[gei]

I believe there are two lasers pointed at your eye to do the wavefront mapping and then a 3rd that does the actual surgery. All you see is red and green light... nothing intense.

 

[Dan416]

I've been thinking about laser eye surgery since my grandmother offered to pay for me to get it back at Christmas. I have moderate to high prescription. But I have an astigmatism as well. I have seen $500 per eye advertised, but I'm sure the average person pays a great deal more than that.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I had laser eye surgery done at The Laser Eye Centre more than 10 years ago. It works best on those who have had (past tense) a strong prescription.

 

[TOareaFan]

I don't have much more to add....got mine done about 9/10 years ago......frankly can't remember the name of the place (they went bust a couple of years after doing my eyes.....not related to that event I am sure I paid them) they were on the 54th floor of the TD Centre (by Canoe).

I scheduled my surgery for the afternoon, booked into the Royal York for the night....had the surgery, walked back to the hotel, lay in the room in the dark for a couple of hours, opened my eyes looked at the tv (which I had turned on to listen too while I relaxed) and watched my first Leaf game unaided by glasses/contacts in about 15 years or so......it was very cool that only a couple of hours after the surgery I could see across a fairly large hotel room and watch a hockey game on a fairly small tv!!!

Like I said the place went bust so their afterservice was not that good but I get my eyes checked every year and the doc is quite impressed by the quality of the work (the healing, no scarring, no infection etc) and I am 20/20 to this day!! Yahoo!!

 

[W. K. Lis]

One added point, I have been to the same doctor for my annual eye exam, and OHIP has paid for the exams.

An eye examination is covered by OHIP once a year for persons under 20 and those 65 and over. OHIP also covers a major eye exam once every 12 months for persons aged 20 - 64 who have medical conditions requiring regular eye examinations[

A laser eye surgery is a medical condition requiring regular eye examination, so the after surgery exams are covered by OHIP. The surgery was not covered by OHIP, in my case. However, if you get the laser eye surgery done in your twenties, you may be able to save the cost of an annual exam until 64. It could add up to the cost of the surgery.

 

[TOareaFan]

One added point, I have been to the same doctor for my annual eye exam, and OHIP has paid for the exams.



A laser eye surgery is a medical condition requiring regular eye examination, so the after surgery exams are covered by OHIP. The surgery was not covered by OHIP, in my case. However, if you get the laser eye surgery done in your twenties, you may be able to save the cost of an annual exam until 64. It could add up to the cost of the surgery.

I think someone is being creative on your behalf here. I too have had laser surgery and I too get my eyes thoroughly checked every year....only difference is that I write a cheque for it....my doc assures me that having had laser surgery, in and of itself, does not make the annual exam the responsibility of the taxpayer. If there were complications from the surgery and those were treated and needing monitoring then OHIP covers it....but surgery itself does not.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I've been thinking about doing this for a few years but I keep forgetting to ask if I can have it done as I have narrow angle glaucoma. My eyes have become worse for distance, especially at night in the past 2 or 3 years and all of a sudden last year I couldn't see things close up anymore. I have my eyes checked (eye pressures) at the Mt. Sinai Eye Clinic every six months (OHIP covered) so I'll put a note in my iPhone so that I remember to ask next time.

What is the cost to have this done, I have no idea how much money I'd be looking at to do this.

 

[gei]

I had laser eye surgery done at The Laser Eye Centre more than 10 years ago. It works best on those who have had (past tense) a strong prescription.

What in the world are you talking about? This is entirely incorrect. Sounds like one of those things your friends say and you just pass it on as fact.

The stronger your prescription, the more corneal tissue they will have to remove to correct it. People with weaker prescriptions have significantly less corneal tissue removed, which means they will heal much faster (although to be honest you heal very rapidly in either case), AND have a significantly reduced chance of regression.

For example in my case, I had strong prescription (-6.5 in both eyes) - they removed more than 100 microns of corneal tissue and I have a 15-20% chance of regression (if it's significant enough I can get a free touch-up). Since they removed so much corneal tissue there's a greater chance of imperfections developing as the corneas heal.

For someone with a prescription of -1 in both eyes, they would remove something like 15 microns of corneal tissue, and they would have virtually no chance of regression.

 

[GenerationW]

The stronger your prescription, the more corneal tissue they will have to remove to correct it. People with weaker prescriptions have significantly less corneal tissue removed, which means they will heal much faster (although to be honest you heal very rapidly in either case), AND have a significantly reduced chance of regression.

After reading that, my 1% interest in looking into laser surgery dropped to zero.

 

[gei]

After reading that, my 1% interest in looking into laser surgery dropped to zero.

Unfortunately most people who quickly dismiss LASIK surgery do it on useless information (ie my friends friend said), or baseless fear. We're talking about less than 100 microns of tissue being removed.

Anyway I'm 5 days post-op today and like everyone else says... it's the best money I ever spent.

 

[cdr108]

so is it confirmed that Bochner on Prince Arthur Avenue and Herzig are the best to go to?

isn't Herzig a franchise? is any one location better than others?

 

[GenerationW]

Unfortunately most people who quickly dismiss LASIK surgery do it on useless information (ie my friends friend said), or baseless fear. We're talking about less than 100 microns of tissue being removed.

Anyway I'm 5 days post-op today and like everyone else says... it's the best money I ever spent.

It's not fear or a hearing a bad story with me, just a lack of interest. I've been wearing glasses for so long that I know I'd feel lost without them, and I've also come to appreciate that they provide good eye protection. Plus I'm not vain enough.

But to each their own, and if you're satisfied with it, that's all that matters.

 

[TheProfessor]

I had laser eye surgery done at Bochner back in December and couldn't be happier with my decision. I knew I wanted to go to the best, which meant either Bochner or Herzig in my opinion, however I went for consults to many places, including YELC and Lasik MD. I picked Bochner because Dr. Raymond Stein is very highly regarded and just seemed to make me feel more comfortable about the whole process over Dr. Sheldon Herzig. Dr. Stein never pressured me and took the time to answer all of my questions.

I paid $5,400 and had bladeless lasik done (they use a laser to cut the flap). Everything was custom for my eyes, not a one size fits all type of deal that you find in the Lasik MD type places.

All follow up appointments (can be done through the center or with your own eye doctor) are covered in the $5,400, so no further out of pocket expenses.

It's been just over three months and my eyes are beyond perfect (I can read the smallest line of letters on the chart). If anyone has any specific questions don't hesitate to contact me. As others have indicated, this was the best money I've ever spent.

 

[Roy G Biv]

$5400 seems very, very expensive. Friends have been doing it for $1500, both eyes.... I realize that you pay more for reputation, but $5400 seems like a bit much.

 

[TheProfessor]

This is a guess, but I'd say for $1500 your friends are likely having the flaps cut using a blade....considered to be inferior technology now (and actually for quite some time). They are also not likely getting custom lasik, but rather a one size fits all correction. Call me crazy, but I wasn't going to skimp when it came time to have my only eyes worked on As has also been stated above, all of my follow up appointments, medications, etc. are included at that price whereas with the cheaper places those are all out of pocket expenses.