Lasik or Paragon CRT?

[dryeyeboy]

I would like to have lasik done but I suffer from dry eyes that vary from mild to pretty bad at times, especially during the winter. I feel that my eyes have improved over the past few years as I have learned to avoid things that trigger the dryness. During the summer my eyes felt almost normal but all the heating in winter takes its toll.

I hate wearing glasses and contacts get too dry so lasik is tempting, but I'd really hate to make my dry eyes worse. I've been looking into Paragon CRT lenses and am wondering if anyone here is familiar with them? They're contact lenses you put in at night and they correct your vision as you sleep, allowing you to see normally for a day or 2 afterwards. I have read that they are a good lasik alternative for some dry eye sufferers. Since your eyes are closed at night I figure they'd be more comfortable than normal contacts. My eyes do get dry at night sometimes as it is too though. The big drawback is they cost quite a bit.

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi there and welcome

LASIK is a sore topic around here... at last count we had 184 members with dry eye induced by LASIK or similar surgeries (including me) and my guess is you're not going to get any encouragement from any of them to go that route. So many people DO succumb to the appeal though despite the known connection between LASIK and dry eye that here's my advice:

- If you have a high prescription, Just Say No to laser surgery in any form. It's the ones with high prescriptions who have the most likelihood of severe chronic dry eye - and they also have the higher risk of vision complications as well. Hurting is bad enough, but hurting and not seeing worth beans is worse.
- If you have a low prescription and decide to definitely go ahead with it, opt for surface ablation (PRK, LASEK, or epi LASIK) as there is less tissue loss. Max out dry eye treatment before surgery.

Wish I could comment on CRT but honestly I don't really know enough about it.

[dryeyeboy]

Thanks for the info. I am fairly mildly nearsighted: -1.00 and -1.25

[Rebecca Petris]

That's a very low prescription - much better suited to PRK. Very small amounts of myopia aren't a good match for LASIK - the flap risks alone make it not worth the risk. But with a prescription like I would think CRT would be pretty interesting to try out.

[dianat]

Okay, now for the wolves...

I have a friend who lurks here who had a very low prescription, had refractive surgery (not sure which type) and is now suffering terribly with dry eye. I don't believe she had dry eye beforehand. I know she would give just about anything to have her glasses back.

Don't even consider surgery; you'd be playing with fire. You are very lucky to have found this web site in advance instead of in "hindsight". Read a few stories while your're here.

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/forumdisplay.php?f=16

D

[YGB]

Dryeyeboy - you are smart to have found this site prior to refractive surgery. Your next steps will determine if you use these smarts for good or toss them aside and decide to play Russian Roulette with your eye health at stake. A couple of things to consider ...

Most Ophthalmologists where glasses. Why do they do this when they have such great access to refractive surgery? I'm sure if you ask a LASIK MD, he or she will give you a good excuse like ... my corneas are too thin. All I can say, is don't do it but your not my son so I'm not going to try to tackle you before you walk into the clinic. However, you should know that the LASIK MD will likely not perform this procedure on his/her son, but they will gladly accept your money and do refractive surgery on your eyes. After all, you are a John Doe to them and YOU have to deal with the complications if/when they arise.

One final point is that don't think all dry eye is created equal. I know everyone thinks of things from their own personal experience. Believe me, if you have dry eye and are considering refractive surgery, then I can honestly say that you don't know how bad dry eye can be when it is severe. Good luck and good night!

[neil0502]

Older site, but still pretty valuable:

http://drjoeross.com/refractivesurgery.htm

Title is "I Know Why Refractive Surgeons Wear Glasses"

[Lucy]

My lasik surgeon had lasik before he did mine. Perhaps that is why he "messed up" my left flap, maybe he couldn't see well enough? I dunno about him, but I regret the day I ever thought about "it."

[shells]

For me it all comes back to this one question which I wish someone would have drilled into my head before lasik. WHY take the risk? Even if the complications were as rare as 1 in 10,000 (which they aren't) if you are that 1......

Please take all these people seriously and don't consider surgery of any kind. I couldn't wear my contacts before lasik, but I didn't realize it was because I had mild dry eye. I had lasik 18 months ago and now have severe lasik induced dry eye. I would give ANYTHING to have my glasses back. Ironically enough last week I ordered new glasses which should probably come in in a day or two. They are just plano glasses. I am hoping that by wearing them they might re-direct air currents and make even a small improvement in the constant pain and discomfort from the dry eye. When I was picking them out I actually had fun trying on different funky frames and it made me wonder why wearing glasses used to be such a hassle.

Please, go use your money on some new designer frames and just forget you ever heard of lasik.

-Shells

[dryeyeboy]

Thanks guys, you talked me out of the lasik. Sometimes my eyes start feeling better and I get cocky

[dianat]

Dryeyeboy,

Well the next time you feel cocky you just come on back here and we'll be more than happy to humiliate you.

[YGB]

I'm glad to see the young fella made a smart decision. I used to think I always made smart decisions until one fateful day in 2006 when I had Lasick (no spell check correction needed).