Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bundangbabo]

I'm down to have my short sight corrected and realise my dreams of Korean heavyweight boxing stardom!

It is going to cost 1.7 million won at the 'dream eye centre' in Gangdam - a favourite of the stars in this country.

I'll let you know how it goes as I know a few people on here have enquired about having a LASEK/LASIK operation in this country. Wish me luck!

[madoka]

[bundangbabo]

[madoka]

Yeah, here in the U.S., my friends and family have been paying $5,000-$10,000 to have the surgery. Yours is an awesome deal! Years of Blizzard games have destroyed my eye sight. Certainly let us know how it turns out.

[pkang0202]

I'm interested as well. Let us know how it goes.

[Confused Canadian]

My wife and I both had our eyes done for 1.9 each at the Myung Dong branch of the Dream Eye Center. I had LASEK and she had LASIK. That was about 5 months ago, and we've both been very pleased with the results.

If you say that you were recommended by another client (you must provide a name), you usually get a discount and the person that say recommended their clinic usually gets a small gift (cosmetics). At least that's the way the Myung Dong branch works.

Good luck!

[wylies99]

Please post results, OP. TIA

[PaulPizzazz]

Got Lazik done in June. 2 words:

"F"'ing Brilliant

My operation was a total success. Got in done in Cheongdam/Apgujeong and paid 2.0 million. I chose their more expensive option rather than their cheaper one at 1.6 million. This was only because I didn't want the cheaper one where they put in temporary lenses that would be in my eyes for a few days and would require many more visits (check-ups) over the course of the following month. Time (mine) is money.

I used to be -2.5 and -3.0 (Canadian measurement) and I am now 20-20.

The operation is quick and somewhat painless. I think the pain for me was that it was pretty uncomfortable having a doctor pushing a plastic ring against my eyeball. This is done so that the laser can then zap it precisely. My surgery was a 2-part process.
First part is at a laser station that cuts a flap of skin covering your cornea. They push the plastic ring over your eye so hard that it squishes your eye in it's socket to the point where the blood flow gets cut off via the vein behind it. You loose total vision in a matter of seconds. You have to look straight ahead with that eye so that the laser can get a good slice in. I got a bit agitated and I guess one of my eyes was wandering, so they had to restart me with that eye. Pushing the plastic ring down on that eye a second time left a blood mark that lasted a a few days but otherwise no harm was done. I should say that it's a bit tricky to look straight ahead when your vision is gone and you're lying flat on your back. Anyhow the process only takes a minute or so for each eye.

The second laser is the one that actually carves your cornea to get the concave shape desirable for good vision. This laser also takes but a minute or so for each eye. You lie down and the doctor uses a mini-eye-windshield squeegee (mp?) to fold back the flap that the first laser sliced. Then another plastic device is used to keep your eye open. For this laser you actually see what's going on as you're looking right into the vortex of the beast that is about to fry part of your eyeball away. The view is something of a weird fire-e kaleidoscope pattern (I had to remind myself that I was not on mushrooms at the time) that starts charging up power from the entire universe like in the movie Independence Day. At the moment of shooting, the death star then trips off a pulsating beam that begins the frying process. The result is something that smells not much unlike that of burnt hair. Which I guess makes sense as it's also burning off human matter.

I was stiff as a board during both laser processes. Guess I was a bit nervous/anxious about the whole thing. The doctor informed me that the surgery was a success and told me to go home and keep my eyes closed.

My eyes were really sore the rest of that day and I had to keep putting a combination of eye drops in. But by the next day I realized how amazing my eye-sight was. Better than anything I had ever experienced with glasses or contacts. I can now see the detailed outline of trees on the tops of mountains quite far away (for example). My eye-sight is better than any of my friends who have always had perfect vision.

Last month I did my medical for my E-2 visa. The young nurse was amazed at how good my vision was when she tested it. She was going on about how I was the first patient she had ever tested who had perfect eyesight. I shit you not, I could read every letter on the poster they use to check. I then had to explain to her that I was not in fact a superhero but simply a satisfied customer of the technology they like to call, Lazik.

God love it.

[plynx]

definitely post your results! i'm also interested in having it done...i have terrible eyesight.

[Pooty]

I did the "wavefront" lasik at that place 2 years ago OP. All went well, no problems...but...


Hate to tell you this, but the doc is going to strongly warn you about playing any kind of sports where you might get hit in the eye.

Good luck with that heavyweight title.

[Kaeden]

I had my eyes done at the dream care eye center in gangnam or whatever it's called.. great results. Hurt like a bitch for a couple days after but now I have over 20/20. Best money i've ever spent in my life.

[moosehead]

uh don't they give you a tranq or something??

I can't do something like that w/o drugs !! and really good ones!!

that is - I've been thinking about doing it also -

how much down time does it take to resume normal activities?

[SHANE02]

I had the lasek done 6 mths ago......brilliant. It was like a whole new world opened up. My eyes can are still a little sensitive and I have to avoid contact sports. I would say boxing is out.

[EzeWong]

[Confused Canadian]

My understanding is that LASIK is not suitable for sports, but LASEK is.

Here's my basic understanding of the two procedures. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Basically, LASIK involves cutting a flap in your cornea, peeling that back, doing the laser procedure, and then putting the flap back in place. The advantage is that your vision improves almost immediately, and the recovery time is quite short. However, the danger with contact sports is that even after a period of time, there is a SLIGHT chance that the corneal flap can become 'dislodged'. That's why LASIK is not suitable for sports.

With LASEK, they 'scrape away' the epithelium, the outermost layer of the cornea before doing the laser procedure. This epithelium grows back, but it takes a while. It can take from 3-6 months for your vision to hit its peak, and can be quite painful/uncomfortable for a few days after the procedure. However, since there is no corneal flap, there is no risk or anything becoming dislodged later on. In fact, the doctor that performed my surgery told me that this is the procedure Korean K1 fighters get. However, you can't play sports/swim for about 4 weeks after the surgery while the epithelium is growing back.

As I stated above, I had LASEK because I play sports (no contact sports, unless you consider soccer a contact sport) and couldn't imagine a life without sports. My wife, on the other hand, couldn't take time off from work and doesn't really play any contact sports, so the quick turn around time with LASIK was ideal for her. She resumed work the next day.

I'm not a doctor (nor do I play one on TV), but this is my understanding of the procedures from my own basic research.