Laser eye correction - is it expensive or what?

[youwhatref 10]

They have to cut around the lens of the eyeball and flap it over before doing it - that'd put me off for starters.

 

They dont have to. That is LASEK (?), they have a more routine surgery which doesn't involve that.

 

I wear contact lenses and have always considered it but i'm not convinced my eyes wont deteriorate over time again.

[kristo 10]

Just seen this advert on tv..£395 per eye..who can afford that??? I could get one eye done and leave the other...but at the risk of the clinic thinking i was a tight get

 

I paid £2,500 for to get both eyes done. This was a few years ago so I would expect that prices have fallen since then. I could have gone for cheaper options at the time, but went with Boots thinking that a large reputable organisation would be less likely to ruin my eyesight!!

 

If you have to go 'bargin basement' I would have a good think about whether to do it at all. There are risks involved and you really need to stack the odds in your favour. I did a lot or reading about it and different companies use different equiptment (Boots was the only place that did 'radar tracking' of the eye at the time), and employ surgeons with different levels of experience etc etc.

 

I'm not saying that you get what you pay for, but PLEASE don't go for the cheapest without comparing factors other than price! I estimate that I've already saved more than £1500 in glasses and contact lenses so think of it as a long-term investment.

 

Good luck if you go ahead!

[kristo 10]

..... Sorry. I've just read the thread properly!! You have near perfect eyesight now?!! Then a reputable company will not do it for very obvious reasons. There is a margin of error so even with no mistakes you could end up with worse vision than before.

 

You wouldn't have a kidney transplant today because you worry about kidney failure in 20 years time would you? I know it's not the same, but it's not completely different.

[seriessix 10]

I was referring to LASEK.

[pitsmoorlad 10]

My daughter in law's had it done recently. Cost 3 grand but she says it was worth it. Apparently there was a conference involving top opthalmic consultants in London last year. My wife works with a doctor who was present, and the entire table of top eye doctors all wore glasses. No laser surgery for them then.

[alchresearch 214]

I could have gone for cheaper options at the time, but went with Boots thinking that a large reputable organisation would be less likely to ruin my eyesight!!

 

Hope it wasn't around this time:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3607818.stm

[Anj1364 10]

See here:

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=58556

[bananapie 10]

My daughter in law's had it done recently. Cost 3 grand but she says it was worth it. Apparently there was a conference involving top opthalmic consultants in London last year. My wife works with a doctor who was present, and the entire table of top eye doctors all wore glasses. No laser surgery for them then.

 

There is a reason for this. If you are short sighted (unless it's really bad) you have good near vision. When you get to middle age you will be able to read by taking off your distance glasses, whereas a normal sighted at the same age would need reading glasses. Many people that have surgery tend towards becoming long sighted (i.e needing reading glasses). Therefore if you were an short sighted eye surgeon doing minute close up for a living you aren't going to want to sacrifice your good close vision in order to do away with distance specs. Also surgery can't stop the natural ageing of the eye. So if any of these top docs were wearing reading glasses - there isn't really an alternative at the moment.

 

For short sighted people who don't need perfect near vision for their occupation surgery can make a massive difference to their life.

[alchresearch 214]

I don't know if my short-sightedness is bad (-3.25) but I've found the monthly disposable contact lenses from Specsavers to be fantastic. You pop them in and wear them continuously for 30 days (even sleeping in them) and then throw them away at the end. The best thing is that you cannot feel them at al.

 

Specsavers are still doing the month free trial, sign up and do one month after that (currently £15.50) and then buy your lenses online from Tesco.

[cactus jack 10]

its about £6000 for both eyes atm but it will be £20000 in 10 years when you need to fix the problem if you dont know what i mean look it up