Hi folks, as the title says really. Been thinking about it on and off for a while now and finally got a consultation booked for november. If i go for it, what are they going to do?
I always get visions of a James Bond style laser

When they actually do the biz its all so close to your eyes that you can’t really see anything, plus its doesn’t hurt as they put drops in.
They don’t tell you beforehand that you can smell you eye burning away though!!
Straight after I had almost perfect vision bar it being a bit misty, within an hour that had gone and within two hours any discomfort had gone as well.
I used the anti inflammatory and antibiotic drops for a week afterwards but i never needed any of the natural tears things.

Yeah its that burning eye smell that kinda puts me off Rockhopper, which company did you use? out of interest

In the balance of fairness… A friend lost 60% sight in one eye after surgery 3 years ago 🙁

Doesn’t always work – my grandfather had it done and it didn’t improve his eyesight, they still charged him for it mind…

IT manager at work, gone blind in one eye, and losing sight slowly in the other – not seen him in a while so don’t know all the reasons behind it

Maybe a 1 in 50,000 thing, but suppose he was the one

As with any surgical procedure – a certain % go wrong eg get infections, screw up etc. There’s always a risk it will blind you.

I decided on sticking to glasses.

If i go for it, what are they going to do?

Depends on the procedure. I had Lasek 7 years ago and it goes a little like this.

1 – Eye drop anaesthetic (highly important)
2 – Contraption that looks as if made from a coat hanger used to hold your eyelid open (like in clockwork orange)
3 – Suction ring put on eyeball and suction applied to hold it in place.
4 – Blade (Hidden in suction ring) moves across your eye like a windscreen wiper and creates a flap (a bit like making a contact lens out of the front of your eyeball. If the flap breaks off its very very bad.
5 – Fold flap back and switch on the laser. It crackles and sizzles like a tiny bit of bacon being fried, smells like burning hair.
6 – Fold flap back and do the other eye.

Took about 6 seconds for me. One of the best things eye ever did. 20/20.

Take a look here.

I had some of these symptoms/side effects but they went away (slowly) and no where near as bad as in those simulations.

I’ve thought about it in the past and talked to my optition. He said don’t. The reason he mainly offered was that your body changes with age and any operation on the lens of your eye will resolve the issue at that point in time. However in the future as the body and eye in particular change/degenerate then the shape of the lens will not be the correct shape. Took this with a pinch of salt as he might of been protecting his professional interest.

I didn’t go ahead mainly due to lack of funds! However the three people I know who did get done have all started to develop problems about three years down the line.

I’m using bifocal contacts now and it’s a good solution to my “blindness”

Had mine done over 10 years ago at optimax in manchester. It worked. I was -3.25 and -3.5. Worse bit was wiping of the eye after drops to numb eye, it made me feel a bit sick. I could feel the pressure but it didn’t hurt. In those days eyes were done 6 months apart to guage how the first one heels. I’ve heard all the stories about a mate of a mate and some bloke at work who’s eye exploded but it worked for me and it was the best thing I’ve had done. I was told about the burning smell before hand but didn’t really notice it.

Had both eyes done at same time. As mentioned above the smell is a bit rough. Six years have passed an i recomend it to everybody. I remember when i viewed teletex that i had to use the half page option but read the normal page clearly when i returned home 2hrs later and able to drive 2 days after. Walking into warm building after being outside in the rain and not having glasses steam up was nice also.
But you will have to buy new sunglasse if you had prescription ones.

I had lasik 5 years ago. Really happy with the outcome. At the time, the latest info I had pointed towards the risk of sight damage from over wearing contact lenses was vastly more than laser surgery. So I took what I considered to be the least risky option (assuming I wasn’t going to change my contact wearing habits).

I had mine done at Optimax in Nottingham. They now use a lazer to cut the flap rather than a knife.

Had mine done about 3 years ago… went from -10 (mole-man) to no glasses…

As with all elective surgery, you have to weigh up the risks/benefits.. and for me it was well worth it.

I went with Ultralase.. more expensive than others but I decided I wasn’t prepared to scrimp on something that important. On the whole the procedures are the same but I think you pay for the quality of aftercare etc…

I’ve thought about it in the past and talked to my optition. He said don’t. The reason he mainly offered was that your body changes with age and any operation on the lens of your eye will resolve the issue at that point in time. However in the future as the body and eye in particular change/degenerate then the shape of the lens will not be the correct shape. Took this with a pinch of salt as he might of been protecting his professional interest.

Well I had mine done 18 years ago and still have perfect vision.

Had mine done by Ultralase 9 years ago – almost life changing and definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made.
Had no issues at all but as I’m old I’m nearing the point where I need glasses for close stuff.

I booked myself for an consultation and decided against the procedure for cost/squeamishness reasons. However, afterwards I was chatting to my optician, who said that the reason she had not had laser eye surgery is that it means you can never wear contacts again, once your eyesight inevitably deteriorates with age.

No-one even mentioned that to me duriung the consultation, which I was pretty miffed about. I know several people who have had corrective eye surgery and without exception their eyes have obviously continued to age/change as normal. So most people will either need a re-zap, or to wear glasses contacts again.

So no contacts ever again was a deal breaker for me.

My optician also advised that every precedue on your eye now is one less that you can have when you’re older – for cataracts or glaucoma or whatever. According to her, there is only a finite number of times you can have surgery on your eye. Since here is a history of glaucome in my family, that was another factor in deciding to stick with contacts. Daily replacable contacts are working fantastically well for me, so I’m happy with my choice.

A simple Google search suggests that for the majority of people its perfectly safe to wear contacts after lasik. However I wouldn’t consider having it done unless my distance prescription is stable (which mine has been for the past six years – I’m 47 by the way)

Also generally as you get older its your near vision that deteriorates, your distance vision will often improve.

How much have you all paid for this?

They say from £500 on the ads but i’m assuming every case is actually far more in reality.

Mine was about £2,000 per eye. Partly because I was so blind and partly because I wanted it done by some one with a lot of experience with eye surgery.

Edit: I also wanted to use a place with several years worth of check ups included and a rezap included if needed (it wasnt).

My Feeling on it is, that everything I do as a hobby is a Pain with either Glasses or Contacts, riding bikes, motorbikes, windsurfing, snowboarding, even swimming !!
If I could get 5 or 10 years (38 now)of being able to do those things unhindered by comprimises in vision, then it would be worth it.
I know my near vision will deteriorate maybe to the point of needing correction again, but possibly having to wear glasses for reading as opposed to having to wear glasses for everything, is a risk worth taking.
For me its a financial thing at the moment, but its definately high on the list of “Upgrades” when I can.

As for cost, my last set of glasses cost me £350 !! so the effective cost of surgery is getting more affordable all the time

£1300 for both at same,

Cheers for all the input you lot, some good and bad tales there. I think i’m the same as many others, cost and general squemishness being the biggest obsticle. Get the first consultation out of the way and things might be a bit clearer (see what i did there)

I booked myself for an consultation and decided against the procedure for cost/squeamishness reasons. However, afterwards I was chatting to my optician, who said that the reason she had not had laser eye surgery is that it means you can never wear contacts again, once your eyesight inevitably deteriorates with age.

Again, this is rubbish! A couple of years ago I was on various drugs which effected the pressure in my eyes and gave me astigmatism. This was corrected with contacts which I wore every day until I came off the drugs and my eyes went back to normal.

From a professional point of view, why do most the surgeons who carry out this procedure still wear glasses and not have it done?

Johnhe, speaking as an optometrist, your optometrist seems to be talking cobblers.

The long sightedness that come with old age is caused by the lens losing flexibility and not a “mis-shaped” eye for long / short sightedness in younger people.

The idea that as you get long sighted with age your short sightedness come back into focus, like a camera being focused near/far, is not right. You just become long and short sighted and require Bifocals.

That’s how I understand it anyway.

You don’t become long sighted with age you lose the ability to focus close up as the lens inside your eye becomes less elastic with age, the process is called presbyopia, it starts when your a child and eventually stops when you’re about 65.

My Mum has just been light sabre’d at our local NHS Trust.Procedure done one eye at a time,(so as she could still get around ok.)went without a hitch.So I would recommend it,but only if you want to avoid Specsavers etc.Now trying to get her a gig as a sniper…..!

The £500 per eye deal or whatever is available but you need to deal with significantly longer recovery times, maybe as much as a week of fairly serious discomfort. My Wavefront Lasik cost me £2300 for both eyes and I was pain free within about two or three hours.

MrsMCTD had hers done two years ago – took her from -8.5 to -0.5. Was legal to drive after 24 hours, no lingering pain or discomfort. Absolutely over the moon with it still.

She has never told me how much it was, done at “mates rates” as a friend of hers works in the private clinic at the Moorfields eye hospital, but given that a minor Royal and an SAS trooper heading for Afghanistan next day called in and pushed MrsMCTD down the queue, I’m guessing even mates rates would make your eyes water more than the op.

She keeps suggesting I get mine done, but no way on God’s green earth am I letting anyone slice my eyeball open while I’m conscious…..

mastiles_fanylion – Member
I decided on sticking to glasses.

Me too, been wearing them since I was five and any risk is too much for me.

I had mine done 6 or 7 years ago, think it was on a £500 for both eyes deal. It was the type that had more discomfort after though (I was basically in bed for two days after and my eye lids were like sandpaper for 4 days). Only longer-term side-effect was extreme light sensitivity occasionally for about a year after (things like car brake lights in front when driving to work would make my eyes start streaming). Was still about the best thing I’ve ever spent money on though (I was just starting to need glasses for driving and watching TV). I think my sight’s deteriorated a bit since but nowhere near needing glasses again.

I had mine done in 2003. Still very pleased with the results. I think I was around -5 in both eyes, with a bit of astigmatisim. Had the op on Thursday, took Friday off work and was back at work on the Monday. Looking back I just wish I had done it sooner.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh5Lh-tTSZQ[/video]

From a professional point of view, why do most the surgeons who carry out this procedure still wear glasses and not have it done?

indeed….my wife works in the Eye Dept at local NHS hospital – all the surgeons there wear specs and are often involved in the aftermath of corrective surgery. I will be sticking with my Specs !

I paid £2200 for Wavefront Lasik at Optimax about 6 years ago, and had a bit of discomfort that night, but was 20/20 the next morning. Never had a problem since. Didn’t notice any smell of burning whilst it was being done, but that’s because I was busy trying not to poo myself.