Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Karen
Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
|
|
|
Sep 10, 2009 - 07:53pm PT
|
locker I am truly sorry for what you've gone through with the lasik procedure, however, I am one of the lucky ones and very happy with the results.
I had mine done not too long after it was first introduced, I am guessing mine was done in 1998....anyway, my only side effect is a bit of the halo effect at night and like others who have already posted it is mostly when fatigued.
It is the best procedure I've had done, no more waking up in the morning unable to see the time. No more having to find stupid ski goggles to fit over glasses to ski!!! no more messing with glasses and yeah, I am vain to an extent, don't like my pretty blue eyes obscured by glasses, and no more dealing with annoying contact lenses.
I sure wouldn't get the procedure done that is different for each eye. When mine was done I was only 39 yrs-old and now 50 and my up close vision isn't all that bad, only need reading glasses if I am sitting in a darkish room, otherwise no problem.
but it is up to you, and there is a lot of great advice from all the posters, I just wanted to give my own 2 cents!!!
Good luck!
|
|
roadman
climber
|
|
|
Sep 10, 2009 - 08:54pm PT
|
Here's a LOT of info about lasik and PRK. This pushed me towards getting PRK and I'm 2 years post op with 20/15 in both eyes.
This will be rather long winded -- since it was a detailed response I typed up in response to a hi-altitude mail list question (and don't think it ever was distibuted). Pick and choose what you want, but there is some useful information.
Personally, PRK was the right decision for me and do it again in a heart beat. I still have some dryness issues -- but those existed before hand and were part of the reason for choosing PRK.
And, it was well worth it to me to drive down to Denver from Boulder for the surgery and follow-ups for Dr. Levinson -- the only physician I've met to take so much genunine personal interest in his patients.
Here we go... hope this fits and some people find it useful or time saving. I initially had eye surgery July 2005.
Cheers!
Avery
* HI-ALT OWNER: please CC me on this at this e-mail address, so I know it went out (originally sent to another address) *
LASIK/PRK IN A NUTSHELL
Hi George,
I did some pretty expensive research for the year prior to having PRK last July. I've researched what I deem to be all available peer-reviewed medical journals, internet, spoken with or e-mailed many ophthalmologists in the Denver area, etc.
Here is a very brief (in comparison to the research I did) summary of my findings, which I needed to put together for a friend, anyhow. Verify and validate all I say on your own -- these are just my unprofessional personal notes.
First off, there are at least two procedures you may want to consider as a high altitude climber. These are PRK and LASIK. Note PRK is nothing like RK (slits cut radially in the eye; Beck Weathers), more-so it's the precursor/sister-surgery to LASIK.
PRK is a procedure in which the following steps occur:
1. Alcohol is applied to the eye, and the epithelium (most outer layer) releases and is removed/discarded 2. The outer surface of the cornea is now exposed, and the laser removes material from the surface of the cornea 3. Mytomycin-C topical solution is applied for a handful of seconds with a sponge 4. Temporary clear contacts are put into place for the first few days, until the epithelium crosses-over again 5. Epithelium continues to heal/smooth-out for 6mos-1yr, during which time your vision will reach final-state. No enhancements (if necessary) are typically done before this stage is complete.
LASIK is a procedure in which the following steps occur:
1. Microkeratome is typically used to cut a hinged flap, at some depth in the middle of the cornea (thus the epithelium remains intact) 2. The inner surface of the cornea is now exposed, and the laser removes material from the surface of the cornea 3. Flap is hinged back into place 4. Temporary clear contacts may be used for the first few days (?) 5. You see with 'final' vision, almost immediately
Both use the same laser.
So, what's the difference?
Well, LASIK is the 'sweet and sexy' procedure. 'Flap and Zap', I've also heard it called. Apparently, the Canadians and some of the Europeans think the US a bit crazy for using it as the primary procedure. Why 'sweet and sexy'? The patient sees their near-final vision almost immediately. It's relatively painless, too. You only need a day or two off work, even if you work in front of a computer.
Why are we crazy? The biggest risks around lasik are flap complications and dry eye. In addition, because you're weakening the structure of the cornea by cutting through the center portion of it, a minimal cornea thickness is required.
Flap complications -- there are lots of potential complications here. Most disconcerting to me was the fact that there is the potential that in that in obscure situations the flap can actually be knocked loose or torn YEARS after the procedure. To me this is an indicator that the cornea will never regain its full strength.
Why increased risk of lasting dry eye? There are two nerves on each eye which sense moisture on the surface of the eye. When you cut the eye the physician may use a microkeratome that allows the hinge point to remain either a) at the top of the eye -or- b) at the inside side of the eye. The nerves that sense moisture come in from the left and right sides of the eye.
If you know anything about physiology, you know that in theory nerve cells never regenerate. You have a finite number of nerve cells at birth (like brain cells), and that's what you get; although, more recent studies demonstrate that there is the possibility for some nerve to reconnect. This is a little bit of a gray area, even to ophthalmologists. They used to believe that just the tip of these nerves needed to 'regrow', but then recognized that a typical scenario was more along the lines of 6-12 months before a LASIK patient reached their maximal eye moisture again. They believed that the nerves needed to 'regrow' completely from the spinal cord; however, as mentioned before -- you can see that this conflicts with general physiology knowledge. There are for sure some unknowns. Do know that it is possible (and more likely with LASIK than PRK) to have lasting negative moisture issues - serious or minor. But -- something to consider for those of us living in dry areas, or traveling to areas with cold dry air (i.e.
high altitude).
So, how does PRK compare?
First off, PRK *isn't* 'sweet and sexy'. Why? The first few days are moderately painful. My physician stated it pretty accurately when he said "There are going to be a couple days where you're holding your head in your hands type of pain" I also found that was extremely light sensitive, and my eyes never stopped watering excessively in the first few days. After about day two or three, I could withstand light enough with sunglasses to be able to drive down to my follow-up appointment in Denver. I think at that time, I was seeing 20/40 and 20/50. After about 4 days, I could stand to look at a monitor, and do some work (you will need off at least 3-5 days for this procedure). At about 1 week, my follow-up indicated vision about 20/25 and 20/30. My eyes were relatively back to 'normal', and I even traveled to Atlanta for business.
What other risks does PRK have?
I will just mention the primary risk -- which should be something you consider if you look at this procedure, given the group this e-mail is going out to. It is also the only 'major' risk I'm aware of that PRK has, but LASIK doesn't. Of course, LASIK has a whole list of complications around the flap that PRK has none of. The risk is called 'corneal haze'. It is essentially a coating of haze that covers the cornea. This is associated with the removal and regrowth of the epithelium. The degree of haze can vary from unnoticeable to being like looking through wax paper. That extreme, by the way is HIGHLY uncommon. For the most part, this risk has been dropped into a significantly lower category than originally, as the physician now applies a small dose of topical mitomycin-c after the procedure. The doses have been pushed lower and lower, and occurrence rate of corneal haze has been significantly reduced. In my research, I did not find any medical journals indicating toxicity of the substance. There are some unknowns about it, however -- and its history of usage is relatively recent. Occurrence of corneal haze is typically treatable by steroid drops. Another key finding was that many scientists believe that corneal haze (occurrence rate drops off strongly after the first year) is triggered predominantly by UV!
ALTITUDE - which is better?
Unfortunately, I found no studies that compare PRK against LASIK for altitude issues. In general, it appears that the physicians believe that both of these are very reasonable procedures with small risks for individuals traveling to high-altitude.
There are two LASIK articles in particular that you may want to review. The first is on Everest; the second on Aconcagua:
Dimmig JW, Tabin G.
The ascent of Mount Everest following laser in situ keratomileusis.
J Refract Surg. 2003 Jan-Feb;19(1):48-51.
(^ this is the article someone sent out the eurotimes link for
http://www.escrs.org/eurotimes/April2003/lasik.asp);
Boes DA, Omura AK, Hennessy MJ.
Effect of high-altitude exposure on myopic laser in situ keratomileusis.
J Cataract Refract Surg. 2001 Dec;27(12):1937-41
I won't send these out to a newsgroup, as they're copyrighted. Contact me (use address below) if you are genuinely interested in the articles -- I do have copies to discuss.
I have spoken with both Dr. Tabin (above article). For those of you who do not know, Dr. Geoff Tabin was the first American to summit the seven summits by Carstenz. He has climbed several 8,000m peaks, and co-founded the Himalayan Cataract Project (www.cureblindness.org) which has cured TENS OF THOUSANDS of cases of blindness!!! What a guy. He co-authored the article listed above, but was not there -- I believe the other doctor was. I was fortunate enough to speak to him on a couple occasions, but only for a brief few minutes. is a very busy guy - teaches ophthalmology at University of Utah (note e-mail from the eurotimes article is old) and helps/travels for the Himalayan Cataract project. I believe his general take was that he believes LASIK is a good and reasonable procedure for HA climbers to consider. "Good" I'd read it as just that. Read the article for some more statistics.
I also spoke with Dr. Boes (Montana), who was a little less open to give opinions over the phone, but I think he considered it a reasonable procedure for HA climbers to consider as well. Again, read the article for some more statistics.
Another very important point to understand is that at certain levels, PRK has been certified by the US military for flight; I believe LASIK is still uncertified. There are some military journal articles as well. If you're a diver (high pressures), you may also want to do some research on that. Once again, PRK is minimally invasive with respect to corneal weakening, in comparison to LASIK.
How did mine turn out?
Reasonably well. Still time to tell, though. I'm 6 months out. I postponed my surgery from earlier in the year until July, as I had a trip up in Alaska to take care of first, and didn't want to risk triggering corneal haze with the Alaskan UV. My vision is better than I had hoped for.
I think 20/15 and 20/25. My previously dry eyes (the biggest driver for me doing PRK over LASIK) are infact dryer. PRK doesn't eliminate dry eye risk, but it is a documented less-occuring and less severe risk than LASIK. Mine will likely improve over time. Haloing/starbursts at night are better than with my contacts; about the same as with glasses (note I did have the 'custom/wavefront' version, which I would highly recommend for this and other reasons - though the use of the newer laser costs more to the physician, which is passed on to you; note generally speaking, physicians use a shared-resource laser-center). The bigger issue I'm facing now is that I have generated some level 1 corneal haze (believe me, I've been protecting against UV ALL the time with sunglasses - even when I go get my mail). My physician believes this could be due to dry-eye, so we've plugged two additional lacirmal ducts (tear drains in your eye) and I am doing some steroid drops. Time to tell. I didn't suspect corneal haze prior to my follow up appointment. For a wearer of glasses and contacts (which I could barely tolerate anymore), it's an amazing experience waking up in-focus and also throwing out all that contact lens stuff once and for all.
Also, I haven't been over 14,255' yet, but they were fine there.
A quick word on dry eyes. If you live in Colorado or another dry state, there is a good chance you have dry eyes. There are tests to establish 'how dry' your eyes actually are. Mine were basically very dry and extremely dry.
Whether or not you laser vision correction, if you have dry eyes -- ask an ophthalmologist about having your tear drainage ducts plugged. This is simply inserting a tiny-tiny plug into the hole in your eyelid (you have 1 upper, 1 lower on the inside of each eye). Alternatively, they can also use a piece of dissolvable plug - very similar to dissolvable sutures. It's not a painful procedure, and is typically covered by medical (not vision) insurance - if you have dry eyes. They get billed a few hundred bucks. It's not painful, and they can be removed in a second by an ophthalmologist, if they happen to rub your eye uncomfortably. With all 4 of mine plugged, I actually get some occasional streaming tears down my nose.
Ophthalmologists (ophthalmologists are full Medical Doctors, b.t.w)
I did a lot of calling and talking to individuals to get recommendations to those 'best in the trade'. I had to recommendations to a particular surgeon in Lakewood, who apparently is very gifted. Upon consultation, I didn't feel that he had a personal interest in me. I'm sure he's an excellent surgeon, though.
I visited Dr. Richard Levinson (http://levinsoneyeclinic.com/); in Denver. At first, I questioned him about high-altitude and actually disagreed on some of his points, based on the journal articles that I had read. He offered to review the journal articles, and agreed with me. What I found of Dr.
Levinson is that he is the most caring physician I've ever had. This should speak volumes to anyone local who is interested in having an evaluation for LASIK or PRK. I've never met a physician that was willing to give him his cell phone number, his personal e-mail address, and would return phone calls almost immediately. He had more of an interest in me than any other physician I've had over recent years with multiple nerve and knee surgeries.
I might add, that it appears he has a very busy and successful practice as well. I have no connection or benefit from it, but please tell him I sent you if you decide to visit him. As a side note, 6 months before seeing me, he also did PRK on an individual, who summitted Aconcagua about seven months after his procedure. We traded e-mails, and he has had zero issues.
I recommend you find a physician who
a) is relatively seasoned
b) you feel good about/talking to
c) isn't offering the deal for a $999 special
Other notes:
 The FDA approves given lasers for different ranges of procedures; one manufactures lasers may be certified to -7.0D, while another is only certified for -6.0D. If you are on the border, you frequently won't know until they do a full wavescan if you can use one laser versus another
The better your natural vision is, the better chance you have all been corrected to perfect
many patients that are not candidates for LASIK may be candidate for PRK (due to corneal thickness (measured in office visit by touching a probe to the surface of the eye for a second), dry eye, etc)
Find a physician that really knows what they're doing and actually takes an interest in you as a patient. Expect this to be in the $4000-$4500 range for doing both eyes with wavefront (highly recommended to use this newer
equipment)
There is at least one alternative procedure that is 'bleeding edge' - I believe called corneal rings. I don't know the details of this, but you may want to investigate. I believe the rings are pressed into place, and no cutting of the eyes necessary. Supposedly, they can be removed as well. I'm not sure if this is yet FDA approved.
LASEK also exists, kind of like PRK, but they try to put back the epithelium; think this may be loosing momentum -- but have a look
Those seeking LASIK may consider some debatable topics: top or center hinged flap and benefits/drawbacks; whether or not a new blade will be used for each cut (some theorize that a micro film on the blade from the first eye, could cause an inexact cut on the second eye; I think most physicians do not consider this to be the case)
Search resources:
http://www.pubmed.gov (this searches all major peer-reviewed medical journals).
Typically abstracts are available for free. Try your local university's library computer for access to full articles.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact me. Hope you find this helpful.
-Avery
|
|
Studly
Trad climber
WA
|
|
|
Sep 10, 2009 - 09:59pm PT
|
I had coke bottle glasses since I was 10 years old, and since high school always wore contacts. I am 50 now, and had lasik about 5 years ago. What a treat!! It is amazing. I went to Will Vision in Vancouver after researching who is the best in the Portland, Or area. It take a few months for your eyes to heal completely, so you need to wear goggles when you sleep and don't rub your eyes, but other then that it is truely amazing. The procedure doesn't take more then a few minutes and is all computer laser guided. I have eagle eye vision now. At night I get a little bit of haloing around lights but compared to what I had before with glasses or contacts or nothing, it is fabulous! I can be out in the most rad surf or mountain conditions and never have to worry about glasses or contacts again. Got to love it.
|
|
stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
|
|
|
Sep 10, 2009 - 11:49pm PT
|
Locker's advice to get your eyes checked regularly is very good.
All of us spend lots of time outdoors. And even if your vision is fine, eyes are also vulnerable to melanomas. My dad had one that metatisized to the liver, and it did him in.
Get them checked.
|
|
sprout
Trad climber
clovis, ca
|
|
|
Sep 10, 2009 - 11:54pm PT
|
Locker, what's your official diagnosis? Are we talking corneal edema/scarring, or Iritis/Uveitis?
|
|
L
climber
Rebel L rides again
|
|
|
Sep 11, 2009 - 01:06pm PT
|
"Brian, L was talking about Locker, don't worry. Your input is appreciated."
Actually K (and Brian), I was talking about roxyrohit (may he/she/it rest in eternal TacoExile peace), the spammer who pulled this thread back into the present to advertise for Lasik.
Of course, you wouldn't know that, because shortly after posting here, I signed roxyrohit up on the increasingly popular DEATH TO SPAMMERS thread, and an amazing thing happened: within nanoseconds, RJ had sent ol' roxy to Naked Mole Rat Spammer Heaven.
Yes, it's true. RIP naked mole rat roxy.
khanom (Erik) will be awestruck that, contrary to popular belief, the Taco Powers That Be (TPTB for short) actually do hear the pleas of their teeth-gnashing minions and send lightning strikes and nullifying code to alleviate our suffering.
Now excuse me while I go sacrifice a rutabaga or turnip to the TPTB...
|
|
Majid_S
Mountain climber
Bay Area
|
|
|
Sep 11, 2009 - 01:22pm PT
|
I feel like a classic case cause I did RK in 1997 on both eyes (R-3.5,L -3.75). Back then, laser was very new and I did not know much about it but had few friends who had RK in late 80s and were totally satisfied with its result. so I ended up on the doctor's office in July 1997 and did both eyes for $4500. laser was like $3500 per each eye in 1997.it took me about six months or so to get the perfect vision but I did noticed that my eyes were more sensitive to bright day lights which actually helped me to see better at night with low light.
in Dec 2008, I check my eyes and was slightly below 20/20 and even climbed above 20K feet and had no problem. I hear ,some climbers experienced problem with RK above 8000 meter . know few other friends who did laser and few years later, they were wearing light glasses.
How is LASIK these days ?
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Sep 11, 2009 - 08:04pm PT
|
teeth-gnashing minions
Who're you calling a minion? That's Fatty's job.
|
|
crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 11, 2009 - 08:10pm PT
|
Oooops, sorry Locker...I was mistaken and I hadn't read your story yet. Will do so when at home but may I ask, where did you have your procedure done???
Miss L, how are ya?!
|
|
WandaFuca
Gym climber
A survey where 68% preferred this Fuca over others
|
|
|
Sep 11, 2009 - 08:40pm PT
|
Believe me, Lasix and climbing don't mix; my partner gave me some bad beta, I got off route and scared, and I peed all over the place. You're better off with a Beta Blocker.
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
|
Sep 11, 2009 - 10:27pm PT
|
hey there crusher, say, you could try the:
one eye near, and one eye far... like rokjox suggested... it has worked for me, too...
but (like he said, make sure they do the proper eye for contact adjustment)---you better make sure they do the proper eye, for whichever you use for spying (like through a scope, while other eye is closed) (use this to see things far away)...
and whatever eye you use for seeing up close with, (this needs the reading glasses type adjustment)... not too strong, though--somewhere in the middle...
but--dont use the contacts this way when watching the computer screen:
**it makes you get all "overlapped eye vision mixup" LATER hours later, if you do (or do it for a long time)... (then you will want to close one, and visa versa, later, depending on what you are doing----not good or fun)... (but rarely happens, if you are good)...
hope this helps.... then you can read labels and read and still see and drive...
|
|
LuckyPink
climber
the last bivy
|
|
|
Sep 12, 2009 - 01:26am PT
|
another 0.02
I had an article referring to a study done on mountaineers who had Lasik surgery .. the outcome was negative... pressure change, cold, and dryness created blindness from separation and more susceptibility to snow blindness.. sorry can't find the study.
Several people I actually know have had it done but all are wearing readers for computer and print.
|
|
wack-N-dangle
Gym climber
the ground up
|
|
|
Sep 12, 2009 - 01:45am PT
|
From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LASIK
"Although the cornea usually is thinner after LASIK, because of the removal of part of the stroma, refractive surgeons strive to maintain the maximum thickness to avoid structurally weakening the cornea. Decreased atmospheric pressure at higher altitudes has not been demonstrated as extremely dangerous to the eyes of LASIK patients. However, some mountain climbers have experienced a myopic shift at extreme altitudes.[65][66]"
One complication that worries me is ectasia. Over time, corneas that were too thin after LASIK or other types of refractive surgery have deformed and become distorted. Likewise, there are many patients who have experienced significant changes in the stability of their corneas after radial keratotomy. Those complications usually occurred after 15-20 years. Finally, correcting the vision of patients with distorted corneas is tricky, and doesn't always result in 20/20 vision.
If you have a high Rx, you usually have thin corneas. Therefore, more tissue has to be removed to correct your vision. Ironically, the people who might see the biggest difference in their vision after LASIK (high myopes), aren't typically the best candidates. Low myopes (-1.00DS to -3.00DS) might not want the surgery either because they will be able to read throughout their life without glasses if they don't go under the knife.
It worries me to hear about patients having multiple procedures (2 or even 3+). I have heard that "enhancements" are more common when treating patients with high prescriptions too. I respected a surgeon who called "enhancements" second surgeries, which is really what they are.
Finally, my brother took off to Canada to get a screaming deal on a not yet FDA approved laser while I was still in optometry school. I was a little concerned, but there was no changing his mind. He is really happy 6 years out.
If you consider it, I would recommend looking at the complications. Determine the risk of those complications. Question how those complications might affect the way you use your vision (environment, outside often, UV exposure, visual needs:distance, near, night, low contrast, how many more years you will need your eyes etc.)? Ask yourself what can you live with? Find a good surgeon with the technology to suit your needs. Get a second opinion.
Also, LASIK = $2-5k = Alaska trip = how many seasonal migrations between Josh and Yosemite = ?
|
|
Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
|
|
|
Sep 12, 2009 - 01:54am PT
|
"If you consider it, I would recommend looking at the complications. Determine the risk of those complications. Question how those complications might affect the way you use your vision (environment, outside often, UV exposure, visual needs:distance, near, night, low contrast, how many more years you will need your eyes etc.)? Ask yourself what can you live with? Find a good surgeon with the technology to suit your needs. Get a second opinion.
Also, LASIK = $2-5k = Alaska trip = how many seasonal migrations between Josh and Yosemite = ?"
It's fair to remember that not doing Lasix has "sort-of" complications. You'll spend your life with the daily feeling of poking yourself in the eye with your finger to put in contacts or nasty perepheral vision marred by lens edges and frames. If you wear glasses, you continually see the reflections and distortions that any lens gives you. So how frequent are Lasix complications these days, even a vaccine may kill you.
Note that in Canada Lasix cost about $1200 and there's nothing to prove they do it worse. The computer in the machine does most of the work.
And remember, buying glasses every few years or more costs money. It adds up. and if you are a climber and drop your glasses and you need them to see, that's a real vulnerability.
Someday we will look back and consider glasses as laughably ancient technology and NOBODY will wear them
Peace
Karl
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Sep 12, 2009 - 01:55am PT
|
A lot of people do it and it works for them, (Karl, Kale boy, many,many others) unless they go to altitude.
But it's your eyes! Dig! that's your portal to the world! What can you possibly gain that outweighs the risk? Are contacts/glasses, that hard to deal with?
|
|
wack-N-dangle
Gym climber
the ground up
|
|
|
Sep 12, 2009 - 02:25am PT
|
Karl,
IMHO- In terms of vision correction, LASIK, refractive surgery, and contact lenses are a privilege. Almost daily, I see kids and adults who have forms of vision loss that could be prevented simply by wearing glasses.
Barring a miracle in gene therapy, stem cell research, or some yet unknown form of medicine, the need for glasses will not be entirely eliminated in my lifetime.
Then again, there are many things I don't know ;)
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
|
Sep 12, 2009 - 02:33am PT
|
hey there rokjox... say, i understand what you're presenting here...
if i am overly tired, it is best i just dont use my diff-eye-set-up and just let them "do their thing" so the proper strong eye, sets the pace....
if not---i'm thrown off course, just slightly (during normal times, this is avoided)...
really interesting stuff, here, this left and right brain stuff, too...
thanks for the share....
*haha, okay, chrusher, we've added a bit more info here... ;)
but--reallly, you do get used to it... :)
but this doesnt mean to overly strain it all...
|
|
matisse
climber
|
|
|
Sep 12, 2009 - 03:30am PT
|
Note that in Canada Lasix cost about $1200 and there's nothing to prove they do it worse.
Experience counts and notably they have been doing it for much longer in Canada than than in the USA. When I moved to So Cal in 1993, I was astonished to discover that people were still doing RK, which had been replaced in Canada by PRK a few years before. a few years out of date is huge in the medical universe, but regulations in the US pose a significant barrier and are a double edged sword.
|
|
Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
|
|
|
Sep 12, 2009 - 03:56am PT
|
Wack wrote
"IMHO- In terms of vision correction, LASIK, refractive surgery, and contact lenses are a privilege. Almost daily, I see kids and adults who have forms of vision loss that could be prevented simply by wearing glasses.
Barring a miracle in gene therapy, stem cell research, or some yet unknown form of medicine, the need for glasses will not be entirely eliminated in my lifetime.
Then again, there are many things I don't know ;) "
Guess it depends on how long you live. If you have 50 years left, let's look back and remind ourselves of the state of the art in Medicine in 1959.
Sure, at the present moment Glasses are ubiquitous but partly thats from lack of investment, high costs of the machines, and people slow to change their ways. We're sheep.
Climbing is a luxury too. I just think being without glasses is a pretty fine gift. You can see your lover without grinding glasses frames into her body, you can grind your face into an offwidth without blinding yourself, and you aren't vulnerable to what happens if you lose or break your glasses.
So the question really is..What percentage of people have serious complications? Sure it's your eyes but you could also die from trying a new prescription med. You take risks all the time.
Seems kind of pathetic to me that Lasik still costs $3000-$5000 in the US! It takes about 10 minutes per eye. WTF? Can't they make enough machines to bring some economy of scale to bear on the investment? How can the Indians do it with western machines for $600?
Peace
Karl
|
|
jstan
climber
|
|
|
Sep 12, 2009 - 10:01am PT
|
Karl:
Have you ever gone to the St. Regis to get a massage? At $5000 a pop for lasik you have to do a couple before you can get your massage!
I mean......I mean
You can get a friggin massage in Calcutta real cheap. But what's the point? It ain't the Regis.
Advertise some more here do a bunch more eyeballs and you are headed for Orange County.
Home free.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!