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Had LASIK about five years ago. Mixed feelings. Still somewhat glad I did it, though I wear glasses with .5 prescription in both eyes to make sure vision is perfect and to filter polarize the light, etc.

If you're a programmer or staring at a screen, I learned recently that you blink something like 1/5 as much as normal. This in turn causes eye dryness and potential irritation.

So for a while I thought that LASIK had something to do with it, in my estimation, it contributes some to it -- but being a programmer is always going to require being careful with your eyes (giving them rest, doing activities where you naturally blink more, etc.).

If they tell you that your pupils are near the limit (if they're too big, then LASIK -- because it only shaves the top portion of your lens -- won't cover things completely when your pupils dilate -- e.g., at night).

So I've been happy for the running that I can do now. But it's not perfect and I wear glasses when I work.



I'm now in my 40's and I no longer wear contacts because the long hours staring at a screen caused too much dryness.

Other than taking lots of breaks, what else can be done to reduce dryness?


I put a warm, damp washcloth over my eyes twice a day. It helps with the bags under my eyes as well.

(The reason it works is that the heat increases the viscosity of the tears).


I had the same problem when I started wearing contacts a few years ago. Drops helped but were obviously inconvenient. Eventually I got so worked up over the problem that I became extremely aware of even mild dryness and very bothered by it, and I started blinking more often. Problem solved and hasn't bothered me since.

So... perhaps this is dangerous advice... but you could try becoming hypersensitive and obsessed about dryness.


I had lasik in my late 40s and , while I had great medium and long range vision results, I could not see thing 3 feet in front of me - including a computer monitor. Now I have to carry glasses everywhere I go to read a newspaper, smart phone, labels and so on. If you're 40 or over be careful or you might trade one problem for another...




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