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Comment by lolinder | Hacker News Reader

> Definitely don't do LASIK. Look into the rates of complications and side effects. There's a good argument that it's really not a procedure that should have ever been approved.

Can you provide more details on this? A cursory search doesn't turn up anything especially alarming. The only source I could find that was alarming is this[0], which I don't really trust because it reads a bit like anti-vax literature ("see what they're hiding", etc.) and is very old (all sources they cite are from 2009 or earlier). My understanding has been that the procedure has improved dramatically in that time in both cost and safety.

[0] https://lasikcomplications.com/

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Perhaps I'm not as well-informed on this subject as I thought, because I had done some research months/years ago but I'm not really finding solid information reporting on the dangers as was the case with you.

One of the big ones I had found was risk of chronic dry eyes being really high, but that seems to be with PRK surgery and not LASIK. Rates of long-term dry eyes after 12 months for LASIK appears to be 0.8% according to the papers I found, which you could argue is pretty low.

I wouldn't discount the idea that modern practices and equipment works a lot better. A lot of the horror stories I do find are older, like you mentioned.

AFAIK, the way LASIK works is by cutting down part of the lens, which essentially is to reshape the eye to compensate for the elongated eye ball. Given it's an invasive surgery, personally I'm not too comfortable. A friend of mine also shared that his girlfriend can't no longer drive at night after having a LASIK surgery due to the glare and halo effect.

A year ago I came across Todd Becker's method to cure myopia here from HN as well. In case interested to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Efg42-Qn0

There's also a PDF from a different guy with some practical guide. Feel free to email me at denny at nusantara-cloud.com if you want me to share it.

> Perhaps I'm not as well-informed on this subject as I thought, because I had done some research months/years ago but I'm not really finding solid information reporting on the dangers as was the case with you.

Would you mind going back and adding that in your original post, as you've got pretty big unsubstantiated claims about LASIK.

1. You can't edit posts after a short time

2. I still haven't changed my general opinion about LASIK: it seems too much like a "convenience surgery" to me, i.e., most people who get it have correctable vision with eyeglasses/contacts. It's also not hard to find stories from the minority of people who had complications and regret it.

3. My original comment came with this disclaimer: "Remember to listen to your doctor over random people on the Internet, including me."

From last I read PKR was a better choice if you have the time for it to heal because it removes far less material and doesn't form a flap which is a physical weak point that hard physical activity or a poke in the eye can dislodge.

But with PKR you also have wait like up to a month before vision is clear again, versus lasik giving mostly clear vision within like a day or so. So with PKR long term it is less physically vulnerable but it puts your vision out of commission for a week or two atleast.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/lasik-eye-surgery-co...

Is I believe the original

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