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Laser Vision Surgery for Developers?

Posted by Cliff on from the state-of-the-art-in-medicine dept.

cyclops asks: "I have been contemplating about going for LASIK surgery for a couple of years. I want to get rid of my dependency on glasses or lenses because I really find them cumbersome. The main thing that is stopping me now is that like you, programming is my livelihood and thus I spent a major part of my day staring into the monitor. I have readthat there is always a certain percentage of patients not regaining 20/20 vision but it's OK for them since most of them don't need that sharp vision during work. I am about to consult with a LASIK surgeon but I would love to hear anecdotal evidence about your experiences, to hear if it works out for you eventually. (I have stable myopia of -5.50 and astimagtism of -1.00 for 3 years already)." Ask Slashdot has handled this issue in the past in two previous articles: this one from 1999, and a related article from 2000. With at least 2 years since the last time this question was posed, how has medical technology improved in this aspect? For those unwilling or unable to take advantage of Laser Surgery, have other viable alternatives arisen in the past two years?

4 of 711 comments (clear)

  1. Dangerous by SandSpider · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Cal Simone, who is very famous in the Applescript world, had laser vision surgery done recently. Unfortunately, now he can't look at a computer screen for any period of time without getting a headache. He can't do any coding, and is very limited by how much computer work he can do at any given time.


    I don't know what the odds are that such a thing would happen for a given laser eye surgery. Personally, I think that if there is any chance at all that a cosmetic surgery will prevent me from doing serious computer work, then the cosmetic surgery is not worth it.


    =Brian

    --
    There is nothing so good that someone, somewhere, will not hate it.
  2. Long term risks unknown by kindofblue · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I just went to my eye doctor last week and asked about Lasik. HE wouldn't even recommend because he thought there was not enough case work on long term effects of Lasik. He was concerned about possible long-term corneal degeneration risks, since Lasik cuts away part of your cornea.

    OTOH, I had previously thought that the biggest problem would be that some patients experience "halo" effects, especially at night. He said that was mainly due to other techniques based on RK, but not so much with Lasik.

    BTW, as an optometrist, he was offered Lasiks for free, for himself, but didn't take it for these reasons.

  3. I'm doing research in this area-- don't do surgery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm with Brian Barsky's OPTICAL group at UC Berkeley. (http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/optical/ )
    We are currently doing research on how to better describe the damage caused by laser surgery.
    You see why laser surgery repairs correctable damage (damage that can be otherwise corrected with lenses)
    it also causes uncorrectable damage... more or less a "corner" where the laser stops hitting the eye.
    this "corner" gets more profound after the eye begins to heal from the surgery and tissue regenerates.
    It eventually causes people to have intense glare from light sources on the side of their faces (i.e. headlights when you drive at night)
    I would recommend NOT getting this surgery.
    Unfortunately not too terribly much progress has been made in consistently describing this damage (reports cite perhaps 30th order zernike polynomials for approximation of these problems...which is not helpful at all in describing the shape of the corner)
    We are hoping to better describe quantitatively the damage caused by this surgery.

    Anyhow I suggest you use a reversible method for correcting your vision (eg glasses/contacts)
    --Daniel
    Vega Strike Lead Developer
    http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/

  4. Behavioral Optometry by tmark · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There is a school of thought that says that vision can be improved by stretching the eye muscles. This is advocated by behavioral optometrists. The idea is that when you spend time focused at a certain distance, as so many of us do, our eye muscles tighten chronically. When this happens, the cornea and lens distort and vision problems arise. The problem is not helped in the long run by corrective lenses.

    I believe some other behavioral optometrists have some other theories about "learning to see", etc.

    I know this all sounds crazy, but my vision got worse every time I go in for a few months of really intensive coding. A few months ago, I was certain my prescription had gotten worse - I can usually tell because on top of not seeing distances clearly, I have headaches and feel sick a lot.

    On a lark I bought a book (really, an ~80 page pamphlet) on eye exercises, and also a bigger one on behavioral optometry. I did the eye exercises they prescribed, and within a week or so I was seeing noticeably better.

    Now, I believe behavioral optometrists would prescribe a regimen of steadily weaker corrective lenses, to exercise your eyes. I haven't gone that far yet, but I do have to say I was stunned by the marked improvement in my vision a few weeks of exercises got me. I've dealt with steadily worsening vision for the last 20 years, so I KNOW I am not imagining it.