

 

I'm considering it as well - though I have mild astigmatism (sp?) in one eye, it really only came on AFTER I started wearing glasses about 6 years ago. I'm 40 now, and used to have 20/20 in my right eye, and the left was always weaker - but after many years of working on computers all day (and many nights), my good eye deteriorated, and that brought on the astigmatism in the left eye to compensate. I wear glasses full-time now.

Anyway, I asked about this procedure a few years ago, and the doctor told me that they can't fix astigmatism (wandering/lazy eye) with laser, but that appears to be different now. I checked out a bausch & lomb site on the subject, and they said they can correct up to a "4" (or .4 - not sure) level of astigmatism.

It's too bad that OHIP doesn't cover the cost of this, and though very good, I'm not sure that my company insurance would chip in anything either.

There also appears to be a huge discrepency in cost - roughly $800 per eye for one solution, and over $6,000 for the other.

If the net result is the same, and the need for reading glasses will be there in either case, what is the merit of the $6,000 vs. the less expensive method?

I would be curious to know of best places to get this done in the GTA.

 

Unforunately, I haven't been able to google any Ontario facilities for the technique.

 

Wow,
Thanks for all your help guys, I think the next few months i'm going to save up my money for this. One thing i have learnd from their forum is that not to abuse money. So i wont ask my parents and instead i'm going to work and help myself
6Gs? Wat the heck, i'll just ask my dad for %5990 haah just kidding

I'm going to do little more research and i think i will get this done in the summer before my College starts. One thing i'm afraid of is i just turned 19 not even a month ago so i'm not sure if i should do it as mentioned in this thread i should wait few years. I'm confused, so i'm going to have a chat with my family doctor.
Thanks,
Manbir

 

Talk to the doctor about it and see what they say. I got mine done 6 years ago so thing may have changed. Just keep in mind as you age you may experience some vision changes, but luckily you can always get the surgery again.