Laser eye correction?

[Robin Webster]

I am slightly short sighted, my perscription is only -1.25.

I've raced in glasses for many years but they steam up in the rain and I work as a race school instructor so they are in and out of my helmet all day long. I get finger prints on them but more importantly they get battered. Twisted frames, loose arms and cracked lenses.

I tried contacts but did not like them, and they changed my perception of curviture which is no good unless you wear them full time and get used to it.

So, I was thinking about laser surgery, between £350 to £1000 per eye dependent on who you talk to and how bad your perscription is.

Some say that it roughens the surface of your eye and you can get refraction of light at night. This would give you sparkles in the eye and no good for night racing.

A new form of the procedure is called Wave Form. They map your eye more accurately then do the surgery so that you do not have the peaks in your eye for the light to bounce off.

Has anyone any experience of these procedures?

Thanks

Robin.

[greenamex2]

Yes, it's fantastic.

I went with a very expensive Harley Street specialist because -

a) You got 1 1/2 years of after care.

b) Any further corrective care was free.

c) They didn't give one price then start adding on more and more extras.

d) I didn't fancy trusting my eyes to someone cutting corners to beat the opposition.

I had wavefront laser surgery done. For the first few month my night vision did suffer from 'halos' but no worse than a typically grubby pair of glasses and certainly better than a dried out pair of contact lenses.

On the minus side, if anyone tells you the surgery is totally painless and you won't notice a thing they are lying. However I am very squeamish about my eyes and I WOULD have it done again.

[GordonG]

I had my eyes done using LASIK about 8 years ago, which was state of the art at the time. £3k for both eyes from a harley street surgeon (could have done it ofr half that from a pile it high sellit cheap shop but went with the top guy for the same reason as Denis).

I found it fantastic. I had to wear eye shields in bed for a while (frighten the missus waking up next to "The Fly") but had no pain at all, and better eyesight than I had ever had from glasses or lenses.

My experience was not painful - I describe it as going to the dentist before he hits a nerve - not painful by not pleasant having someone mess with your face. They gave me a tomazepam sedative, which was great ;-) 0930 appointment, home by 1230, woke up from my nap at home at 1800 and could see perfectly. No problems since.

YMMV - as with any surgery there are risks, but IME they are far outweighted by the benefits - I hadnt swum since I was 16, and now swim 6k a week and am far fitter, and it's also greatly benefited my racing ;-) Do your research by the internet and go into it with your eyes open if you'll pardon the pun.

That said, my GF saw the look on my face as I came out of having the first eye done and says she will never have it done herself. I cant remember it cos I was stoned on tomazepam...

G

[greenamex2]

They ended up giving me three lots of pills and I was still white as a sheet.

I then had to WALK through LONDON on 7/7/2005 (date ring any bells?) with a wife who turned out was probably full term pregnant around 8 miles and wait several hours for trains to start running again.

I would still have it done again but would rather the public transport was running!

[banzai_2001]

im still thinking of getting it done, but as said id defo go for the wave front. my only worry is that being the 1% who it goes wrong for and that meaning never being able to drive a car again....

my sight is bad, -4.50 in both eyes....

[thebear]

Are you sure that "Laser Surgery" is what you need? My wife needed cataract surgery and they actually embedded a small lens in each eye as she had a minimal Rx.

Local anesthetic, reasonable vision immediately afterward, full vision the next day and no pain medication at all. No scars, no problems.

The procedure is called "Inter-ocular Implantation". Check it out.

[mountainstar]

My father is a well known US Army flight surgeon and has researched Lasik for some time. He is against it because it causes visual distortion and night vision problems which is something helicopter pilots and racing drivers can do without. However the US Army now allows it(the army has relaxed many restrictions to get people in the service) and this is their research findings:

http://www.usaarl.army.mil/PRKLASIK/...gery%20APL.pdf

scroll down to aeromedical concerns.

Also keep in mind:
1. It is an invasive procedure and many complications could arise. I don't want to put my career at risk.
2. Many who have this procedure, as shown above, still need glasses and many who are corrected to 20/20 begin to lapse into nearsightedness again over time. I have a friend who had it in 2000 and now needs glasses again.

My preference would be to use the "see clearly method" or a variation of. My mother was blind as a bat and used this over time to correct her nearsightedness.

Another thing that helps is bilberry extract. Aviators in WW2 found their vision improved for some reason and this was eventually traced to bilberry jam. You can now buy bilberry extract in pill form. Some don't believe in it, but I use it myself and it has helped my nearsightedness.

Remember, the doctors pushing the benefits of these treatments are those selling them. An example I use is teeth whitening. Every dentist I've been to lately pushes that, but they don't tell you about all the people that end up in pain with extreme teeth sensitivity and other problems.

I use contacts for racing and I took the effort to find a proper fitting pair. It takes an effort, but is worth it.

[GordonG]

Mountainsair, you raise some legitimate concerns, but I'm not sure your use of the term "many" is entirely fair. There are a lot of stats out there produced by the people doing/selling the treatment, but with a bit of googling you can find independent research.

You wear contacts. Tell me about the "many" people who suffer permanent eye damage through eye infection, abrasion etc from contact lense wear. There are certainly risks to these procedures as with any procedure (and indeed almost anything in ilfe), but if we were that risk averse we wouldnt be in motorsport would we?

In terms of vision change after the procedure - it doesnt stop your eyesight changing - it just aims to reset your vision to 2020 - if your eyesight is degenerating (long or short) it will continue to do so. I've been fortunate that my eyesight has been stable (it was -6 before surgery) though I will go long sited like most when I get a bit older. It's also worth noting that my vision is better than I ever had with glasses or lenses as these can only approximate the errors in the eye. My lasik preparation included a contour map of the eye that allowed the correction to adjust the precise error in my individual eyes.

As for night vision, I found it almost unbearable driving in glasses at night sometimes - the slightest smudge causes the halos etc that are stated as a risk of surgery.

Again, I'm fortunate that I dont have any of the possible side effects/negative outcomes of the surgery, but when I did my research before surgery I made the decision that the benefits outweighed the risks. I realise I have become something of an evangelist for the surgery, but I do recognise and point out the risks to anyone I speak to about it.

As for bilberry jam... I can only hope it tastes better than carrots.

G

[enduro1sttimer]

great thread guys..


mountainstar do you have the link proper as that link is no good

[johnw]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

"see clearly method" or a variation of.

What is that please?

[banzai_2001]

Originally Posted by thebear

Are you sure that "Laser Surgery" is what you need? My wife needed cataract surgery and they actually embedded a small lens in each eye as she had a minimal Rx.

Local anesthetic, reasonable vision immediately afterward, full vision the next day and no pain medication at all. No scars, no problems.

The procedure is called "Inter-ocular Implantation". Check it out.

what you talking about? since when if your vision is -4.50 you have cateracts?

[thebear]

Originally Posted by banzai_2001

what you talking about? since when if your vision is -4.50 you have cateracts?

That depends upon how far they have progressed. The number you state is NOT an absolute.

Cataracts are a clouding of the fluid of the lens, not an optical focusing deficiency. During my wife's procedure(s) the clouded fluid was removed prior to the insertion of the lens. The lens itself was not much more than 3mm in diameter with a built in centering mechanism.

They are manufactured by Advanced Medical Optics

Lots of information available if you go to the above link and click on "Products".

[thebear]

Originally Posted by thebear

They are manufactured by Advanced Medical Optics

Here is another type of lens, made by Eyeonics

[JohnD]

I'd say, how often would you find it acceptable to have this correction done? IF it is possible more then once.

I was shortsighted for most of my life. In the last few years that has gone and I'm long sighted - 20/20 on my MSA medical - but need reading glasses. I'm sure I'll need stronger ones again soon. The thousands for laser correction would pay for many, many pairs of specs.

The original questioner found that misting and wearing glasses inside a helmet were difficulties. If he found a sympathetic optician, I'm sure they could find a spectacle style that was more robust (memory metal?) and would suggest a suitable antimisting agent. They have to deal with other professional problems, for instance airline pilots who need bifocals need a reading segment above as well as below, to read the overhead gauges.

John

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by enduro1sttimer

great thread guys..


mountainstar do you have the link proper as that link is no good

The link should work, if not you can go to:

http://www.usaarl.army.mil/

and click on refractive surgery on the left

[Robin Webster]

Thanks for the replys guys.

I've been away from the site for a while.

There are other reasons for thinking about the procedure, including having a seven year old jump on me on a regular basis! Her knees magically always find my tender bits and sticky sweety covered fingers my glasses!!

One good thing, learnt from my early motorcycle days, is washing up liquid on the inside of visors and glasses. A LITTLE on the inside, polished and let dry. Then buff up so you can see no marks or smears. Your visor/glasses will not steam up then. But on a rainy day in an open car rain WILL find it's way to your glasses and you can not just blink to clean them!

Clarity of vision is obviously very important to racing drivers. Some guy's are just more talented than others. I see, through instructing, that some have something extra over the normal. What is that?

Quicker reaction times? A more sensative inner ear, giving better ballance? Clearer eye site giving more information?

In a recent article in the motorcycle press Troy Corser (World Superbike Champ) claimed to be able to count the seeds in a sun flower head whilst doing 80 mph in a car driven past the field it was in buy a friend!

Somewere in the back of my mind may be the thought that it might improve my ability ultimately. To fullfil my dreams to be "one of the quick lads".

I post on a few forums relating to my various interests and I am very conscious of my spelling. I am slightly dyslexic and there is a theory that dyslexia hinders your hand eye co-ordination. An important thing in the activity we persue.

Yet a few of my colleagues at Silverstone Drive are dyslexic as is Jackie Stewart. One very good young man in international racing beneath F1 is dyslexic. So maybe that theory is Bo-locks!!

Anyway, apart from the first stated reasons there are more related to performance, fashion, vanity, practicality etc etc......

Robin. or that is the question!

[Robin Webster]

Just to put a full stop to the post, I've had the tests for the proceedure and my perscription at -1.25 (and decreasing!) is too weak for them to go ahead with the operation.

So I wait for my eyes to get worse (which is not happening) or I continue to put up with glasses.

Oh well

Robin

[JohnD]

Robin,
Glad you brought up Stewart, J. in respect of dyslexia. Anyone who has read his book "Principles of Performance Driving" will realise this! So where is the connection between dyslexia and a motorsport disability?

Few of us, and I very much include myself, don't have the necessary talent. BUt as the cab driver said, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall, lady? Practice, practice, practice!"

John

[Robin Webster]

Hi John,

I seem to remember a TV programme that said kids with dyslexia COULD suffer from eye/hand coordination.

Cathching balls, that sort of stuff. I know in my rugby days I much preferred to be in the pack using brute strengh than out in open play just incase I dropped the ball.

It's just me exploring possibilities - conjecture!

You are very right in that practise makes perfect. The one thing that prevents practise is the hardest thing of all in motorsport - PAYING FOR IT!

Regards

Robin