tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455782214242472677.post866043923984308890..comments2024-03-14T20:55:21.709+09:00Comments on Janne In Osaka: LASIK - Day 1Jan Morenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06834641501438709866noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455782214242472677.post-61851019412288830652014-02-24T13:55:44.161+09:002014-02-24T13:55:44.161+09:00It's perhaps a bit more straightforward at my ...It's perhaps a bit more straightforward at my clinic. Not different laser options, but plenty of other variants. I guess that they have the machinery and the experience to do the older variants very well, so why not offer them? For instance, wavefront-guided LASIK maybe doesn't make a lot of sense if you don't have any astigmatism, and in such a case regular LASIK is a lot cheaper (and arguably a lot more tested) for much the same result. <br /><br />In your case it may simply be that the newer, faster machine has to be amortized — and the clinic probably pays a per-patient royalty fee to the maker — so you end up paying more if you want it. The alternative would be that patients using the slower machine end up subsidizing the newer one.<br /><br />In my case my astigmatism was of the same order as my regular nearsightedness, so I've been waiting for wavefront-analysis to become available. I went there knowing exactly what I wanted already. <br />Jan Morenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06834641501438709866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455782214242472677.post-38794850954029894982014-02-24T12:04:12.570+09:002014-02-24T12:04:12.570+09:00Cool. Good to know.
Interesting stuff about the f...Cool. Good to know.<br /><br />Interesting stuff about the flap: my readings had indicated that people considered PRK better in the long term (less regression), but that LASIK had pretty much caught up nowadays to the point where results should be the same (and pain/discomfort/recovery time much lower for LASIK). Didn't know about the flap dislodging risk (and does explain why the doctor specifically asked me if I had or was considering having a career in MMA).<br /><br />The biggest head scratch I had when considering the surgery, was the choice of specific procedure: dunno about yours, but my clinic has a dizzying array of combinations involving machines of varying precision/power/speed for both the flap-cutting and the actual reshaping, with prices going from about 15万 to 35万. Each one incrementally "better" (for some very hazy definition of better) than the previous. And who wants to be the guy who who lost half their vision because they wanted to save a couple thousand yens...<br /><br />While getting the most-accurate possible flap cutting seems like a no-brainer, they still had a 7万 difference between the version involving laser pulses at 500Hz vs. 750Hz (for the reshaping). None of the papers I could find seemed to offer serious benefits, beyond the surgery taking 30s less...<br /><br />Did you clinic have all these options, or was it more straightforward?Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15332995564009242473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455782214242472677.post-23083630163672149972014-02-24T10:26:42.286+09:002014-02-24T10:26:42.286+09:00@Dave, I was fully functional. I stepped out of th...@Dave, I was fully functional. I stepped out of the surgery, talked briefly with the counsellor, then we walked about ten minutes to our favourite restaurant for lunch. We stopped by a department store for some fruit, then on to the local train home. We walked the final twenty minutes, and I stopped by a 100-yen store for a pair of reading glasses.<br /><br />My eyes were pretty tired (it feels like I had a long day with contact lenses) so I did sleep on the train, and I also took a nap for almost two hours when we got home. But that was in part because I'd been worrying and sleeping badly the previous night, I think. I know one person (a restaurant owner) who was back at work two hours after surgery. And I know of one person that crashed and slept through the rest of the day. <br /><br />It depends on the exact medication you get too; I didn't get a sedative so I stayed completely clear throughout. If they prescribe a mild sedative to calm you down you're probably going to have a harder time being active right afterwards. <br /><br />I would not have been able to work the next day, simply because I didn't see well enough to work on a computer or read text for any length of time. Close-up vision is temporarily much worse than it would usually be, so anything detailed becomes a complete blur. But I had no problem getting around or doing normal stuff.<br /><br /><br />@Jordi, yes, I was mostly trying to verbalize the irrational worry I felt before :) I did go through a fair number of papers on the flap thing. What I think I learned (not sure enough about this to actually post on the blog itself):<br /><br />* The flap edge never heals, but the flap does grow back together with the underlying layer over time. It's only actually loose for the first day or so, and it slowly becomes more securely attached over the course of a year. <br /><br />* Once it has reattached properly after a few months, the only way to dislodge it is either to grab, lift and peel it off the same way they do during LASIK, or though violent contact. The violence needed to get a dislodged flap at that point is generally enough to damage the eye itself, flap or not. <br /><br />We're talking traffic accidents, being hit over the eye in a fight or things like that, and a dislodged flap will be a very minor medical worry in such cases. Getting bumped on the head or something is not enough.<br /><br />* If you are doing full-contact sports — budo, boxing or things like that — they recommend you do PRK or LASEK instead. There you don't cut a flap, but just remove the outermost cell layer and reshape the surface of the cornea. Results and side effects are comparable, but PRK is a lot more painful and takes much longer to heal.<br /><br />It's noteworthy that baseball players — who jump, slide, run into each other and do risk getting hit by a small hard ball — almost always do LASIK, not PRK. Something like baseball or basketball is not too violent for LASIK.<br /><br />Jan Morenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06834641501438709866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455782214242472677.post-5500317018955931282014-02-24T08:05:16.193+09:002014-02-24T08:05:16.193+09:00I guess the madman part was inspired by seeing a f...I guess the madman part was inspired by seeing a few videos of the procedure around plus it being a doctor thing, which is scary by itself.<br /><br />Last week I ended in a short video spree again, even watching a video of a procedure gone wrong. Still, I don't like the flap part.<br /><br />Hope for a quick recovery. Certainly the first days after (any) surgery are the most annoying ones, to put it in a way. And those protective glasses are quite nice.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06149190626923540076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455782214242472677.post-22014529748596451532014-02-23T23:26:09.495+09:002014-02-23T23:26:09.495+09:00Funny coincidence. I just booked my appointed yest...Funny coincidence. I just booked my appointed yesterday for the second weekend of March...<br /><br />Got one question for you: were you somewhat functional (i.e. able to walk on your own without a white cane, seeing eye-dog or helpful partner) after the procedure when you left the clinic?Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15332995564009242473noreply@blogger.com