My mixed experience
I had Wavefront done on my right eye in June of 2003.
My right eye was at 20/500 (had been 20/550 three years earlier), and my left eye was 20/30-no explanation for the disparity. I also had astigmatisms. I'm left-handed, and right-eye dominant, but I never bothered aiming from the right, because even corrected, I could still shoot better from the left.
I paid $2495.00 for the correction on one eye. It seems like a lot of money, especially when I see LASIK advertised for $400 in my area. But there are very good explanations for the differences. My surgeons were with Pacific Eye Care, in California.
The Wavefront machine, and the technique itself. are SOTA. Older machines cost less to run and maintain, but aren't as precise. The high-volume LASIK centers may also be using the same machine at several clinics, which means it must me moved out of a clean environment, loaded onto a truck, bounced to the next clinic, unloaded and recalibrated each time. PAC has a dedicated room and machine at each facility.
The blade used to cut the corneal cover is called a "microkeratome", and it is thinner than a human hair! There have been reports that some of the budget places have re-used the microkeratome. All cleanliness issues aside, these blades dull very quickly, and cannot be resharpened.
The price includes
ten years of follow-up care. All examinations and touch-ups are covered. For me, this has been a good deal.
You see, after the swelling went down after the procedure in June, it became apparent that I had been overcorrected-I was now actually Farsighted. I went "under the laser" again two months later. A year later, my right eye is 20/30.
But...
I have problems with bright lights and glare-I get a "starburst" effect at night. I still have some problems with astigmatism. My Doctor says that the Wavefront usually corrects for this, but the act of lifting a flap of the corneal cover, doing the lasing, and setting it back down can cause irregularities on the lens. My vision is focused, but not super-sharp. At this point, the techology to fine tune my eye doesn't exist, so I will visit my doctor yearly, and he will bring me up to date on the newest techniques. He estimates 5-6 years for what I need. Since my payment was for 10 years of follow-up, it will not cost me anything more.
"Penny Wise, Pound Foolish"-pretty well covers it.
I'm now learning to shoot right/right with a rifle, and my left hand/right eye pistol shooting is still pretty comical, but I'm a better shooter than ever before, even with less-than-perfect vision. And not needing glasses is
GREAT!!!!!
All things being equal, I'd do the same again.
