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Lasik vision correction & motorcycling

Lasik for 12 years and happy!

Hi Piper Jim,

I'm in the field, and had my lasik correction done in 1998.

A true outdoorsman and spotter on a large sailing vessel, I was worried about halos and night time anomolies, but, thankfully, I've had none.

Under a helmet, with glasses on, one can experience a bit of tunnel vision, and I don't anymore with my surgery.

It's nice not having to worry about perspiration or a frame, gouging you at the temple, or on the nose bridge anymore, and my Scorpion EXO 1000 helmet has
a flip down visor, and therefore, no more fumbling with insertin of sunglasses thru an opening in a FF helmet.

I have to say that I don't think Monovision is the way to go. I would have to agree that stereopsis of having infinite vision, in both eyes is a necessity for one to remain an acomplished rider. Judging the distance to that curve in the road, or that small blemish in the highway, or obstacle, can mean the difference between a successful or unsuccessful turn, and continuing of your riding enjoyment.

Most of my best judgements, at 60, 70, or 80 mph are made at closing distances of 300+ yards, and safe execution of your machine, under these circumstances is hallmark.

Without the advent of stereo vision, you would be compromising yourself, your fellow riders, or your 2 up gal!

As far as working your controls, we do this mostly in the dark already. Memorizing your signals, your releases, horn, and even the sound of your engine, all make you a skilled and proficient rider, and often don't need those visual cues to keep your bike on track, and out of harms way.

If your corneas can handle some of the newest toric lenses for astigmatism, then, I suggest you give that a try for any astigmatic necessity.

As far as running your electronics, stick to the basics, and turn the voice up on your Garmin, or your Tomtom, and listen for the turns coming up, so you don't lose your way. Leave the cell phone in your shirt pocket, and pick up the messages later, after you feel the thing vibrate.

Anyway, don't give up the binocularity, it will prove to be your greatest adversary in the long run.

Good Luck and Ride Safe,

Jim

(Emicon; that is my R/C J-3 on Floats)
 
My wife is an eye surgeon, but I haven't had refractive surgery done, because I don't want to have to bother with reading glasses.

If, eventually, I need cataract surgery, I can opt for multifocal lens implants which will give me good distance and reading vision.

I currently use Ray - Bans with progressive lenses, under a flip helmet, for riding. This combination works well.
 
Lasik and motorcycling

Thanks folks!!! It's very insightful to learn of your experiences and opinions. This is one of those decisions that is pretty much irreversible, so not to be entered into lightly.

I appreciate the replies and will consider them thoroughly, along with a bit of soul-searching, to come up with a decision.

Thanks again, great to get such great input on my question!!

piperjim
 
+1 on the surgery

I had both mine done in 97. No regrets at all. No more expensive glasses or sunglasses. One thing it does not do is reverse the ageing process. So if you were going to need reading glasses anyway that may not change, but i would make the same decision again today
 
Very please with LASIK, even with minor complications.

I had LASIK done on both eyes in November of 1997. I'm 98% happy with it. That small 2% is due to the flap not healing absolutely smoothly in one of my eyes. When that happens you develop a very slight astigmatism and shadowing. I rarely notice it. Its called "artificial astigmatism" and it can't be corrected.

For me, it tends to crop up in two circumstances. One, is in darkened rooms looking at fine and bright images. The best example is watching a sporting event on TV and trying to read the score in fairly small font on the top or bottom of the screen. Sometimes, not always, that can be difficult to read because of the shadowing.

The other time I notice it is reading very fine printing at some distance. I play in a symphony orchestra and I need the music quite a bit closer to me than I did with glasses. Its not a big deal, but it can be a problem if you have a stand partner (two players per stand) who also needs the music close. Have you ever watched a symphony and seen how far the bass players tend to be from their music? There's no way I could read that.

The artificial astigmatism also made me fail my drivers' license vision test. In Texas you look into a little box and are asked to read fine font in a bright light, just like looking at scores on a TV screen. Its the exact kind of conditions affected by my artificial astigmatism. I see angles that aren't there. An "O" "C", or a "D" appear to have weird angles making them look polygon-ish, and all the letters had thick shadows. The test is really not applicable to driving, as I have no issues with reading signs, etc... I got a special state produced form filled out by my optometrist that overrides the failed test. It was no big deal, really. I was at my optometrist for a regular appointment and expressed my concern. He said I was fine for driving, whipped out the one page forum, and told me it would override the test if I failed. Worked like a charm. The form is designed for that very purpose: when the official test isn't adequate for actually testing how you see in driving conditions. My bet is that every state has something similar.

That said, I'd get LASIK done again in a heartbeat, even with the slight artificial astigmatism that I have. My vision was so bad that I was literally attached to my glasses for all purposes. My diopters were over -8 in each eye, and I had terrible astigmatism. For me, LASIK was truly life changing.

BTW, my wife had LASIK done seven or eight years ago, and her vision is perfect with no complications.
 
Wavefront custom lasik?

Anyone ever had "custom" lasik? This is where they use the "wavefront" laser to sculpt the front of your eye instead of doing the flap thing. I've heard it is better with less problems than conventional lasik. I went in for a consultation but haven't decided on what to do. I'm fortunate enough I can see without glasses if necessary and could even drive in an emergency. My problem is I have terribly asigmatic eyes. Due to this I've always been forced to wear hard contacts or glasses. Lasik sounds like a great option but I'm leary of a mishap. I'm also concerned about loosing my very keen near vision.

As for the monocular vision thing I see that way nomally. I had strabismus surgery in both eyes when I was a kid (yeah, I was goofy looking before that) and as a result was I can't cross my eyes. The other side effect is I nearly always switch hit my eyes. If one contact gets fuzzy I find myself unconsciously switching to the other. I suppose this would be how monocular vision would be if it was done right.
 
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