I recognize that it is not a conservative option, but I had LASIK surgery performed back in early 2006, and I have been quite happy with the results.

My decision to ditch my glasses and contacts was precipitated by two events:

1) On September 11, 2001, I was in the World Trade Center. In the ensuing confusion, I lost my eyeglasses, most likely when I hit the deck to crawl under a car when I realized pieces of a building were coming down around me and I was not going to outrun them. Good times.

Luckily, my prescription was not particularly strong, and I was able to see well enough to walk hoome and retrieve an older pair of glasses, kept as emergency spares. However, it was troubling to be so reliant on such a fragile piece of equipment.

2) Sometime in the summer of 2005 I went for a 60+ mile bike ride at high speed on my road bike (up rt 9w towards Nyack from Manhattan, for those who are curious). Despite wearing some high dollar, cycling specific sunglasses to cut the wind, the contact lense I was wearing was completely plastered to one of my eyes. I had to soak my whole eye in a cup of saline solution for 20 minutes to get the lense out - if that hadn't worked, it was off to the ER for me. Again, it struck me that the equipment I needed to maintain my vision was somewhat precarious, given the activities I loved to do. (not to mention how annoying it was when my glasses fogged up while hiking, and how impossible it was to keep contacts clean on backpacking trips)

LASIK surgery was absolutely terrifying. And expensive - I did not go with a low-cost provider, nor would I recommend doing so. Find the best doctor, regardless of cost. However, I now have uncorrected 20/15 vision in both eyes, which is pretty cool.

I'm happy to write more about my LASIK experience, if anyone is interested. And I still wear high-quality safety glasses whenever I engage in an activity the poses even the slightest risk to my eyes.