After years of contact lenses and glasses I’m seriously considering getting my eyes lasered.

Main reason is for driving at night, which I do a lot of, but hoping night vision on the bike will be improved as well, but that would just be a nice side effect.

Getting rather confused by all the different terms though. LASIK, LASEK etc.

I’ve had a chat with a rep at Optical Express and am leaning towards their CustomVue Wavefront LASIK procedure for apparently improved night vision results.

I have a full consultation booked for later this week, but thought I’d ask on here for any experiances before I go. At £800 an eye I want to be sure I’m doing the right thing.

Any experiances with this, other types of surgery, and other companies are greatly received.

Thanks

K

For much the same reasons as yourself I’ve been considering it for over a year.

I know 3 people who have had it done and they are all very pleased with the results. The last guy at work who had it done at a cost of £1300 IIRC,now wishes he had gone for the procedure you are considering (if it’s the one they recommend for police/firemen etc) as he had slight ‘starring’ at night for a few months which has now gone.

What really put me off Optical express was the bombardment of literature with ever larger ‘special offers’. Struck me as a bit too desperate for business. Apparently you can also bid for the op on Ebay !

Me and the wife both had it done. Highly recommended. We both had the flap and zap before waterfront was affordable.

Had it done about 10 years ago – best thing I ever did.

My brother-in-law has had it done and raves about it.

Oh, also one of my old managers as well.

Spooky…as seen on the Simpsons today, just don’t forget the eye drops

I used to work in the “eye” industry and there are concerns with this procedure mainly in later life if you need eye surgery for whatever reason. As the cornea is usually reshaped in the procedure to achive the required outcome it can cause complications for future eye ops such as cataracts etc.

My thoughts are why have unnecessary surgery especially on your eyes???

My bro in law had it done and is happy but now suffers with dry eyes which he didn’t have before.

Just research exactly what they are going to do and WHO is going to do it – ask for the surgeons credentials.

I enquired about it last time I had my eyes tested – optician advised against it. He said the problem rate is much higher than is usually reported – even if it’s 1 in 10,000 what about if you’re the 1?

wife work in eye dept at local hospital. there are 4 surgeons in the dept…..they all wear glasses…..

they spend a lot of their time trying to help people who have had bad experiences with surgery.

I have thought about it, particularly as I am approaching the age where I will struggle reading with my normal specs, which I have worn for 30yrs for short sightedness, but just feel the risks are too high.

iainc – that’s was always my question to the eye surgeons and you’re right majority wear glasses – says it all really.

It certainly used to be the case a couple of years back that the majority of doctors and nurses smoked.

I’m getting mine done in the morning, so hopefully I can let you know tomorrow evening.

valleydaddy – Member
My thoughts are why have unnecessary surgery especially on your eyes???

Vanity? Inconvenience? Hassle?

Luckily my eyesight is fine, so I do not have to worry about such a question.

Luckily my eyesight is fine, so I do not have to worry about such a question.

So far

Had mine done about 8 years ago under a bargain £400 per eye deal, probably the best £800 I’ve ever spent (although perhaps not the best thing to seek out a bargain for :p ). Can’t remember what type I had but it was the older style one but went for that as although it was more painful post-op recovery there were supposedly less side-effects (particularly halo effects around lights at night, similar to if you’ve been swimming).

Anyway the op itself only lasted about 20 minutes and there wasn’t any pain although it is a bit weird as you see the scalpel going to your eye then everything gets blurry…

Post-op I had extreme light sensitivity for a few hours (I was being driven back at night but even with my eyes shut and hands over them when an oncoming car’s headlights hit me it was pretty painful). Next couple of days I spent in bed, mostly with my eyes shut and it felt like someone had rubbed sandpaper on them, I was given anaesthetic drops but told to avoid using them if I could – I did succumb a couple of times though.

A couple of days later I was fine with just a bit of light sensitivity, weirdly though for a couple of years following that I’d have the odd episode of light sensitivity, usually when driving to work in the morning (I’ve hated drivers that keep their foot on the brakes rather than use the handbrake at light ever since as during an episode it would be painful and cause my eyes to stream uncontrollably).

Been fine since then though, I tested better than 20:20 6 months after the op (last check up I had), think it’s deteriorated a bit since then but still way off needing glasses (and can usually read stuff that people with glasses can’t). Main reason I did it in the first place was I’d started to need glasses for driving and watching TV and they were just a PITA, certainly wouldn’t have wanted the faff of contact lenses.

Given the latest options seem to avoid no post-op pain (according to the adverts on TV at least…) I can’t see why you wouldn’t want to do it if you’re a good candidate.

A friend of mine had it done 2 years ago and has permanently lost around 50% of his sight in one eye (temporarily he was completely blind in it).

Then spent two weeks in hospital having eye drop administered every 2 hours night and day. He was a zombie by the end of it.

Put me off ever having it done.

🙁

Had Lasik about 7 years ago having worn contact lenses for 15 years. Best thing I ever did.

Make sure you check out the outcome statistics for your prescription, eye pressures and corneal thickness

teef – Member
Luckily my eyesight is fine, so I do not have to worry about such a question.
So far

Well of course, that goes without saying really. I do expect a decline in the quality of my eyesight as I continue to age.

Had mine done well over 10 years ago at optimax in manchester. Brother had his done a few years later. Both with no problems. Prescription of -3.5/-3.25. Never needed glasses since. It worked for us but the doom mongers will have all sorts of nasty tales. Opticians would be against it surely as it would affect their business. I think mine was a bit more old school compared to methods now. I had basic lazer surgery 6 months between eyes to see how first one healed. Worst bit was eye being wiped clean after anisthetic drops applied, made me feel a bit sick. Best 800 quid I’ve ever spent.

Have two friends who had it done. Both think it absolutely fantastic.

My Grandfather had it done in both eyes, but one eye took two attempts, they messed up the first time and it had little affect. So they had to try again another 6 months later. Results were ok – not perfect but better than it was pre-op.

Personally I’m happy to stick with glasses……

I had exactly the procedure you’re thinking about at Optical Express and it has wrecked my night vision. My vision is great during the day – good enough to drive without glasses – but at night I get fringeing and halos around anything bright (like the TV) and I struggle to do night rides.

The problem is (I have learned since) is that I have large pupils (7mm) and when they open up to full size they let light in that has passed through the transition area between the reshaped and original parts of my cornea causing a blurred image to be overlayed on the sharp image. No-one mentioned I had large pupils and so were at greater risk before the op.

My advice – chack your pupil size is well within the average before having it done as you can’t reverse it.

Well, surgery was a breeze, a little pain (more discomfort really) for about 3 hours after. Now 7 hrs after surgery, and some vision is back, though still very blurry. Comfort is fine, and cant wait for the morning to see the majority of the results. Too early to say, but if the results are good, the procedure was a breeze.

I had it done 17 years ago. Best money I ever spent. Mum, sister and ex wife had it done as well as at least 3 work colleagues. No problems with any of them.

Would so many famous people have their eyes done if the risk was high?

Oh and go to one of the cheap places. They are cheap because they do a lot of procedures to offset the cost of the laser. Because they do so many, they are very good at it!

And finally, contact lenses cause far more sight issues including loss of sight than laser eye surgery does. Just something to bear in mind…

apparently there was a power surge once and the laser blew a hole right through a guys head. a bloke in the pup told me so it must be true.

At £800 an eye I want to be sure I’m doing the right thing.

I think what you meant to say was “as eyesight is rather important I want to be sure I’m doing the right thing” ? if the worst did happen, you’d happily spend £800 to reverse it – if only it were possible, and £800 is probably less than most people here would loose in earnings if they did loose their eyesight – although I suppose you could sell your bike(s) to get some short term income ;-o

My optician was actually reasonably positive about it. I only know people who have had good experiences. I would consider it if I had a spare £2-3k (my prescription aint simple). I certainly wouldn’t want to be picking the op/surgeon etc on price. Bear in mind that the guy in Optical Express is probably paid on commission (or at least has targets to meet). So I’d consider going to somewhere else as well and see if you get a consistent story about which technique, the risks, etc. You may also discover that whilst the OE price is competitive its not that different to other places that do less proactive marketing.

Reading with interest as I’m booked in to get mine done with Ultralase in 3 weeks time.
I chose my treatment on price, the most expensive 8O.
Looking forward to it. My prescription is a disaster area so I didn’t fancy going for a pile em high sell em cheap type clinic.

Is everyone who’s having this done quite young ie 20s or is anyone having this carried out (ahem!) later on in life?

one of my works IT manager has managed to be the 1 in 10,000 unlucky person and currently off work as he is sadly losing the sight in both eyes 🙁

but also know guys who swear by it as being great now they have had it done; but i wouldn’t let them anywhere near me with a lazer

@hitman – I was 28 when I had mine done, you need to wait until your prescription has settled down, no point getting it done early 20’s IMO (most places would advise against it as well) and it won’t stop your eyesight deteriorating naturally further after the op meaning you’d need to do it again in 5 years.

had mine done 5 years ago. now have better than 20/20 vision 😮
paid for the best mind you though – cost me 2500 quid.

one of my works IT manager has managed to be the 1 in 10,000 unlucky person and currently off work as he is sadly losing the sight in both eyes

🙁

It is a horrible situation – my mate surprisingly took it all very well and has now got great vision in one eye and about 50% vision in the other so the nett result is about par with binocular vision. (ie he can see about the same as before and is still allowed to drive).

And also surprisingly, he opted not to take action against them (even though they admitted they had made a mistake).

I’m 35 and just had it done. To follow up on my previous posts, went back this morning and they had to lift the flap again on one eye and clean it out as some fluid that shouldn’t have been there was. Now sight is very good, and should be even better in the morning, so its the thumbs up from me.

@hitman – I was 28 when I had mine done, you need to wait until your prescription has settled down, no point getting it done early 20’s IMO (most places would advise against it as well) and it won’t stop your eyesight deteriorating naturally further after the op meaning you’d need to do it again in 5 years.

I meant, is anyone getting it done in their 40s or 50s?

MrsSwadey had it done 2 years ago. She has gone from -8.5 to -0.5. She loves being able to see my handsome face last thing at night and first thing in the morning. She hates being the one who gets to screaming kids in the night first while I’m still fumbling for my glasses.

Looked at all the “high street” companies who offered the service and was getting quotes for £2-3k because of the severity of her prescription. Sent their reports to an old mate of hers who works at the Moorfield eye hospital to get a second opinion, strings were pulled and favours done and she ended up getting it done by the top bloke at Moorfields for a “similar” (ie if I don’t ask, she won’t tell me) price.

Was passed fit to drive after 48 hours, took about a month for the full improvement to come through and settle down, no real pain or complications, and she wants me to have it done even though we can’t afford it.

But I ain’t letting no one slice my eyeball open with a laser while I am still conscious, glasses and contacts suit me fine! 😯

hitman – Member
I meant, is anyone getting it done in their 40s or 50s?

My uncle had it done in his late 80s, now 92. Very happy with the result. Needs good eyesight to read his sheet music in the murky dives he plays his sax in 3 or 4 nights a week.

Approx 5 weeks ago I (regrettably) had laser treatment at Optimax. I was -4.25 & -3.50 with perfect near vision.

To my horror I have lost my near vision (can’t even see my phone display or cooker controls!) & need +2.75 to read & +2.00 for TV. No-one at the clinic explained before treatment that this would happen – although my recent research shows it was a given as I am in my late 50s. I am now suffering with depression & anxiety attacks.

I have since discovered that countless people have had their eyes f***** by this clinic & their greed.

To date, I have sent a letter to Russell Ambrose with promises that I will take legal action & also advertise how bad this company is. I am awaiting his response.

Meanwhile, I have been contacted by a number of people who have similarly had their eyes botched by Optimax & I am eager to hear from anyone else with similar experiences.

You can email me direct at optimaxruinedmylife@hotmail.co.uk

To anyone else considering Optimax; yes, there are plenty of people who have had OK treatment, but just imagine if you are the 1 in 50 who doesn’t – although I’m told that the odds could be 1 in 12!!

schmoopie – you’ve just joined the rest of the world who’re over 40! Reading your post, you didn’t have perfect near-vision before; you were short-sighted.

Everyone your age needs reading glasses. Sorry, just the way it is, and I don’t think you’ll get anywhere with legal action except an empty wallet.

I’m now 3 months since getting it done. Was told it can take up to 6 months to fully settle. Mine are still improving.
The vision is still getting sharper each week and the dry tiredness in the evening is going slowly but surely.
Haloes when driving at night were bad for a few weeks but have now gone.

Sister had hers done years ago and swear’s by it. I’m still dubious and don’t trust it though.