Anyone had laser eye surgery? I'm terrified!

[ThePerturbedPenguin]

So as the title says, I'm looking into getting laser eye surgery as I am totally fed up with contact lenses and I've heard of so many people who have had it done and never looked back.

However, I am also totally terrified of something going wrong and so am doing lots of research about where to get it done and things to watch out for.

So far it looks like hospital-based providers get the best reviews and seem like a good way to go, especially Moorfields. I'm based in London so this would be a good option for me.

I'm sure others have had good experiences but I'd like to stay away from high street clinics like Optical Express etc.

Can anyone share their experiences or give any advice please?

Thank you!

My experience of the surgery was similar to @oopslateagain.

I have since needed to wear contacts/glasses again but I think that's because I was very young when I had the surgery, I was 22, and by 26 I was wearing contact lenses again. My eyesight would be a lot worse now though had I not had it: my current prescription is -2.00 so not too bad. I don't regret it but it was a lot of money for only four years without glasses to be followed by monthly lenses cost.

@DieCryHate was your eyesight prescription stable for a year or more before the surgery?

@ThePerturbedPenguin yes it was.

I had mine done at 23, prescription had been stable two years at that point. Was -3.5 and -4.5. That was nearly 14 years ago and never had a problem - even before the drops wore off I could tell the time on the clock across the room which I certainly couldn't have done beforehand!

I went with Optical Express and was very happy with them.

I had it done about a year ago through optical express and it was amazing, best money I've spent in my life. Procedure took less than 5 minutes for both eyes, and was not painful at all. Afterwards yes it was very very painful, I brought a friend along as right after your eyes are so painful and sensitive you wont want to open them, so my friend helped me with taxi and train etc, however after the check the next day I was driving and watching tv, had to wear sunglasses outside at all times for a week, then 6 week check all was fine and still is today. I used Optical Express, went to their Harley Street London clinic

I had mine done over 20 years ago and am happy with it. A couple of caveats:

1. Research carefully first because you only get one pair of eyes! I asked my GP and a friend who was an optician and they both said that if they needed it done they'd go to the man who did mine.
2. When you get to your mid-40s your lenses start to become less flexible and won't thicken enough for close vision. This happens to everyone at some age. You will need glasses for close vision then, but they'll be simple magnifiers (Costco's are good quality and very reasonably priced).

My eyes ached a bit for about 24 hours afterwards but my vision improved to the stage that I drove to the theatre the following evening. I do have a little "starring" at night with bright lights, but I had that with contact lenses too so I'm not sure how much is the surgery and how much is just what it is.

My astigmatism and close vision have deteriorated now almost to the point at which I need varifocal lenses, but I've had over 20 years of being able to see in the shower, swimming pool and across the room when I woke up, also not squinting when I walked round a corner into the wind (contact lens wearers will know what I mean; grit in the eyes is so much more painful with contact lenses). I've had 15 years of needing simple magnifiers for close work, but I do quite a lot of sewing and reading so someone else might need less.

If I had the choice again I'd probably look into orthokeratology but surgery was a good choice for me at the time.

I’ve got an initial consultation appointment for next week!! Arghhhh.

@ThePeturnedPenguin - I think it was all just on the website, or maybe explained at consultation - I went on his website to see and these were the prices (they all seem to be based at Moorfields so perhaps that's the only place he does it now) : wimpoleeyeclinic.com/procedures/prices/

@liviadrusilla great, thank you. The consultation I’ve booked is with him, actually. I thought I’d rather pay a bit more and get one of the top specialists! The appointment is at his practice on Wimpole st rather than at Moorfields

Sorry, also @liviadrusilla , what was your prescription when you had the surgery and is it still 20/20? How long ago was that?

Please please OP, talk to a good quality optician about Ortho K lenses before you decide on surgery. There are no side effects to the lenses, they're easy to use, you can be glasses-free for years yet and then have the surgery later on if you still want to. Better to keep as much of your eye intact as possible for as long as possible. Eyes are so precious.

I had it done in 2014, vision was better than 20/20 - I actually haven't had an eye test since the aftercare finished but haven't noticed any deterioration yet - I still see brilliantly. I was really lucky with my healing - some halos around lights at night at first but that went away within a few weeks or months. I can't remember my exact prescription anymore but it was something like -3 I think... I had my consultation at his private clinic and treatment at Moorfields. I was really nervous about the actual operation so I asked for a valium which calmed me down and I think helped me go to sleep after the operation so I missed the pain window.

For those who had no problems with long sightedness (and found it better removing glasses/contacts to do close up things like needlework), did you find that your long sightedness was therefore less clear after surgery? My optician said it would affect this.

My surgeon explained that if you have extreme near or far sightedness, then it's possible that your eyesight will continue to deteriorate throughout your life (i.e. your prescription will get stronger, just very slowly) and you might need more surgery or glasses after a long time - about ten years I think he said. I can still see perfectly well for all practical things, and I don't actually need glasses for driving according to my optician, I just prefer to wear them so everything is crystal clear.

David Gartry did my lasek (couldn’t have laser) when I was 28 - my younger siblings had theirs done first and my mum spent hours and hours researching and decided it was Gartry or no one. I had -11 sight in both eyes. That was 8 years ago and I still don’t need contacts or glasses. I think one eye has just dropped off 20/20 vision, but it’s changed my life. It took over a week to recover, as lasek is longer recovery, but not a day goes by where I am not so thankful I did it!

Dh was as blind as a bat and couldn’t Eve get to the loo without his glasses.

Laser surgery changed his life.

From the second he came out of surgery he had 20/20 vision.

I have asked my optician about Ortho K lenses but she advised against. Thanks though

@oopslateagain what did they define as extreme? Mine is about -6.00 Which I think is pretty bad but obviously nowhere near as bad as -11

@ThePeturnedPenguin
I know this thread is over a year old but I'm now considering laser eye surgery and wondered if you went ahead with it and whether it was worth it, changed your life etc. I'd love to know that it exceeded your expectations.