Questions for shooters with Lasik or PRK

[abe586]

I’m trying to get into the Border Patrol, but my eyesight it too poor to get in so I’m considering getting lasik or PRK surgery to get in.
But I'm wondering how this will affect my night vision and shooting in general.
Have any of you had this done, and did it have any negative side effects on your vision at night?

 

[evilelvis]

I had LASIK about 10 years ago, and an enhancement on my left eye (should have done both) about 2 years after the first time. This was back before insurance and the fancier lasers.

I do have some haloing and I think my eye sight is around 20/35 and I also now have floaters. I definitely have degraded vision in the dusk/dawn time period as well - no haloes but degraded.

Meh...the curse of myopia.

Still one of the best things I have done though...got me out of my shell.

 

[bglz42]

I'm 48. Had Lasik 6 years ago. No degradation in open sight shooting. (High Power/ppc competitor.) Up close sucks, getting worse...

 

[maddog1775]

I did it back in February. I went from being blind as a bat to having 20/15 vision and the recovery period was very short. I still have some halos around light sources at night but the doctor says it is mainly because of my large pupils. Either way it is no worse than the distortion I used to get looking though a pair of lenses all the time.

 

[EmGeeGeorge]

PRK three years ago or so... 6 mos after surgery night vision back to normal... now see at 13/20 almost 10/20.... great surgery (got it in military for free too)... Got hired by a LE agency post surgery too, nine months post surgery...

 

[Darkness]

I had lasik about 2 years ago and it really messed with my night vision for a while, with halos and the works. Now, I don't even think about it. Night vision has pretty much returned to what I remember it being, and I don't have halos anymore. As far as shooting goes, it had no effect either way, other than my being able to see the targets using regular eye protection.

 

[rbernie]

I had PRK about three years ago. I chose PRK because it doesn't compromise the integrity of the cornea the way that LASIK does. The downside is a recovery period of several days.

I had/have some minor haloes blooming around point light sources at night, but no differently than I did with glasses. The halos lasted for a bit and then the effect went away.

My eyes have aged a bit and I just got back into glasses about a month ago. The good side of the PRK is that the severe astigmatism that plagued me most of my life is dramatically reduced, and my vision today (with glasses) is far better than it ever was before.

I also had my eyes corrected for monovision, so that my right eye is used for distance correction and my left eye is set up for reading. Sure beats bifocals.

 

[gp911]

I had lasik last summer, 2 days before my 12 hour long concealed carry class... Worked out fine, takes some getting used to. I have some mild halos but not bad, was worse early on. I had some pretty bad eye fatigue the first few months, where my awesome new vision would turn to crap after about 8-10 hours, so by dinnertime my vision was getting blurry. Now it takes a good 12-14 hours to start getting fuzzy. Still the best thing I ever did too. Glasses were such a handicap, from the fogging and vision loss in the rain to just getting them knocked askew all the time, uurgh... I'll take some eye strain anyday.

gp911

 

[wyocarp]

I had it done about 5 years ago and I would suggest doing it tomorrow.

 

[HeavenlySword]

If you have your eyes corrected surgically, can you do it again, like, perform a transplantation if your cornea is burned too thin?

And I heard some doctors were able to enhance people to 20/6 because of advancements in technology, and most of the world's best snipers had something like 20/10

It sounds a tad risky to correct your vision to such a degree though, and you probably would have problems reading stuff nearby

 

[HeavenlySword]

to wyo, if you have taken corrective surgery before, and it caused damage, such as collapse of cornea, would another surgery, like an corneal transplant be feasible?

 

[Diamondback6]

The other catch is, certain eye surgeries can be a DQ if you have an interest in pilot's wings--myself, I'm staying behind glasses because of how important that goal is to me.

 

[rbernie]

The other catch is, certain eye surgeries can be a DQ if you have an interest in pilot's wings--myself, I'm staying behind glasses because of how important that goal is to me.

My understanding from my Navy and USAF pals is that PRK is allowed and encouraged.

 

[wally]

Check the Border Patrol to see if the eye surgery would disqualify to be sure!

I believe NASA now allows Interlase Lasik for astronauts. My eye doc was one of the participants in the studies that led to the approval.

This is what I had last January and its been wonderful, as an old fart, I had "monovision" so my right eye sees "near" and the left eye distance. I can now see the front sight again!

I had diffraction grating "rainbows" around point source lights initially but they disappeared after a couple of weeks, I can now only notice the effect with unusual lighting conditions.

I did see and overall increase in sensitivity to bright light, and thus need to wear sunglasses a lot more that I ever did before the surgery.

My eye doc sounded like he was trying to talk me out of is as my vision wasn't that bad to start and he was worried I was expecting too much. I strongly suggest a screening by two good docs and tread carefully if their recommendations differ much.

My wife's original eye doc was pushing Lasik for her. I had her see my guy and he said she was marginal and spent about three months evaluating her after telling her to stop wearing contacts before he'd felt comfortable doing her eyes. She needed PRK as her cornea was too thin. It was painful and took about ten weeks to fully heal and get her vision to its final reading. She went from leagally blind without correction to 20/30 in one eye 20/25 in the other with the decrement from a bit of residual astigmatism. The doctor said initially she'd probably need a second proceedure as the astigmatism was too high to correct all at once. Right now I think she feels the improvement remaining will not be worth the pain. She is going to the doc Monday and will try contacts to correct the remaining astigmatism to decide if the improvement will be worthwhile for her.

While the technology is great now, you still need a first class doctor as the problems almost always result from doing the surgery on someone who is not a suitable candidate for it.

--wally.

Edit: I should mention I'm still having issues with "dry eye" and need artificial tears every morning and throughout the day when using the computer. It was bad initially, then throughout the summer was not very noticeable. During Ike, without using the computer or air conditioning I had no troubles, but now that our lower humidity "not summer" season is here, its about as bad as was initially.

My wife doesn't have this problem, but she uses prescription eye drops once a day that fixed the problem. I tried them and they seemed to work but I got bad positional vertigo as a side-effect from them after couple of weeks and had to quit using them. Took about a month for the vertigo to completely go away.

 

[Mooseman]

I had lasik done over 3 years ago. My vision was pretty poor with a high astimatism. I had previously sold my military bolt actions because I couldn't get the rear/front sight/target together, one would blur out completely.
Pistols were still ok with glasses. After the surgery I can use iron sights again as well as snorkel and kayak and other things I had gone without because of my glasses. I have halo's at night but I always did. My vision at dusk is a little worse but overall it's the closest thing to a miracle I've ever experienced. When I went for the surgery my vision was right at the edge of what they were able to correct. After the surgery it was 20/20 and has stabilized at 20/25.

I would do it again, today, without hesitation.

It has greatly improved my quality of life.

 

[2ndAmendmentDemocrat]

get prk. It's more tried and true, and accepted by more organizations. I have a little starring at night but I don't notice it anymore. I fly helicopters for the Navy just fine, with no problems shooting.

 

[Remander]

HERE IS A DETAILED HISTORY OF MY EXPERIENCE, and the bulletin board where I posted is a great source of info. Sort of the highroad of Lasik.

http://www.usaeyes.org/ask-lasik-expert/viewtopic.php?t=820

As said, make sure your potential employer accepts laser corrected vision.

I had Lasik two years ago, needed an enhancement 3.5 months after, and all is now well. Very pleased! I do still use drops some mornings, but that beats glasses by a mile.

It's not a magic fix for all folks, and there may be some dry eyes and halos and such as you recover. Of course, there is also a risk of permanent problems. Nothing is guaranteed.

 

[rmmoore]

My wife and I both had Lasik in May of this year. We are both shooters and hunters. My night vision royally sucked before the surgery, and both of us had extreme near sightedness (aka, blind as a bat if it's more than 12 inches from my face). The result? We both are happy as a clam and don't regret a dime of it. I've wasted more money on beer and cheap...., well, you get the point. My night vision has gotten somewhat better, but still gives me trouble. I still have haloing as well. The wife, not so much; so maybe it's just me. It took me quite a bit longer to completely recover than the wife, but I had Custom and she did not (they just zapped me longer than her with a better map of my eyes). As far as your career prospects, I can't honestly say one way or the other. Some people have had zero affect on night vision, others have had significant issues. I can tell you this, I wore glasses since 3rd grade (I'm 41), and put off corrective surgery for 10 years. Is it perfect? NO, it is NOT. Do I regret it? NOPE, not in the least. My biggest regret is not doing it sooner. One word of caution, DO YOUR HOMEWORK, all Lasik is NOT the same. Your eyes are not something you want to skimp and save a few dollars on by going for the K-Mart special.

 

[glockman19]

Had my LASIK wavefront done july 2007. Best thing I ever did for myself.

Do a lot of research for the best Dr. in your area. Don't be cheap you get what you pay for.

 

[Cyborg]

Old Eyes

Up close sucks, getting worse...

It's called presbyopia - old eyes - m'friend and there is nothing to be done about it. It is caused by decreased elasticity of the lenses due to age.

When I was 20 I passed a military pilot physical. My eyes were 20/5. I could read signs on the road that most people with "normal" vision couldn't see. Now, what with age (57) and some of my heart meds, I only correct to 20/20 right eye and 20/30 left eye.

Gettin old purely sucks. But it beats the alternative - GETTING DEAD!
Art Linkletter said:

I'd rather be over the hill than under it.

Every day I wake up on the green side of the sod is a good one, I always say.

Cyborg