I wore glasses + contact lenses until my senior year of high school. Soft lenses didn’t correct my astigmatism, and I got fitted for hard lenses, but they didn’t suit my eyes, so that was a waste of money. Because I was young, I didn’t know my glasses frames didn’t suit me. They were horn-rimmed glasses, and the nasal bone area hurt so, so much, so I got it done as soon as I turned 20.
At that time, my dry eye syndrome was extremely severe, and my astigmatism was also really bad, but I was informed about all the possible side effects, and they told me that even if I had surgery, I would develop glare/halos more as time passed.
Right after LASEK, every morning when I woke up and opened my eyes, it felt new. It was kind of like finding the light?
And people with severe dry eyes really, really need to put in artificial tears diligently. At the time, a friend who had surgery around the same time as me used artificial tears constantly, practically living with them, and apparently their corrected vision came out to around 1.2. Compared to that, I was already dry to begin with, but after surgery I felt like it had gotten a bit better, so I let my guard down and didn’t use them much. I got 0.8~0.9, and only on a good-condition day did I get 1.0.
Then a few years later, I studied for a state exam. While studying, I watched online lectures, read books, and looked at the board every day, and that was when my vision suddenly dropped a lot and I started having trouble seeing distant text. At the same time, the glare/halos also became worse..
Since it wasn’t that I couldn’t see at all, I just lived with it somehow, but after passing the 10-year mark, my astigmatism and glare/halos became really severe, so at night everything is too dazzling, and on days when I’m tired, I can’t even see text well. I considered having revision surgery, but I’m thinking I’ll do it when I can see a little less..
Most recently, I got glasses to correct astigmatism and am adjusting to them At the time of surgery and for a few years afterward, I could see really well with my bare eyes and had no other pain, so it was great. But in the end, I guess it’s true that LASEK needs to be re-ablated every 10~15 years. I hope this helps everyone who is considering LASEK!