Lasik Eye Surgery

[Haruk]

My mom had it done and she was really happy with it... at one point she thought the flap messed up and couldn't see right for several months(the surgeon said she had to wait a bit before getting it corrected), it ended up correcting itself after awhile and she has perfect vision now

[Prim]

Anton's account is pretty on the money. I had LASIK done about 5 years ago and I have to say it's one of the best decisions I ever made. Gave me 20/15 vision after the brief recovery. Definitely not something you want to do uninformed though.
It's expensive. Think I ended up paying $2,400ish for mine, but I got the best "package" they had available. Price has also probably dropped significantly since then, so my experience may not be a great comparison now. My place offered a package with free "touch ups". LASIK/PRK doesn't stop your eyesight from deteriorating, it just kinda resets it, so to speak. If they're included you can go back in for quick touch-ups every 6 months or so. They'll also tell you that as much as LASIK can do, it won't stop you from possibly needing reading glasses in the future. That's caused by something LASIK can't fix.
As far as the procedure itself goes- mine was 100% painless, took about 5 minutes. The *only* thing that was a bit disconcerting was that I could smell burning eyeball. Just a head's up on that one; it's a bit weird.
Post-procedure stuff will vary from person to person. I had to wear goggles to bed and in the shower for a week. My night vision suffered slightly (had a harder time focusing at night than in day). Lights at night had a strong halo effect around them like Obiron mentioned, but that gets progressively better- My night vision is back to normal now. Also more recently I've noticed the occasional small black floaties in my peripheral vision which is somewhat annoying.

[Dantrag]

Got mine done 5 years ago or so now. It's one of the best things ever. I also had glasses from a young age(about 2nd grade) and decided to get lasik. I had to get one of the more expensive ones due to astigmatism in my right eye but they were able to preform the surgery without an issue. My blood pressure was through the roof the day of the surgery and they had to give me some Xanax. The surgery itself is fucking freaky as shit. This is more a less step by step of what I remember.

1) They slice the outer layer of the eye and then fold it back - at this point your eyes will go completely blurry.
2) They will suction your eye so that it comes out a bit - at this point you lose all vision in the eye
3) This is where they use the laser to even out the eye - I could have sworn I was able to smell the eye burning a little bit
4) They release the eye and put the flaps back down over the eye. - At this point vision has returned.
5) Rinse repeat on the second eye.

Once you're completely done your vision SHOULD be better than what it was before. But it will be completely blurry. After your first nights sleep you'll notice a HUGE...HUGE difference. Everything should be cleared up and you'll be good to go. It's a pain not being able to rub your eyes for however long you're not supposed to. Other than that it's awesome.

[Muay]

Quasi necro-ish: I did PRK myself (because I didn't like the idea of having a flap for the rest of my life) and I will say I had a rough 5 or so days afterwards, but to echo what most here have said, I have never made a better financial decision in my life, and the value added to my every day life is unbelievable. I see 20/15 now, from about 20/450 before the surgery.

I decided to get the surgery after a white water rafting trip in Costa Rica that I couldn't enjoy because everytime a rapid hit us, my contacts would start sliding around and be in danger of falling out. I realized that if I was ever in a situation where I didn't have access to glasses or lens solution, I'd probably be dead. If I was born 500 years ago, I'd probably end up cleaning floors in a castle because I was effectively useless in doing anything that required being able to see farther than 3 feet.

tl;dr Best.Decision.Ever.

[Brimah]

How much does this run now a days? Assuming you get it done by a good doctor, not someone running it out of a back room or whatever. Would assume it has come down in the past year, but never been able to get a real grasp on the cost.

[Obiron]

How much does this run now a days? Assuming you get it done by a good doctor, not someone running it out of a back room or whatever. Would assume it has come down in the past year, but never been able to get a real grasp on the cost.

Mine was two years ago, so haven't priced lately. Cost was 4K (2K per eye). That was done by, probably, the top doctor in Utah.

If you have the option of using flexible spending, do it. Makes it all pre-tax, so essentially cost me around $2500.

[Muay]

How much does this run now a days? Assuming you get it done by a good doctor, not someone running it out of a back room or whatever. Would assume it has come down in the past year, but never been able to get a real grasp on the cost.

I got it done by a highly respected doctor in NY for $3,800.

Edit: about 16 months ago.

[Dantrag]

4 years ago 4k

[Starby]

I had it done almost four years ago now. Best money I ever spent. I don't have any dryness or anything. The only side effect was my brain adjusting to my eyes afterwards, I had to cover one eye to read fine print because I couldn't focus for whatever reason. That went away within a month.