LASIK & diving???

[M&P+4]

I am considering Lasik and am curious if anyone has had the surgery. How did it work out for you and how long did they suggest you refrain from diving after the procedure?

I got for a consult Thursday and I'm hoping that I'll be a good candidate for the procedure. I'm so blind now that I put my glasses on in the dark.

The FDA website suggests no swimming for 1-2 months, but I thought I read in one of the magazines that DAN says you could dive much sooner than that.

[nauifins73]

I had Lasik in 97 and today I still don't wear glasses except for serious reading (I am 51 so that is a given). My prescription is just for the right eye as I had mono correction - right eye corrected for distance and left eye for reading. I had a -800 in both eyes so I can appreciate putting your glasses on in the dark.

I wish I could give you specifics about how long I was out of the water BUT I had it done 2 yrs before I started diving. I know that within 3 hrs I could see without my glasses. It was the best thing I have done for myself.

Good luck - let us know what you find out

[M&P+4]

I went in for the consult today to find out if I would be a canidate. Everything looks good....except the price. $1,650/eye for the 'custom view' procedure. I'll have to sleep on this one.

[theskull]

One of my tech diving buddies had it done and is thrilled with the results. (So nice to be able to read your computer and gauges when making deco stops after a 200 ft. dive!)

He was out of diving for 3-4 months after the procedure. Remeber, you're not just getting wet like swimming, you're actually putting pressure on the eyeball due to mask squeeze and equalization.

DAN says at least 4 weeks, but to consult with your physician. No actual data yet on when it's truly safe.

My suggestion would be get it done in Winter and take the rest of the Winter off from diving.

theskull

[nauifins73]

I went in for the consult today to find out if I would be a canidate. Everything looks good....except the price. $1,650/eye for the 'custom view' procedure. I'll have to sleep on this one.

I can appreciate the cost but how much is a pair of glasses? Won't take long to have $1650 invested. If you do do it please don't go with a "cheaper" one. When it comes to our eyes we don't want to cut costs. We get what we pay for.

[M&P+4]

I decided to get it done - several of the physicians at work have had it done and if it was safe enough for them to do it it ought to be OK for me.

Pre-Op is scheduled for Wednesday and surgery on the 18th. It should give me plenty of time to heal up before the ice breaks up. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[theskull]

Congrats and best of luck.

theskull

[M&P+4]

I've seen a few places where folks give a play by play for their procedure and it was helpful for me so I thought I would pass along my experience....

It is 3 hours post op for me and I can see pretty darn well, I'm amazed. My eyes are stinging quite a bit and it is somewhat uncomfortable. Not quite painful, but it sucks for now. They did tell me that I should expect this for a few hours after the numbing agent wears off. I'll check in in a few more hours to post progress.

[M&P+4]

Five hours post op and the stinging and discomfort are all but gone. I can see pretty darn good although there is some fuzzyness. I got to remove the safety sheilds that they want me to wear for four hours and at bedtime for a week and that was nice. It was time to do the antibiotic drops, anti-inflamitory drops and wetting drops. This will oontinue four times a day for about a week and rewetting drops for a couple of months.

I'll check in again after my post op exam tomorrow at noon.

[M&P+4]

I had my check up today at noon. I am now 20/20 (almost) in my right eye and 20/40 in my left. They say that it will continue to improve. A huge improvement from pre-op...I'm not sure what they were before I started but when I was 18 they were 20/600 and they worsened until I was about 30. My next appointment is in a month.

The drops regiment isn't too bad to deal with for now. I have noticed that going from outside to inside mandates some eye drops and that as a whole I need them more now that my eyes have stopped overly watering.

Night vision is improved but I am seeing fuzzy halo's around stop signs and head lights...this should improve also as the inflamaion goes away also.

[M&P+4]

I'm beginning to get used to the idea that I don't need glasses however the way my eyes feel now it would be nice to take my contacts out. That is the easiest way to describe how my eyes feel at the end of the day. Any extended driving includes bouts of dryness from the defroster, but nothing too terribly horrible and nothing that can't be fixed with a couple eye drops. Four more nights left to wearing the eye sheilds and hopefully less frequent periods of dry eyes. Good things to mention so far - everything seems brighter, even at night. The 'halos' aren't near as distracting as I thought they might be also.

I'll check in in a few more days.

[theskull]

Excellent idea here. Keep up the reports. I think most of us are either candidates for the procedure or have close family members who are.

theskull

[M&P+4]

It's been one week and I'm seeing OK, not great yet. I am done with the four times daily regiment of antibiotic and anti-inflamitory drops and that is nice. Better yet is I don't have to sleep with the eye shields taped to my face...cause for celebration.;)

Dry eye is an almost constant battle for the first week so far and my vision isn't always the best. The literature says to expect this, but I didn't hear anyone comment about it previously. Most people I ask about it now have had similar experiences - but I didn't hear it until I asked. It was a little bit of a downer until someone put it into perspective for me like this - 'you just had your eyes peeled open and burned...give it time to heal'.

Night vision is better than pre-op and the halo's around lights and signs are noticibly less every day. Dryness today doesn't seem to be as much of a problem as when I was doing the other drops...perhaps they make the dry eye worse.

I'll check back in another week or so.

[M&P+4]

It's been just a little over one month and I just got back from my check up.

I am 20/20 in my left eye and 20/15 in my right. I still have occasional bouts of dryness and have found that not all eye drops are the same. I started with Systane but it seemed to make things goopier (is that a word?) so I tried an Allergan brand and they seemed to work better. Today the optometrist explained that there are different oil contents in the different drops and that one type may not be the best for everyone. He did say that I could drop down to four times a day (more as needed) for the eye drops and that I no longer need the preservative free.

This exam went pretty quick - mostly it was to check my cornea and to make sure that the flap was seated properly. He does expect my vision to improve and stablize in the next couple of month.

I have noticed that some days are better than others and that the better days are more and more frequent. It is nice to see everything crisp and clear and know that it is without glasses or contacts. Overall I am very satisfied with my results so far, but I did have my doubt for the first couple of weeks....it probably took about three before I had my first 'wow, I'm seeing real good' moments.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Atlaua]

Glad to hear things are going well Lyle. Ready to do that mask remove/replace with eyes open now?

[nauifins73]

So glad to hear things are going better. I remember the 1st month and wondering to myself is this going to improve - it was uncomfortable. Once I was done with the drops I was lucky and didn't have the dry eye troubles.

Do you still "try" to push your glasses up? :) 8 yrs later I do that every once in a while and still frustrating.

I had my eyes checked last Tues and the Optometrist said he could see where the flap was cut. Best thing I have ever done!

[M&P+4]

Glad to hear things are going well Lyle. Ready to do that mask remove/replace with eyes open now?

I have been in the pool already but wasn't quite brave enough to open my eyes - :eek:

[M&P+4]

[quote=nauifins73]

Do you still "try" to push your glasses up? :) 8 yrs later I do that every once in a while and still frustrating.

[quote]

I wore contacts for the last 15 years or so - I didn't aquire that habit but I do reach for them in the morning every now and then.

[M&P+4]

I had my last visit with the optometrist on Monday. My vision is about the same as it was at my one month check up - 20/20 in my left, 20/15 in my right.

I am no longer required to use eye drops and truthfully don't need them too often. There was a noticable change about a week or so ago - which was good because my eye drop bottle was almost empty.

I still ocasionally have times when I notice things I didn't before the surgery - largely I think it's because my depth perception has improved along with my low light vision. All in all I am exceptionally happy with the end results and would recomend it highly to anyone that might be hesitant to give it a try.

[theskull]

Such a happy thing when surgery goes well and accomplishes what was hoped for.

Glad to hear of the positive results you've experienced.

theskull