sorry for bumping old thread.
I'm getting interested to do a LASIK.
Really annoyed by my so imperfect vision.

Currently, most seems to recommend Optimax.
My mom did intra-Lasik there
previously more than -10.00
all goes very well. Just still left some presbyopia

But after some researching, I'm focused on Vista.
They seem to have some more advance tech.
Check out their NASA iLASIK.

NASA approves a type of laser eye treatment for their astronauts.
Got a few commercial names. Checking the equipment Vista is using for their iLASIK seems to match those that are approved by NASA

Very expensive though.
Normal price: RM6500/eye
Bank promotion: RM5000/eye
Can get 0% installment up to 48 months (select credit cards) = RM210/month for both eyes.
Follow up care of 24 months
Lifetime warranty

Looking at the price might seems expensive but as I intend to take the installment, I guess some extra won't be felt too much.
Always better to get the best that we can afford.

Anyone done this type of treatment?
Or knows anyone else?

well..u do sound like an advert
anyway, i'm quite sold on the nasa ilasik.
It gave great confidence when the military & nasa approves it for their employee

The statistic of 100% of the ilasik patient gets 20/40 vision or better is very assuring.
& i think it is 98% 20/20
some even reach 20/15 vision

er.. allergic to pain?
means u will go into anaphylactic shock when u are in pain?
House goona love u

Yes long term effect is unknown.
& those who are not ready to accept the risk, don't do it.
Anyway, it all depends on how u calculate the risks.
IMO, the benefits outweight the risks tremendously.

Same as contacts.
Got risks but for some people, the benefits outweigh them.

The eye will be anesthetized.
Your eyelids will be held with a device to keep it open.
Dont worry if u move your eyes away from the laser point.
The system will know & compensate.
If the eye moves out of range of compensation, it will stop the laser.

Not much pain.
some report says some pain persists for 2/3 days then disappear.
Some no pain at all.

U need to do more research if u intends to laser your eyeballs.
Btw, it is not a laser pointer. The laser is called excimer laser.

<- Bumping ancient thread again.

I just came back from the free preliminary at Vista.
Going for the 2nd rm150 test on thursday.
Gonna do the procedure ASAP as I'm currently in semester break.
Hopefully as I get back to class, I can already impress my friends

Lasik is a very machine dependent procedure.
There is very little human intervention.
For the 1st test, I as usual didn't ask much questions.
I did my homework already.
I don't expect the staffs to have the same knowledge as the doctor anyway.

After the simple test, the staff concluded I'm only suitable for custom lasik as my pupil size is quite large (7mm) & tissue thickness in rather low.
I can take the Bausch & Lomb system (cheaper by around 4k) or the nasa ilasik.

Most probably I'll choose the chinese doctor which is also Vista co-founder.
He's a certified VISX & Bausch & Lomb trainer. He do travel a lot to train people using the machines.

Wish me luck
I don't usually have excessive anxiety in procedures that I'm confident in.
let see

yup.
done yesterday.
went smoothly without any complications

Initially my eyes were very dry.
Hard to keep open even 10 seconds.
After about 2 hours sleep, getting much better already.
I follow the eye drop instructions closely.

3 types of eye drops.
Artificial tear - use anytime we want. No harm.
Anti-inflammatory eye drop - prevent inflammation
Antibiotic eye drop - prevent infection

They gave a dark sunglasses to use.
A pair of eye guard to wear during sleep - avoid accidentally rubbing the eyes.

The procedure:

An optometrist will put anesthetic eye drop.
Use a kind of pencil to mark on the eye ball.
Might seem scary but no pain. Just pressure a bit.

Keep all my personal stuffs in a locker.
Wash face thoroughly
Wear a surgical gown.
take off shoes.
Wear foot cover (same like the gown)
Wear surgical cap.
Went into the operating theater.
Lay down on the intralase laser - doing the flap
Anesthetic eye drop.
Put on eye holder.
Suction on it - dunno how they suck it but can feel the pressure
Lower the laser - will feel it pushes the eye in a bit. No pain. Just pressure. Anesthetized already.
Look at the center.
Laser start tracking.
Fire.
Few seconds. Done.
Stop suction.
Remove holder.
Next eye. Same procedure.

Get up & go to next chair.
Lay down on the VISX laser.
Look at the orange LED in the center.
Doctor will tape both eyelids on one eye first.
The eye holder.
The doctor will use an instrument to open the flap - bit difficult to keep looking at the center coz once the doctor start moving the flap, my vision start distorting & the led move everywhere & the doc keep asking to stay still.haha.
Flap opened.
Look at the center.
Laser tracking.
Fire. It sounds quite loud. Kinda knocking sound. Some people smell something burning but I don't. Maybe due to the fact that I'm a mouth breather (yes i breath sometimes through my mouth)
Doctor will say 25%, 50% then an assistant will start count from 10.
Stop laser.
Close the flap.
squeegee with a kind of wax instrument to remove bubbles & smoothen it.
Next eye. Same procedure.

Done. Get up.
The assistant ask to look at the wall clock & tell the time.
Get out.
Remove the overalls.
Take my stuffs.
Assistant will brief about the eye drops instructions.
An optometrist will check again using a type of scope to see if the flap is properly placed.

Done!
At this time, can see already. Lines are sharp but all hazy.
Lights glow like mad
& can't open the eyes for too long.
Wear the provided sunglasses or your own.
Go back & sleep

Today 2.30pm I'll be going for a review.
Next review will be 1 week from now.
Then every month for a year.

I think i can drive already
Just maybe not at night due to large amount of halo around bright lights.
Recommended for everyone interested to get rid of glasses or contacts

Yeah very fast.
In the theater like 10 minutes or so (that's like RM1k for every 1 minute )

not lifetime la.. if like that, i rather wear glasses
At most 3 months depends on the eye dryness.
For me, i think a few weeks are sufficient already

I heard about Prince Court lasik.
how long have they been offering the surgery.
They seem to be more expensive than others.

btw, Visumax system is not the excimer laser.
It is just the flap making laser system.

What excimer laser system will u be using?

I don't know..for that amount of money, better go for Vista NASA iLasik
add few hundred more only.
At least the Visx machine they use is approved for military use.
Not that other machine is no good but there must be a good reason for US military & nasa to approve the machine.
The staff at Vista told me they did almost 18,000 cases already.

Anyway, both visumax & mel-80 laser are made by zeiss.
& everybody know zeiss makes superb lenses

U really can't say what's worth & what's not in regard to this.
The Nasa iLasik is definitely a marketing gimmick but not baseless. The machine is indeed approved for use by NASA & US military.

Saying using microkeratome or intralase system makes no different is just wrong.
Saying there is not much difference is acceptable though.
Yes there isn't much difference but statistically the all-laser system have less complication percentage.
Microkeratome still depends on operator hands.
Laser flap making is totally on the machine.
No human hands can reproduce consistently & accurately as what the machines can do.

Your statement "In Lasik, there's only which system has the fastest repititation rate, the most advance scanner and the best laser power delivery" contradicts to what u said as not worth it.
Different machine & technology have different prices.

The Nasa iLasik is also relatively new. so of course price will be higher. Once they recoup the costs & more competition using the machine, I believe price will drop.

Saying all Lasik systems are the same is an ignorant statement.
The fundamental basic is the same yes.
But how the machine do it, differs.
Early machines corrects each type of irregularities separately.
Shortsighted 1st, then only do the astigmatism => unnecessary tissue wastage.
Newer machine do it all in a single shot.
There are some other minor differences as well.

Btw, have u undergone a lasik surgery?

U can't put a price on my eyes.
10 grand is a mere pocket change in comparison to what my eyes are worth.
I won't sell half my eyeball from 10 million.
A small part of my liver..maybe. My eyes..no way.

If u can afford it, why not take the best proven system?
Approval by US military is good enough reason for me

I do believe most other machines are good enough to do the job of correcting my eyes.
Do whatever makes u feel best
If u feel the extra 5k is unnecessary, no problem.
Most newer systems are reliable enough that it is just a matter of personal choice

Congrats!

epi-lasik is using a different kind of microkeratome right?
won't a laser system makes a thinner flap?
I did read that epi-lasik is for those who have thin cornea but don't understand why not just use a laser flap making system.
What did the doctor said?

btw, did u wear some kind of contact lenses to hold the flap?
Do keep us updated on your eyes progress

no offense taken.
people are not supposed to be offended in a discussion or debate.
like i said, most newer systems are reliable enough that it is just a matter of personal choice.

regarding microkeratome is better than all-laser system, that is new to me.
I never stumbled upon anywhere saying the blade is better than laser.
maybe u can point me to a reliable article or journals.

my common sense says laser will be more accurate than mechanical blade.
if laser cause micro/nano unevenness, I would guess the blade will make macro unevenness?

low complication rate, yes. Lower even comparing to wearing contact lenses. But i believe all laser systems are even lower risk as that removes another possibility of human error.
I still trust machine better than a human (i'm screwed is someone invented a robotic dentist )
machines are created by man to do the best they can consistently

The reason i trust Nasa approval is, they have virtually limitless amount of cash that they can afford just about everything best.
And they will want the lowest risk of screwing up their astronaut's sight .
FDA on the other hand have their own guideline & applies to a broader population. What they approve should be good enough for most.
This is just what i thought though

btw, what are u doing as a laser specialist?
laser skin cosmetic treatment?
& how old are u? why don't just do the lasik now instead of waiting.
when the presbiopia develops, just do it again (if there's enough tissue of course <= maybe this is your reason of waiting?)
from what u describe as your profession, I don't see money is even remotely an issue

er..that's a comparison of 2 different types of microkeratome?
Aren't we looking for microkeratome vs laser?

no

my eyes are doing great.
just slightly dry in cold & dry places.
No problem so far. Biggest problem is the halo around bright lights. A bit annoying when driving during the night.
According to the doctor, this is due to my large pupil size. It should be reduced in 3 months.

Yes i have astig.
3.00+ on left & 1.00+ on right eye.

lol i thought u're done with it already.
Btw, what profession are u in again? whatever it is, I'm calling the BS flag.
U can't even distinguish a proper source of info from a website with a google ad at the bottom of the page

Not that I'm saying whatever system is the best or better or safest or whatever it is.
That's not the point.
The point is, I'll take any info i found from a page with a google ad with a grain of salt.

i'm sorry if i have offended you. but i was laughing all the way, when i'm reading thru your reply. No offence. (copying your words )

ps. In my guess, the system should work flawlessly.

now that's better.
another thing.
U did said laser based flap making is no better than mechanical microkeratome.
Let see some papers on that
Sorry i'm a lazy ass to look for the papers & u are better qualified.

This type of surgery is relatively new.
Thus data for long term side effects are rather scarce.
I took the chances anyway

yeah i have the halo & starburst also.
The doc said it should subside in 3 months.
Few days after the surgery, it is quite annoying.
Now, not so much.
Either the halo has subside or I grown accustomed to it.
Either way, that is a small price I'm willing to pay

occasionally..if i'm tired (like after 5 hours straight online)
just a simple eye drop.
That's all.
If there's no eye drops around, a few minutes rest is sufficient

usually 20 & above as that's when our eyes become stable.
Sometimes earlier.

what are u talking about?
for sure?
In medicine & surgery, we rarely "sure" of anything.
At most, we can say "high probability"

The doctor did told me there is risk of dry eyes.
Most people who want to do lasik will know about the possible dry eyes.

I understand that u are selling contact lenses & will lose customers if they went for lasik

yes. go for a checkup.
blind? RARELY if we develop infection.
all instruments are sterile & disposable.
Infections may still occur but less than 1% chance.

The technology is so good already that blindness didn't even cross my mind.
Anyone asking for 0% for sure no possible complication, surgery is not for u. U simply are not ready for it & will only makes doctors life miserable if something happens. Find a bomoh instead