Big C

I am thinking about having my eyes sorted by laser surgery.
Seems to be pretty cheap (£500 an eye), whenn offset against the cost of a lifetime of lenses and frames.

Does anyone have any first hand experience of the issues around it (does it hurt like hell? will I see after a week? Will it work or will I need several iterations? should I get one eye done at a time? etc..)

Any advice much appreciated. (black glasses looked out already!)

C

Herts T555 Bird

Dont know if this is any help, but ive got mate who had laser surgery on both his eyes as he was fed up with wearing glasses but was blind as a bat without them. He had surgery about a year ago, he said it didnt hurt and he was in hospital for a couple of days. Im not sure about the seeing straight away or the returning for any treatments after, but he said he'd recommend it to anyone. He's now at the last stage of becoming a fireman, which of course he could have done without the surgery.

Dunno if its any help, but thought id pass on the little bits i knew about his surgery.

LeighJ

Big C,

My Dad had his done a year, was in and out same day. He couldn't see properly for a few days, couldn't drive a night for a few weeks. His sight got gradually better each day and took about 4 weeks. He had no pain at all. Used drops every day for about 2 months. His sight perfect. I have to wear glasses/contacts and want to have mine done, but I'm leaving it for a few more years. My Dad is 50 and he was told to expect to have to wear reading glassess later on in life.

Brit_in_Japan

Make sure you do your research first. The link will take you to an authorative site which talks about the different types of laser surgery and also possible complications which can arise as a result.
Eyecare Information Service
Not trying to scare you off, just go into it with your eyes open, so to speak

At the foot of the page are a number of questions you should ask any clininc/surgeon before you committ to any procedure. Choosing a clinic based solely on their fees is not a good idea, you can't put a price on your eyesight !

Good luck.

Editted to add: On web page select "Information" on left, "Eye Treatments" option, then choose "Excimer Laser (LASIK)" from the pick list.

ajm

Do they do one eye at a time just in case anything goes wrong?

MattW

A friend of mine had one eye done a couple of years ago, cos he could n't afford two. He wears glasses still, but one is a fairly thin lense, the other is like the bottom of a milk bottle

Pete Croney

My wife had it done two years ago because wearing glasses was giving her headaches. Took a coupe of hours and I collected her after it was done. This was the Friday.

On Monday morning she was back at work.

She now has far better sight than mine (I thought mine was perfect) and she never gets headaches.

She had the LASIC treatment where they take open your eye. This allows the burnt particles to escape (the burning smell was the worst bit, she said) but you heal very quickly.

Dapster

Whomever you go to, make sure that they have had loads of experience - the organisation and the surgeon in question. Don't feel like you can't ask - you wouldn't send your Carrera GT to the bloke round the corner for major work, and neither should you trust your eyes to anyone but the best.

A word of warning. My ex girlfriend is a laser eye surgeon and she is short sighted and still wears glasses. The Consultant at Moorfields (a professor and world authority) wears glasses. My fathers mate who is a professor in laser eye surgery in the USA wears glasses.

The procedure itself is not dangerous (taking into account the natural risk of surgery) - rather it is the technology itself that is so young that no one can say that you will NEVER have any after effects as you grow older.

My doctor mates tell me that they would wait at least 5 years, as then the oldest patients will be at a stage to prove for sure whether it is a long term solution or not.

PaulT00

I've been wearing glasses since I was 7, and contacts on and off since I was 22. I've got a prescription which is -5 in one eye and -4 in the other, so I discussed laser surgery with my optometrist. Bear in mind that I've dealt with a number of optometrists over the years, and almost without exception those that needed visual correction wore glasses... not even contacts, just boring old-fashioned lumps of glass in a frame.

Her considered opinion was that it probably wouldn't be a good idea for me. The reason being that with glasses I can read the bottom line on the chart, with contacts I can read the one above that, but after laser surgery the best she would expect me to be able to read unaided is the third line from the bottom - the one which is "20/20". And it could even be the one above that. So for me, laser surgery would probably result in a permanent reduction in the sharpness of my vision, albeit I need to wear glasses or contacts to get that sharpness in the first place. But I'm used to being able to see that clearly and so it would make everything permanently "fuzzy".

Needless to say I'm not thinking about laser surgery any more. Just something to think about which they probably don't tell you when you walk in the clinic flashing a couple of grand in used twenties...

Mice_Elf

Had LASIK surgery last November. Most nerve wracking bit is the first instance that I lay in the chair!

Each eye took 45 seconds, didn't hurt at all and probably the worst bit was wearing the plastic eye shields at night for 7 days. I could see almost perfectly the moment I sat up after having it done, although it was very very mildly blurry. Had to wear the eye shields home - you obviously can't drive and could see normally the next day. Still have very slight night vision issues - headlamps have an aura around them, otherwise nothing else.

At the moment I have absolutely perfect vision, slightly better than 20/20 according to the surgeon and absolutely no issues at all.

I went to the Optimax Clinic in Birmingham - and would thoroughly recommend them. In fact, if you want me to recommend you, I think you get £25 off!

LASIK surgery is where they cut a flap on the eye, which they fold back in order to do the surgery. You can go home 20 minutes after the surgery, drive after 48 hours and just have to put eyedrops in for the next 10 days. You have to be careful not to rub your eye within the first week or so, can't fly / scuba dive or do contact sports for about a year and should avoid knocks to the head, as it can knock out the flap.

LASEK is where they cut a flap OFF the eye, do the surgery and then replace the flap. Heal time is about 2 weeks and there is more chance of problems as there is nothing connecting the flap to the eye and it is held in via suction.

HTH.

paulr

My sister had it done last year.

Basically she was a scardycat so decided to have it done one eye at a time.TBH the pain was far worse than she expected and she was in agony for a few days afterwards.However it seems that one eye is good enough,so she has left it at that.

My bro also had it done,both eyes,no pain and best thing he ever did.

uksti

http://www.accuvision.co.uk/

Went with them as they had the latest technology in the UK so it cost a bit more than 500 quid an eye.

They did mine about 18 months ago. It's like a bit of grit in your eye for a few hours and they watered a lot that night. Otherwise all OK. Vision was blurred on the day but came back very quickly to full sharpness. Night vision takes a bit longer.

Mice_Elf

"agony for a few days ", "bit of grit"!!? My word - I went with Optimax in Birmingham and there was absolutely no pain, no discomfort - nothing! Surgery was completely painless and no problems whatsoever afterwards.

Mine were about £795 per eye with this clinic, but judging by some people here, you obviously pay for quality, as I would thoroughly recommend Optimax. No pain / discomfort AT ALL during or after the surgery.

uksti

To clarify the "grit" issue. When I blinked I could feel "something there" for a few hours. The stock description is "like when you get a foreign body under your contact lense". That's over doing it a bit and as the eyes are on drops I didn't find it particularly distressing. Have to admit I did down two industrial size aspirin and a bottle of red wine that night but then I'm easily led

I'd do it again.

hades

I take it the avoid flying / contact sports for a year is common to all the variations?

Have to admit to being very tempted with the surgery myself (mildly astigmatic, normally only wear glasses for driving etc, but would like to be a bit sharper vision "normally"). I just don't like the concept that a simple knock to the head at any time within the next year could knacker it, and not being able to fly or play sports for a year seems a bigger P.I.T.A. than the operation sounds.

Ale555

My mother and my aunt did it and thy´re VERY happy.
They had a pressure after the operation for about a day and thats all.

andypugh2000

This kind of **** scares me, what if in a few years everyone who has had this done gets told that the surgery has made their eyes worse for later on in life than no surgery would have done, eyes change internally, you only have one set of eyes and to mess with them like this is not natural, lets not forget that we were told by the experts that this that and the other was good for you only to be told different later on, myself i will be sticking to my glasses as i can then choose what i wana see

Big C

Hi all,
Thanks for your considered and thoughful replies.
Having thought about it a little more at the weekend, and asked around a bit more, it seems I still have some thinking to do.

The technique/variant I am thinking about is Epi-Lasek, which seems to be a more advanced and gentler method than the ones outlined above.
A real concern for me is flying and sports. I fly every week with work, and like most sports (from a kickabout to parachuting). It concerns me that this procedure would have to hamper my life, whereas if I continue wearing glasses, although it is a PITA, I have no real disruption.
I agree now, the money aspect is unimportant based on the fact that you cannot put a price on your continued eyesight (as through a family member losing the sight in one eye recently I am acutely aware).
I'm going to leave the thought processing in background for a while and see what spits out.

Cheers,
C

Spoon

Ummmmm tricky one this as my mate went to one of the Optimax franchised outlets where apparently you can do it yourself.

Another friend of his drove him there in case he needed a lift back.

He said the moment he started there was an awful smell and his eyes burnt like fúck. He also managed to get his whole head and shoulders soaked in the process.

He said the staff in the shop seemed friendly because they ran out and waved at them as they left the forecourt in his friends car.

The burning pain and the smell stayed with him until he thought he'd have a ciggie to try and relieve it a little.

Unfortunately the original burning pain was now substituted by another more real burning pain, the smell was now a hair/flesh burning smell as apposed to what he described was originally a fuel type smell.

It's been 2 months now and he still has no hair but his face burns have healed well.

He is also resigned to the fact he'll still need to wear glasses and wouldn't want to try that route again.

So remember, check out the place you visit thoroughly before you commit to it.

brickboy

So by how much does Optimax improve your eyesight? And is it better than BP Ultimate?

LOL @ Spoon

Big C

Funnily enough (or not as the case actually is), I was looking to find an petrol station with Optimax and tried optimax.co.uk instead of shell.co.uk.
~Anyway, stated reading about eyes, not petrol, and thought that it sounded OK.
anyway,
I hear that Sainsburys SUL restores vision to 20/20 and that the optimax and BP can't be trusted as they leave nasty residues around the cornea and can induce knocking of the eyeball whilst focussing harder than normal.

C

T.J

Anyone on here had epi-lasek ? Apparently used for mild eyesight (less than -3.5) problems but is more painful. Optimax (the eye surgery lot) are doing it for £395 per eye + £60 consultation. I'm going for the consulattion with an option to have it done the same day but the list of complications mentioned on the disclaimer would put most peple off..well if the could read the smal print!


TJ

Mice_Elf

TJ - if you have the choice, I'd go for the Epi-LASIK, which has a vastly reduced healing time. LASEK has more issues associated with it, as the flap is cut from the eye completely, whereas LASIK leaves a bit attached.

LASIK was (for me) not painful at all. Couldn't feel anything during the op or afterwards.

It's now been 8 months since I had mine done and my eyesight is crystal clear - my night vision "auras" have gone and I can wake up and see the clock!

Eye surgery does not mean that you'll never wear glasses - it simply "resets" your eyes so as you get older, you will need glasses the same as anyone else, potentially.

mike1210

Do your eyes have to steady? i.e. wearing same strength glasses for 2 years or so. or can you just walk straight in if you know your eyes are getting far worse

Mice_Elf

Your eyes have to have remained at a constant prescription for the last year at least. If your prescription is contantly changing, surgery will correct your vision only for as long as it takes to change, so would be a waste of money.

Big C

I had forgotten all about this!

i decided in the end not to go for it, as the consultant couldn't convince me of the quality of the procedure (they mentioned something about 95% at the time).
I got in to a bit of a debate about the fact that in my line of work, if we only managed to get things right 95% of the ime, there would be a hell of a lot of planes falling out of the sky!
Long story short, I'm going to wait for the procedure to become a bit more tried and tested I think.

C

T.J

Cheers mice, My eyesight has been stable for 10 years 'ish so any successful treatment will not need fixing later..other than the largely inevitable reading glasses.

BIGC: I think the risk is less if you can have the epi-lasik (according to the optimax website) but as said above youv'e only got one pair of eyes.

I did look at this about five years ago but decided to wait until the procedure improved...it seems to have improved and got cheaper. I'm now going as far as the consultation so will probably defer and pluck up courage in another five years to have it done.

TJ

foamy

I got the Optimax brochure through the post this morning.

I'm incrediby tempted to get Epi-lasek but I've also been reading about UltralasekPlus from Ultralase.

Has anyone used Ultralase?

I found a good forum last week on this subject which contained a huge amount of information. I'll try and find the link.

T.J

Foamy,

Ultralese have been going for about five years and appear a much bigger company than Optimax based on turnover. Optimax have been around since the 80's. Ultra prices seem high by comparison but they have more options.

StickyMicky

im tempted for this as ive been wearing contacts for a few years now, the money ive spent so far on lenses would have easy payed for the laser treatment

but ive just read about cutting flaps and stuff and got a bit worried lol

where is this flap cut from??