LASIK Experience: New York City Doctors
June 19, 2006 | Updated: September 5, 2006
Here are my experiences with free LASIK consultations in NYC:
Diamond Vision: First free consultation I went to. The offices were clean and nice and there were a lot of patients waiting in the lobby. The exam felt a bit rushed and the guy didn’t explain certain things well and also had trouble answering some of my questions. Their advertised $399 per eye ballooned to almost $5000 for both eyes. I didn’t really feel good about the place when I left. My instincts were validated when I saw this segment on CBS News.
Kelly Laser Center (James Kelly): The office was smaller than I thought it would be, but very quiet and clean. What marketing folks would call a “boutique” operation. The guy that examined me was very good and answered my questions well, although his answers about LASEK and Epi-LASIK didn’t seem make sense to me. He said that they tried Epi-LASIK and then went back to PRK because it didn’t really yield better results because the epithelial flap would die. It seemed like he was talking about LASEK where the alcohol kills the epithelial flap. Also, they used an LADARVision laser instead of the VISX Star S4.
Mandel Vision (Eric Mandel): The office was medium sized with a lot of assistants. This place was very organized and professional, and the examination was by far the best out of all the ones I went to. Mandel personally finished the examination and answers questions. He was a bit of a showsman, but his answers were generally very good. He said the same thing about PRK vs Epi-LASIK, but again, it seemed like he was talking about LASEK and the answer was a bit weak.
New York Eye Specialists (Ken Moadel): Reminded me of Diamond Vision but dirtier and grungier. Lots of patients and they also had the $399 per eye ads and celebrity endorsements. Why was I even there? I gave up after waiting in the lobby for a half an hour past my appointment time.
IWANT2020 (Emil Chynn): The staff members were disorganized. They had me down for a different time than the one I was scheduled, causing a long wait. The layout of the office was poor. Also, the examination was nowhere near as good as the one given by Mandel’s staff. However, the doctor gave me what seemed like very good, honest (almost blunt) answers. I got a chance to watch someone else get their surgery done. I would recommend this for everyone; it allows you to see the whole process and exactly what’s involved. Hopefully, I’ll also be a better patient because I know what to expect.
In the end, I went with Dr. Chynn for 3 reasons: his track record and background, his blunt, honest answers, and the fact that he was the only experienced doctor who was doing Epi-LASIK (which I decided to go with). His administrative staff is terrible, though. If Mandel had offered Epi-LASIK, I probably would have gone with him. FYI, everyone quoted me a price between $4400 and $4700.
Update: Gotham Lasik/Vision and Pamel Vision & Laser Group might be worth checking out. They use the Allegretto Wave, a new laser system designed from scratch to maximize the benefits of custom correction. It seems promising, with peak performance on par with the VISX S4, but with better general performance and a wider optical cone (for better night vision). However, the guy who runs the clinical trials for the Allegretto Wave is also a paid consultant for the company. Potentially a problem, but still, it’s worth a look.
Entry Filed under: New York City, LASIK
17 Comments Add your own
1. kat szumski | July 4, 2006 at 4:56 am
Hello there, i am really interested in getting my eye sight fixed and I was wondering if you have ever heard of the Axis Eye Institute. This place does not use blades but advertise themselves as flapless eye surgery. The website is www.goflapless.com. My consultation is wed the 12 of july. Never did they mention moisturizing my eyes. Anyways please tell me what you think. thank you. Kat
2. Andy Cho | July 5, 2006 at 3:33 pm
I read their website and it doesn’t inspire confidence. First, they throw out a lot of fancy acronyms and buzzwords, but basically what they’re performing is LASEK.
“In ASA, we give our laser access to corneal tissue, not by cutting a flap, but removing just the thin upper layer of the cornea known as the ‘epithelium.’ A weak alcohol solution is used to gently float the epithelium off the cornea. We then correct your vision using our laser and replace the epithelium, drastically reducing both complications and healing time.”
Using alcohol solution to remove the epithelium is not as good as using mechanical removal (epi-lasik) because you kill the epithelial cells. Also, they don’t use the VISX S4, which is generally acknowledged as the best laser out there right now.
However, this doesn’t mean that they’re automatically a bad choice. Nothing beats actually going for a consultation. Read all the materials you can on the internet (like all the articles on http://www.usaeyes.org and http://www.allaboutvision.com/) and go in with a lot of questions. The staff should be professional and detail-oriented and the doctor should make you feel comfortable. If not, keep looking. Good luck.
3. Debbie Genin | February 10, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I am debating on having my surgery done by either Dr. Eric Mandel or Dr. Eric Donnenfeld. Mandel told me right away that I can get LASIK but Donnenfeld’s office suggested PRK. After re-testing, now I am told by both I can do LASIK. I don’t know who to go with. I’ve heard good things about both. Any suggestions?
4. Andy Cho | February 15, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Sorry Debbie, I don’t know anything about Donnenfield, so you’ll have to go with your instincts. However, you might want to spend some time thinking about PRK vs LASIK. Like I mentioned above, PRK is more of a hassle the first 3 weeks post operation, but it’s better over the long term.
5. Laurie | February 16, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Hi Andy,
I decided to have Epi-lasik done with Dr. Chynn. How is your vision now? Are you happy with your results? Overall, were you happy with him? I have my surgery scheduled for April 5th. Thanks!
6. Irene | March 1, 2007 at 10:35 pm
My son is told he is not a candidate for Lasik. He’s 21 with thin corneal tissue so his only option is PRK. I’m now reading about Epi-Lasik. Is that better than, equal to, or worse than PRK and what is the difference? He needs to get on the FDNY and will fail without the surgery. I went to the TLC center for consultation. Thanks
7. Andy Cho | March 2, 2007 at 2:23 am
Epi-Lasik is supposed to be more comfortable and have a slightly quicker healing time than PRK. Basically, instead of removing the epithelial layer and discarding it (PRK), Epi-Lasik leaves that layer on the eye while it heals. Analogy: when you get a blister and the top layer of the skin comes off, you can either cut off the flap or cover the wound to make the healing process a little quicker and more comfortable.
8. Myung Kim | July 22, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Hi Andy,
I just got my Epi-Lasik done on July 11th by one of the best doctors in Korea while I was visiting there. The doctor performed surgery on over 3000 patients and is quite well known. She had state of art equipment and great staff members. After surgery, she examined three times and told me that healing is going very well. Then I came back to the States.
She said the operation went very nicely and I would expect almost perfect vision in about 2 weeks and will continue to improve over the following 3 months. My experience was that on 7th day post op, my vision got clearly better and became almost perfect in the morning hours. But as time goes by during the day, my vision deteriorates. Starting at about 9th day post op, vision actually got worse than the 7th day and seems to stay about the same until now (11th day post op). I was wondering if this type of healing process is normal or not. I have quite a bit of blurry vision, cannot see small letters, and nearsightedness is still there although it is much better vision compared to that prior to the surgery. When were you able to achieve corrected vision and how was your healing process in vision?
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Myung
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12. Dana | December 2, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Hi Andy,
I am also checking out various doctors for lasik surgery. I recently went to Dr. Mandel’s office and had a wonderful experience, except they gave me a price of $6400, but with a holiday discount it would be $5400. In your blog about your experiences with doctors in NYC you said all your consultations resulted in price quotes of 4400-4700, did that include Mandel’s office?! I would like to get the best doctor with the best price.
Thanks
13. OptimusPrime | December 14, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Thanks Andy for the review. I am going through the same process right now. I am typical candidate for LASIK with no issues of thin corneas/large pupils. A couple of thoughts:
* Gotham - Definitely a must see. Dr Bonanni is very hands on and the office is clean/well organized.
He uses the Allegretto exclusively.
* Mahattan Lasik Center (dba several names) - Medical Director is Kevin Niksarli. Definitely a high-volume operation, sales guy Thai is straight from the used car lot. They will not commit to a specific laser for the procedure only to say it will be “wavefront guided” which narrows the field to 3 possible excimer lasers. Price is very good, $3000 for both eyes using Intralase.
*Mandel - I got the same pricing as quoted above. These guys are by far the most thorough of the group.
Whatever they used to dialate me is still keeping me blurry 18 hours later (although they warned me that it can be up to 24).
Still trying to decide if I should pay $2000 more for bedside manner.
14. Ching | January 23, 2008 at 10:31 pm
I’m still in the process of deciding between Lasek and Lasik. I went up to Emil Chynn’s office and am skeptical about it. First of, they kept insisting on getting my insurance card which didn’t make sense to me since they are not going to charge anything to my insurance for free consultation (or any other things as a matter of fact). Second, beware of all the videos or testimonials about this place since they give you discounts on your operation if you are posting up your surgery videos and write them good reviews. They are also very persistence about being out of contact lenses and use artificial tears prior to the free consultation. However, when I told them that I didn’t want anything done on me during the consultation (basically only checking my eyes prescription) and I had been wearing contact lenses, they told me that it didn’t matter! They will try to get your business at all cost!
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16. John Smythe | March 12, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Not sure if Andy is replying to this blog anymore, but I didn’t get an idea of what Andy’s prescription was? It would be interesting to know what prescription resulted in the quotes Andy got.
I am considering Intralase Lasik.
17. Josh Levine | March 20, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Hi Andy,
I got my lasik surgery from Gotham Lasik last month with their Allegretto(not sure of the spelling) laser because it is suppose to be the best for night vision and not causing any of the blurry issues thay I heard about from this person I work with. Dr. Bonnani was completely hands no, no pressure, and very professional. I went to him because somebody in my office went to him last year and swore by him. Also because somebody else in my office went for one of those cheap advertised laser surgery prices either Manhattan Lasik or SeeLasik or Mandelvision I don’t remembeer right now which one and it doesn’t matter because I was going to go to them after she said that she can’t see well at night when she’s driving. She gets these halos which would drive me crazy. Anyway I am not saying Dr. Bonanni and Gotham Lasik is the only good place to get your lasik eye surgery but I know there are a lot of people having ti done at other places and having a lot of problems and I don’t know of any other places to recommend but I guess that is the point of this site, that other people will recommend who they have had a good experience with too.
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