Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kalbi]

I am thinking about having Lasik corrective surgery done on my eyes. Have any of you (or any one you know) had the procedure done here in Korea?

Do you recommend Lasik?

Do you recommend Lasik IN KOREA?

About how much does the procedure cost?

Can you recommend and Engish speaking doctor who does the procedure? I live in Seoul, North of the river.

Any other comments or insights on lasik?

Thanks in advanced for you help.

[Swiss James]

don't know but I'm interested to see the results

[Gollum]

Not a fan of this.

A Korean friend paid 3 million won to go to a "GOOD" doctor to have it done.

She still suffered from side-effects (pain in the evenings, and big pain during daylight) for at least 2 months. Not sure how she is now.

[dogbert]

[Gladiator]

Had it done January this year with astounding results (was myopic -5.25 L and -4.75 R). Now 1.2 bilaterally.

Vision restoration was almost instantaneous, 7 months on dry eye irriation is negligible.

Had it done at ���� ���� ���̾� centre in Kangnam and can't recommend DR. Hong or the staff who provide a very thorough follow up highly enough.

If you'll excuse the pun, it's very 'myopic' when individuals imply refractive surgery carries significantly higher risks here because that's rubbish. Complications are down to a whole soup of factors which encompass surgeon error, the candidate's suitability for the procedure (unethical sales tactics and shoddy screening have much to answer for regarding the majority of refractive surgery horror stories) and the different (and unpredictable) ways different people's react to the flap and excimer LASER.

Sure there are dodgy LASIK practioners in Korea (I can divulge ones who my instincts told me were no go from the start while I was researching clinics) but overall I think the standard of opthamology is high.

[dogbert]

Has refractive surgery been around long enough for any long-term statistics on ocular health to be obtained?

[Gladiator]

Not really Dogbert, I suppose we are the trials since LASIK has been around since the early 90s. I'm not an eye doctor of course but the pre-op literature warns you the surgery cannot prevent the onset of "Prsybia (sp?)", the natural far sightedness brought on by age. I'll worry about that later, I was just thrilled to have perfect sight again after 20 years.

[peppergirl]

[peppermint]

It's been available in Canada for a lot longer than in the States. The opthamologist that I went to in middle school was teaching other doctors to do it then ( late 80s, early 90's).

I'll check what the Canadian authorities have to say and post agian later

[Swiss James]

[dogbert]

Yeah, I'm not a doctor either...as a long-time myopic myself, I can appreciate how happy you must be with the results and that's great. Really.

One thing that worries me that I've read is the possibility that if you, post surgery, spend too much time reading, or working at a PC, that your eyesight might again weaken. Anyway, interesting discussion.

[kalbi]

Any info on costs??

[Gladiator]

2 Million is about ballpark in Korea. Mine was 1.9M.

Dogbert, no spending hours on end in front of PC monitors isn't the best idea on earth (which is unfortunately what my job has compelled me to do these last 7 months!) post op. Possibility of eyesight regression's not the issue as much as nasty harmful UV emissions after one's retina has been scarred by Excimer.

I'm getting off the computer right now!!

[peppergirl]

[Yaya]

You may want to wait and check out a new procedure that replaces your eyes' lenses with ones that last 120 years. But it IS pricey ($5,000 per eye) and does carry risks that any normal surgery would have.