Does Lasik eye surgery improve shooting with iron sights?

[t.r.]

I've been debating with myself about getting Lasik performed.

- my 55 year old eyeballs have disappointed me for sometime

- my distance shooting has been affected

I'd appreciate any input from someone who has experienced Lasik surgery.

Thank you.

TR

[Old Ironsights]

Dunno about Irons, but it was the only thing that allowed me to use optics.

Lasik doesn't fix problems with needing Readers though since that is a "tissue flexibility" issue dictated by age rather than an "eye shape" issue that can be corrected optically.

So my guess is, probably not since using Irons is somewhat dependent on eye-flexibility in the same way Reading is.

[SJPrice]

Nope, it will not only not improve your iron sight use, it may hurt it. Sometimes the correction of distance eyesight with lasiks will increase the need for reading glasses. Therefore your vision for iron sights will be a little more blurred. Not always but something to discuss with your eye surgeon.

[MajorCordite]

I read an article the other day written by a fellow who was an expert marksman as well as an MD.( I'll see if I can link to it) And it was his opinion that Lasik surgery does NOT assist those who participate in rifle target shooting sports with iron sights. His article was rather technical in nature but it was rather interesting about what to expect after surgery. He also mentioned the side effects of light gathering and reflection problems through the cornea. Something about a halo effect. He recommended finding an eye doctor who specializes in building glasses for shooting. You can have glasses built for a specific rifle and a different pair made for handguns. There are several devices out there you can mount on your lens to improve depth perception.

[MrMurphy]

I had Lasik in 2001 after 15 years of nearsightedness. I was still young. As you get older the need for reading glasses won't go away. If you're using aperatures, i think it wouldn't hurt as you're not focusing on the rear aperature but the front sight and target (even 10 years later i'm still doing fine on that).

Shot expert with every weapon in the USAF arsenal i tried with using irons and an Aimpoint in the M4's case, it wasn't an issue with me. For older guys though that may change since you'll be having farsightedness issues as well. Talk to the docs.

[OJ]

Nope, it will not only not improve your iron sight use, it may hurt it. Sometimes the correction of distance eyesight with lasiks will increase the need for reading glasses. Therefore your vision for iron sights will be a little more blurred. Not always but something to discuss with your eye surgeon.

I second the above. I have patients who have had Lasik procedures and would note the following -

It is expensive and good results are available with corrective lenses (contact and/or eye glasses) much less expensive and can easily be changed if not satisfactory in end results.

Results are permanent and, if not giving the promised end result, there is no way to change that bad result - and a bad result can be catastrophic.

It's probably a good idea to take with a large grain of salt patients who claim to have gotten excellent results - in my experience, many are very reluctant to admit they made a mistake having Lasik and claim great results - but may give a different story next year.

[Catshooter]

Define 'iron sights'. I had Lasik done in 2001. My old man vision (needing readers) did indeed get worse. Not huge, but it was noticeable. My vision was 240/20, so my glasses were quite thick. For three and half, four months I also had a fairly pronouned 'halo' or 'blooming' effect. That's where when you look at something like a street light you see a halo. Gone after four months.

I found that irons on my pistols were a little fuzzy, but my shooting was much improved.

The rear sight on a rifle though was and still is pretty much unusable.

However, a peep sight on my rifles work very well, so I went to them for all my rifles and my shooting was very improved, even with peeps before Lasik.

So overall, my shooting was very improved with Lasik. And I'd do it again in the blink of an eye.


Cat

[Old Ironsights]

I had mine done in 2007.

I went from wearing glasses over a -7.5 contact in my right eye (only) to not wearing glasses for 2 years.

My anisometropia was so bad that using multi-stage optics was essentially impossible, and cutting full prescription lenses was a nightmare (thus wearing contacts under glasses).

However, because I had surgically corrected strabismus and my left eye is amblyopic with an iris coloboma, I was HIGHLY reluctant to get refractive surgery done even though my anisometropia caused me unending migraines.

But once "blade free" "Intralase" Lasik became available, and after consulting with Dr. Price at Price Vision in Indianapolis as well as Chicago Corneal Consultants I decided to go ahead with zapping my right eye. Unlike with Microkeratome/"blade" Lasik, with Intralase my eye healed almost immediately. I could see immediately and I required no further consults to check healing when they checked only a week after the surgery.

Best $3500 I ever spent. Period.

I now have spectacle OD Rx of +1.75 instead of nearly -10 (My OS has never changed from -1.25...). Nothing but Lasik was ever going to make that kind of difference.

Is it for everyone? No. Do I suggest getting Lasik done anywhere but at a "Five Star" Hospital (Mine was done at Rush Medical Ctr in Chicago) No. Especially not at one of the Bargain Storefront operations. You get what you pay for.

But when the economy collapses and nobody is making contacts or grinding lenses any more I will at least be able to see.

Virtual Blindness ain't fun.

[O.S.O.K.]

I have no information as to the affects of lasik... but I can tell you that it scares the stuff out of me and I wouldn't do it unless I had to to restore vision from being blind or something.

You know, they slice the cornea and peel it back and then laser underneath and then put the flap back down... eeeyaahhh.

[MajorCordite]

* Deleted *

[SFRanger7GP]

When I was still in the army, it was offered to everyone in my unit and we had priority for the procedure. Several of my guys had it and loved it. A couple of them had "fire starters" before and they didn't need any corrective lenses after the surgery. I told the Gp surgeon I wanted it and he sent me over for the pre-op right then. The Dr told me "let me have a quick look and we can do the procedure tomorrow morning". He did a quick look, said "uh-oh" and went for another Dr to look at my eyes. The second Dr told the first he was right. Then they told me there is no procedure to correct "old eyes". hahaha! They told me they could correct the need for glasses at a distance but I would always need readers. Needless to say, I didn't do it.

[Old Ironsights]

...You know, they slice the cornea and peel it back and then laser underneath and then put the flap back down... eeeyaahhh.

That's why I went the Intralase route.

No slicing. It's all done by laser. NOTHING but light (and a small suction-cup) touches your cornea.

[crs]

Lasic worked for me some years ago and then when cataracts became a problem, cataract surgery worked for me too. I can use open iron sights, but have always preferred aperture sights of one type or another(receiver, tang, replacement for rear barrel sight, etc.). naturally scopes have their place in my arsenal also.

From what I hear, you should use the most experienced lasic eye surgeon possible - anything less than 2000 - 3000 operations is to be avoided. In Dallas, I suggest Dr. Booth. ALWAYS check out the surgeon B 4 having it done - one of my friends did not, and when the doctor with only a few hundred operations under his belt said "oops" during the operation, that eye had to be done over by a Dallas eye surgeon after several months of healing. It is elective surgery, so you have to time to shop around and check references. One of my bird hunting buddies is a retired eye surgeon and much of the above has been confirmed with him.

[Sixgun]

tr,
I'm a year older than you. 99% of my shooting is with open/tang/receiver sights. The front sights started growing more and more "fuzz" on 'em. This is what I did and it straightened out the problem.

Using last years glasses, I had the optometrist grind me a new lens in these glasses for my left eye. (my dominate eye ) There's three prescriptions on this lens. Bottom bi-focal is for reading---middle is for distance and the top one is for shooting. This top one has 1/2 the power of the bottom/reading bifocal.

The sights are razor sharp and the target is slightly blured---Works for me Cost me $140

[El Chivo]

Lasik is normally just sharpens your distance vision, which eliminates your need for distance glasses. This might actually increase your need for reading glasses, and make your iron sights blurrier.

One area where glasses do a poor job is with anisometropia (where each eye needs a different correction). You get two images of different sizes and the brain has trouble putting them together. So zapping only one eye to even them up is a good use of Lasik.

Look, you're going to want to wear protective lenses anyway, why not put a little correction in them and forget the Lasik?

[KirkD]

Sixgun's solution is the best I've seen. Second best is to buy a sheet of stick-on dots, punch a tiny hole in the middle of the dot with a 1/16" punch, then stick the dot on your normal glasses lens ...... Portable peep sight. I use this method for testing the accuracy of different loads (with iron sights). Probably someday I'll get myself a pair of glasses like Sixgun's.

[El Chivo]

I forgot to mention, beware of doctors that say they will correct for both far and near vision with Lasik. They want to fulfill the expectation of never needing glasses again, so they do some things you won't want but won't find out about until it's too late.

One strategy is to correct one eye for near and one for far. Essentially making you anisometropic. You're now monocular, just switching between the two eyes. It's been done with contact lenses for a long time, called monovision. First you lose depth perception. Then if they've done your shooting eye for near instead of far, you'll be out of luck. Also, the degree of difference you need between near and far changes with age. Every five years you'll need to have your near eye "touched up". How many times can one cornea be zapped?

Another thing they try is to reshape the bottom of your cornea differently than the top, so when you look down you have the near correction and when you look up you have the far. However you will have blurriness when you walk and look down. Your best bet is to have them correct nicely for distance and then use reading glasses for near. And pinholes for shooting.

[guido4198]

..."Then they told me there is no procedure to correct "old eyes". hahaha! They told me they could correct the need for glasses at a distance but I would always need readers. Needless to say, I didn't do it."

LIKE HE SAID.
Unless you have a REALLY unusual eye condition going on that desparately needs help. Re-read sixgun's post about optician options to address the aging eye problem. If'n you wanna cut and grind on something to shoot better....let it be LENSES ( you're wearing shooting glasses anyhow right...??) not your eyeballs.

[Old Ironsights]

..."Then they told me there is no procedure to correct "old eyes". hahaha! They told me they could correct the need for glasses at a distance but I would always need readers. Needless to say, I didn't do it."

LIKE HE SAID.
Unless you have a REALLY unusual eye condition going on that desparately needs help. Re-read sixgun's post about optician options to address the aging eye problem. If'n you wanna cut and grind on something to shoot better....let it be LENSES ( you're wearing shooting glasses anyhow right...??) not your eyeballs.

Yep That's where I was. The Docs told me I would still eventually need readers. I said "So? I've worn bifocals since I was 18."

They said they probably couldn't do enough with the laser to get my eye to 20/20. I said "So? Take off as many diopters as you safely can. I've worn glasses my whole life, but I'm tired of wearing one cokebottle and one window pane."

So I signed a bunch of waivers and they did me good. They were actually able to 100% correct the power of my strong Rx, non-ambliopic eye. At this point, that eye has gone just a touch Farsighted (from near-blind nearsighted).

If there were/are any negative aspects to it I haven't been able to notice any.

But my success is also largely based on my understanding and acceptance of the limitations of the surgery. I wasn't expecting Perfection and a "glasses free life", just a significant improvement in my comfort/ability to wear "normal" bifocals.

I'm happy with it.

[Old Time Hunter]

I have decided to grow my arms longer...maybe that will help. Any peep sight seems to work fine for me..yet. The buckhorns I am struggling with, more of a guestimate than accute pinpoint vision. Buy my reading glasses at a dollar store, up to +1.5 now.