My husband and I had LASIK a little over two months ago. We had a top surgeon in our area and the procedure went well, but we have mixed feelings about it. Our price included lifelong touch-ups and a year of free exams. Never heard of the tear duct thing.
For some people, the recovery period is negligible, but we both had trouble with various things, including dry eye, halos at night, and light sensitivity, the last of which was sometimes extreme, like painful to drive even in sunglasses extreme. That has all mostly faded, thank goodness. One of my eyes settled slightly worse than the other; I'm going in to see what can be done about that eye in a week or so.
Most side effects improve with time, which they tell you up front, but they make it seem like 'time' means a few days or a couple weeks. Nope. You may have to wait months, maybe even a year, for full recovery. It's also very disconcerting how side effects can come and go and come back again; that's part of the recovery process. And yes, some people regret it or have to wear glasses later, though my father-in-law had it done decades ago and his eyes are still perfect. As with many medical things, YMMV, and life is a gamble.
All that said ... I'm very glad I did it. I wore the leave-in-overnight monthly contacts and did fine with that, but in the last couple years my eyes had started to be more sensitive and I had to take the contacts out at night more often. It got annoying. I hate glasses, have never felt comfortable in them, and was so happy to throw them away (donate them)! Like someone above mentioned, it's absolute bliss to wake up in the middle of the night and be able to see. And I no longer have to take contacts/case/cleaner and glasses/case when I travel!
One tip: you'll spend more money on eye drops than you think, at least for the first couple months, because there are different formulas on the market, and you may have to try a few before you find one that your eyes like.
Weigh the pros and cons, understand the possible recovery timeline, and be aware of the risks. Then go for it if you want! Good luck :)