I saw an add on TV yesterday offering laser treatment for £600 per eye. I've been thinking about it for some time so has anyone here had it done. Any good/bad points about it.
I keep holding back because I worry a bit about the long term effects. What if in 20 years time people start developing eye problems because of laser treatment etc.
Any comments welcome.

my friend had laser eye surgery, she says its the best thing she ever had done. Although she is unsure of any possible implications in the future

There was a program about this topic a couple of years ago, the thing I noticed was that nearly all the people pushing it doctors and the like wore glasses!!

Originally posted by WallBuilder
There was a program about this topic a couple of years ago, the thing I noticed was that nearly all the people pushing it doctors and the like wore glasses!!

Someone pointed this out to me before when I was asking about the risks involved. Look around at how many doctors have glasses. I also understand that doctors can also get it done alot cheaper than normal if they go up to Leeds.

I have just booked for a consultation with Optimax in Leeds.

Bit scared and could do with a bit of encouragement - any more success stories to tell?

my lodger had it done, he seems pretty happy with it. He also does jiu jitsu and the impacts and knocks haven't trigured any problems.

I had it done because I was sick of wearing contacts which made me prone to eye infections. Had mine done 6 years ago and was the best thing I ever did!

They can only correct either long or short sightedness though can't they ?

They can also correct astigmatism at the same time.

I've been for two consultations and, as Wallbuilder said, the doctors wore glasses!

Why two consultations ? Did you find out that you couldn;t have it done ? or did you decide not to have it done because of something you heard???:suspect:



Me now -> :cool:


Hopefully me later -> :)

Do you have to have been on the same presciption for a certain amount of time?

i know of 3 people who have had it done, one says it`s great and dosent have to wear his glasses anymore, the second has to wear his glasses about 50% of the time but still says it`s great, the third is the friend of a friend and she has been left blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. Her life`s been wrecked and as she had to sign some sort of disclaimer first there`s nothing she can do about it.
I wear my glasses and think myself lucky, i would also worry about any future problems as they are not known about yet. The public will only get to know when some of the people who have had it done in the last few years start to have any problems and also all the people i know who have had this treatment say they have been told it may not be permanent.
Sorry to sound so discouraging but if it were myself in your position i would want to know.

Originally posted by jules99
my friend had laser eye surgery, she says its the best thing she ever had done. Although she is unsure of any possible implications in the future
My daughter asked the opinion of an eye specialist at the hospital, and he said that there was no knowledge of possible long term effects, so he would be very cautious.

Originally posted by dial
i know of 3 people who have had it done, one says it`s great and dosent have to wear his glasses anymore, the second has to wear his glasses about 50% of the time but still says it`s great, the third is the friend of a friend and she has been left blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. Her life`s been wrecked and as she had to sign some sort of disclaimer first there`s nothing she can do about it.
I wear my glasses and think myself lucky, i would also worry about any future problems as they are not known about yet. The public will only get to know when some of the people who have had it done in the last few years start to have any problems and also all the people i know who have had this treatment say they have been told it may not be permanent.
Sorry to sound so discouraging but if it were myself in your position i would want to know.

An interesting insight. Seems it may not be as successful as we are led to believe.

I was seriously considering getting my eyes done due to severe astigmatism.

I wear contact lenses which cost me £34 each month, and for this I get one pair every three months. While this is expensive, it's the best price I can get due to my prescription, and my vision is perfect. I am really pleased with my optician, and the aftercare I am provided with from my contact lens fitter is excellent!

Having heard several horror stories of surgery that has gone wrong, I'll keep sticking the bits of plastic in my eye!

K x

I personally know four people who have had it done, all women and aged between 38 and 62 ... they all think it's the best thing they've ever done, despite the cost and the fact that two of them still have to wear reading glasses.

I suppose at those ages by the time if adverse effects were to develop in say twenty years time, they'd be in age groups that normally have eye problems anyway.

Ultralase are constantly mailing me with various offers and testimonials and if i could afford the £2000 I'd be there like a shot (I think :) )

My daughter, however, who's worn spex since the age of 7 wont even consider it as she has heard of quite a few "friend of a friend" horror stories ... so I guess it's all down to how much you want to throw away your spex ...

Originally posted by dial
i know of 3 people who have had it done, one says it`s great and dosent have to wear his glasses anymore, the second has to wear his glasses about 50% of the time but still says it`s great, the third is the friend of a friend and she has been left blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. Her life`s been wrecked and as she had to sign some sort of disclaimer first there`s nothing she can do about it.
I wear my glasses and think myself lucky, i would also worry about any future problems as they are not known about yet. The public will only get to know when some of the people who have had it done in the last few years start to have any problems and also all the people i know who have had this treatment say they have been told it may not be permanent.
Sorry to sound so discouraging but if it were myself in your position i would want to know.

I notice here you've said friend of a friend and not someone you actually know. I had it done 18 months ago and it was absolutely the best thing that i have ever done and worth every single penny. i began investagating three years ago into having it done, I checked out independant research on all the different options and different companies - no-one has EVER gone blind from having laser eye surgery.

Yes, just because it has never happened doesn't mean it won't but the odds look good! Perhaps Cols, you should follow my lead and do some reading around the subject to make youself feel more confident?

I realise how scary it can be and believe me, i was scared during the op. There is loads more i can tell you but its too much too say here so PM me if you want and i'll let you know my number if you want to chat more about it. I have done this with a few people now!

Lee
Thanks for the input. Since the original posting I caught a programme on Radio 4 where the presenter was interviewing consultants from Moorfields in London, one of the leading eye hospitals in the world. The consultants gave laser treatment the all clear saying that similar ops have been around since the late 60's so there's over 30 years of medical history. They also said that although 10% of operations need a 2nd treatment but this should not be seen as a failure rate because the vast majority of 2nd treatments are successful,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/casenotes.shtml

Also found this very useful site, full of comments and tips

http://www.lasik-eyes.co.uk/

I just need to save up for the op now :)

Good, I'm glad you've found out some good info. I always prefer to get definate facts rather than scare stories.

I went with Ultralase in the end as they were the most professional company i went too. You don't have to pay for a consultation, so if for whatever reason you can't have the surgery you've lost nothing. They are amongst the most expensive at approx £1000 per eye, but this includes everything: - before care, the surgery, after care including all medicines and if you need surgery a second time it includes this too! I just realised that when it came to my eyes i wasn't prepared to cut corners and go for the cheapest option - its just not worth it. They were highly professional and very kind throughout. i actually borrowed the money from my parents ( lucky enough to have that option), but i think they have a payment scheme at a really low apr that could be worth looking into ?

Good luck with it !!!! :D

Originally posted by Lee1979
I notice here you've said friend of a friend and not someone you actually know.

Good, I'm glad you've found out some good info. I always prefer to get definate facts rather than scare stories.

Yes it was a friend of a friend, she wasn`t left permanently blind in both eyes just in one and with extremely reduced vision in the other.
It`s not a scare story it actually happened, the good and bad points were asked for and the original post said that comments were welcome, this is but one result out of three as i said earlier the other two were very happy with the results even though one still has to wear glasses half of the time. However the fact remains that this has actually happened.
There is an element of risk involved in any operation whether major or minor and people who are considering this treatment should be aware of this.

Question to the people on this thread who have had the surgery?

Did you have both eyes done at the same time??

No answer last time - so bumpity bump.............



(have had my consultation, read loads of info and decided to go for it. Op booked in for 31st March..........:?

Good luck loopylou, let us know how you get on!

...........................................

I had my left eye done at Moorfields as part of the clinical trials about 13 years ago. My prescription is very high and straight after the operation my eyesight in that eye went from -8.5 to +1. :) all was great for about 2 weeks then my eyesight started to get worse until, after about 2 months it had gone back to -8.5. :( They did the same eye again after 6 months but no improvement was seen at all this time.:gag:

I now have a slight haze in my left eye which I'm hoping doesn't get worse.

The laser they used in those days was called an excimer laser which I don't think they use anymore for correcting vision.

I would say though that if I hadn't had that experience all those years ago - I would definately have my eyes done now with the newer procedures they use.

Sam

Originally posted by sarah_d
Go to Specsavers,i pay £12 a month for a new pair every month,contacts are fantastic for me as i hate wearing glasses but haven't got the nerve or the cash for corrective surgery.

They have a number of different deals on. These are the current options:

Day & Night. £18. You get a pair of lens at the start of the month and wear them continuously - even while you sleep - and throw them away at the end.

Daily Disposble. £24. You get a months supply, you wear them for a day then throw them in the bin at bedtime.

Monthly Disposable. £10 and £10. You get a pair at the start of the month, you can wear them for upto twelve hours a day. Then you take them out and store them until the next day. When the next month arrives you get a new pair and throw the old ones away.

I'm on the day and night trial at the minute. Your eyes get a bit tired and dry after about 12-13 hours but to wake up being able to see perfectly is great. You also can't feel that you're wearing them!

yes i had both eyes done at the same time. it was the new laser machine they used (sorry can't remember the name). It only took ten mins for each eye, with the actual laser part taking just over a minute.

it is a very uncomfortable procedure but didn't hurt afterwards. my vision slowly started to improve over the course of the day and by the end of it was all perfect!!! :clap:

Thanks Lee1979. just what I wanted to hear!

Thanks also to Dial, will update after the op.

Loops.

Had the op last thursday, took about 15 mins and didn;t hurt at all. The next two days were uncomfortable and at times i felt like a vampire,

locked in a dark room and afraid to go out in the light...

but just been back to the clinic for my check up and I now have 20/20 vision with no haze and it only cost £670

it will be a month before everything settles down and i can go swimming again but apart from that - success!!!!!!!


If you are thinking of having this done - there are lots of risks and a good clinic will tell you all about them and leave you to make up your own mind about whether to go ahead.

if anyone wants more details let me know.

good website for more info is: royal college of opthalmologists (http://www.rcophth.ac.uk/public/laser-refractive-surgery.html)

My mum had it done about 7yrs ago. She was originally prescription 6.75 in each eye! (she couldn't see A THING without contacts/thick glasses)
It was the best thing she ever did, although very painful at the time. She had to be in complete darkness for a couple of days, and is still a bit sensitive to bright light.
They did one eye at a time, and unfortunately got the 'dosage' or whatever wrong on the first eye, so had to zap it again, which was more painful than the first time.
She doesn't regret it at all though because it completely changed her life.

Originally posted by LoopyLou
but just been back to the clinic for my check up and I now have 20/20 vision with no haze and it only cost £670

it will be a month before everything settles down and i can go swimming again but apart from that - success!!!!!!!

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What was your vision before you had it this done?

I know 4 people at work who have bought the treatment at a bargain £795 total treatment (YES BOTH EYES) from Optimax in Leeds.

Optimax regularly post treatments on ebay for £700-£800...feedback is excellent.

Barghy100 is my mate (treatment date 01.03.05) he is well chuffed as wore glasses since he was a really young kid!!!

His confidence is much improved too !!!!

see here for link!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31416&item=5572009309&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Originally posted by Lickszz
What was your vision before you had it this done?

Hi Lickszz,

My perscription was -1.75 & -2.00 with some astigmatism.


Loopy.

Does the price go up much if you have really bad vision and/or astigmatism?

£700 per eye sounds mighty cheap to me (I'm shockingly short-sighted!) as I must spend nearly that every couple of years on lenses and specs!

The optimax offer was £690 for both eyes.

I think this ended at the end of March though.

I originally emailed them over 12 months ago for some information which they sent through really quickly.

It took me a while to research the treatment and it took me a long time to get to grips with the risks etc before I finally made up my mind. I also decided to save up rather than pay on credit.

In the meantime, they regularly emailed me with offers etc. never phoned me or anything, they are not into the hard sell in any way.

Then the email recently said £690 for both, so as I had enough money saved, I went for it.

I don't think this price was available to everyone who phoned up. I chatted to people in the waiting room (nerves!) and they all appeared to have paid a different price ???

Best thing would be to phone them up, quote your prescription and they will give you an estimate.

Loops.

Thanks Loopy, my friend had it done recently and paid much more... but said it was the best money she'd ever spent!

I think I might just be a bit of a wittler when it's eye-related! It's not like your can get 'dentures for eyes' if anything goes wrong!

I know exactly how you feel.

I changed my mind so many times whilst i was saving up.....

Even in the car on the way to the clinic, I was saying...
"well, won't I feel stupid if it all goes wrong, having an operation for cosmetic reasons.........."

My husband said, "you thought like that on the morning of our wedding, (the "won't I feel stupid if it all goes wrong bit") and we have done alright haven't we???"

Thanks to his support, I was feeling more positive when I got to the clinic.

It wasn't just for cosmetic reasons.... I find wearing glasses very uncomfortable, especially in the summer and worry about always wearing contact lenses and what this may do to my eyes long term. There is always the risk of infection with lenses and they also change the shape of your eye over time. Plus, we are planning a safari in Africa next year, and I didn't want to be messing about with lenses and chemicals in the wilds of africa risking any number of infections!

I must sound like some sort of laser eye treatment preacher.... or worse still someone on here will accuse me of working for optimax (which I don't). Anyone thinking about this will need to research and understand all the risks before making such an important decision.... If they want support, then just ask, otherwise, i will stop with the evangelising!

my dad has had it done and has had no problems.

i myself have the worst eyesight of anybody i have met..(cept for blind people lol) and i plan to get it done in the future....dont know when.

the documentary i saw a while back put me off a bit...where you have to be awake and stare as this needle goes into your eye.....nice!!

I'm told I have a lazy eye - does this rule out me getting laser surgery? I thought lazy eye and astigmatism were the same thing but i'm told they're not?