Anyone had laser eye treatment?

[WaxOnFeckOff]

DS1 (19) currently considering it and had an assessment and been deemed suitable. Because of his prescription etc he's been quoted £5.5k. It's a lot of money but potentially life changing.

What's your view/experience if you've had it done?

I had laser eye surgery 14 years ago and my sight is still perfect. I had standard short sight, though, not like your son.

I'd also second getting an opinion privately from Moorfields or similar.

One thing I would point out, though, is over the long-term, contact lenses tend to do more damage to eyes than laser ever will. The risk of eye infections, dry eyes etc increases with contacts.

I had about six months or so of dry-ish eyes after the surgery. Other than that, no side effects at all.

I recently went to the local university eye clinic to get new glasses, because I have time and they need guinea pigs patients. I was talking to one of the senior staff about laser surgery as DD is thinking about having it. She said (1) to get it done by someone who's really an expert, not on the high street and (2) get it done as soon as she could (DD's 28) to get maximum benefit before her close vision goes at 45-ish. She was very clear that DD should go for someone who's an NHS consultant but does private work on the side, rather than a high street chain.

I have a name she recommended in Leeds. If anyone wants it, PM me. For London, she said go with someone who's a consultant at Moorfields.

I was asking about advances in ophthalmology - she says the ultimate goal is to be able to remove a defective lens and replace it with an artificial one, hooked up to the muscles of the eye and able to respond just like a human lens but with no defects. Apparently we're a long way off that.

BTW, if anyone else has time to spare and is close to a university with an ophthalmology department, I really do recommend that you get an eye test there. It takes quite a while but you're helping the next generation of opticians and you'll get a really thorough eye exam, supervised and checked by senior staff.

There you go then OP. Id recommend that he visits an independent optom and trials some daily spherical lenses. There will be a lot less complications, they are cleaner and healthier and far more comfortable to wear.

@Arnoldthecat It's fluffygal, just finally got round to name changing!
Reporting back as promised after my laser eye surgery yesterday. So my experience with Optimax so far- there was 5 of us in at the same time, they call you in one by one, first to chat to the surgeon, then the receptionist who discussed the eye drops you are given, then finally called in for surgery. Was there around 3 hours but left as soon as surgery was finished.

In the actual surgery I almost fainted due to the pressure they put on your eye before the laser. I do have low blood pressure though. I couldn't see a thing when they do that part! The laser part was fine, you can smell the burning but I quite liked that smell . No pain with that.

The worst part was as soon as I got home. I had a headache, felt sick if I even moved slightly and my eyes were really hurting. I couldn't open my eyes they hurt too bad, and when I did open them they streamed with water. I couldn't get comfortable, and couldn't breathe properly, think I may have had a slight panic attack too but this eventually passed after a couple of hours in the dark. Managed to get out of bed but had severe light sensitivity, couldn't watch the TV even with sunglasses on.

Today is much better, no pain, light sensitivity has eased. I have had my check up and I have almost 20/20 vision already, they say it can take a while but I seem to have been fixed straight away.

So many drops to use though and having to do anti-inflammatory drops every hour instead of 4 times a day due to swelling.