[Closed] Laser eye surgery - Optical Express

I used them ten years ago now. No complaints. A long time ago though, different people and different branch!

Hate to say it but go into it with your eyes open - be aware of the risks (however slight they may be).

I guess it depends on your prescription but my sister in-law had laser eye surgery a few years back. Now has to wear glasses again as here eyes or the muscles changed. Just something to be aware of.

The technologies are reasonably well understood and have been used for ages now. In so much as its elective surgery and that always comes with risk. the "actual" risk to you personally of any of the major systems of corrective surgery is slight.  That's no to say there isn't a risk.

Speak to many providers as you can, get a feel for whether it's going to be done by an actual doctor or a technician under prescription. (ask that question specifically) Try to get a recommendation from people local to you.

I used to run community based ophthalmological services. All the doctors that needed sight correction wore glasses or contacts. One, who has done Lasik surgery on lots of cricket players (including some of the ****stan International team) has said to me he wouldn't do it.

Hate to say it but go into it with your eyes open – be aware of the risks (however slight they may be).

Go in with them closed and you'll be seeing all the time after they laser off your eyelids 😁

I got mine done in 2012 with Optical Express and they were excellent. They offer free lifetime checkups afterwards (at least they did at the time) and I haven't had to use any of them because it's been faultless.

It's a life changing surgery, I can't recommend it enough.

Optimax for me 19 years ago. Best £500 I ever spent.
I imagine it has gone up a bit since then.

Be careful Mrs B had hers done a few years ago with Optegra, first eye done and laser tweaked perfect. Second eye done and tweaked very painful and blurred vision after very unpleasant meetings with the surgeon it all comes out the technician put a the wrong figure in 3,1 instead of 1,3 in the laser machine her eye is completely bolloxed we took them to court and just about got our money back took ages, the technician returned to Poland, files went missing. The good old NHS has been great in helping but a recent eye test has shown further retina problems and is currently waiting an appointment but it’s not looking good for her. She now wishes she had got some new glasses.

Any procedure like this carries risks, albeit small ones, and the mark of a good company is both minimising these (through not cheaping out on personnel) and the follow-up care/support if something goes wrong.

Any provider who isn't really interested in answering your questions should be avoided.

Brennak - that sounds awful.

I decided later surgery just wasn't worth the risk, however small. I have a similar prescription to you and have been using IGO lenses for nearly 10 years now and it been fantastic. If you don't know about it, as i didn't, Google 'Ortho K lenses'. Basically a rigid lense you worn at night only. I have perfect bottom line of the chart vision all day every day. i can even skip a night if i have had a big night out or forget to take them when staying over somewhere. Initially the lenses are a little uncomfortable but after a few nights it becomes no problem. just a couple of eye drops before and after putting them in. Cost me about £50pcm and a check up every 6 months. Might be worth a try if you can find a company not too far away.

I get my eyes tested by an eye surgeon, who wears glasses, I always ask his advice. Same as above, there's a risk.

2 of my friends had corrective surgery, one seems to look a bit uncomfortable but swears it worked. The other too swears it's the best thing since sliced bread, but can't seem to see far, or is worse than me and I wear glasses.

I can't help thinking that having spent loads, it's 5k here, you daren't admit you arent happy.

Not really a problem here with reading glasses, prescription Oakley with transition lenses, prescription swimming goggles.

We knew someone who got an eye infection from dirty contacts, she couldn't stop crying for years

Always interested in these threads when they come up. I’m in my mid 50’s and have a strong prescription, with some complications. Currently wear varifocals most of the time, computer specs when on twin screens for work, and disposable contacts under very dry sealed goggles while in the pool.

I have often considered surgery and my wife reminds me that she works as a medical secretary in a big NHS eye department and all the surgeons she works with wear glasses….

I'm sticking with bifocals.

According to Which

In up to 5% of cases, the person can be left with a prescription (ie still having some long or short sight) and will need glasses or further surgery.

a very small proportion of people don't see as well as they did with glasses before surgery. In about 1 in 200 eyes, this can't be corrected with specs because the eye's optical quality has been reduced.

Read more: https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/laser-eye-surgery/article/laser-eye-surgery-compared/best-laser-eye-surgery-companies-aKsDr1z2gMQj - Which?

But I only really need glasses for reading close up stuff. If my sight was worse and I couldn't ride a bike without glasses maybe I'd view the odds differently.

Mate of mine had this done in the last few months. He's in Salisbury, pretty sure it went OK but if I remember I'll ask who he used tomorrow and let you know.

I had LASIK (I think!) about 20 years ago to correct astigmatism and short sightedness (around -4.5 IIRC). I was warned at the time that my cornea thickness was marginal (too thin to do a second operation if needed) and my eyes were also drier than normal.

I still went ahead (I was shitting myself at moment of zapping!) and the results where brilliant, though I needed to use eye gel for dryness occasionally (spend too much time staring at a screen).

In the last couple of years, I've started to need reading glasses as I age (now 58) and my astigmatism returned about 3yrs ago and now use glasses most of the day.

So, was it worth it? Yes, most definitely. Even now, I can function without glasses as long as I don't need to read anything or do 'fine work' in low light whereas I was pretty much hopeless with my original prescription.
Occasionally using eye drops is a minor inconvenience compared to being lost without glasses!

I'm not so sure I'd have laser surgery with a much lower prescription though...

(Edit: just to add, I get some haloing if my eyes are dry. This manifests itself most when driving at night, in the rain, under street lights. "Which" would probably consider that as "worse" eyesight, but honestly, for me, it's a minor inconvenience. Sure, I'd prefer I didn't suffer from it and if I was ultra-picky (or I was a fighter pilot!) then id probably have cause for complaint though this was pointed out as a risk to me....)

I have had 2 consultations over the years. First was late 30s when they wouldn't do laser eye surgery as my prescription was still changing, Vision Express I think. The second was in Salisbury, maybe Optical Express, offices were on Bridge St. This was a couple of years ago, mid-forties and again they would not do it as I was now to old and didn't do laser surgery on people my age as our eyes are deteriorating more at this age. They would offer me lens replacement surgery which I would've probably gone for but I didn't/don't have £7K to spend. I wear contacts for anything outside and varifocals for work stuff, my eyes are in the +4 range though.

Optimax in Liverpool for me around 19 years ago . It was £1190 for both eyes and worth every penny . I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again

I had it done 22 years ago -6 to being able to read the second bottom line but over the years I'm now back to -3 but for 1k it was good value
-6 or worse is crap, -3 is a pain in the bum but no eye strain or having to spend lots on slim lens
My low light vision was probably affected by laser maybe one of the side effects

Last June, optimax in Southampton, aged 42.

They made me VERY aware of the risks, no sales pitch at all. They also made it abundantly clear that most people will need reading glasses after 10 years, some much sooner. it will be done by their only surgeon.

The first few days were very uncomfortable, and the next few weeks I had some light sensitivity.

Less than a year on, no regrets at all.

I really wanted my eyes lasered, I thought it would solve all my sight issues when cycling, climbing and kayaking. When biking I will occasionally not see a tree route or similar trail hazard. My prescription is only minus 1 in each eye, so not too bad, but I still need glasses.

I tried contacts, but they weren’t for me. The thought of poking my eyes with mud or oil on my fingers filled me with terror.

There are several doctors in my cycle club and one of the lads is married to an ophthalmologist surgeon. He isn’t allowed to get his eyes lasered. My wife also works in the NHS and won’t let me go for the surgery. The reasons are simply there is no long term study of the side effects. If you need cataracts surgery in later life this becomes incredibly complicated if you have had your eyes lasered as the cornea is significantly weakened. Of course you might not live long enough to need cateract surgery, so the argument would be, why not have good eyes when you are young!?

All the doctors I have asked and told me it is a bad idea. When I was researching providers, one had a photo of their surgeons, most were wearing glasses! You would think the marketing department would have asked them to take them off for the photo!

Having said all that I know several people who have been pleased with the results of their surgery and I know at least a couple of doctors who have had the procedure.

I maintain the view a doctor will always act in the best interests of a patient, regardless if money is changing hands or not. With this in mind, if you aren’t suitable for surgery I like to think the medical staff would point this out and outline the full risks.

The end result is I haven’t had the surgery, despite researching the procedure for 10 plus years, perhaps I should have just had the procedure in my early 30s, but then again I may have lost my sight from a complication.

If you go for the surgery, I hope it is a success in the short and long term.

At 42 you'll be very soon into the realms of needing a reading correction. Being -1.75 will give you pretty much perfect near vision into your early 60's ( without glasses). Getting the myopia corrected via laser will reduce the need for distance glasses/ contact lenses but you will then need reading glasses more and more, if you're cool with that then it might be worth it.

A potentially better (but more expensive) solution would be to opt for a refractive lens exchange, / clear lens extraction. Basically a cataract operation but you have no clouding of the lens. If you opt for a multifocal lens implant it would give you ( potentially) good distance vision and done reading vision without glasses or contacts. Some clinics may offer a top up corneal laser to'fine tune' the result and you future proof yourself from developing cataracts as you've pre-empted them developing.

Might be worthwhile trialling multifocal contact lenses to see if you can cope with the optics before putting for the more permanent intra ocular lenses.

If the lens extraction was too spendy another option would be to laser one eye to plano ( no prescription) and leave the other eye as -1.75 to give you monovision, suits some people, not all. You could trial this option in contact lenses too before committing.

I've had my eyes saved in flying object incidents plenty of times and realized that if I got lasik that I'd be wearing protective glasses whilst doing many sports, or in many jobs (short-sighted). I was living in the desert at the time and risk of dry eye afterwards was considerably higher so was waiting it out until I returned to a temperate zone. Astigmatism meant the eye center said i needed two rounds of lasik also.

In the end I just decided to keep wearing glasses. I don't "need" to wear them for everything, and as I am on the cusp of needing reading glasses I realized, in the grand scheme of things, all variables concerned, that lasik just wasn't worth the hassle for me personally.

At 42 you’ll be very soon into the realms of needing a reading correction. Being -1.75 will give you pretty much perfect near vision into your early 60’s ( without glasses). Getting the myopia corrected via laser will reduce the need for distance glasses/ contact lenses but you will then need reading glasses more and more, if you’re cool with that then it might be worth it.

A potentially better (but more expensive) solution would be to opt for a refractive lens exchange, / clear lens extraction. Basically a cataract operation but you have no clouding of the lens. If you opt for a multifocal lens implant it would give you ( potentially) good distance vision and done reading vision without glasses or contacts. Some clinics may offer a top up corneal laser to ’fine tune’ the result and you future proof yourself from developing cataracts as you’ve pre-empted them developing.

This is good advice. I had mine lasered 20ish years ago (I was slightly short-sighted, can't remember my prescription but I legally needed glasses to drive). Best money I've ever spent but that was in my mid 20's now at 49 I need glasses again (-0.72/-1.25) but it's only in the last 3 or 4 years they've noticeably declined.

I'm not going to bother getting them lasered again as I'm assuming I'll start needing reading glasses in a few years, I have thought about lens replacement though but it's pretty expensive (I think £8-10k some places I was looking into at) so plan for now is to just wear glasses for driving/TV and see how things go regarding needing reading glasses.

If I was 42 I'm not sure if I'd go to the expense/hassle/risk of laser eye surgery for what could be 10 years or less of benefit - actually I probably would based on my experience.

At 42 you’ll be very soon into the realms of needing a reading correction.

Not necessarily "very soon".
I had mine lasered to correct distance vision when I was 41 - I'm 58 now and my distance vision is pretty much perfect still.
I didn't need reading glasses until I was about 51.

The reasons are simply there is no long term study of the side effects.

How long do you need? It's been carried out for >20 years already.

If you need cataracts surgery in later life this becomes incredibly complicated if you have had your eyes lasered as the cornea is significantly weakened.

That really depends on how much correction is needed. Less correction = less "shaving" of the cornea.

Honestly, many thanks for your stories/responses everyone! It’s been something I’ve wrangled with for ages. I have spent a LONG time considering it, researching, asking friends who've had it done etc. Asking for feedback from nice like minded people on cycling forums! And it’s always a mixed bag of responses. Some say it’s the best thing ever, others have had “issues”.

Bottom line is, it’s elective surgery, for convenience. I don’t NEED it.

I work in IT so stare at detailed information on screen, and my commute is around 45/50 minutes on driving each way. If I had any postoperative vision issues, night vision problems etc it would significantly impact my (and family) life. This tips the balance.

So I’ve drawn a line under it now, it’s not the right decision for me.

Wife just says, why don’t you splash out on some prescription Oakleys for riding! So if anyone has recommendations for direct glaze cycling glasses I’d be grateful.

I used to your for OE 10 years ago. Owner is a head case, obsessed with clinic outcomes and the surgeons, laser eye machines and follow up are excellent. My daughter got her eyes done a few years back and is delighted.

Im not an eye surgeon but heres some things i learnt

* LASIK involved cutting a flap (usually with another laser), lifting the flap and zapping the cornea of the eye. This can be misshapen and have lumps and bumps. The treatment works out where the laser needs to reshape to imrpive vision

* best done when your younger and prescription is stable

* as you get older (mid- forties), your eye deteriote as the lens which usually stretches and flexes to create a sharp image on the retina at back of eye, stops stretching and flexing as much. This is where intraocular lenses come in. LASIK wont do anything useful for this.

* cataracts is the lenses going cloudy, again usually age related and a lenses swap is whats needed.

Yes theres risks, but they on a sliding scale. Youll probably get dry eye, redness and mild discomfort and an excellent result. The doom mongers will say you'll go blind (The Optical Express ruined my life woman basically trys to extort money from laser eye companies, she wasnt even treated there, it was a london practice from memory).

Speak to the surgeons, all the ones i met during my time there were excellent.