4/17/14 The Big Day

[dtucker]

Well......tomorrow is the big day for me. I started out with some Walgreens cheaters to see close up about 4 years ago. As time went on my eyes got worse seeing close up and far away. They seem to have stabled off at this point and have been told that most peoples eyes start changing in their 40's. It has got to the point that on a scope i have to adjust the back out almost all the way to focus in the crosshair when getting a scope. The Leupolds are the worse as i am afraid i will have it fall off at times backing it out that far

After 4 years or more i have to set my ego aside and made time do something about it. I am first going to hopefully get fit for contacts as i am outside hiking and such and worried that glasses will be falling off, scratched and smudged with something on the lens. Also i am wondering will i see things better through the scope after i get this done? After looking through the scopes with these crappy eyes i hope things come back to life some and look better. ;D

 

[DP003]

As a contact lense user myself, I thought I'd let you know what to expect....

First the good.... I will never go without wearing my contacts ever again. The world is a new place and you don't have to deal with glasses and the other things you mentioned. I can see everything that I need to which includes anything in my scope. I shoot pistols as much as rifles so I can actually see my targets instead of shooting into oblivion (that sounds scary).

Now the bad.... It will take some time for your eyes to get used to them. You will feel like you have something in your eye (because you do!) but eventually you will not even know they are there. Be prepared to get frustrated when you first start using them. They will fold over when you are trying to put them in, then they will dry out, then you will have to re-wet them, then you will get them in and they hurt and you take them out to see if you have an eyelash on them.... Be prepared to scratch your eye once or twice a year too....

Personally, I use the daily disposables. They are more expensive, there is no way around that. However, I don't have to clean them, soak them overnight, worry about losing one, blah blah blah. I put them on in the morning and I take them out and chunk them in the evening. New pair every day. The ease and convenience is worth the extra cost for me. When I talk with my eye doc I told him that I want the best vision possible. Appartenly you can get fitted more for comfort or for better correction. Torec lenses seem to be less comfortable than regular corrective lenses. The torec corrects for astigmatism and the regulars don't. What I mean is that if you have astigmatism and use regular corrective lenses, they may be only able to get your vision to about 20/40 or 20/60. To get really good then you would need the torec, but sacrifice some comfortability. If you don't have astigmatism, this is a moot point. Just so you know, my corrected vision is 20/15 with my torec lenses.

Hope this helps!

 

[falconpilot]

Dan,

I spent 20 years not being able to see and suffering through wearing contact. PLEASE....do yourself a favor and find a GOOD eye doctor and have Lasik done. I had my eyes done this past Jan, and it's amazing. 20/15 or better...I'm 45 yrs old and wish I'd done it years ago. The procedure is routine today, and risks are very, very small verse rewards...hell, I'm a pilot and my living depended on it. I had good doctor. He under corrected my left eye by about .50. This way, I lost no "up close vision" , but can see 20/15 or better at distance. Cost was $1000 per eye. Best money I ever spent!!

I'd NEVER recommend someone going to contacts when LASIK is so cheap and safe to have done today. Contacts give me hell while trying to shot through scope. Do a little research.

Jim

 

[Cigarcop]

Good luck Dan, you def will be seeing the world a little clearer!

It's funny this procedure only costs $1000 per eye nowadays yet most Ins Co's refuse to cover it. Now they will say its cosmetic, but look at what a pair of quality glasses cost or contacts... X that by two or three years and they are paying more for you to get glasses than just paying one time for the corrective procedure and they would be ahead of the game!

 

[LeoHuhta]

Dan
I also subcribe to the Lasik plan.
Did it 10 years ago and looking back would not change that decision.
If you dont like the first Lasik Dr go talk to a differnt one.

My.02
Leo

 

[mgx1138]

+1 for LASIK. I did it at age 49... about eight years ago. Was shooting the Service Rifle and was kinda nervous about it. Had zero Leg points at the time; 16 months later I Legged out with 2 Golds and 2 Silvers. I'm still seeing real well 8 years later. Find a real good doc and if your a good candidate I'll bet that you never regret it.

 

[leadburner]

Lasik money well spent.

 

[Rustystud]

About 10 years ago I was near sited and had perfect close vision. I had some health care spending account cash and decided to have Lasik. This would give me 20/20 or better distant vision and make me wear glasses to do machine work. I went to Duke "the best place" in NC to have your Lasik done. I had "Dr. Carlson" the head man to do my Lasik. Had my right eye done first. It went great. Two weeks later I had my left eye done and it quickly went south. Three years later and 5 more surgeries my vision was restored to 20/30 in my left eye. Some days I am glad I had the Lasik and some days I regret having the Lasik.

Dr. Carlson never explained to me what went wrong. His ego would not allow him to admit he screwed up or the machine screwed up.

All I would say is do your homework before having the procedure done. If I were to get it done again, I would have PK (non flap) procedure. It is more painful and longer to heal but leaves your eye in one piece.
Nat Laambeth

 

[Steve Ladino]

Those of you who had the lasik surgery done......Do you know if there is an age limitation?
Thanks

 

[falconpilot]

From what I understand, generally speaking, if there are any signs of cataract starting to show, they will not do LASIK..

Rusty, sorry to hear your problems.

 

[Acme7]

This will be an interesting thresd. I bought my first pair of glasses, a pair of progressive lenses last year. Things went down hill quick when i tried to catch a black widow for the office tererium damn thing was all over the place with out even moving. The lenses had there place, and i will be back to the doc. But its back to the cheaters when i open the beehive now. I would like to know how the lasik works shooting birds and skeet.

 

[Forum Boss]

I have been wearing soft contacts for 30+ years. No discomfort, no issues. When I ride a motorcycle I am glad I actually have something covering my eyeballs. As far as Lasik... before you go down that road be sure you understand exactly what is likely to happen. If you are now near-sighted like I am, you may get better distance vision, but your close vision may be worsened. That is what two eye surgeons explained to me. Since I am doing close work and reading 8-10 hours a day, Lasik was not a good solution for me. After a week or so with soft contacts I suspect you would not even notice them.

 

[Acme7]

Anybody whereing the soft contacts in a dusty enviroment. ie:cabinet shop? Coupla the kids wear the Torec lenses, seem to work. Me im past costco cheaters.Its time for an upgrade.

 

[NateHaler]

After 4 years or more i have to set my ego aside and made time do something about it. I am first going to hopefully get fit for contacts as i am outside hiking and such and worried that glasses will be falling off, scratched and smudged with something on the lens.

Are you saying that you've otherwise had uncorrected vision your whole life? Consider yourself truly blessed. I was diagnosed with significant myopia (nearsightedness) in 2nd grade when Sister Cecilia notice me squinting to read the blackboard. Spectacles soon followed. Contact lenses (what an improvement, when your glasses have lenses almost as thick as a Coke bottle when they were still made of glass) at age 16. Hard contacts, now known as Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP). For my situation, a hugely better solution than soft lenses. Hard lenses last for years, are easy to maintain (figure $50 or less per year on solutions), and are NON-SURGICAL. I've been wearing RGP lenses, like a duck adapts to water, for 38 years now.

Do not dismiss the notion that LASIK is still surgery.

Talk to an opthalmologist and to an optometrist. Make an informed decision. But were I you, my first inquiry would be about RGP lenses. For those of us who can easily and comfortable wear them, they are a great fix. And my prescription is -8.25 in my dominant eye, and -4.75 in my other eye. Meaning, without contact lenses or glasses, I cannot read a billboard or roadsign unless I were standing 10 feet in front of it.

BTW, my corrected vision is 20/15, which means what the average/normal eye can see at 15', I can see at 20'. Uncorrected, my vision is probably 20/1000, which means what the average eye can see at 1000', I can see at 20'. In prehistoric times, people like me didn't survive. We wandered out of the cave, and that was all she wrote... :'(

 

[dtucker]

Well.....i have had them for a few days now. I have been in the bathroom for 1/2 hour trying back and forth to get them in. No such luck. I am on the verge of ripping the toilet out off the floor and throwing it off the deck. **** them contacts.

 

[NateHaler]

sounds like you got soft contacts. it takes like 3 seconds to inert RGP (hard) lenses. They don't turn inside out, and typically the left is blue and the right is green, so no question as to which is which. trust me, you should really give these a try. if you have any sort of stigmatism, RGP lenses are so far superior to soft lenses that my optometrist told me it would be "criminal" for him to prescribe anything other than RGP.

 

[roadkill61]

Dan when you start in the morning try splashing some cold water on your eye to sort of freeze it. This will help you to not feel the contact and make your eye blink, The other "trick" I use is to look up and put the lens on the white part of your eyeball and hold your eyelid out as you look down and let your eyeball pick it up for center. It won't take you long to get the hang of it and if like me it will make shooting and life trully worth while.

 

[dtucker]

I am having 1 hell of a time getting the hang of getting these in. It always is a problem so far. I am high strung and after a couple tries the temper starts to rise and then the hands start to tremble I start saying please help me sweet baby Jesus before i lose my mind. ;D These are soft lenses that i am wearing. I go back in a few days to check back in. He told me that their may need to be some adjustments and maybe change to another lense depending the outcome with what i have now.

 

[Cigarcop]

Dan I just put a few drops in my eyes then fill the Lenses with saline and just touch my eye with them which seems to make them stick, the added drops make it less irritable... easy peasy... You'll get it

 

[Down South]

I had the Lasik surgery done in June 2005 and im still 20/20.......I'll be 43 years old in August of this year.......I started wearing contacts when i was 13 years old, could see well with them but they were a pain in the arse......The Lasik surgery was the best money i ever spent, sure is nice to wake up in the morning and be able to see without having to put contacts on.