Help needed re: LASER EYE TREATMENT

[ZipadiSoozi]

Anybody had Laser eye treatment, if so any tips, I'm thinking seriously about it, have sent off for lots of info from top 5 companies.

My questions would be:

How Much?
Is aftercare free, and for how long?
Is it painful?
How long does it take?
How long before you see results?
Any lasting side-effects?

Good idea or Bad????????

had it done almost 10 years ago
had it done at moorfields eye hospital in london
cost about £3500 (more expensive than most places but imo the guy that did it is the best person)
didn't hurt
takes about 30-45 mins
could read teletaxt (shows how long ago!) that afternoon - had it done early morning,
i have had no side effects thought it was brilliant

you have eyedrops for about 2 weeks after, these are a bit of a pest but not too much, cant remember about follow up appts, think it was included in the price

NANCY - Wow, can you still see ok, because I heard it only lasts 5 - 10 years

no my eyes are still fine, i have never heard that it only lasts a certain amount of time.
one thing that you do need to be aware of is if you are short sighted and would have needed reading glasses as you get older, you will still need them, it doesnt stop old age(mores the pity!) so i guess when that happens i will just get reading ones instead of needing bi focals.
from my own point of view i can't recomend it enough, i was very short sighted - think couldn't see to find my glasses in the morning, and my vision 1 week after was perfect.

congrats!!!!!!

and thank you.

For 1 -v- Against 0

I will need reading glasses still, but thats a small price to pay for normal seeing vision.

I'm 48 shortsighted -3.75 and longsighted +2.00

mixed views on this one

i worked in optics for 10 years. its still a relatively new surgery so not much is known about the long term.

nancy youve been lucky - lots of people i know how have had it have had some change in prescription since, and so have ended up in glasses again!

and yes - presbyopia (when you need reading glasses) is a progressive change that happens after the age of 40 - there is no stopping it. even with laser surgery it will still happen. it is the muscle at the back of the eye which begins to harden with age.

i really think it depends on the surgeon that does the procedure. some have more experience than others. id ask who is going to do it and what their individual success rate is.
hth!

Had it done 10 years ago

Think it was about £3000 - all aftercare included, (free consultations, wetting drops, repeat eye test) Aftercare is generally one year but some places do it for longer.

I found the hooking open of my eyes quite uncomfortable and certainly disconcerting. Lots of people have a valium (this can be prescribed as part of the treatment) beforehand.

It took about 15 minutes, five minutes each eye and five minutes faffing about. I was in there two hours though because they have to draw on your eyeballs first and also you then have to wait while your eyes recover before you go out into the light.

Results were immediate for me, I could see all the way through the surgery (irksome), then as soon as I was in the recovery room I started reading the leaflets The next morning my sight was perfect (but I still hunted for my glasses anyway!)

Took me four solid weeks of wetting drops before my eyes stopped feeling a bit gritty and red.

I would say now, my eyesight it starting to deteriorate. And I'll get them checked next year and see how much. But I would doubt it's very severe - I may just be tired.

I was -4.75 and -3.75 before and 20/20 afterwards.

if you search this i know there are lots of other threads on it (i'm on a few) i was short sighted -7 i think, but it also depends if you have astigmatism? - not sure what that is tbh but i dont know if they can do the surgery if you have it!

astigmatism is when your eyeball is not completely spherical - more like a rugby ball than a foot ball, so you need correction in two meridians rather than just one.

it depends on the prescription as to whether they can do laser - but so do loads of other things. they will assess your cornea for thickness and lots of other tests first.

i would still say it depends on the surgeon who does the procedure as to how good it is. ask for the INDIVIDUAL success rate or your surgeon. if you go to the big chains it is pot luck.

oh....and it CAN go wrong. so look into everything first!

ive seen a two patients where its gone wrong, and they ended up with worse prescriptions than they started out with.

agree with vacarinatutu re where you have it done, i wasnot happy with the person that i saw that worked for one of the chains, which is why i chose the surgeon that did mine, he is in an eye hospital, rather than an opticians.

VIAT - thank you for your honesty, good or bad experiences welcome!

WhomovedMYchocolate congrats your treatment also lasted 10 years, this is very encouraging! (so far)

If you want to see it been done

Phillip Schofield is having it done next Friday and is havingit filmed for THIS MORNING on ITV1

He had the pre-tests today and it took 5 hours

VIAT - Thanks I will ask for success rate of ACTUAL surgeon, (would have only asked for company success) also good point about going to a hospital instead of opticians. I actually didn't know regular opticians did this treatment.

Gosh loads to learn!

Went for sight test today, optician would not let me have contact lenses as I work in Swimming Pool, chlorine getting behind lenses, but he wouldn't let me have new spectacles as I had shown big interest in Laser Treatment, he says he wants to see on paper 3 quotes with for and againsts for Laser treatment, only than will he help me.

Fab optician! cudov just took mi money!

RTKM - Thanks, will watch!

I think he will talk about it at the beginning of tomorrow programme as he has been twittering this afternoon

He said he has been thinking about it for years

So watch ITV1 @ 10.30am tomorrow

I had it done 13 months ago and was around -6. Now I'm +0.25 and -0.25 but my binocular vision is 20/20. I thought about it for years before taking the plunge on the recommendation of a couple of friends.

How Much?

£3500 but I negotiated down to £3000 for Lasik Wavefront

Is aftercare free, and for how long?

1 year free after care. Regular check ups for the first 3 months (after which they consider your eyesight stable). Steroid eye drops for a week or so included in the cost and a small supply of artifical tears. I used the tears for about 6 months before my eyes started producing enough moisture again so spent about £50 on those.

Is it painful?

The actual procedure is not at all painful - they numb your eyes with anasthetic drops. Afterwards my eyes were really sensitive to light and a few hours after the procedure they watered like mad for about an hour.

How long does it take?

Took about an hour for the initial consultation and I waited a month before the procedure to give me time to really consider the pros and cons. On the day of the procedure I was there about 5 hours having various tests but the actual procedure was 20 mins from leaving the waiting room to being back out again.

How long before you see results?

Had it done around 1pm and could 'see' by 7pm. Right afterwards it was like looking through a net curtain so I took myself off to bed for a few hours. Had it done on Friday, back at work Tuesday and driving within the week.

Any lasting side-effects?

Dry eyes for about 6 months. Halos around car and street lights that has got a lot better but has not completely gone away - but nothing I can't live with.

Good idea or Bad????????

I'm glad I had it done. I'd worn glasses for nearly 30 years and other then the obvious things like swimming it's all the little things like not steaming up when I open the oven door and walking in the rain without having to wipe my specs that make life easier.

A word of warning though - I hadn't realised just how many wrinkles my glasses covered up around my eyes. The first time I looked in the mirror I wondered who that old lady was looking back at me .

had mine done 5 years ago by optimax.it was the best thing i ever did.it only cost £1500,which appears to be a lot cheaper than everyone elses

It's worth doing if you've researched it properly, are aware of all the risks, have chosen a place with an excellent reputation rather than deciding on the basis of cost, and after all that still want to go ahead.

I have no regrets having had mine done - I got an excellent service, before during and after, and my vision is now one line better than 20/20 (was -6 with mild astigmatism). It is fantastic to feel safe in a swimming pool with my children, to be able to go in to see them at night when they are ill without having to put my glasses on, to walk in the rain, to go travelling without worrying about the risk of losing glasses or contact lenses, etc... I wouldn't have had it done at one of the chains, though, because I'm one of those people who thinks even the most rare risks might apply to me, so I'd rather go to a place that not only does a fantastic job of the surgery and minimises all potential risks, but can also deal itself with even the most distastrous and rare of consequences (and yes, the most disastrous result could be needing a corneal eye transplant...), as well as the more common ones (eg dry eye, which can be worse than they sound - it can actually affect your vision significantly, not just your comfort, if you have dry eyes, and can be very difficult to treat effectively - it isn't always a case of sorting it out with a few (expensive) eye drops). I wouldn't want to risk being fobbed off or charged more by one of the big chains when I turned out to be a complicated patient, or end up being sent elsewhere to deal with the fallout. Basically, I'm not inclined to take risks I might regret with my vision, so am still pretty amazed at myself for having gone ahead...

I had it done 2 years ago almost to the day! I was very short sighted, -5.75 and -6 if I remember correctly. One eye is perfect and the other is -0.5 at the moment but still classed as 20/20 vision.

I went through Optical Express and paid about £3200 for it but the cost is entirely down to the options available to you, what the surgeon recommends and what your prescription dictates. Due to my high prescription they would only do wavefront.

I have always had dry, sensitive eyes and my eyes were definitely drier than normal for about 9 months to a year after the treatment. The aftercare was second to none, they were seeing me monthly to check on the dryness and provided any drops etc that were necessary. I just popped drops in first thing in the morning and whenever I felt I needed it during the day and tried to remember to blink more as I sit at a computer all day.

I find my night vision isn't as good as it used to be... I have a black dog and I struggle to pick him out when we're out on the last walk! Small price to pay for no longer wearing glasses or lenses as far as I'm concerned though.

I would do it again. Hope that helps!

Oh PS, Optical Express offered a free enhancement to the eye which went to -0.5 if I wanted it, but I haven't taken them up on the offer yet. I'm now almost 40 weeks pregnant and I know eyesight can change during pregnancy so will go back in a few months (if baby ever arrives!!) and see what my prescription is then.

Thank for all your comments, love losing black dog in the dark!!!!

I agree, the only thing is looking at the old lady reflection

Am really excited at the prospect of seeing for the first time in 35 years, I am a swimming instructor so it gets very diffilcult.

Make sure you've cleared enough time off work for it - when they say you can go back to work the next day, this does not include being able to go swimming, as there is obviously a huge infection risk if you get swimming pool water in your eyes shortly after the procedure. I would check how long you will have to be off work with the person who does your eyes.

If your vision is no worse than approx -0.4, have you thought about Ortho K lenses?

I had it done about 10 years ago

I have had 10 years of virtually perfect vision but now it's all going tits up again. My right eye is still more or less perfect but astigmatism has returned to my left eye. I'm having to wear contact lenses and glasses again. I also have a small amount of scarring from the surgery on my left eye which makes my night vision terrible as it's hard for the pupil to dilate in darkness

My surgery was done by a top Harley Street guy and cost around £2000 (I think, so long ago)> I have no regrets because I have had 10 years of great vision but it's true, for some people the effects are only temporary. I always say to people if you can tolerate contact lenses (My eyes couldn't any more and was too vain to wear glasses all the time) then stick with lenses rather than having surgery on such an important part of your body

Good luck if you go ahead. As I say, on the whole mine was a good experience, but not perfect