LASIK sugery in Japan

[Mikawa Ossan]

Both my father and elder brother have had LASIK surgery done on their eyes, and they haven't had any problems. (Incidentally, my father had it done in America and my brother in Belgium.) When I visited America recently, I got to start thinking seriously about this procedure, but realistically, I'll have to do it here in Japan if I do go through with the operation.

So my question to you is whether you know anyone who has experience with LASIK surgery in Japan? What do they think? How much did it cost? Etc., etc.

 

[KirinMan]

Did you ever by chance see this site?


Sorry wrong site, I'll have to check it again, sorry about that.

 

[Ewok85]

Theres a few different types of laser surgery available, maybe see which ones exist, which one is good for you, go for some consultations and get some prices

There is also "natural" non-surgery methods to restoring eyesight, which don't get much attention as they take time and are "cheap", meaning noone makes megabucks

 

[xFumiko]

My mom got it done too. She had bad eyesight before and it just made her sight better not perfect [1000 -> 300]. So it works. I think you should do LASIK in America-- it might be more money in japan. Not sure.

My mom got it done for about $3000 USD

I wear night contacts. It is about $300USD. You wear them while sleeping and in the morning take them off and you have perfect vision for a day or more depending on your eyes.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

So it looks like it will cost me anywhere between 200,000 and 400,000 yen to get the surgery done, and I'm certain there would be other costs involved as well.

Getting it done in America is certainly an option, although I'm weary of the long flight back to Japan post-surgery, as it takes some time for your eyes to completely heal. My other idea was to get it done in Taiwan, because the flight wouldn't be nearly as long and I have relations there.

I haven't ruled out contacts, and if I decide to rule out surgery for the foreseeable future, I definately will try them out. Thanks!

 

[Arctic]

Personally I would avoid surgery if possible. I know here in the united states we have pretty good surgeons and such but, anywhere you have it done I would strongly suggest doing your homework. Another user mentioned alternatives to surgery.. which isn't a bad idea. I mean if your eyes are horrible.. and you have exhausted every possible resource and lasik is your last shot by all means go ahead.

However, if you still have pretty good eyesight.. I would really recommend just going with contacts or playin video games.(I have read playing intense first person shooter games tends to improve your eyesight because you are focusing on finding things.. using your eyes alot.. so the increased need tends to improve your eyesight.) Grantd take that with a grain of salt but, it makes sense to me.. People adapt.. we adapt based on our needs..

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

I have thought about getting contacts, but my astigmatism is pretty bad, so apparently I might have problems after I blink until my contact returns to the correct place. At least that's what the eye doctor said.

 

[Pepe]

My girlfriends mum knows the top Lasik surgeon in Italy (eldest son of her next door neighbour!). It is worth looking into as the costs for lasik vary incredibly depending on nation. I know that in Germany it is no less than €2000 if not more. I believe it costs around €1400-1600 in Italy. You can get it done for half that in Poland, but chances are that you will loose your eye-sight to an infection shortly after!
Point is, when it comes to such an expensive elective surgery, it pays to shop around and see what it would cost in other countries (you could always combine it with a holiday )

 

[toc123]

Ever since my sister had her eyes done a few years back I wanted to have the operation. so I found the following site and had the operation for 250,000 yen back in March. Although the procedure itself was weird, apart from alight blurring at night(lasts for the first few months apparently) I can see perfectly kobeclinic.com/english/

(However 1 in 5 people can't have the op because their cornea isn't thick enough)

 

[Pepe]

My guest mum in the States (I was an AFS exchange student a decade ago - damn you time for flying so fast!) had it done, she was 75 at the time of the operation - she had be diagnosed with cataracts, so the doctor suggested that as they had to operate on her eyes anyway that she may as well have Lasik done too. Now she can see better than most of her grandkids, and only needs glasses for reading.

 

[Goldiegirl]

If you have a really bad astigmatism, you should make sure to have the surface of your eyes mapped. I wanted lasik because I have such severe astigmatism in both eyes that contacts never worked properly and always moved around. Well, I found out that many of us with severe cases of astigmatism can't have lasik because we have an eye disease keratoconus (KC), it's a thinning of the cornea that causes a cone (or a bow) usually on the bottom of your cornea because of gravity. That is why many astigmatic people have trouble with contacts. I would make positively sure that you have thick enough corneas to have the procedure done. If done and you have KC you will get a quick fix but will end up worse than before and will need a corneal transplant. There ARE contacts that will work for astigmatism, and KC, you have to find the right Doctor and lense fitter. Anyway, I would only have surgery in the US. Also, with insurance, they may not cover any costs once you return to the US if you have problems. AND the most important, many people have to go back and have "touch up" procedures to get the best result. Mine would have been covered for 2 years, but if you have it done in Japan/Taiwan and in 6 months need a correction can you afford to fly back, take time off work etc????

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Hmmm, I'll have to look into getting my eyes mapped just in case! I have never heard of that before, but it makes sense to me.

Since I live in Japan, insurance isn't really an issue whether I go to America or have it done here: either way, it's not covered. But if I should need a touch up surgery, it would be much easier to get it done here than America.

If it's true that a touch up surgery is often necessary, then I guess I'll be getting it done here in Japan if my eyes can handle it. Unfortunately, it seems like this, like a good number of other things may be pushed back due to fiscal restraints. (My car is starting to make noises, and I am thinking of getting a new one this winter.)

 

[Pepe]

...(My car is starting to make noises, and I am thinking of getting a new one this winter.)

Two words: Insurance fraud. Then buy a scooter and use the left-over money to subsidise your operation. Problems (pural) solved.

 

[bluegene]

Lasik

Ok, interesting.
i had been thinking about this operation from quite a long time, while in japan i collected information about a dozen of clinics and finally selected shinagawa clinic. for me i am more interested in the experienec of the doctor rather perice. anywayz...in 178,000 yen and more than 10 thousand operations experience was not a bad choice. i went last week for their intial checkup that was comprehensive 3 hours. at the end they asked me a date to pick, and i chose a day later for operation. now it is a post operative week, and my eyez are recovering greatly, for the first day i could not see much, as the lights were very blur and i have a lot of glare in my eyez due to post operative medicines. in the morninig i went back for postoperational check up...that was great 2.0 in both eyes, better than normal. After one week, i still have glare problem and doctors syas it will stay for a month or so, as eye is reshaping and it is perfectly normal. overall i am quite satisfied with the results and procedure at shinagawa. though 178,000 yen is a bit expensive. anyways, in few months i m leaving japan, i have discount ticikets for shinagawa, if anybody wants send me an email at bluegene25[at]yahoo[dot]com, i will post them. i am not using these tickets so better somebody get discount on them. ..cheers and best luck for your treatment.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

What type of procedure is that for, exactly? Does it involve cutting the cornea with a laser or a blade to create the flap?

I might be mistaken, but I think the procedure which creates the flap with a laser is called "Intra-lasic", but it seems to have better results than the other type.

 

[bluegene]

the procedure was to improve the visual acuity in both eyes by burning some of the tissue to fix the focal power of the eye. with me, the flap removal was with a laser, blade method is replaced by laser but still doctors argue on the perfect method. in my openion laser is better than blade, less errors involve.

 

[tigermilk]

Just stay away from this place (saw this at another site)

50 patients are suing Ginza Ganka (窶ｹﾃ｢ﾂ催?ﾅ?ﾃ｡窶ｰﾃ? for poor hygiene which they claim led to serious eye infections following LASIK eye surgery treatments. They are seeking 133 million yen in damages. Some of those suing are also claiming the clinic is guilty of ﾂ渉敘?Qﾂ催 which translates as "inflicting bodily harm". LASIK, a procedure to correct short-sightedness, is common these days but clinic director Tomoo Mizoguchi is accused of failing to sterilize his surgical instruments properly and not responding when the first signs of problems became apparent. Most of the cases involve cornea infections and ulcers but four patients apparently required cornea transplants.