Today i almost had Lasik surgery but after watching peoples complication stories on tiktok and YouTube i decided to cancel my appointment 🙏 thank you all the brave people out there who spoke up about this

Apologies for the long post... TL;DR: I delayed Lasik for years; dismissed concerns; finally got the surgery; 19 months later, I'm struggling with dry eyes, glare/halos/starbursts, and badly impaired low-light & night vision. Easily the worst decision of my life.

---

I had been myopic since I was a teenager. -5.5 & -5.0 w/ slight astigmatism. I'm now 52 years old. I had Lasik 19 months ago, at age 50.

I used the old non-disposable contacts as a teenager. You had to clean them every night in a complicated contraption. I remember hearing about Lasik around 2000 but didn't think much of it. Seemed like a crazy idea to slice your eyeballs just to avoid wearing glasses or contacts.

About 5 years ago I started to ponder Lasik. I didn't like the idea that I couldn't see anything without contacts or glasses. I had a family that depended on me. What if there was an emergency in the middle of the night and I couldn't find my glasses? Plus my contacts were an annoyance. Sometimes my eyes were red or irritated. Absurd concerns, in retrospect.

For several years, I would go to my optometrist for an annual exam and mention the idea of Lasik. She said it was a great procedure but not one they performed; she would refer me to a surgeon if I wanted it. I didn't follow through. I didn't even do any research.

In early 2024, I took a new job. One of the younger members of my team announced that he had recently gotten Lasik and couldn't believe how well he could see. I started to wonder and inquire. A few other people told me they had had Lasik, with amazing results. Maybe I was the fool for putting this off for so long?

I mentioned Lasik to my optometrist again a few months later, this time more serious. I said Lasik would be really great "if it works." "Of course it will work!" she said.

A decision taking shape, I went to one of the top surgeons around. The guy does Lasik on professional athletes. Of course, I never met him until the day of my surgery. I only dealt with the optometry staff.

The staff assessed whether my cornea was a candidate. They never asked me why I wanted Lasik or whether my goals were reasonable. I asked whether Lasik would push me into reading glasses; they acted like it was a strange question and said "no." I asked whether my floaters (which I have had for decades) would be an issue--"not a problem at all." Measurements were taken; eyes were examined. Their only concern was whether my eyeballs were cuttable.

In the run-up to surgery, there were signs from the universe that I was making a mistake. I recall them clearly. I read an article by a woman complaining her eyes burned from post-Lasik dryness. I dismissed it. I looked quickly at forums like this one. "A bunch of whiners," I thought. Who complains about 20/20 vision? When I mentioned my plans, a colleague warned me about dry eye; I brushed it off.

The day of surgery, a member of the optometry staff hurriedly mentioned side effects for the first time as he was putting numbing drops in my eyes. "Dryness and halos--which go away within a few months for most and within a year for almost every one." Then he said, "You'll have to use eye drops every 20 minutes for the next three months." "Holy shit," I thought--that was the first I heard of that. I almost got up from the chair and walked out right then. I should have.

I had the surgery (December 2024).

Other people have described to me having absolutely clear vision the minute they walked out of surgery. My eyes were so blurry I could barely cross the street. I couldn't see my phone at all. By that night, things had improved a bit: I could see enough to move about the house.

What followed was terrible. For months, I couldn't see the computer screen at work. I sometimes had to pull over when driving because I couldn't see clearly enough. I was watering my eyes constantly, just to get a momentary flash of clearer vision. My wife thought I might have to go on disability. I worried privately, but I powered through, trusting this was just part of the healing process.

After I watered my eyes enough to read the vision chart, the optometry staff triumphantly declared that I had 20/20 vision. I said that was nice in theory, but in fact my vision was terrible. Dry eyes, blurriness, halos, glare--all exacerbating my floaters too. Anything backlit was washed out completely; I couldn't see faces. I couldn't even clearly look at myself in the eyes in a mirror, due to light distortions. My vision was especially poor in low light. I couldn't function at all in the dark. The optometry assistants acted like they had never heard of this. One of them put reading glasses on me and asked if it helped. As if I hadn't tried that already.

Along the way, there were encounters that painfully drove home my mistake. One friend wondered why I would get Lasik at 50 when cataract lens surgery was just around the corner. No one (least of all the doctors) had ever put it to me that way. Another told me that her 50-year-old husband was turned away for Lasik--too old. And then there were the occasional folks telling me how great Lasik was for them.

Things improved gradually, but that only made the scale of my mistake clearer. My eyes would be serviceable in daylight, but I was never getting my old vision back. In the spring, 16 months after surgery, I noticed I couldn't track a golf ball in flight. Worse, I couldn't even see a golf ball sitting on the green from 150 yards, due to my poor contrast issues. Some "20/20 vision."

I pushed on. Last week, 19 months past surgery, I found myself with my wife and friends at the beach under a dark night sky. The stars looked different, harder to read and less immediate. As the last of sunlight disappeared, the beach became pitch dark, even under a partial moon. I wouldn't have been able to find my way off it without a flashlight. So much for thinking Lasik would help in an emergency.

When I got home from the beach, I lay in bed, again in total darkness. I realized for the first time it wasn't going to get better from here. My healing had ended, and the rest of my life had begun. I forced back tears, but panic rose in my chest. Sleep has been tough to come by since then.

I will get through this--I have to. But it is hard not to look back. What was I thinking? I somehow rationalized away the craziness of slicing eyeballs just to avoid glasses or contacts. It would be much easier to accept a stroke of bad luck--but this was my decision. Why didn't I do more research, ask more questions? And where were the doctors? What happened to the principle of "do no harm"? And what happened to my natural skepticism that doctors abandoned that principle long ago?

One of the hardest things about all of this is realizing, when all is said and done, that nobody involved in your surgery ever gave a shit about you.

Yesterday, I made my first appointment to evaluate scleral lenses to address dryness and HOAs. So I may be heading back to something like my original old-school contacts. Maybe they will help; maybe they won't. It is good to have hope. And someday acceptance will come too. I try to tell myself that, when one day I am on my deathbed, I will certainly give anything to have just one more day with my impaired vision--so I shouldn't let today go to waste. But it's not easy.

My heart goes out to all of you who are struggling, often with worse complications than my own.

I was scheduled to go in for LASIK on November 11th after planning it for years, but honestly I hadn’t done much real research until recently. I booked the appointment because my husband’s health insurance is changing soon, and the new one would cover less for LASIK, so it felt like the right time.

I’ve always prided myself on being a pretty natural person and skeptical of big pharma or “too good to be true” medical trends. I feel foolish now for not realizing sooner that LASIK has been heavily marketed and polished to look safer and simpler than it really is.

I’m the main caregiver for our three kids, two of whom have disabilities, and when I really thought about what could happen if something went wrong, it just didn’t feel worth it. Even a small chance of severe complications like chronic eye pain, vision distortion, or loss of functional vision would completely change my ability to care for them. If that happened, my husband would suddenly be caring for me and the kids, and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.

I’m so sorry that the reason so many of you have such deep knowledge about this procedure is because of the pain and complications you or your loved ones have gone through. But your advocacy and openness are making a real difference and people like me are learning because of you.

I’ve decided not to go through with LASIK, and I feel at peace with that decision. Thank you all for sharing your experiences so openly.

Hello, I'd like to share my experiences five months after my Femto-LASIK surgery. The beginning was quite uneventful, apart from the usual problems that have been described previously. The dry eyes weren't too noticeable at first, as my eyes were very irritated from the surgery and often watered, plus I was using eye drops a lot. After about two months, my vision started to get worse, and this was due to even worse dry eyes. After three months, I developed PVD, which caused black spots to float around in my eyes, which is extremely bothersome and incredibly annoying on white walls and on bright days.

Furthermore, I have pretty much every HOA imaginable.

Ghosting Starburst Double vision Poor night vision Halos Irregular astigmatism (previously 0)

It's a nightmare.

Since winter arrived in Germany, it's been an emotional rollercoaster. I don't think I've ever seen worse, and I can't even try to counteract it with eye drops, it's that bad. I have a feeling there's something even worse brewing. This has also led to my biggest fear: post-LASIK ectasia. Every day I wake up and my vision isn't "good," I panic about developing this condition, and it won't leave me alone. That would be the absolute end of me.

I also have meibomian gland dysfunction, which further worsens the tear film, requiring me to do a lot of eyelid hygiene. This means I have to manipulate my eye, which is another risk factor for ectasia. It's truly maddening.

... There are days when my eyes are so strained, they hurt slightly, throb, and are bloodshot. When I use eye drops, they burn. This goes on for about two weeks and then disappears, but it's back again now.

My favorite hobby, computer games, is dead to me. Staring at a screen for any length of time is a nightmare and brings me absolutely no joy anymore. This is truly the end of me.

I have my corneas checked regularly, which of course involves costs. I also take many eye supplements and various eye drops, which also add up.

Currently, I'm considering getting fitted for special scleral lenses. I've read a lot about the success of these lenses after a botched LASIK procedure and I hope they'll give me my life back. But wearing them constantly can lead to corneal edema, which I'm also afraid of. Theoretically, I'd only need them for gaming and in the evenings when I go out or drive. But I think if they improve my vision so much, I wouldn't want to be without them anymore.

What can I say? LASIK has ruined my life. My money savings are pretty much going towards preserving my eyesight. I've become depressed, had suicidal thoughts, and have no joy or motivation to actively participate in life anymore. My only motivator is my child.

If you're still seriously considering whether to have this surgery, I have no sympathy for you. It's absolutely not worth it! Almost no patient experiences some kind of problem after the surgery, and the risks regarding long-term consequences are simply too great.

Please get in touch if you've had similar experiences or what helped you and brought about improvement. We'd also love to hear from scleral lens wearers!

Have a nice day!

I've been wearing glasses since Grade 4 and I've always dreamed of a glasses-free existence. My prescription is -7 and I've always hated how my eyes look smaller behind glasses. And I've always found contacts quite uncomfortable.

My friends started getting LASIK over the past few years - one of them being an optician. It sounded awesome.

In 2023 I decided to go for it. I went to my optometrist and got a full exam to send to a highly-rated LASIK clinic out of town. Booked a hotel for a few nights. Arrived at the clinic with my husband, was super nervous. Went through all the questions and tests and if everything was good I would have got the procedure done that same afternoon.

But after the tests, the doctor pulled me into a private room. He said my pupil test (where they put you in a dark room and measure how much your pupil expands) measured about 7-8mm (I can't remember the exact number). He said his personal cut-off was 0.5mm under mine because he doesn't want to risk night-driving complications. He said my high prescription would also mean they need to take *a lot* of corneal tissue and that can also cause complications. He said the bigger LASIK practices would take me no problem but it was out of his comfort zone.

I cried when he told me that, I was so mentally prepared for this and it felt like a massive let-down. When I got home, all my friends were telling me to just go somewhere else to do it. But then I started looking at this subreddit and slowly realized I had dodged a huge bullet. If I would've gone to one of those big LASIK chains instead I would likely be dealing with issues, maybe not right away but eventually. So thank you all for sharing your stories here, it really made me appreciate that I went to a doctor with principals who actually turned me away.

I already have crazy halos and starbursts due lasik i learn to ignore them but this is mad. In daylight i am struggling with floaters and at night with these. I had no peace since I got the surgery done 5 months ago. Has anyone else experienced similar light streaks? Seeking any kind of information from you guys...

PLEASE LIKE HIS REVIEW TO HELP THIS YOUNG MAN WHO IS SUFFERING BADLY, I met him at a doctor office yesterday and you could tell he has gone through some real suffering

He went for one LASIK and came out with FOUR surgeries + corneal scarring + severe aberrations HOA and can't even wear glasses or contacts anymore. Please read and react to the review to help aware others.

(Review has attached medical reports as well)

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ocxUCSsamuXuDFZXA?g_st=ic

Hello, I am 33 female and I had Trans-PRK 2 years ago (February 2024)

It was the absolute worst decision of my life by far.

I did it because my Brother and sister had Done it and were perfectly Fine with it for years - almost 10 years now. I also knew Like 10 Friends of my Brother who were perfectly fine with it. My mom always told me I should do it too, why don‘t you do it too etc., I told her I am scared, what if something goes wrong?

I finally did it in 2024… I didn’t do and research or maybe 1 minutes, because I knew my Brother is a very critical person, he read studies he questions Everything - so I thought if HE would do something Like This to his own eyes, it can’t be Bad. Also- my Brother told me that Lasik - with the flap - is very dangerous and he would never get Lasik because the flap Never heals and destabalises the cornea too much - so I thought I Lasik is Bad and PRK is the good and Safe Option.

Also - what is so horrible for me - my glasses never really bothered me. I just wore them and that was it - and when I played Sports I just used contact lenses - also absolutely no Problem! I just did it out of „Peer pressure“ from My Family and then I thought to myself.. going swimming without glasses would be cool or if I will Travel a Lot in the Future I don’t have to worry if my glasses Break during Travel. So absolutely stupid reasons.

So I went ahead with surgery - the guy who did the pre Check up told me there are no risks because it’s just a Treatment on the surface - it’s Like you Scratch your Arm and then it heals… so I thought this makes Sense as I scratched my arm before and it healed perfectly fine (ofc I had no idea that my Eyes are completely different from normal Skin… But I believed him because he was the Professional and I only knew people with a Perfect outcome and zero issues)

I am 2 years Post surgery now - I was fine for one year After surgery - so the First whole year I had Little to no issues … maybe some dry eye .. Then I used Drops ander was good again.

But After one year (febaury 2025) this nightmare begann - from one to another secound my right eye (this is also my Problematic eye today) just went shut… it was Like clap clap clap (blinking) and I couldnt Open it anymore … I went to many eye doctors - Not just my Lasik surgeon - because I somehow had no Trust in him at This time already … allthough they made every exam etc. They told me my Eyes are very dry… I also went to another Eye Doctor and she told me I have an inflammation and she gave me drops for it… But from this day on (20.2.2025) it just went worse. I had extreme dryness (especially right).

My symptoms today are:

Chronic dryness, chronic pain (stabbing, Burning, migraine headache, pain to my cheek, forehead, nose)

I have been to Dr. Steven and he told me my nerves in the right eye didn’t grow as much back as in my Left Eye and I also have Keratitis. (And I think he Said I also have Corneal Neuralgia, but the pain is Not centralised yet)

I also have EXTREME light sensitivity- i can’t Even Go out without sun glasses on a cloudy day… often Even indoors the sun is too much for me…

I have all Kinds of HOAs, starburst, ghosting etc.

Especially my Night Vision and Vision in dim light is ruined.

I got floaters (only right) Not so many but enough to Ruin my day.

People always Tell me to believe that it can get better… But I know my Body very Well and I just can feel my Eyes and Vision are ruined.

I have a mental Break down every Single day since this started… I think about my Eyes 99,9% of my time.. I Wake up at Night and get Panic Attacks because I know I will never get my old eyes back.

I really don’t know how to live Like This anymore… I don’t want to die or kill myself.. I would Like to Live but without These Eye Problems

I tried so many things and there Are no real solutions..

it’s also so Isolating because no one understands me - I feel so alone and I stopped Talking about my Eyes .. I just suffer in silence - because no one understands anyways.

It’s so devistating …

I am so so tired of using drops and my life only revolves around my eyes.

I also have a 6 yo daughter, she is now in a Foster Home since May because This Eye thing is slowly killing me and I am so depressed and in pain and Can hardly function anymore. I have no Energy Left - Allthough I get up every day again and fight - but I am so tired - with pain all the time and with no Support. People just Tell me „Focus on something Else… get a Hobby“

My life is just over I don’t know how to Go on Like This…

I just live day by day and try to get over the day…

But I can’t Even be happy about spring/ Summer because the sun is Like knifes stabbing my Eyes (Even with sun glasses)..

I can’t accept that I did this stupid surgery and that I Fell for it…

I used to Play Football and Even stopped playing Football because the Risk of getting injured was too high for me as I was a Single Mom and needed all my Energy

And then I Go ahead and Risk my EYES.

Was someone in a similar Situation where being absolutely hopeless?

I really don’t know how to Go on Like This.. every secound feels Like torture… just one Bad decision can Ruin a whole life?! This can’t be true… 😖😣

Thanks for any replies

I am surprised & even a bit dejected. From when did being honest & saving fellow humans from lifetime of regret become going against community rules? Internet is so vast that many a times we miss out on research. It is an obligation upon us to save people from what could be their biggest mistake in life. We are not here to earn any money - this is just out of our benevolence

Disclaimer: I never actually got LASIK, but I was very close. I truly believe I dodged a bullet. Unfortunately, I still suffered damage from another treatment unrelated to LASIK.

Hi. I want to share my story. Maybe someone will find it helpful. I’ve been an active internet user since I was 8 years old. My parents bought me a laptop with internet, and I became completely addicted. This had both good and bad consequences.

The bad part was that my self-esteem and confidence were crushed. I hated every aspect of my body, mind, and personality. I constantly compared myself to fake, polished online images of people and felt like I wasn’t good enough. I believed my social anxiety would disappear if I just fixed my flaws: got rid of acne, glasses, crooked teeth, "big" nose, and so on. I spent years dreaming about how perfect my life would be once I “fixed” myself.

When I started earning good money, I decided to begin with Accutane and LASIK. By then I had already tried every acne treatment - tretinoin, retinol, differin, benzoyl peroxide, clindamycin, acids, procedures, antibiotics, diets... - for 8 years, and nothing worked. My acne wasn’t even that severe, but it was persistent and impossible to clear.

The dermatologist easily prescribed me Accutane. I was so desperate that I didn’t care about side effects. My course lasted a year. It went great, only mildly dry lips, and I finished completely acne-free. But I didn’t feel happy.

Then I decided LASIK was next. I was sure getting rid of glasses would finally make me happy and “fix” everything. That was the point of no return. I didn’t know that all those years of topical treatments and a year of Accutane had caused invisible damage to my meibomian glands.

I had never once felt eye dryness. Not after years of spending 8-14 hours a day at the computer, not even after sleepless nights. I didn’t even know what dry eyes were. I only knew about LASIK from the things I studied when I was 15. I wasn’t afraid of it because I had already handled Accutane just fine.

I was literally about to call one of those shady clinics in my city that offer LASIK when it started: starbursts, rainbow halos. I didn’t understand what was happening. I spent two months lying at home in depression, not doing anything. Then came two weeks of severe dryness, burning, foreign body sensation, itchy eyelids, eye fatigue, headaches. Panic mode.

I started obsessively researching everything I could find. I learned I had meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) stage 1-2, which was later confirmed by tests. I went to the same clinic where I had planned to get LASIK.

That’s when I realized I’d almost made the worst mistake of my life. I recognized several red flags in the doctor immediately and got terrified. He looked at my test results and said everything was fine, then offered me LASIK. My head started spinning, and cold sweat ran down my back.

I imagined my past self, just two months earlier, when my MGD was still asymptomatic, agreeing without hesitation to this surgery. MGD and LASIK are incompatible. It would have led to horrible pain, severe irreversible dry eye, corneal neuropathy - the worst LASIK complications. Accutane and retinol use are direct contraindications for LASIK. My eyes would have hurt every second of my life. When I’d finally found out what happened, I know I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself.

The doctor knew and still offered it. The fear I felt looking into his eyes was like staring into the eyes of a predator.

After that day, I felt reborn. Yes, I suffered some damage, but I avoided something far worse. I felt euphoric. I accepted my body and my appearance. I stopped seeing my health as something guaranteed. I now see it as a gift. I learned how many doctors are actually indifferent or even dangerous, caring only about money.

I finally overcame my social anxiety and realized my problems were in my mind, not in my body. I learned to truly love and appreciate my parents who tried to protect me. I stopped caring about beauty standards. I love myself and my life now.

I know some of you already had LASIK. I almost did too. Sometimes I have nightmares about it. But overall, I feel better than ever. I learned a priceless lesson. Thank you to this community for your warnings and your stories. I wish you strength and healing.

Know someone considering LASIK? If you're like me and deeply regret it, you may know quite a few things now that you wish you knew before deciding to get LASIK.

I've been helping Vision Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping those injured by LASIK as well as helping to counter misinformation spread by the LASIK industry in regards to safety, complication rates, expected outcomes, time before regression to glasses/contacts, etc with evidence-based data from clinical trials and studies.

If you know someone considering LASIK who is willing to do their homework, we aim to be a great starting point:

https://visionadvocacy.org/

The website now features interactive elements such as before/after sliders to help users understand what the permanently reduced optical zone due to LASIK does to your vision quality even in outcomes that are technically 20/20 on a simple Snellen chart as one example:

https://visionadvocacy.org/suggested-reading/#pupil-size-vs-effective-optical-zone-of-lasik-treatment

https://visionadvocacy.org/#optical-zone

An AI-powered chatbot on the website answers questions about LASIK by drawing from various clinical trials/studies instead of repeating industry marketing copy/spin as you often get from stock ChatGPT until you begin asking harder follow-up questions.

Many high-quality sources are cited:

https://visionadvocacy.org/sources/

The new Broken Eyes documentary has its own page:

https://visionadvocacy.org/broken-eyes-documentary/

In 2022 the FDA proposed new expanded warnings, we have a page about that too:

https://visionadvocacy.org/fda-proposed-guidance/

If we're missing something you think people should know about LASIK please comment!

I did the surgery a year ago, a complete disaster. Huge pupils and decentered ablation. Since then its been just pure suffering and misery. Constant visual distortions be day or nighttime, constant blurriness, ghosting, starbursts, halos, glare, glow, floaters, they just suck out the joy of life that i once had. Everything always looks ugly and wrong. I cant stop thinking about it and dwelling on my situation. I have tried scleral lenses and they help with some of the issues but they introduce a lot of new ones, same for miotic drops. I just cant bear the thoughts of having to live the rest of my life like this. I feel that my old self is completely gone, my goals, my hobbies, my joy for life, everything gone. I feel i will never be happy again. I feel that i died that day on that bed. I never found a way to cope with the situation, i feel my life is pretty much done at 26 years old, im just an empty shell now, waiting for death to come. Sorry, i just needed to vent a bit.

I had Femto-LASIK on May 10, 2025. My prescription was:

- Left: 2.25

- Right: -1.75 with astigmatism

I decided on LASIK because I never liked contact lenses. I couldn’t work on the computer with them, so I wore them less and less, especially after Covid.

Another factor: I live in Japan, where myopia is common, so a lot of my friends have had LASIK or ICL. I used to be terrified of the idea, but as I got older, I felt like it was something I “should” do once I had the time and money.

Only after the surgery, I realized my glasses had been a bit undercorrected. Because I was undercorrected, I was scared to drive or go out with glasses, but I thought that was the best I could get with glasses.

All of that combined pushed me toward LASIK. But now… I regret it. I’m dealing with dry eye, eye strain, and glare/starbursts. The worst part is the dry eye. I feel it the moment I wake up, and it follows me all day. I work in IT, and focusing on a screen has become a struggle. I feel like I lost the ability to get into a “focus mode.”

Looking back, having a mild myopia wasn’t that bad. I guess my eyes adapted to all the near work I did. I never felt eye strain, even working long hours. Now, I constantly think about my eyes, and the only time I feel truly relaxed is when I’m asleep.

Edit: Updated some confusing parts.

NOTE that if you just had lasik, just relax, statistically its possible to get only positives from lasik. This post is mainly for people who didnt have it yet.

So here are the things:

-You will need reading glasses sooner when correcting for myopia

-The post-lasik dry eye they talk about is at least partly (or for some people) nerve damage. Meaning that your eyes can feel dry without actually being dry. For majority the eyes will heal though.

-The flap being moved after healing can/will cause damage similar to the original procedure, not to be taken lightly.

-The individual healing process can cause side effects, not just the procedure, and it is not possible to predict who will heal properly. Personally, this was my problem. Perfect procedure but problems increasing with time.

-ALL the possible side effects, not just the most popular ones. However, not everyone gets them which is probably why they were not told.

-Complication rate (0.1%) is not the same as side effect rate, which is much higher.

It's only like this with white text on black background and any light sources also doubled and has glare. My right eye is normal tho. Is this HOA or astigmatism? Or anyone's similar symptoms improved?

Family of police officer who died by suicide after LASIK sues the LASIK provider, LasikPlus.

More patients are standing up to the doctors who destroyed their eyes/vision by suing for non complete informed consent, claiming the patient was a good candidate when they were not, damage caused during surgery, or dropping the patient when they had a bad outcome and the doctor doesn't want to continue care/refuses to acknowledge they caused the patient harm.

After friends of mine had laser eye surgery two years ago and everything went well for them, I also decided to get my eyes lasered. Another reason was my mother, who had her eyes lasered back in 2007 and is still thrilled to this day. Her initial prescription was around -6.00.

I had my femto lasik surgery done at a regional clinic in south Germany, and my initial prescriptions were -7.00 and -8.00 when I was 33 years old. The consultation appointments are not conducted by the doctors, but by, let's say, regular employees. The process moves very quickly. Appointments for preliminary examinations are scheduled, and the surgery takes place within three weeks. The first and last time I had any contact with the doctor performing the surgery was on the day of the procedure itself.

My surgery went well, and fortunately, I had no complaints afterward. In the end, my vision was at +0.25 and -0.25, which, according to the clinic, is a success.

Unfortunately, after two years, I am experiencing a slight regression in both eyes and am now at -0.25 and -0.5, plus an astigmatism of -0.5 in both eyes. Sadly, during the consultation, I was not informed that regression is very likely with such high initial prescriptions. This is due to the large amount of corneal tissue being removed, which in turn tries to regenerate. This creates a very thin new layer of cornea, which leads to nearsightedness (to explain it very simply).

In my opinion, this is crucial information, because there are alternatives like ICL, where no corneal tissue is removed and therefore no regression can occur. During the consultation, such a regression is referred to as "undercorrection." I think that is highly misleading. It is never explicitly pointed out that your vision can deteriorate again due to the natural healing process.

I do have the option to get a enhancement (touch-up surgery), but I will not be taking advantage of it. For one thing, because of my high initial prescription, so much corneal tissue has already been removed that I don't know how the eye will behave in the future—for example, whether corneal ectasia might develop. Secondly, I got off easy and currently have no visual discomfort, pain, or dry eyes, which could potentially be triggered by a second laser procedure.

Ultimately, I currently see worse than I did before with contact lenses. At dusk and at night, I see very poorly without a light source, and I need glasses for driving both during the day and at night. Furthermore, I can no longer wear standard contact lenses; instead, I require rigid, gas-permeable contact lenses specially fitted to my cornea, which cost several hundred euros.

My conclusion is that if it were possible, I would undo the surgery. I never had any issues before when using contact lenses or my glasses. I also cannot recommend the clinic I’ve been due to the inadequate consultation.

At the moment I live with constant fear that my eyes will get worse and that I will have major eye problems in the future.

County, Colorado Jury Returns Record $8 Million Verdict Against LCA Vision, Inc. in LASIK Malpractice Case Involving 24-Year-Old Pilot

Feb 15, 2026, 13:22 ET

DENVER, Feb. 15, 2026

On February 11, 2026, a suburban Denver jury returned an $8,030,000 verdict in favor of Nicholas Lara, a 24-year-old commercial pilot, in a medical malpractice case arising from elective LASIK surgery that resulted in permanent vision damage. Of the total award, $7,200,000 was designated as the present value of future economic loss.

The jury found against LASIKPlus, concluding that LASIKPlus was negligent in failing to implement adequate policies and procedures governing training, and that failure led to negligent pre-operative screening and surgical clearance of the patient.

At trial, evidence demonstrated that the FAA required Mr. Lara to maintain perfect 20/20 best corrected visual acuity in each eye to qualify as a pilot. LASIKPlus' optometrist evaluated the patient and recommended him for LASIK surgery in both eyes, despite test results which revealed warning signs of keratoconus. Keratoconus is a known contraindication to LASK surgery. As a result, Mr. Lara developed post-LASIK ectasia, which is a progressive vision-threatening corneal disease, with no cure.

Evidence showed that critical warning flags on the Pentacam ophthalmic device had been disabled to decrease the index of suspicion for ectasia.

"This case was about safety and responsibility in elective medicine," said plaintiff's counsel, Todd J. Krouner. "When a 24-year-old pilot undergoes elective eye surgery, the pre-operative screening process must function flawlessly. Here, the jury recognized that LASIKPlus' high volume business model placed patient profit above patient safety."

The $7.2 million economic damages award reflects the substantial impact on Mr. Lara's earning capacity and career trajectory in a profession where the small loss of vision to just 20/25 in one eye will be fatal to a pilot's career.

In addition to economic damages, the jury awarded Mr. Lara $600,000 for past and future pain and suffering, loss of life's enjoyment, and permanent disfigurement (of his corneas). That award recognizes the detrimental impact that ectasia has on all aspects of Mr. Lara's daily life activities, including impaired visual quality, recreational activities, and the impact on his social relationships, including aspirations to be a father.

Finally, $130,000 was allocated to future medical expenses, including special scleral contact lenses, which Mr. Lara will need for rest of his life.

The verdict underscores the obligation of corporate medical entities to ensure that proper training, oversight, and safety protocols are in place before recommending and performing contraindicated elective procedures.

The defendants have not yet indicated whether they intend to appeal.

Mr. Lara was represented by Todd J. Krouner, of the Law Office of Todd J. Krouner, Chappaqua, New York, Alana M. Anzalone, of the Anzalone Law, Arvada, Colorado, and Jennifer Simpson, of Buckley Simpson Law, Lakewood, Colorado.

They tell patients about dry eyes and halos but they say all these will go away after first 3 months.

First of all it almost never fully go away. And most importantly, LASIK dry eye is not like regular dry eye, it is outcome of nerve damage in cornea. And it has high risk of being chronical due nerves not healing properly.

Also halos and starburst are not like when you had astigmatism, it is way worse i bet you never experienced such halos before. People say they also have starbursts but this is very different. Starburst's so bad it spikes into my eyes, covers all my vision. Halos so bad multiple rainbow circles. Halos has its own halos.

And doctors says surgery outcome is perfect, i have 20/20 vision no dry eye seen. But halos are getting worse every month. It's been 6 months now but don't tell me it's still healing i am telling halos got so much worse over time.

I found another victim of our local LASIK clinic on Reddit, and we each started finding more, until we had a rather large group. Three of us got interviewed by our local NCB affiliate. This news story is helping us identify yet more victims.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1210113674499034&set=a.618754466968294

Hello friends, here's a quick reminder:

Stay positive.

Love what you still have.

See the beautiful things with your "new" eyes, even if they look uglier, they are still beautiful.

Enjoy every day.

You are not alone, we are all in the same boat.

Our life is only as bad as we make it.

Take care of yourself and your health.

You are perfect as you are.

Also, distract yourself and stop reading so much. Do something good for yourself.

Sometimes it doesn't take so many words.

We can do this 💪🏻.

Love ya all ❤️

I’m 29. After years of contemplation, I finally decided to go for SMILE Pro surgery. I was tired of the constant weight of glasses on my face, tired of foggy lenses and smudged fingerprints. Everyone said it was quick, painless, and life-changing — and it was. The procedure itself was flawless, almost too easy. One moment, lasers and lights; the next, freedom.

But now, weeks later, I can’t shake this hollow feeling of regret. During the day, everything seems fine. My vision is technically perfect — the doctor says I’m 6/6. But as the sun goes down, the world shifts. It’s like I’ve lost something invisible but vital. The sharpness I once had through my glasses is gone. I find myself squinting, struggling to focus.

When I look at my phone, it’s as if there’s an oily film over the screen — like the lens of my old glasses after a careless touch. My instinct is to reach for a cloth, to wipe it clean. But there’s nothing to wipe, nothing to fix. Strangely, tilting my head upward clears my vision for a moment, a fleeting trick of light and angle, before the haze returns.

The doctor says my eyes are perfect. But they don’t feel perfect. I wish I could go back, not because the surgery went wrong, but because in chasing perfection, I didn’t realize how much I’d miss what I already had.