Eye Expenses & Lasik

I had to bite the bullet today and order a 6 month supply of contact lenses. My eyes are really sensitive (just like my skin - thanks for the great genes, dad!), and with all the contacts I've tried, I've routinely suffered from dryness, itchiness, redness... you name it. But I think I've found a brand that will help - Acuvue Oasys. I've been wearing them for a week and so far they've felt comfortable (and I can remove them at the end of the day without hassle - it's really unpleasant when the contacts stick to your eyeballs!). Unfortunately, they're pretty expensive.

The total came out to $283 (with free shipping and two discounts). That's $566 per year... 4 years of that would be the price of Lasik. (I also have to update my glasses prescription every 2 years, so there's another $300ish)

I have briefly considered doing Lasik... but I'm really not sure. I have to do more research... it's possible my eyes are too bad to fully correct. Also, I kind of like being able to switch between glasses/no glasses. I can change up my look a bit.

If I was going to do it, it would have to be between now and next May. Are there any cons to Lasik that any of you are aware of?

7 comments:

Little Miss Moneybags said...

If you struggle with dry eyes already, you might not be a candidate for Lasik. A strong prescription is not usually a disqualifier, but dry eyes and severe astigmatism can be.

I had Lasik done in January and it's the best thing I've ever done for myself. Why not get a free consultation and just see if you're even a candidate?

Sunflowers said...

Ok, will do. :)

paranoidasteroid said...

There are cases where people wind up with worse vision than before & some people still need glasses even after the fact.

Let us know how it goes - I've been looking at getting Lasik sine NASA started accepting it for astronaust!

QL girl said...

I've been holding off because they were supposedly going to be coming out with the long term studies to see how people's eyes behaved over longer periods. That's one of the big concerns I have.

I'd also love to get Lasik done, but it freaks me out. Not only because they could screw up MY EYES (its my EYES, people!! Scary stuff), but I'm scared of finding out i'm not a candidate at all. I really should get a consultation as well.

The "changing looks" part occured to me as well, but I figure I can always get plain glass in my glasses and wear the frames with no Rx!! (lol, sad, yes....but when you've been wearing glasses for over 15 years, they become a part of you)

Sunflowers said...

@QL: Very true... I even think I'm wearing glasses when I'm not (I have that ghost sensation... where I have to keep pushing them up? You know what I mean? <.<). And yeah, I don't know how much of a risk going blind is, but even the fact that there is that risk is very scary. :\ Do you know approx. when the long term studies were supposed to come out?

Christina | AmiExpat.com said...

Hi, not sure if I commented before, but I've been lurking since I saw you linked to me.

One of my husband's coworkers, who had very bad eyesight to begin with, he was legally blind, was truly blind after doing lasik. He knew there was a risk (docs told him about 30%), but he chose to do it anyway.

My aunt had lasik done about 10 years ago, she wasn't able to wear contacts. A couple years ago she had to have the surgery redone because her eyes were deteriorating again, and a couple months ago she had to get cataracts removed and had a torn retina, which the doc told her were probably related to having had lasik surgery.

So there are risks. Get a consultation and see what they say, but in the end, I'd wait for the long term studies to come out.

Jenn @ So Very Fabulous said...

I love Acuvue Oasys, I've been using them for a couple of years now and have no compaints!

Still, it would be nice to get Lasik eventually. :)

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