LASIK: Rays Of Hope?

When I first heard about the development and approval of the early LASIK style treatments in the 90s I was pretty much ecstatic. I had been hoping all along that maybe some day some awesome new SciFi technology would become available that could rid humans of the need to stick cumbersome things in their face other than cool sunglasses or piercings. However it was pretty clear from the start that destroying tissue in the eye with a laser is a pretty drastic procedure to subject yourself to. It seemed like the best choice to wait a few years and see how the whole thing would pan out. In the meantime I started to read people's posts about their LASIK experiences on the web and researched the subject as in-depth as I could.
What I found wasn't exactly encouraging. The technology was new and seemed kind of crude. Some people were happy with the results but those whose eyes got messed up ended up in very special kind of living hell. I made myself read all the really horrifying stories of people who will spend the rest of their lives with quadruple or quintuple vision, whose eyes went completely dry post-surgery and are now irritated 24/7/365 and those who are no longer able to do anything at night because of severe optical effects interfering with their night vision. While a few of the LASIK critical websites resemble nothing quite as much as your average paranoid conspiracy theorist endless ALLCAPS rant page I have to admit I can absolutely understand the hysterics. The thought alone of having your vision ruined for good is absolutely terrifying.
So waiting for improvements and long-term studies was definitely the right choice I think.