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.

I can't wait to be able to see when I water ski!

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.

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
-

Sounds cool, too bad my eyes are -8.00 and -11.00.

QUOTE (bmcwilli @ Dec 31 2005, 08:10 AM)

- CRT works for modrately myopic eyes, up to about -6.00

Yeah, so lemme no when it's gud for Mega myopic

Hey thanks for posting this Bryan. I just started looking into the options after deciding to put some money into my flex plan for next year. What bothers me about most of the procedures out there are the wide range of costs and the trade-offs. With Lasik you can have halos at night, PRK has a longer healing time, etc.

I remember hearing something about this but had forgotten about it, thanks for the reminder.

Jon

Jon,

Look into it. The Paragon site has a provider list by state.

After reading stuff on surgicaleyes.org, I NEVER considered LASIK.

Among well known LASIK dissapointments are Adam Clayton, the bassist with U2. Since his LASIK, he cannot drive at night.

I have had some halos and such, but that is expected. It takes several weeks for the whole corneal area to be reshaped. The halos were not a big deal, and like I said, if it was intolerable, I could stop wearing the CRT lenses and revert to normal within 72 hours.

You just have to be patient and motivated. An unexpected bonus for me is how much better and more flexible my near vision is.

I got to look in to this someday!

Everyone in my family needs reading glasses at 40, bi-focals at 50.
I'm 44 and my arms aren't long enough

I hate glasses...Growing old is a bitch.

I have enjoyed three wars and six civil insurrections over thirty two years. There is not much that scares me. LASIK scares me. My family has been pushing LASIK for several years, telling me how safe, how easy, how quick it is. My brother in law did it with over nite success. My Mother in law did the same, with wonderful results. "You shoud do it to John!!" they all exclaimed. "Let me think about it, Cheery bye" says I and the door did not hit my butt. This technique sounds painless and most of all does not include A KNIFE. How can I find out more??
MSG L

I'm going under the "light" Monday morning. I have been to chicken to try for several reasons - mostly haman error or me not being able to hold my eyes still while someone sticks sharp/bring things in them. The process I am having done is all laser and all under full computer control with feedback to correct for movement - I hope it's not Windows based.
I will report soon.
Steve

Is there a time/age limit on this?

It's a fact that as you age, your eyes become less flexilble and "set up"

My sister wore hard contacts since she was 18, and in her 40's she went to the Optomitrist to get a new perscription as she was having trouble seeing. The Dr. told her that in a very few cases, some individuals that have worn hard contacts since an early age have their eyes set up and lock into the shape forced by the contacts....

He told her to get out of his office as she was now 20/20 for the rest of her life....

This sounds similar but not so permanant...

Ken

I had laser eye done and am very happy with it (6yrs), but I believe age is catching up with me now.

There you go Steve. Someone sticking something sharp or dull or round or any bloody shape in my eye. You do not want to do that when I am awake or sober. MSG L

I just did it this morning at 9:00. Went home and took a nap. Just woke up and I can see pretty well even thought my eyes are super dialated.
The process involved no knives or any pain at all. Nothing more serious right now other than a little dry eye.

I have been doing the contact lens thing for the last 6 years. My vision is good enough for Uncle Sam to let me fly The only downside is that some days you are so tired you must force yourself to put them on before bed.

This is just too cool. My vision is getting better and better as the dilation stuff wears off. If I had to guess I would say my eyesight right now is equal to my eyesight yesterday with glasses however I no longer have all of those glasses issues (glare, paralax etc.) Can't wait until tomorrow.

QUOTE (srbliss @ Jan 2 2006, 03:24 PM)

The process involved no knives or any pain at all.

What's the procedure called? Both Lasik and PRK use knives (Lasik cuts a flap while PRK removes the top of the cornea completely).

There's a new "bladeless" LASIK procedure;

here is a pointer
http://www.tlcvision.com/what_is_laser_vis...?load=intralase

they use a laser rather than a blade to create the flap.

Glad to see that you guys are doing well with your various procedures.

QUOTE (bmcwilli @ Jan 6 2006, 03:10 PM)

There's a new "bladeless" LASIK procedure; here is a pointer http://www.tlcvision.com/what_is_laser_vis...?load=intralase they use a laser rather than a blade to create the flap.

Yep, that's what I had. Vision gets a little better each day. No pain no issues. I am glad I waited until the technology matured to the point it is at now. I think the next big thing is getting the price down so more people can afford it.

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.

Very cool reading. Thanks for sharing. I wear contacts and have since 1982. I will look into this corrective procedure. I will say that we have a lot of customers who have had the laser eye surgery with NO light issues at night. My site hasnt changed since 1989. Same prescription. I also dont consider myself "bad" mine are -1.50

Thanks again


B

I've talked to a few eye docs. They all seem to concur that the future of vision correction lies in a replacable lens inserted under the cornea.

This type of lense can be replaced at any time and there are no halo effect problems. It corrects vision back to 20/20 and will allow stigamtism and other problems to be dealt with independently.

I just started wearing lenses about 2 years ago. -.75 which isn't all that bad. I like the inserted lense idea. I also like the idea of the CRT as it sounds like there is no real surgery involved.

i had lasik done about six months ago, and it's wonderful. as many have noted, there are halos and/or starburst effects at night, but that usually improves with time. i don't have halos anymore, just slight starbursts around points of light. doesn't bother me at all and it should get even better.

many people are afraid of "the knife" that comes in to slice your eye open. it's not really a knife... i didn't even know they were doing it when the cut was made. the freaky part was the smell of my cornea burning from the laser

~a

QUOTE (Brad Roberts @ Jan 7 2006, 03:27 PM)

Very cool reading. Thanks for sharing. I wear contacts and have since 1982. I will look into this corrective procedure. I will say that we have a lot of customers who have had the laser eye surgery with NO light issues at night. My site hasnt changed since 1989. Same prescription. I also dont consider myself "bad" mine are -1.50 Thanks again B

Same here Brad. My eyes crapped out in 82 and have been steady at -1.5 for 10 years or so. I am very happy with the procedure. Only problem now is I need to wear safety glasses again.

Well, went for the initial CRT exams today.

Bad news:

I'm on the limit...(they say -6 or so on the website)...practically its around -4.
No regular contacts for 10 days before the procedure.
400 bux CDN every 2 years or so for 2 pair of the special correcting lenses

Good news:
should hopefully get around -.5 when all said and done.

Cheers
Luis

Thanks for posting this guys...I never would have found it otherwise.

my old secretary went to work for an eye doctor. She said only use the new technology where the computer scans your eye, and determines the correction for your eyesight. In other words, make sure the facility has the most current equipment and technology.

QUOTE (WRX914 @ Feb 10 2006, 10:05 AM)

In other words, make sure the facility has the most current equipment and technology.

Which is what bothers me about all the laser procedures, I think the technology is still evolving at a rapid rate. I'd rather do the not-permanent option until I see a technology that I'm convinced meets all the criteria. Meaning:

• no halos
  
• no cutting
  
• no accelerated farsightedness
  

Thanks for reminding me I need to do more research.

QUOTE (Porcharu @ Jan 6 2006, 09:35 PM)

Yep, that's what I had. Vision gets a little better each day. No pain no issues. I am glad I waited until the technology matured to the point it is at now. I think the next big thing is getting the price down so more people can afford it.

Steve,

Was any portion of your "surgery" covered by insurance? Care to give us a ball park figure as far as cost involved, both the consult and the procedure?

QUOTE (WRX914 @ Feb 10 2006, 10:05 AM)

my old secretary went to work for an eye doctor. She said only use the new technology where the computer scans your eye, and determines the correction for your eyesight. In other words, make sure the facility has the most current equipment and technology.

That's what I did. Newest stuff with an experienced doctor.

QUOTE (STL914 @ Feb 10 2006, 10:13 AM)

QUOTE (Porcharu @ Jan 6 2006, 09:35 PM) Yep, that's what I had.  Vision gets a little better each day.    No pain no issues.  I am glad I waited until the technology matured to the point it is at now.  I think the next big thing is getting the price down so more people can afford it. Steve, Was any portion of your "surgery" covered by insurance? Care to give us a ball park figure as far as cost involved, both the consult and the procedure?

Nothing was covered by insurance. I used a medical savings plan we have at work. I think anyone can do it. The whole thing was $5400. I spread it out over 2 years. It's all pretax so the real cost is about 1/2. The consult is free.