OT: Nearsighted, but afraid of LASIK?, Safe, reversible corneal correction Options

[bmcwilli]

I have worn eyeglasses for 36 or so years. I have never seriuously considered LASIK, because of the small, but real risk of things going very wrong. To read some LASIK gone wrong stories, check out WWW. surgicaleyes.org.

Anyway, I went for an eye check up a couple weeks ago and was introduce to "corneal refractive technolog" (CRT).

In a nutshell: you get a pair of rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses that you wear at night and sleep in. Over time, the lenses re-shape your cornea. This is the same thing that LASIK does, but CRT involves no surgery, and is reversible. DOn't like the result? Quit wearing the lenses. There have been NO reports of permanent damge due to CRT.

My story: I started wearing mine 1 1/2 weeks ago. On the first morning my correction went from -3.5 to -1.5. Today, my right eye is 20/20, my left eye is -.50!

I am thrilled. Vision is SO much better when you don't have to sqint through external refraction. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/boldblue.gif)

I can't wait to be able to see when I water ski! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/aktion035.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/aktion035.gif)

My presbyopia is better too, only need reading glasses to read fine print on drug store bottles etc. No need for readers with teh 'puter. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/mueba.gif)

hat else do ya need to know?
- CRT works for modrately myopic eyes, up to about -6.00
- You gotta wear the lenses every night
- early on, your eyes may rebound in the evening. This has not been much of a problem for me.
- once you start, you no longer can use your current prescription. You may need interim contact lenses as the correction proceeds. Inn three days I went from -1.5, to -1.00, to -.50 interim contacts.
- You will need foloowup visits and will likely need your lens prescription tweaked early on.
- my cost (Chapel Hill NC) is $1200 inclusive (exam, lenses, followup, interim lenses etc)
- CRT lenses are not comfortable (fro me) when my eyes are open, but are fine when I sleep.

For more info: http://www.paragoncrt.com/

I am not affiliated with Paragon CRT, but I am a deleriously happy customer
- (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/pray.gif)

[Brando]

I'm going to tough it out with my -7.00 and -7.50 vision for the next decade until lense replacement becomes more mainstream.

My dad was nearly blind in his right eye. Kaiser offered a procedure that suprisingly his HMO covered... It involved liquifying the cataracts and lense in his eye, removal via suction, then injecting a new polymer lense into his eye which latched into the tendons in your eye that focus. His is semi-rigid, whereas the newer ones now are becoming as flexible as the real thing. The cool part is you can have better than natural vision with a lense replacement because it's a perfectly shaped surface, whereas the lense in yor eye is grown... not laser-cut, polished, perfect... etc. One bad point is you'll see some glowing around lights at night-time -- but anyone with glasses has to deal with that already. Now, if only it wasn't considered "experimental" it could be done more and more frequently! It just requires three opthamologists at once to do though.