To ask where did you get laser eye surgery done ?

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*Sorry not an aibu but cant find a suitable topic - if anyone knows where best to place please let me know and I will ask for it to be moved.

Where did you get your laser eye surgery ? Was it successful ? Was there any complications ? How soon do you get the benefits ? (Straught away, few weeks ? )

I really want it done but have such a huge fear i could go blind however I know that the surgery is fairly common place these days. I have been looking at a couple of companies, and there seems to be a huge price difference between the two but I know just because it's expensive doesn't mean it is necessarily the best.

Optimax 13 years ago.

I went with them because in the eye check stage I got to meet the surgeon who'd be doing the surgery, whereas with Ultralase I just met a random optician. The surgeon had done 6,000+ laser eye surgeries.

I was -8 or worse in both eyes. I've had 20/20 ever since. My eyes were very very sensitive for the first 8 hours then were fine.

I do need glasses now for reading but I am 50 so to be expected. I have a dry patch in one eye and I get a bit of starbursts around lights at night. I'd say my low-light vision isn't as good as it was but it's hard to tell.

No idea how much it cost - I did pay for all the extras quite happily. It was worth every penny.

My husband had his done at London Vision Clinic on Harley St a week before Christmas. Couldn't recommend them more. He was -6 and -4.5 i.e. fairly blind, but has worn contacts for years with no issues. His was about £6.5k because of his prescription, it's £5.5 for most people. His care has been exceptional, and the technology they used (SMILE I think?) is like LASIK but instead of creating a flap they use a keyhole technique which allows for quicker healing. The surgeon doing it created and patented the technology so if you're nervous and can stretch to afford it, you might feel most comfortable there. He had 20/20 vision and went back to work the next day.

I went with my surgeon because he was one of the main specialists in the country at one if the top eye hospitals. He wore glasses as the time, but has since had his own eyes done.

The more operations a surgeon has done, the lower the chance of complications, though risks can't be eliminated entirely. I think 10000 ops was a good indicator. Cataract operations are similar, so they can gain experience that way, too.

I had mine done about 8 years ago (3k) and, at 61, wear glasses for reading now. My biggest issue is struggling to see at night. Really struggle with the glare from oncoming traffic & I tend not to drive at night unless I really know where I'm going. My optometrist said that be was offered free laser surgery but turned it down, as did his colleagues, because of the documented problems with night glare. Might be different now though.

Night glare ? Oh I hadn't heard of this issue, good to know so I can ask. Its something i struggle with with night driving. I hate it.

In regards to surgeons and how many surgeries they've done, do you just ask, or can you search somewhere online?

10 years post surgery. Hold your breath and concentrate on staring at the light. It's a horrible experience but not painful and it lasts 3 minutes or so. The results are absolutely worth it to be rid of glasses. Optimax have been doing it the longest. My mum was one of the first to get it done in UK and they had improved alot by time I got mine. She still sees fine though. They explain things in great detail.

This is my first and only prescription but i‘m struggling.

If I found laser it away i would

I am booked on with Optimax for 24th January- they are local to me. They give you the surgeons name so you can research them and also their statistics of the surgery on people the same age with the similar prescription. You have to initial so many things that could happen but going blind was not one of them so I don't think you need to worry about that, they only touch the top two layers of the eye not the bottom three.

Optimax charge a set amount for surgery, I am paying £3.5k.

Totally life changing here too.

Every shadow when I was swimming or snorkelling in the sea, before laser treatment was in my mind “a shark” coming for me - whereas now it’s opened up a whole new active world.

Driving at night much improved also, no halo light effects.

Maybe try doing some Facebook searches on laser eye surgery....and targeted advertising might mean you get some new year special offers appearing - from your shortlisted companies of choice?

The optometrist was offered FREE surgery and turned it down???
Surely that speaks volumes!!

I had mine done with optical express around 9 years ago when I was 24. I've been wearing glasses full time for the last 3 years now. My sister had hers done shortly after me and she needs glasses again too.

Oh and night time driving is a nightmare, everyones lights seem like they're on full beam and lights have halos round them

Optical express 15 years ago. Was -10 in both eyes. Has gone back to -.75 in my left eye but that’s it.

My husband had his done at Bristol Eye Hospital.

@levkosia is that due to having to wear glasses again ? Or an effect of the surgery ?

@lefkosia

The halo thing has been ever since I had the surgery and it never got any better. Ironically it's more manageable now because I have anti glare thing on my glasses lens

I thought about having mine done too but DH works in the medical field and knows a lot of different surgeons, etc. He said that those that he knows that perform laser eye surgery all wear glasses so that says enough for me! I have terrible eyesight, I'm -6 in both eyes, but it was enough to put me off.

Laser eye surgery works best when your prescription has settled down, I had 20/20 vision right up until my early 20’s, then it slowly started to deteriorate levelling off as in my prescription never really changed from my late 30’s onwards. I’d just turned 40 when I had mine done and 10 years on there hasn’t been any further deterioration for short sightedness, I do need reading glasses, my aunt has just had lens replacement surgery in her late 60’s, she had the start of a cataract, lens replacement can correct both short and long vision, when or if I was older looking to get my vision corrected I would be investigating the lens replacement rather than laser surgery.

That's interesting about opticians not getting it done. Really makes you think 🤔

I had mine done 20 years ago, and I don't have problems with nightglare (I have just driven home on the M4, lots of headlights.) I think modern car bulbs are a lot brighter than a couple of decades ago, though. Others I know have had issues with haloing and glare, but it's not guaranteed.

The £599 price is basically if your an airline pilot with pretty much perfect vision and need a tweek to get it perfect perfect
Most will quote you 1200 - 1500 per eye
Go and get a a free consultation
They will bug you forever with interest free loans and cheaper prices

I went to 3 places optimax vision express and ultralase and had consultations with all of them
Prices varied from 2 -4K
I’m a cheap skate so went for the cheapest which was optimax but I like the fact that they were local and had been in the same location for years
The other two were quite hard sell

Optical express 15years age. I am only 36 but needed reading glasses from a couple of years ago sadly. I was extremely short sighted and had 20/20 vision for about 12 years.

I might look into getting it done again!

London Vision Clink, last year, 4.5k, best decision I ever made. Still paying for it through finance