Thanks Scott and DiverJP, It sounds well worth the inconvience, so I will stay on the list and wait for my name to come up. I 'am really a little tense about the procedure and after affects, but can't wait to releive myself of the contacts, I been wearing them forever it feels like.
Contact lenses and Diving?
- Thread starter atlas750
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Intial recovery is about 24 hours. They want to sleep as much as possible.
Longer term you have to wear eye shields at night for about a week (so you don't rub your eyes)
I was told that I should not dive for 30 days or so.
The cost on mine was pretty high for a couple of factors:
1. Included all the pre-op testing, surgery, insurance (lifetime adjustments if ever necessary) and the first 12 months of post op visits.
2. My perscription was pretty bad. Prior to the surgery (without any glasses or contacts) I had to stand about 3 feet from the eye chart to be able to make out the big E on the top. The doc said my vision was about 20/2000. Anything in the distance was just fog
Also, it was a little over 3 years ago. I think the current rates from the same surgery center are right about $800 - $1000 per eye for a similar perscription.
1. Included all the pre-op testing, surgery, insurance (lifetime adjustments if ever necessary) and the first 12 months of post op visits.
2. My perscription was pretty bad. Prior to the surgery (without any glasses or contacts) I had to stand about 3 feet from the eye chart to be able to make out the big E on the top. The doc said my vision was about 20/2000. Anything in the distance was just fog
Also, it was a little over 3 years ago. I think the current rates from the same surgery center are right about $800 - $1000 per eye for a similar perscription.
SharkOfBonaire
Registered
I'm about to start my certification course, and I know there's going to be some mask on/mask off (ScubaKid part IV) practice. What do you recommend... do this with lenses in and eyes closed, or lenses out so I can see what I'm doing?
HI SharkOB. I was about to just put initals but noticed it did not read well. Anyway, I did my mask drills with contacts in and the instructer let me close my eyes and just tapped my shoulder to let me know my mask was free of water. Since then I have learned that I'am able to swim underwater with them in and my eyes open, although I have lost a couple doing that.
SharkOfBonaire
Registered
I know, I'm a real one, aren't I?
Sea Biscuit
Registered
As an ophthalmologist, I advise all of my patients to avoid contact lenses if possible while in the water. I'm less concerned about loss of the lens than contamination and infection. However, the risk of infection is relatively low. With use of a disposable lens that can be discarded after a dive or swim, the risk of infection is probably almost as low as no lens at all. If my patients are comfortable with this level of risk, I have no objection to their use of lenses for recreational diving. I also ask my patients to consider whether loss of one or both lenses could seriously jeopardize their safety. The answer is usually no, not any more than loss of a mask would.
Disposable contact lenses are now available in a wide variety of powers, base curves and diameters, so it should be possible to obtain just as good a fit with one of these lenses as with reusable lenses in most patients.
A prescription mask is another alternative.
LASIK is a low-risk, but not a zero-risk, procedure. Some patients are at greater risk of complications than others. An individual's level of risk can only be estimated after a thorough evaluation. Those who are interested in hearing the negative side of the LASIK story should visit SurgicalEyes.com, or check out this simulator of refractive surgery visual side effects.
The LASIK flap heals extremely slowly, so that trauma to the eye could dislodge the flap even years after the surgery. LASEK avoids the flap issues, but may be more uncomfortable and require a little more time before stabilization of vision than LASIK. The main reason to delay diving after LASIK or LASEK surgery is to ensure that the surface epithelial cells, which provide a barrier to infectious organisms, have healed. This typically occurs within a few days after LASIK, but can take longer after LASEK and in patients with dry eye. And dry eye typically gets worse after LASIK surgery. The DAN recommendation cited above seems reasonably conservative, but I would recommend a specific clearance from the surgeon based on postop exams prior to resumption of diving. Compression and decompression shouldn't be an issue.
For those seeking LASIK or LASEK surgery, it is advisable to consult with an experienced practitioner. Someone who has done 500 or 1,000 cases is more likely to know how to deal with the uncommon but inevitable unexpected complication than someone who's done only 100 cases. However, the surgeon who's done 30,000 cases may or may not be seeing his own patients in follow-up. This may be the case in some of the $700/eye LASIK centers. I would ask about this. If I were having surgery, I wouldn't go to a surgeon who wasn't going to see me himself for all of the postop visits. FWIW, I stopped doing LASIK surgery a few years ago because of the commercialization of the procedure. I couldn't compete on price and still give the quality of care I felt necessary, and I wasn't willing to turn postop care over to someone else.
None of the above is offered as medical advice. It is not meant to be taken as advice for the treatment of any individual, nor does it establish a doctor/patient relationship with any individual. It is offered solely for general informational purposes. All readers are encouraged to contact their own eye doctors for specific recommendations.
Disposable contact lenses are now available in a wide variety of powers, base curves and diameters, so it should be possible to obtain just as good a fit with one of these lenses as with reusable lenses in most patients.
A prescription mask is another alternative.
LASIK is a low-risk, but not a zero-risk, procedure. Some patients are at greater risk of complications than others. An individual's level of risk can only be estimated after a thorough evaluation. Those who are interested in hearing the negative side of the LASIK story should visit SurgicalEyes.com, or check out this simulator of refractive surgery visual side effects.
The LASIK flap heals extremely slowly, so that trauma to the eye could dislodge the flap even years after the surgery. LASEK avoids the flap issues, but may be more uncomfortable and require a little more time before stabilization of vision than LASIK. The main reason to delay diving after LASIK or LASEK surgery is to ensure that the surface epithelial cells, which provide a barrier to infectious organisms, have healed. This typically occurs within a few days after LASIK, but can take longer after LASEK and in patients with dry eye. And dry eye typically gets worse after LASIK surgery. The DAN recommendation cited above seems reasonably conservative, but I would recommend a specific clearance from the surgeon based on postop exams prior to resumption of diving. Compression and decompression shouldn't be an issue.
For those seeking LASIK or LASEK surgery, it is advisable to consult with an experienced practitioner. Someone who has done 500 or 1,000 cases is more likely to know how to deal with the uncommon but inevitable unexpected complication than someone who's done only 100 cases. However, the surgeon who's done 30,000 cases may or may not be seeing his own patients in follow-up. This may be the case in some of the $700/eye LASIK centers. I would ask about this. If I were having surgery, I wouldn't go to a surgeon who wasn't going to see me himself for all of the postop visits. FWIW, I stopped doing LASIK surgery a few years ago because of the commercialization of the procedure. I couldn't compete on price and still give the quality of care I felt necessary, and I wasn't willing to turn postop care over to someone else.
None of the above is offered as medical advice. It is not meant to be taken as advice for the treatment of any individual, nor does it establish a doctor/patient relationship with any individual. It is offered solely for general informational purposes. All readers are encouraged to contact their own eye doctors for specific recommendations.
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