Anyone had laser eye surgery?

[Ladycurd]

I'm booked in for a few weeks time, not nervous about procedure oddly but worried about after effects - night glare, dry eyes or things more serious. So many rave about it but there has been a bit of hard sell from company which makes me wary.
So thought I'd ask mne tetra who had had it done for their experiences.

[Simoneandsimone]

Advanced Vision Care, 77 Harley st run by Dr CT PIllai is under investigation by Care Quality Commission, please see the link below

www.cqc.org.uk/provider/1-101729297

Please do not go to or get treated at //www.advancedvisioncare.co.uk until this report comes out, as it might not be safe to get treated there.
Thanks

[hollyisalovelyname]

DH had it done with a top eye consultant in a hospital clinic.
Great result.
He got a valium before the op to relax ( he thinks- done about 4 years so a bit hazy recollecting)
Because he was getting age related long sight as well as being short sighted ( minus 2.25 contacts) one eye was under corrected so he wouldn't need glasses for reading - this is great for his smart phone usage. All his friends have to use reading glasses but he doesn't
The only downside is it is very dark at night for him so he now wears glasses for driving at night.
No dazzling lights.
He would definitely recommend it but would only do it in a hospital with an eye consultant. Much more expensive but worth it in his opinion.
Your eyesight is so precious.
Good luck.

[Pagwatch]

I would just be really pushy in the pre op stage. Make sure you meet whoever is actually going to do the procedure.

I went into one of the national companies for a consultation.
I use reading glasses which I find a massive pain.
They explained I was perfect for the procedure - surgery in one eye then the eye they operate on takes over reading and the other eye covers everything else.
I practiced with a contact lense for an afternoon and it seemed fine. Weird initially but fine. But they seemed very 'sales' like rather than medical so I got cold feet.
Recently I persues it again but went to Moorfields where they were much more serious. I met twice with a consultant.
He said that the difference between my vision would be too big for the brain to comfortable cope with the switch between eye. He said I should try for at least a month with contact lenses before I decided to proceed.
He felt the benefits were unlikely to compensate for potential blurring.

My view is that the way this industry is now about sales rather than medicine means they accept a ppm of unsuccessful ops. It's in their profit/loss calculations. I'm not saying they don't care but one should book in the knowledge that they are selling you a service, not healing you iyswim.

[lotsofcheese]

I have 2 friends, both independent opticians, who have both said there is not enough long term evidence & they wouldn't have it done.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Oh yes, friend mentioned the dreadful smell too!

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

I was going to get it done but backed out as a friends had a terrible experience and it took weeks for her to be able to leave the house without dark glasses and months before things settled down completely, all of which she was told 'were completely normal' yet they don't tell your that before hand

I went with her to after care appointments and saw a whole waiting room full of people muttering about 'how they don't show this in the adverts!' as they sat there with streaming eyes.

She had the expensive night vision one.

She said she wouldn't have it again even now she's healed.

Sorry, probably not what you want to hear!

[EmpireBiscuit]

Bumping as I had my consultation today and am interested in the experiences of others.

[sugar4eva]

Had it done 18 years ago when optima.x did one eye T a time and it was v hard to go back for second one! They did not prepare me for the gritty feel or clusex eyes.
However One of best things ever ever done! I'm getting long sight now as 50 but still do t need specs for non reading.
Best thing to do I wd say is to prep for surgery - I had rescue remedy and tranquillisers! And bung your nose up with tissue so don't smell as you can smell a burn type smell: no one told me that and this is not meant to put you off its to give u the heads up to make the experience better. Good luck .

[janmoomoo]

DH had it a few years back and is so happy with it. No pain at all, no side effects. DB also had it and doesn't wear glasses but says night vision is not so good.

I went for consultation but at -8 they said I might still have to wear glasses, which seems to defy the point, so I didn't bother.

I would say do the research and go for the most expensive place you can.

[areyoutheregoditsmemargaret]

surgery gave me 10 years of great-ish vision, one eye was never perfect especially in artificial lighting. Now I have long sight and some astigmatism and wear lenses again. I always advise against it, in hindsight risks were too great.

[AngieM2]

*longsighted (need reading glasses)

[AngieM2]

Had it done about 15 years ago. So happy with it. Only had one eye done in the end (they balanced each other).But in my 40's now and my eyes are going shortsighted (they said this would happen). Definitely recommend it.

[SoldeInvierno]

I did, in hospital, in 2001. No problems. 20/20 vision since. I would not have trusted the high street clinics back then

[HopeClearwater]

I agree over the hard sell. The first time the side effects were really explained to me was when I was in the surgeon's chair having coughed up £3k with no going back. I cried for a week after because my eyes were so dry and I still need the gel at night. Had it done about two years ago. I notice my eyes drying out in air-conditioned environments. My sight is, however, amazing.
I've never wanted to talk anyone else into the procedure by using those money-back vouchers they give you - this is because of the dry eyes. But I love not having to wear glasses any more. It's a difficult one.

[nikkihollis]

My friend had lasik about 8 years ago. Has had awful problems since that don't seem correctable by wearing glasses. Terrible dry eye that is hard to keep on top of (needs to use heated flannels twice a day and eye drops every few hours).

Dreadful night vision with halos, starbursts and glare that brings on bad headaches.

Light sensitivity and problems with changes in light - ie at dusk, early morning . Literally can't make out faces or details at these times.

She didn't get proper info about the possible side-effects and there was real hard sell at her first visit which seemed to gloss over risks, although she had to sign a consent form which did mention them I suppose.

[ValiumQueen]

I had mine done in 2000. I was told I would still need glasses as had bad astigmatism, but have done without for all this time. I need to get them checked as I think I need glasses now. I have very bad night vision, but can manage driving when necessary.
I had the procedure when they scrape the top layer off then scrape it back again, so a three week recovery. I can still remember the pain even now

Best thing I ever paid for. Being able to see who I was shagging, play sports, go swimming, not have steamed up glasses etc. plus I saved myself a fortune.

[Randomnames]

I had this done about 18 years ago (in the twenties) best thing I ever did - any after effects were minimal as I went from a very high prescription -6.5 with astigma to no glasses needed at all. It lasted well until I hit my forties and with age I now need glasses for both long and short sightedness. But yes well worth the money to be free to wear cheap sunglasses and swim.

[Ladycurd]

Lots of positive feedback which is encouraging, I think I can live with the most likely risks (dry eyes and night halos) but fingers crossed I get neither.

They are only place that offers it in 100mile radius- whilst arranging the initial visit felt a bit pushy, during the consultation they weren't that bad and I have confidence in them (plus spoke to a woman in the waiting area who had literally just had it done and she was happy). So I think I'm okay plus friend of a friend has had the surgery with the surgeon who will do it and this inspires confidence as does the lack of negative reviews on googling his name!

[VideoEtTaceo]

Ooh thanks notapizzaeater that's encouraging.

[Notsoskinnyminny]

YankNCock I had similar problems and astigmatism in one eye. The cost of the procedure (Optimax) rocketed from £1500 to £4500 and I was told I'd need reading glasses straight away because of my age (I was 43) and distance glasses for driving in the dark so didn't go ahead. If I'd been in my 20s/30s I probably would've had it done but I couldn't see the point of paying all that money to still have to wear glasses.

My neighbour is an optician and does consultations for a private clinic. He gave me some literature to read and links to websites and when I told him I'd decided not to go ahead he said none of the opticians in his practice (large independent firm) would have it done.

8 years later and I have monovision contact lenses and can manage without reading glasses, when I get to the point when I do need them I'll try varifocal lenses.

[Creamycoolerwithcream]

I had it done 6 years ago as used to be a contact lens wearer, -3.75 and -3.25. I had no problems for 5 year but now have a very dry left eye and need glasses for Tv -0.5 and reading +0.5 so I am going to have some top up surgery next month. Night vision is quite bad when I'm driving.
I'm still really pleased I had it done but it's not turned out to be 100% perfect like I expected, probably 85%.

[notnowImreading]

I had LASIK wavefront about five years ago. My prescription was -8 so quite a big correction. I've still got slightly better than 20-20 vision and night vision is absolutely fine. I had very dry eyes for about six months so I used systane eye drops, which were a bit more expensive but were more viscous so they were more soothing. It was quite frightening at first because one night I slept with my eyes slightly open and my cornea dried out and went yellow so I would recommend the drops and wearing a sleep mask. Suddenly, after six months, the dryness went away and my eyes were absolutely fine.

No one told me that after the op itself my eyelids would be very swollen from the clamps they use to keep your eyes still. It was so hard to keep my eyes open, I thought it was dark and therefore that I had gone blind. As long as you know that and don't try too hard to keep your eyes open, you'll be fine. It's quite a scary procedure but if you find out enough about it beforehand you should get through it okay. It is sooooo worth it!

[Capitola]

My dh had it done last year.

He was severely short sighted. -4 in one eye, -6 in the other. He wore contact lenses which had always been fine, but as he's in his 40s, he'd started to get long sighted and he was struggling to read with or without lenses.

He had LASIK and it has been a huge success. He had some sort of tweak to mean both his long and short sight are fine now. I think one eye was adjusted to correct the long sightedness (might have that wrong). So he's gone from being Mr Magoo to having 20/20 vision.

He had to wear his glasses for a week or so before surgery. He hated this as he was terribly self conscious about them and hadn't worn glasses outside the house for decades.

The immediate aftermath from the procedure was awful. Once the anaesthetic drops had worm off he was in complete agony, I have never seen him so distressed. But that bit only lasted about 3 hours. He was not nervous about the procedure, but I was there and thought it horrendous, but I'm really squeamish about eyes.

Despite this, he thinks it's the best thing ever and recommends it all the time. On a cosmetic triviality, his eyes (which always used to look a bit bloodshot) look really clear with gleaming whites - like a child's.

[QOD]

LASIK or whatever by optimax about 19 yrs ago. Stars round headlights yes, sun dazzled, yes (I have an odd habit of having one eye shut in the sun) , regrets? No
My right lens was milk bottle thick, I had my dominant eye with moderate sight done, it's slightly long sighted now.
I never got my bad eye done, my brain re routed itself. I tried to wear glasses with clear lens for the done eye and prescription for the poor sighted one as in those days, you had them done as separate procedures.

Couldn't get on at all, was very stressful, kept going cross eyed, felt sick, couldn't see. Went bare eyed for a couple of days and suddenly could see perfectly.

I even went to am independent optician last year about gettin my bad eye done and she said absolutely not, no point, there is no risk to either eye, if I ever got an actual eye injury in the done eye of course I may need to rethink!

So I'm -4.75 in one eye and +o.25 in the other and see perfectly