Lasik (lasic) surgery and hiking?

Contacts are a great advantage over eyeglasses but has anyone gone through lasic surgery? Was there any waiting period before you could hike again? I couldn't go to many days without being able to get out there

Don't know about lasik, but radial keratomy (RK or PRK) has caused problems at altitude. (Real altitude--not found in the NE).

Doug

http://www.usaeyes.org/faq/subjects/altitude.htm

Just to chime on on DOUGPAULS post...

M

Stay away from LASIK if all possible. While if you find a good eye doctor, this can work wonderfully, if you don't gind a good one, you can end up with many many problems. One major drawback of LASIK is that they cut your cornea and create a "flap". Your cornea never heals, so you always have a flap there. I was told my a doctor that its not recommended for people active in the woods (hiking, mtn biking) because a stick to the eye could knock this flap free.

There are numerous other possible complications with LASIK - bad night vision, chronic dry eyes, etc... There is lots and lot of information out there on the web, both pro's and con's. I would recommend talking to your doctor about OrthoK (ortho karantology - spelling is way off). These are contacts that you wear at night while sleeping. They are hard contacts that reford your corneas overnight. When you wake up, you pull them out and you can see fine with nothing. The effect lasts for several days after you have worn them for a while. There are some drawbacks with those as well, and I did eventually switch back to regular disposables, but only becuase of the price of the OrthoK contacts.

If you're considering having lasik surgery, pick an in-between season to have it done. I chose mud season so my eyes would have pelnty of time to heal. You will have limitations as to what you can do post-op. No water sports for a couple of months (due to increased risk of trauma and infection). The cornea is most interesting. It has the ability to heal itself in a relatively short period of time, corneal abrasions usually heal in 24-48 hours. When having lasik surgery your cornea will be cut in a horseshoe shape, and lifted up. The surgeon will then zap the underside with a laser thus reshaping your cornea to a fixed prescription which will give you optimum visual acuity. The danger postoperatively is that the flap may partially lift up, this is rare. You may also develop a delayed inflammatory response requiring medications like prednisone and antibiotics.

I hiked a couple of weeks post-op. My depth perception was affected for a few weeks, as my eyes continued to change and adjust. This made work, driving, and most everything a bit more interesting Hiking could also be dangerous during this time. Wear eye protection when outside. You don't want tree branches and dust blowing into your eyes.

I've been up to 14K feet since my surgery without experienceing any adverse affects. I've been in temps down to minus 48 without experiencing any problems either.



Nadine

I had LASEK on my left eye in June. I'm still wearing a contact lens in my right eye. So far, I'm very pleased with my results. Prior to my surgery, I had some very large numbers in terms of my prescription. I was at -7.5 diopters with moderate astigmatism (that's my "good" eye). Post surgery, I am a +1.25 diopters. I went from being moderate to high nearsighted to slightly farsighted. I can read to the 20/40 line on the eyechart. Before, the chart was a blur.

The decision to get the surgery was a difficult one for me. On one hand, my eyes corrected to 20/20 with some rather thick lenses. On the other, I was totally dependent on my glasses. This became very obvious to me when I accompanied Kevin Rooney on one of his winter hiking workshops. Above treeline on Eisenhower in late November, one of my lenses fell out of my glasses; the other quickly iced over. That was when I made my decision. I haven't regretted it.

LASEK differs from LASIK in that a corneal flap is not cut. The epithelial layer is loosened and the laser treats the area under it. The epithelial layer is then put back into place This process generally has fewer complications. The downside is that it has a longer healing period. In my case the cells in the epithelial layer did not reheal. This caused a little longer healing period as the cells had to regrow from the edges.

I had LASEK on June 15th . I hiked the Edmands/Crawford Path on July 3rd. I could have gone out earlier but was traveling for the job. Also, there is a series of eye drops which could be inconvenient to administer on the trail. I haven't noticed any difference hiking with the corrected eye vs. before with contacts.

I go back for a follow-up appointment later this month. At that time, we'll talk about getting an enhancement to the left eye and talk about doing the other. Without my contact lens, I'm totally dependent on reading glasses. I didn't previously use reading glasses but since I'm 44, it was coming. I'm not sure if I'll have the right eye done. I've reduced my dependence on glasses which was my main reason for having the surgery.

If you decide to have LASIK or LASEK, don't shop around for bargains. It's major surgery despite what the marketing pitches try to say.

Glenn

Hey Glenn -

Thanks for posting. I knew you were going to have the surgery but didn't know how it had turned out over the summer. Sounds like you made the right decision.

Kevin

I had the surgery almost 4 years ago (wow, I can't believe it). I have been very happy with it. I had planned to hike the next weekend, but it was a thick bushwhack so my eye dr. talked me out of it. I was lucky that he was a hiker and understood. Trail hiking was no problem though.

Carole

I'm also 4 years post-op for LASIK and no problems. I would recommend it to anyone. As someone else said get a well quailfied and EXPERIENCED Doc. In my mind finding the "cheapist" guy wasn't what I wanted. As far as altitude, My wife and I did Kili last February (19K) with no effect. She also has had LASIK about a year ago.

Chuck

I had lasik surgery on both eyes several years ago. I am very happy with the results, especially with outdoor activities. Glasses (and spares) were a real pain.

Steve

Thank you all for your responses.

Lasik

I had Lasik surgery in January of 2000 and climbed MW in July of that same year. I was also back on the ski slopes within two weeks of the surgery (oh the joy of not fogging up when entering the lodge).

Lasik - DEFINITELY!!

I had Lasik surgery on both eyes in June of 2003, I would completely pleased with the whole procedure and especially the results. I had a local eye doctor for pre-op and post-op, but went to the Laservue clinic in Montreal for the procedure. The Laservue facilty was very impressive. I had the surgery in the morning, stayed over night in Montreal and went back the next day for a checkup. I went from -2.25/-2.0 to 15/15 vision. When I woke up in the morning and could see so clearly without contacts or glasses, it seemed like a miracle had occured. I drove home that day, and went mountain biking the next, and haven't had an issue since - no delay or restraints from activity (except swimming as someone previuosly mentioned). To not have to deal with contacts/eyeglasses and re-occuring eye infections has been terrffic. Bottom line, even if I had to do the surgery every year to be able to see as well as I do, I would do it, that's how pleased I was. The Laservue website also has a lot of good imformation about the procedure and risks. www.laservue.net.

I'm glad to hear all these reports as I have considered this surgery as well. While glasses are a hassle, contacts build up deposits on my eyes which are a nuisance. I've been skeptical of the surgery, and quite frankly it's been a little out of my price range.

If you've got the coin...do it. You can even finance it. A few comments:

1) Don't go with the cheapest deal, go with the best doc. The extra $ spent is worth it.

2) The flap WILL heal if you take care to do exactly what the doc says.

3) I get "halo-ing" effect at night. Common, but not too big a deal.

4) If you're a technology geek, you'll love how it's done. (Alorithm used to map your eye based on mapping alorithm for Tomahawk missile).

5) Pretty cool to smell your cornea being burned by the laser. No pain, though. (Just keep looking at the little red light)

6) As with any elective surgery, there's risk. Do your homework and you'll decide if the risk is worth it for you.

7) I spent about six months afterwards trying to take my glasses (which of course weren't there) off before going to bed or taking a shower.

8) Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

The docs with the most experience at the time of my surgery were LasikMD in Montreal. The 3 doctors had done in the vicinity of 100,000 surgeries over the last few years. Surgery was cheap compared to the docs in Maine who had much less experience and charged two to three times the price. I was more interested in laser experience than $$$ though, as I had a pretty significant astigmatism and needed a surgeon with much expreience in that area. Bottom line was about 1200.00 USD total for both eyes. I stayed at the Sheraton across the street so I didn't have to worry about driving around, plus they give you a deal on the room (which is kinda $$) but you're in the museum district with some good resturants and fine shopping. I saw the Picasso ceramics while I was there. Ate at a cool Brazilian resturant. Had an Aussie waiter that spoke beautiful French with his strong Austrailian accent, he was pretty interesting

I timed it so I'd be there for the MEC grand opening
Rode the bus, bought gear. Well worth it.

www.lasikmd.ca

Nadine

All good information but the thread seemed to take a turn a while ago from hiking and eye surgery discussion in the direction of a medical thread.