To even consider laser eye surgery?...

[MissGruffalo]

A few years back I only needed my specs for watching tv. Cut to today and I need them for most tasks. Not as short sighted as some but I definitely wouldn’t leave the house without wearing my glasses.
And I hate it.

I’m very squeamish when it comes to putting things in my eyes so I’ve never tried contacts (even though my optician says I have the perfect prescription for it!)

Has anyone had laser eye surgery? Would you recommend it?

I remember reading a few stories a couple of years ago about it going wrong and it’s always stuck with me so I’ve never considered it before. But now I’m so fed up of having to wear glasses.

Any advice?

Excuse any typos, I’ve had a couple of and it’s got me pondering!

I should've said- I'm 10 years down the line having had it done.

I had mine with Optical Express (Shaftesbury Avenue) too. My second surgery to correct the weak vision left over from the first surgery was free. Plus I had a years worth of free aftercare.

@tangofandango where did you have yours done?

This is fascinating, as I’ve often considered laser eye surgery but not gone for it. I’m 40, with shortsightedness of -3.5 and astigmatism. My prescription has been stable for years. Does anyone know whether age 40 with a stable prescription is a good time to have it done? Also, those people who said they were advised that they were not suitable for it - are any of you in the southeast, and if so, which clinic/doctor did you go to, please?

Rollerbird I had it done at Optegra Solent, Fareham.

Abcd3

Don't know if it helps but my eye sight has got better the older I have got.

Was 5.5 and now 3.75 so I have an improvement of 1.75 over the years.

I wear glasses for driving and TV. The latter only because the screen is just that bit more defined. Most of the time I don't wear them if I am on the computer/phone or reading.

The problem I see is if you are short sighted you will get better as you age to the point where if you do more close work then you would still need glasses for the majority of the time if you had the treatment whereas if you don't then you just walk around without glasses most of the time.

Thought about it long and hard as had the option of treatment about 10 years ago and decided against.

Fwiw my prescription sunglasses and glasses cost under £25 for both from an online optician

Thing is there is a difference between an ophthalmic Surgeon and refractive
surgeons (usually cornea specialist) so I wouldn’t even ask the advice of any ophthalmologist

Over 50 I would go with refractive lens exchange

Following as I've heard many good stories and can afford it, however I joined a fb group "horror lasik stories" or something and got put off.

I know it's a first world problem but glasses are so bloody annoying! They are uncomfortable, fall off during exercise (I push them back up my nose about 500 x per workout), they get knocked off and scratched, fog up, sometimes I can't find them. Once I was at work and realised I forgot them (I had worn my prescription sunnies - had to wear them all day in the office like a weirdo).

But obviously that's far preferable to being in pain or unable to read.

I really want mine done.
I'm 52
Got astigmatism and approx - 8 both eyes.
Have varifocal glasses.
My prescription did change within the 2 years between tests recently though so unsure if I should wait.
I'm NW but prepared to go to London if Moorfields is the best?

Rollerbird

In the NW, Manchester Eye Hospital is probably a good place to start.

Mr Brahma, mentioned in the first testimonial, did my lens replacement surgery 15+ years ago - he’s had a lot of practice

www.theeyehospital.co.uk/

Rollerbird there's an Optegra eye hospital in Didsbury Manchester. I can't recommend the company highly enough. I had refractive lens replacement at the age of 56. It still amazes me that I can wake up in the morning and actually see where everything is.

I had mine done about 20 years ago at Moorfields - they're still good. At 47, I'm just starting to need reading glasses, but they always told me that would be the case.

I had them done so I could do things like cycle in the rain without having to decide between blotchy and steamed up or just blurry. I remember the first day I swam in the sea after they'd been done, and I could see my bag on the beach and all the way from Needles to Old Harry Rocks. It was amazing!

I looked into all the possible known side effects and had them done at Moorfields because they do research there and have some of the top surgeons. There's a correlation between the number of operations of this type a surgeon has done and the risk of side-effects. Also, you didn't have to be a surgeon, but how you qualify to be able to do the surgery may have changed since mine were done.

I had an initial consultation - they could have said at that point I wasn't suitable (obviously they didn't.) I had them done a month apart, in case of side effects - losing one eye was better than two, I reckoned. I had no side effects.

I don't regret it, but there are risks with anything and I made sure I was informed before deciding to go ahead.

Does anyone know what the risks are for refractive lens replacement? I wonder whether that’s a safer (though presumably much more expensive) option?

I had lasek 12 years ago. Perfect vision, was just retested last month & still 20/20. Don't need reading glasses at 48. I was very shortsighted with astigmatism. I agree with pp - don't go to high st clinic, go to proper consultant in a hospital.