Lasik vs. Vision Therapy

[Jukeboxhero]

Basically, I've been considering getting rid of my glasses for good. Not just because I think I would look better without them (and most girls agree) but because it gets rid of a huge hassle and I feel it would give me more confidence in general in addition it would be a lot easier to participate in sports.

Now obviously there is Lasik. I could get cheapo standard Lasik for about $300+ an eye OR I could get the Custom Lasik which would be about $1,000 an eye but have a lower chance of side-effects. Either way, I'm going to have my right eye's cornea removed which will make for a much longer and more painful recover process (at least one week as opposed to one day).

OR...

I could try this new thing I heard of on the radio which is basically a theory called Vision Therapy. Supposedly it's the new "Vision correction" of the future that hasn't quite been accepted by conventional doctors yet. A few studies have been done on it and it seems to work pretty well for some people. However, I want to hear some non-biased perspectives. Has anyone tried it or known someone whose tried it? If so, what were the results?

Even if you don't know someone from personal experience, I'm willing to hear opinions based on some kind of non-overly-biased research or fact.

IF it both methods would provide me with 20/20 vision these are the major differences that I can see.

Lasik, Faster (even with the one week recovery process), but possibly slight risk. More expensive. Also, possible follow-up or loss of perfected vision over a long period of time.

Therapy Cheaper. ($75-$400 or Free) All materials can easily be duplicated from the "trial sample" packet and really it's just a bunch of exercises you can easily master in a week or so of doing them. A lot slower and more gradual recovery. Which means I may have to rewind through a prescription or two as my vision recovers.

So basically Fast, Expensive Slightly Risky. Vs. Slow, Cheap but not really accepted and widely proven to work method.

 

[Page]

Vision therapy is at best controversial, and at worst a total scam. The commercials are wonderfully vague about how it works and exactly what it is (the see clearly method especially comes to mind here) and some of these guys are under investigation for fraud. Basically, these vision methods involve special exercises and some sort of patch. These completely ignore the fact that vision problems are the result of an improperly shaped lens and no exercise has been proven to be able to change the shape of the lens permanently.


Lasik does work, but it does have the aforementioned problems.

Me, I'm happy with glasses and contacts right now. I'll eventually get lasik, but i'm waiting for technology to improve and the price to go down. Plus, that gives time for long-term effects to show up in people who have had it done.

 

[spider_007]

I had lasic done on Dec 3 2004. before this i was waring glasses for distance (-120). I was supposed to get a "custom lasic" but on the day i came the thing was overheating.....anyway i just got the regular. The procedure was quick (couple of minutes). The recovery was uncomforatable, but painless (2 weeks). You still have to put eyedrops when ever your eyes get dry, but the hard part is done..... Now, a year and so lather i can see 20/20. I can actually play pool now with out my glasses getting in the way, i feel more confident, and i don't feel like i'm looking out through a window.

the only problem i had with the thing was; i paid $3 200 for the whole thing. I do understand that the guy that did it is one of the pioneers of the procedure and has done thousands and thousands of procedures, it's still a lot of money to put up at once. If you can, get the custom procedure done, the regular will do fine, but the custom should be even better (less chance of glare, or night vision problems)....

i never really looked into vision terapy but, i hear there is a new procedure that will reshape your eye using radio vawes. Might want to look into that and talk to someone whos done it.

 

[escobar04]

I had Lasik done Dec. 23rd, 2004 and it's been great for me

even though my right eye is not as good as my left but they work fine together

eyes do get dry so I put in eye-drops every once in a while

paid about $4000 for the whole painless procedure that took about 5 minutes

oh, another thing is that you'll feel stuff like laser pointers, high beems from cars and stuff like that you'll be more sensitive to

 

[Jukeboxhero]

Originally posted by escobar04
I had Lasik done Dec. 23rd, 2004 and it's been great for me

even though my right eye is not as good as my left but they work fine together

eyes do get dry so I put in eye-drops every once in a while

paid about $4000 for the whole painless procedure that took about 5 minutes

oh, another thing is that you'll feel stuff like laser pointers, high beems from cars and stuff like that you'll be more sensitive to

So even though it's been a long time since you had it done, you still have to take eyedrops? Also, since you paid 4,000 I'm assuming you recieved the Custom Lasik procedure but yet your still sensitive to bright lights and laser pointers?

 

[bbestar]

Instead of putting down $4000 dollars


I rather be blind and give an oppurtunity for someone to be saved and have eternal life

 

[MetalFortress]

Originally posted by bbestar
Instead of putting down $4000 dollars


I rather be blind and give an oppurtunity for someone to be saved and have eternal life

Dude... be a giving man if you want, but stop trying to prop yourself up and make everybody think you are a selfless giving person by telling them you are.

 

[Jukeboxhero]

Originally posted by bbestar
Instead of putting down $4000 dollars


I rather be blind and give an oppurtunity for someone to be saved and have eternal life

OK...
First, I'm not going to put down $4,000! More like $800 - $2000

Secondly, I'm all for helping people find Eternal Salvation but how does NOT getting eye surgery help with that? Last I remember, Salvation can't be bought!

Anyways, Does anyone else have opinions on Lasik or Vision Therapy such as the SeeClearlyMethod? Or has anyone else tried or heard from people how have tried these methods? If so please let me know!

 

[PoloBlue]

I would not risk getting LASIK / eye surgury

some people tell me they see "double vision" in one eye now because they messed up and they tried to fix it and it's worse than before.

when you get around 40 and older your eyes will change and you will need glasses again, so I dont see why anybody would risk their eye sight for cosmetic reasons?

just because you get "LASIK" doesnt mean you will never wear glasses again.

contacts work fine

 

[bbestar]

Originally posted by PoloBlue
I would not risk getting LASIK / eye surgury

some people tell me they see "double vision" in one eye now because they messed up and they tried to fix it and it's worse than before.

when you get around 40 and older your eyes will change and you will need glasses again, so I dont see why anybody would risk their eye sight for cosmetic reasons?

just because you get "LASIK" doesnt mean you will never wear glasses again.

contacts work fine

what if contacts and glasses give me Enormous head aches..

For days even..

I don't understand why i had perfect vision untill 9th grade of high school...

 

[Silquee Smoove]

http://www.allaboutvision.com/buysmart/see_clearly.htm

Here's a link that I had remembered from a while back when I did a little bit of investigating on the "See Clearly Method" I had heard advertised over the radio.

It has some eye exercises and gives a brief overview of the product.

As always, go for an independent, unbiased review for whatever it is you are looking for as far as a consumer product goes.

I also remember reading a book a few years back -the name escapes me at this point- that stressed the idea that:

"Vision is 9/10th's mental and 1/10th physical"

The author of the book advocated the same ideas that the See Clearly method seems to be about -- "Eye exercises", that and the aforementioned "Vision is 9/10th's mental and 1/10th physical mantra which is really about the memorization of reading charts and increased acuity of your eyes to pick up the clarity of the characters seen on the page and the warming up and relaxing of your eye muscles through various "head roll" exercises.

There was another technique called "Palming" where you are supposed to "cup" each hand over each eye and consciously stay awake thereby letting your eyes have a conscious sleep (Non-REM) that would revitalize them and slowly improve your vision. One passage of the book in particular, told of a man who palmed continuously for 8 hours each night for a year, slowly had his vision improve several diopters. (Measure of eye strength)

Hopefully this has given you a little more info. as to what the See Clearly Method is about. Looking at that page it seems they are being taken to court for fraud.

The person that they had try out the See Clearly Method actually had his vision improve slightly in one eye, but had no change in the other one.

 

[splinterkb]

I would suggest paying the bigger bucks for the surgery.... How much money is seeing clearly the rest of your life worth to you? My buddies dad was one of the doctors that developed lasik surgery, and has a 0% error. You just have to find a doctor that knows what hes doing.

 

[Jukeboxhero]

Originally posted by splinterkb
I would suggest paying the bigger bucks for the surgery.... How much money is seeing clearly the rest of your life worth to you? My buddies dad was one of the doctors that developed lasik surgery, and has a 0% error. You just have to find a doctor that knows what hes doing.

Thanks man, the doctor I've went to so far had about 15% chance that it wouldn't turn out perfect the first time and you might have to come back for further treatment. I'm not sure if that would cost more or not but I decided to wait for the time being just because I'm not in a good financial situation right now.
Also, I want to check out other doctors to compare prices and get the best aka lowest percentage of error.

 

[penkitten]

i have been wearing glasses and contacts since i was a kid.
honestly, im terrified to do lasik because im afraid they will mess up and i will be blind.

 

[thissucks003]

I know this is an old thread, but I am very interested in getting my eye's done. Jukeboxhero, did you ever get your eyes done?

 

[whistler]

The Vision Therapy thing is a scam.

You can't rid yourself of glasses by doing eye exercises. It's physically impossible.

 

[bbestar]

My eyes will be completely healed thanks to the Lord Christ Jesus by faith

 

[wayword]

You can't rid yourself of glasses by doing eye exercises. It's physically impossible.

Wrong.

The evaluation involved 21 people ages 14 to 80 with mild myopia (less than -3.00 diopters). After six weeks of therapy, nine of the 21 had "significant" improvement and 11 had "moderate" improvement in visual acuity. Seven eliminated their need for glasses or contacts, while 11 now had "reduced dependency," meaning they needed their corrective lenses for less time than before.

I myself have bad vision and tried Vision Freedom for a while. When I was really following the procedure on vacation one week, I actually did experience some amazing improvement! Basically, since I was on vacation, I could stay home without wearing any lenses and do the exercises daily. At one point, I woke up and my vision was noticeably sharper. I measured it and figured it had improved by like 2 diopters, I think!

Unfortunately, I didn't have transition lenses at the time and had to go back to work - so when I put my old lenses back on and went back to work (sitting in front of a monitor all day), I couldn't lock in my gains and quickly regressed back.

Anyways, I do believe it is possible to make some improvements, but the hard part is finding the time to do the exercises regularly (up to 2 hrs/day), being able to keep your lenses off all day and then having transition lenses available to lock them in at periodic steps. But, if you have a full-time job that requires a lot of near-vision tasks, this can be very difficult.

 

[Henkel]

I'm also thinking about getting the LASIK surgery. It would cost around 2800 €(~3500$) here in Finland performed by the country's leading surgeon. He uses this new WaveLight Allegretto 400 Hz Eye-Q device which seems to be the cutting-edge technology in eye surgery. I've got around -4 in both of my eyes and with this device the surgery would take just 9 seconds per eye. This would naturally fasten the healing process as it irritates the eye less. The device also has this eye tracking mechanism which makes the surgery a lot safer.
Yeah, it's a bit expensive but I think this would improve the quality of my life tremendously. Now it's just a matter of finding the right time for the surgery and getting some financial help from my parents

 

[whistler]

Wrong.I myself have bad vision and tried Vision Freedom for a while. When I was really following the procedure on vacation one week, I actually did experience some amazing improvement! Basically, since I was on vacation, I could stay home without wearing any lenses and do the exercises daily. At one point, I woke up and my vision was noticeably sharper. I measured it and figured it had improved by like 2 diopters, I think!

Unfortunately, I didn't have transition lenses at the time and had to go back to work - so when I put my old lenses back on and went back to work (sitting in front of a monitor all day), I couldn't lock in my gains and quickly regressed back.

Anyways, I do believe it is possible to make some improvements, but the hard part is finding the time to do the exercises regularly (up to 2 hrs/day), being able to keep your lenses off all day and then having transition lenses available to lock them in at periodic steps. But, if you have a full-time job that requires a lot of near-vision tasks, this can be very difficult.

Thanks for the rebuttal. But you hardly made a strong argument.

You have myopia? Either your eyeball is too long or your lens is incorrectly shaped. You can train your muscles all you want, but the optics of your eyes will put things near you out of focus. What you're probably experiencing is a temporary imbalance in the muscles surrounding your lenses. And even that would be slight at most.