Lasik Eye surgury and martial arts

[eXcessiveForce]

Has anyone had Lasik eye surgury and still training with high contact sparring or weapons?

reason I'm wondering is I just got one eye done. They screwed it up but it's done. Hopefully they get it fixed but who knows.

I have been told that there is a increased risk of eye damage from a blow to the eye afterwards.

Now, being a good martial artist, I try never to get hit in the head and never to block with my face I realize the probability of me getting injured is quite low, but was wondering if anyone here had had any problems.

I figure Lasik was safer than wearing glasses if something actually went down on the "street"

Anybody have any opinions, or experience?

Thanks

[Stefan]

Hi,

I have the same question actually. I've had Radial Keratotomy (RK)10 years ago, a procedure that is now gradually being replaced by LASIK I'm told. It involved having scratches applied to the cornea.
The thing is that it seems to weaken the cornea. I've recently taken up JKD, but I've heard that you're more at risk for a ruptured cornea when having had RK and receiving a blow to the head. So this really has got me thinking. According to the research I've done on the Internet LASIK is safer than RK because the incisions are not as deep as with RK.
You can look it all up using key words "lasik sports" or "radial keratotomy sports".
I don't know if protective eyewear is useful, but it could be an option. In any case, be careful, although I think that sports like soccer or basketball put you more at risk due to uncontrolled movements by the opponents.

cheers

[ryanhall]

I never got Lasik, but a guy I know had it done and is having some potentially serious problems. Doctors have evidently told him that the retinae may detach if he's hit in the head solidly. Even vigorously shaking the head has a risk of damage--too bad for all those punk-rocking forumites.

[Stefan]

Originally posted by ryanhall
I never got Lasik, but a guy I know had it done and is having some potentially serious problems. Doctors have evidently told him that the retinae may detach if he's hit in the head solidly. Even vigorously shaking the head has a risk of damage--too bad for all those punk-rocking forumites.

A blow to the head, OK, but just by shaking the head??? Did they f*ck up the operation or what?

[ryanhall]

They did

[eXcessiveForce]

Detatched retinas can happen to any highly nearsighted person.
It does not have to be heavy contact related.

[Stefan]

Originally posted by eXcessiveForce
Detatched retinas can happen to any highly nearsighted person.
It does not have to be heavy contact related.

Is this true? I thought it was the operation itself that weakens the cornea, not the nearsightedness.
There are some cases listed on the Internet: one person accidently got an elbow blow on the bus, one by having a cricket ball in the eye and one who got involved in a fight. So most accidents actually happen in daily living. You can read the whole story on http://jrs.slackinc.com/vol151/panda.pdf.
However, Full Contact Martial Arts are considered a high risk activity. I assume they mean sparring and the like are best avoided.