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smalls23
Joined: 05 Jan 2011
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 Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:12 am Post subject: Re: How are your eyes now? |
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| f22rahman wrote: |
Hi Smalls23, thanks for the reply. Glad to hear your eyes are doing great. I guess I�m just mainly concerned about whether the dry eyes issue is permanent or if it will eventually subside. Well, if you say from your previous posts that this is worth it, then that�s good enough for me.
Just wondering whether if it was important to go to each and every check-up since Seoul is a few hours away from me. I guess that�s something that the clinic and I will have to figure out but, if I have to go to each check-up, then I will.
Thanks again, the reply was detailed and helpful! Two more weeks to go� |
Good luck with your surgery! Have you had it yet? If so, you should probably get off the computer and stop trying to read. Haha.
I think it's up to you if you want to go to all of the appointments. You definitely need to go to all the follow-ups in the first month or maybe two. (They need to monitor you closely and alter your pain meds, steroid eye drops, etc. depending on your progress.) I was an hour away and I went to every appointment. In the later months, I sometimes felt like it was useless (go in, wait a bit, talk to the doc for 3 minutes who says everything's fine, go home). BUT, if there WAS something wrong, then I guess I'd be risking a lot. Plus, it was nice to know what my current vision was. (1.0 = 20/20 vision.) I'm sure the clinic will recommend that you go, but it's up to you after 3 or 4 mos.
Something else you might want to ask is how many appointments are covered by your surgery payment. Most of mine were and my last one -- 6 mos. -- wasn't. It's cheap, regardless, but you might want to know.
Let me know how it goes! |
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f22rahman
Joined: 01 May 2011
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| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:09 am Post subject: Post LASEK |
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Yep, had the surgery and so far so good.
Luckily I didn't have any pain post-surgery and within a week, my dry eyes were gone. I have some bit of dry eyes but it's hardly noticeable so I stopped using the artificial tears. My vision isn't as sharp and is a little blurry but still, my vision has made significant gains in the past couple of weeks.
I went to the clinic again last week for a check-up. They said my eyes were recovering just fine, to keep using the anti-inflammatory eye drops, and just take extra care during the first month post surgery. They said my vision was at 90% but, doesn't really feel like it to me...oh well. I think what I'll do is go to the eye clinic near my home once a month, and email Dream Eye my progress. The clinic near my home were able to remove my bandage contacts and seem to know about LASEK recovery.
I consider myself lucky because after reading some of these posts, I thought that after the surgery, I would pretty much be handicapped. Luckily, I was still able to see and get back to Suncheon without any problems. I'll admit, after the surgery, I watched TV, played games, worked on the computer, etc. lol. But not for too long of course.
On a side note, I've read posts by people who say that their dry eyes have lasted for months. But my eyes were able to recover from dry eyes within a week, despite it being winter. One theory I have is that I never wore contacts or had anything in my eyes my whole life. I just wore glasses and that's it. It's still too soon to be jumping to conclusions and there is a possibility that a complication could develop later on.
Thanks Smalls23 for the info about going to the appointments. Also, thanks for the travel tip. I'll be leaving in a few months so I'll be sure to take some extra eye drops.
I'll post again after awhile about my progress. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:39 am Post subject: |
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| What's the difference between LASEK and LASIK? One's for sports and one isn't? |
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Caffeinated
Joined: 11 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| What's the difference between LASEK and LASIK? One's for sports and one isn't? |
Google is your friend.
Background: I was nearsighted (- 4.5 in both eyes) and wore both glasses and contacts since early teens depending on the occasion. My prescription hadn't changed for several years and I had no other problems. I was a good candidate for both LASEK and LASIK. I wanted LASEK since, unlike LASIK, the surgery doesn't create a corneal flap that could move due to impact to the head if you do martial arts etc.
It's been almost four months since I had LASEK and other than the expected pain the day after surgery, I've had few problems. I'm very happy I went with the procedure.
I did consultations with both Dream Eye in Myeongdong and B&VIIT Eye Clinic (formerly BS Eye) in Gangnam so what follows is a review of my experience at both clinics. I eventually went with B&VIIT because I thought their diagnosis was more thorough but I was second-guessing my choice because of the language barrier. Each clinic has its advantages, though, and your costs will vary depending on your eyes, the surgeon, the procedure and laser machines are involved.
DREAM EYE
Pros: It's not perfect but they have an English brochure. They have English-speaking staff that seem to be dedicated to their foreign customers. I was impressed by how helpful and accommodating with every step in the process they seemed. Having a dedicated contact person and phone number is very reassuring if you have any questions or problems. Also, you have a surgeon assigned to you who will get to know your eyes very well since they will do your surgery as well as the follow-ups. At Dream Eye you pay for service and peace-of-mind.
It seems like Dream Eye suggests LASEK to most patients if their condition qualifies them for it. LASEK strikes me as the simpler, less invasive procedure with more stable results so I was happy with their suggestion.
B&VIIT
Pros: wider variety of laser machines and diagnostic equipment compared with the much smaller Dream Eye Clinic at Myeongdong (I haven't been to Dream Eye's Gangnam location which also has staff dedicated to foreign patients). Quite possibly the poshest clinic I've been to.
Cons: no English pamphlets other than a legal waiver in incorrect English.
There's upselling and additional fees for extra services. After my eye check I was told I was a suitable candidate for LASIK and wasn't informed about LASEK. LASIK is more expensive but also has a shorter recovery time so you can go back to work the next day so perhaps that's why it was their first suggestion to me. However, I knew I wanted LASEK and the consultant didn't try to convince me otherwise after.
The consultant also suggested having a syringe of your blood taken out to use as eye drops afterwards for 100k won. Your blood is centrifuged to extract the platelets to help your cornea heal. I was a bit skeptical of the science of this but I agreed to it anyways. The cost for the LASEK plus the special eye drops was less than Dream Eye. Unlike Dream Eye's all-inclusive price I pay for my prescription eye drops at the drugstore.
I wasn't informed at my initial consultation but B&VIIT has tiered services depending mostly on the surgeon's expertise and experience. They have one elite surgeon, a handful of mid-level surgeons and a dozen on the basic level. I would have gladly paid more to get a surgeon with more operations under their belt though I was happy with the surgeon who did my procedure nevertheless.
Unlike Dream Eye where you have one surgeon to take you through every step from consultation to follow-ups, I've had a different doctor at my consultation, surgery and 4-5 follow-ups with B&VIIT. A plus with having different doctors means they can accommodate my schedule a bit better, but I'm lucky that I've had pretty much no problems so far. I imagine having different doctors would be very frustrating if my condition was more complicated. If that were the case I'd rather have one doctor tracking my progress.
Surprisingly for a large clinic, B&VIIT doesn't seem to have support staff dedicated to foreign patients, only seemingly random staff who can speak English better than the others. At one station the technician was quite nervous at speaking and I wound up worrying that the results he wrote down may have been based on a misunderstanding. No staffer has been assigned as my contact so it's a bit more of a hassle trying to call the clinic to change appointments etc. I haven't had problems communicating in English with all the doctors I've met at both Dream and B&VIIT.
In a nutshell, Dream Eye offers more reassuring service at a price while B&VIIT feels less personable and more like a factory but at a cheaper cost. |
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f22rahman
Joined: 01 May 2011
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| Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:02 am Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| What's the difference between LASEK and LASIK? One's for sports and one isn't? |
This should help. It's Dream Eye's website. Just click on the section "Refractive Surgery":
http://www.hellolasik.com/ENG_SITE/index.asp
Besides being more suitable for sports or just being hit in the eye, I chose LASEK because it has a smaller percentage of developing complications than compared to LASIK.
Before my surgery, they handed me a list of possible side effects and complications that could develop. I think there were 11 items on there. When the clinician was briefing me before the surgery, since I was getting LASEK, he crossed off majority of the complications off the list and left only 3 on there. And I think the 3 that were left had the possibility of retreatment. Knowing this information put me a little at ease right before I went in. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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| So, LASEK is prob better long term? Thanks for the info. I've been lucky to have good eyes most of my life, except for a lazy eye. But my main eye compensates for this and can see well and see far. (Slight far sightedness I guess.) But in a few years, when I get older, I will need glasses. So, that's when I'd be interested in the procedure. I'm told I'll need glasses a little bit sooner than the average person who doesn't need glasses. The slight far sightedness will wear out the eye muscle maybe 2 or 3 years sooner than average. Otherwise, it's something to look into. |
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f22rahman
Joined: 01 May 2011
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| Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| So, LASEK is prob better long term? Thanks for the info. I've been lucky to have good eyes most of my life, except for a lazy eye. But my main eye compensates for this and can see well and see far. (Slight far sightedness I guess.) But in a few years, when I get older, I will need glasses. So, that's when I'd be interested in the procedure. I'm told I'll need glasses a little bit sooner than the average person who doesn't need glasses. The slight far sightedness will wear out the eye muscle maybe 2 or 3 years sooner than average. Otherwise, it's something to look into. |
I think it would be best to do some extra research into getting laser eye surgery since yours might be a special case. Consultations are free at most eye surgery clinics in Korea and they'll put you through various eye exams. Just be sure to let them know about your condition. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:38 pm Post subject: |
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| f22rahman wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| So, LASEK is prob better long term? Thanks for the info. I've been lucky to have good eyes most of my life, except for a lazy eye. But my main eye compensates for this and can see well and see far. (Slight far sightedness I guess.) But in a few years, when I get older, I will need glasses. So, that's when I'd be interested in the procedure. I'm told I'll need glasses a little bit sooner than the average person who doesn't need glasses. The slight far sightedness will wear out the eye muscle maybe 2 or 3 years sooner than average. Otherwise, it's something to look into. |
I think it would be best to do some extra research into getting laser eye surgery since yours might be a special case. Consultations are free at most eye surgery clinics in Korea and they'll put you through various eye exams. Just be sure to let them know about your condition. |
Most definately. Thanks for the feedback. |
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jkrishnamurtidotorg
Joined: 04 Oct 2012
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War Eagle
Joined: 15 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm sure that's a per eye cost. If so, I wouldn't think it's that great of a deal for LASEK in Korea. Maybe good for the Gangnam (where they are located) area tho. |
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oppa637
Joined: 05 Dec 2011
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| Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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| That should be for both eyes. They will upsell you. Either way, best choice of my life. |
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gangnamstyle
Joined: 03 Nov 2012
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 3:56 pm Post subject: Photorefractive Keratectomy? |
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Does anyone know of a place in Seoul that does PRK?
I heard that its better for athletes who are at risk of getting
hit in the face. |
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N8ARNJXD
Joined: 16 Dec 2014
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| Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 7:25 am Post subject: |
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| It appears the newest laser is the ARMARIS RED 1050s. I believe this machine came out this year. I have checked with Dream Center and B&VIIT. Dream Center in Gangnam has this machine. Does anyone know of any other popular clinics that have the ARMARIS RED? |
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Shimokitazawa
Joined: 14 Dec 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 8:57 am Post subject: |
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A teacher I worked with who joined the RCMP in Canada had it done. He said it was really good. Had some problems at first, I don't recall exactly what, though.
That always seemed sketchy to me - a lazer essentially burning the eyes. Seems like it would be very painful. |
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N8ARNJXD
Joined: 16 Dec 2014
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 2:04 am Post subject: Re: Photorefractive Keratectomy? |
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| gangnamstyle wrote: |
Does anyone know of a place in Seoul that does PRK?
I heard that its better for athletes who are at risk of getting
hit in the face. |
FWIW LASEK = PRK . |
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