Wakeboarding and Lasik...

Getting my eyes fixed in Dec., currently 20/180 nearsighted. Wanted to hear about your experience with Lasik, particularly with regard to riding (did it help much?)

Best thing I ever did. I hated crashing and then trying to get the water out of my eyes and having to rearrange my contacts - I don't have to do that anymore. I did Lasik 3 years ago, and am still 20/15 and 20/20, and no problems with haloing or night driving. My vision wasn't too bad to start with - around -4.5 in one eye, and -1.75 in the eye with the blind spot.

Well I still am not very good but my vision is great. I had no problems with my Lasik at all, no glasses or contacts after 22 years is great. Wife is having it done in December. As far as riding it is very nice not to worry about contacts. Being overly cautious I didn't board for 3 weeks and then I wore goggles for a couple of months. Good Luck!

Riding after Lasik is literally night and day from riding before Lasik.

I was never one for riding with contacts, so it was always difficult for me to see exactly how far away the wake was when I was approaching. It's been over two years since I had Lasik done. Next to a nice wake boat getting Lasik was probably the best investment I could have made for my wakeboarding habit.

Before I had 20/100 nearsighted with bad astigmatisms. Now I am 20/15 in one eye and 20/20 in the other. I can't begin to explain the freedom you will experience by not having to ride blind or deal with contacts/glasses ever again while on the water. It's worth every penny!!

Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis(LASIK) Its not a word

To all that have had the "LASIK"--

What is the differance between doctors?? Some in my area advertise $300/eye while others are charging $1500/eye. My wife is wanting to have it done, but just started looking into it..

thanks

The difference comes down to quality of care man. My wife works with 5 doctors that specialize here in Utah. They charge 2k an eye, but take care of every single detail incuding follow up care for many years. If you want, I can have her post some serious stuff on here to help you make a real decision, she knows her stuff inside and out.

I habe the EXACT sitaution as Richard above. Best money I EVER spent.

Anthony-
A few details would be great, so far all the doctors follow up care is the same (one year of visits included)

Ditto what Anthony said. Here in Dallas you can't turn on a radio for 5 minutes w/o hearing an ad for a jerk0ff LASIK surgeon. My roommate went that route and hasn't had any issues. I've had other friends that went that route and wish they would've spent the money on someone a little more dedicated to their patients and not just how many they can squeeze through the door each day.

I just decided to go with my life-long eye doctors referral as I trust him totally. It ended up being 2k an eye as well.

As far as before/after, best decision I've ever made and wish I wouldn't have waited as long as I did. It rules.

I had it done at the beginning of the summer. Worth every penny. I did quite a bit of research as there are different kinds of lasers. I ended up paying the higher price for the wave front technology (custom) and they used a laser instead of the keretome(sp) blade to cut the flap. Great experience all the way around. I've wrecked since then and felt water hit my eyes and had no problems.

I used Dr. Brian Will in Vancouver, WA. Highly recommend him. The whole experience was top-notch............Giles

Giles, the wave front is the way to go. I'll turn my wife onto this post and have her post her thoughts. I'm sure they will back what has already been said, but she can probably throw in a bit more.

i spent $1500/eye - best money i ever spent. it's been great not having to put in contacts to ride. like others have said, i wish i'd done it sooner.

I saw a news story about the $299 per eye Lasik Institute doctors shortly after having my Lasik done. I am glad that I spent the extra money and went with one of the big three surgeons in Dallas, Dr. Tylock.

The news story I saw pretty much painted a picture of the $299 per eye place as a large nationwide company that employees many different doctors. Most without a whole lot of experience. Some even work out of a traveling trailer that hits major cities on a regular rotation.

Basically, you are getting a doctor who probably doesn't have a ton of procedures under his belt. He is basically building up his resume working for this type of national company until he gains the experience and the funds to start his own practice. Not sure about you, but I don't think I would want to be someones study cadaver.

Also, the new story pointed out that the lasers they use are not the same brand that most upper tier lasik surgeons use. They are using older technology. What's more is that these lasers are extremely sensitive to movement. They must be calibrated all the time as it is. The news story said that the travel trailers that carry these portable lasik centers and highly sensitive laser equipment are not a good mix.

I spent around $1500 per eye for traditional lasik. If I had the extra cash I would have gone with the all laser, but that was just a little more than I could afford.

Just got this from my wife, she has way more info then this but I told her to keep it simple unless someone has a specific question.


It really depends on the quality of care you would like to receive. There are a ton of doctors offering Lasik at discounted rates. Most of these places that offer the discounted rates will charge you according to your prescription, the higher the rx the higher the price. Most will charge you extra if you need enhancements after surgery. Find out up front what the fees include. A decent doctor should be offering at least the initial eval, the procedure, enhancements for at least 2 years, 1 year of follow up care, and the Wave Scans (if going custom) our office also includes punctal plugs if you experience "dry eyes" after surgery. I would definitely have Lasik done in the winter. Most people are able to return to most normal activities the day after the procedure. You will want to avoid water (swimming / hot tubing), rubbing the eyes, dirty / dusty situations for at least 1 week after surgery.



There are two systems out right now. You have the Standard and CustomVue Lasik. Standard Lasik used to treat the higher prescription patient, but within the last month the Custom system has been approval to treat up to a -11.00 rx, so I am sure that standard lasik is on its way out. With Standard Lasik there is only one treatment available for the prescription, so if you and I walked in with a -3.00, the laser would treat us exactly the same, the entire cornea. Custom Lasik is just that, custom. Your refractive error is measured and mapped with the Waveprints and treated. No two people are treated the same with that system. The laser target your error and treats very small areas. Stats on the treatments; with the standard system 87% of the patients are 20/20 after surgery and 50% are 20/15. 8% chance of needing an enhancement. CustomVue; 98% are 20/20 after surgery and 71% are 20/16, enhancement rate drops to 3%. CustomVue can also help to improve night vision difficulties.

This is a generic and maybe stupid question, but seeing who Richard went to I'm curious about it.

What do you guys think about Doctors/lawyers that advertise on the radio? Would you go to a knee surgeon that advertised on the radio?

Stanfield,

That's a good point. For some reason I find lawyers that advertise somewhat cheesy and really wouldn't consider using them. I suppose it would be the same with a knee doctor. You make a very good point here.

However, I didn't just base my decision for which lasik surgeon to use off of radio advertisements. I did some research. I also went off of reccomendations from others. There used to be a girl named Tami that posted on Dallas Wakeboarding quite a bit who worked for Dr. Tylock. She and a few others from the board had their Lasik done by Dr. Tylock as well.

It was the good things I heard from them that got me to check him out. After checking him out I found that he was one of the doctors who helped develop the Visix (sp) laser, which at the time (or perhaps still is) was the most advanced and safest laser in use. I felt who better to perform my procedure than one of the men who actually helped developed the laser that most reputable doctors were using. Hey, even that Beverly Hills lasik surgeon on ABC's Extreme Makeover show uses the Visix.

Dr. Tylock was also one of the "good guy" doctors that the news station interviewed for that news story I mentioned earlier. They were using Dr. Tylock as an example of what type of surgeon to use when looking into Lasik.

Basically, I see doctors such as Dr. Tylock as a great doctor that just happens to advertise. He was great to work with. I couldn't be happier with his services. You definitely get a lot of individual attention. Dr. Tylock is the only one in his office who actually performs the procedure. I thought that was unusual considering the high volume of procedures his clinic performs each year.

Still a very good point you brought up.

VISX www.visx.com for a bunch of L A S I K info.

LASIK is cosmetic. Like a boob job. Boob jobs range in fees too

Richard, I know Tylock is legit and know quite a few people that have gone to him.

I dunno, it's just kinda hoakie to me to hear Doctors advertise on the radio. Maybe it's only me. I think it stems from staying home from school sick as a child and having to watch 500 commercials for Jim Adler "The Texas Hammer" during the crap daytime tv.

I used to think the "hammer" was bad until I heard the commercial for 1-800-The-Dogs. You just have to wonder who would actually uses those guys.....Playa! (that's for those of you in Dallas who have heard the commercial)

I worked with an Ophthalmologist that did a good bit of LASIK, and has done the surgery since it was in clinical trials with the FDA in the 1990s. I will agree that the info given by others in the post is very good and accurate. So I will probably echo what they have already said. Pricing (in our market, at least) depends largely on the competition in the area, the quality of equipment used (very important), the quality of care that you will recieve, and the number of cases that a doctor has performed. It wouldn't hurt to ask how many cases your prospective doctor has performed. I have operated with both very experienced and inexperienced surgeons, and there can be a profound difference in outcomes depending on the skill of the surgeon. The doctor that I worked with was certified on numerous different systems, but had the best results with the VISX (they have really stayed on top of things over the years, especially as mentioned above with CustomVue). It is great to board without contacts. Best of luck.

I had lasik done almost 2 years ago. I paid over $3k for the wave-front mapping from Carter Eye Center (for you Dallas people). He's got a ton of experience and did a great job. I have 20/20 in my right eye and 20/15 in my left and I have a 1 time free correction guarantee anytime in my life if my eyes start to get worse.

It helps tremendously with wakeboarding. I wore glasses prior to lasik so I basically rode blind until I had lasik. Being able to see rollers coming, and notice inconsistencies in the wake makes a huge difference. Also spotting your landing with better depth perception is really nice.

Thanks a bunch for all the info!!
I will pass this all onto my wife-

She is ready to get rid of her contacts!

Thanks,
Shawn

I had it done 4 years ago and my fiancee had it done last year with a newer procedure (the no touch lasik) I actually had the blade cut the flap back then which they still use today. I would definetly agree that is the best thing I ever did for myself. It's well worth the money. I haven't had any problems and see 20/15.

"Best money I EVER spent."

Ditto.