Optimax vs Optical Express vs Ultralase

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penski said:
some choice quotes from that site:

"had surgery at optical express newcastle yesterday - typing this now without specs absoulutely brilliant service and no question quality of surgery A1 could feel the improvement the minute I left the surgery room can't fault the whole team fantastic results"

"surgeon Mr Stefan Klopper MB ChB MMed etc etc brilliant work at Newcastle Optical Express"

Klopper's awesome.

*n
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Penski

Went to my Optimax the other week and had a really good experience with them, very professional. Problem is that the surgeon that I met (who made me feel very comfortable) isn't back in the Bristol branch for the forseeable future. I don't want any old butcher so I was considering Optical Express in Newcastle seeing as you rate Stefan so highly (and I've got family there too so recovery should be fine)

Can I specifically request him or will I be given just whichever surgeon is available at the time?
 
eidolon said:
Penski

Went to my Optimax the other week and had a really good experience with them, very professional. Problem is that the surgeon that I met (who made me feel very comfortable) isn't back in the Bristol branch for the forseeable future. I don't want any old butcher so I was considering Optical Express in Newcastle seeing as you rate Stefan so highly (and I've got family there too so recovery should be fine)

Can I specifically request him or will I be given just whichever surgeon is available at the time?
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Stefan travels a lot these days. The 'resident' surgeon at Newcastle is Lorimer Esselaar. He's great and the team work very well together.

If you come up this way, let me know and I'll buy you a pint :)

*n
 
I really REALLY wish I had the balls to have this done. It would be the best money I'd ever spend. Unfortunately it seems like a big risk being only 22 :/

I'm -2.75 and -2.5. Being able to play squash without lenses would kick ass. As would everything else actually, contact lenses do my head in.
 
I'm wondering why the difference in price - apart from the initial price of the laser guns I'd imagine that there is hardly any cost for each surgery. You've then got staff and overheads, so are the surgeons at Optimax better paid than OE?
 
I have been considering it my self but someone told me that if you get cataracts later in life they cannot operate on you? Not sure if this is correct or not.
 
...I went to Ultralase in Birmingham. Guided wavefront £1495 per eye (back in 2005)

Fantastic result 20-10 vision which is superb. No pain just a severe eye watering about an hour later :D which is why they recommended that you get to wherever you need to be sharpish like!

I stayed in a local hotel as I needed to be back the day after for a checkup anyway.

No a single problem since. Well worth getting the best. Would suggest Ultralase definitely.
 
A good laser eye surgeon should prescribe the most suitable treatment for your eyes, not the most expensive they have (i.e. Wavefront).

I recommend Mr. Pillai at Advance Visioncare in Harley Street, London. Cost me about £2300 for both eyes back when I had it done.
 
Whats the long term prognosis on these treatments? Since eyesight is degenerative with age will this treatment increase the speed of this or have negligible effects on 'natures effect'. Also could the eventual outcome be worse than if you had left your eyes left alone?

I presume you cant go and have another procedure 10-20 years in the future?

Im tempted but since its still a relatively new procedure I think Ill wait to see what the long-term effects are...

Ive worn glasses for nearly 20 years and I just dont think my face suits not having glasses - just so used to it. My eyesight is -4.5ish...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
I had wavefront Lasik at Moorfields nearly 2 years ago and went from -5.75/-4.25 with a lot of astigmitism to nearly 20/10 vision in both eyes - be prepared to have dryish eyes for maybe up to a year and get used to using eyedrops as you will be a profesional at administering them :)

Moorfields eye hospital is where 50% of the worlds opthalmic specialists actually begin their careers/training - including laser surgeons, the prices range from £1000-£1750 per eye and you can choose from the best surgeons in the world - Vincenzo Maurino, Julian Stevens, Linda Ficker (Mine) the lasik machine used then was the VisX Star S4 and is still in use to my knowledge.
 
k.Jacko said:
Maybe you're just ill-informed mate.

I used Maxivision in Manchester in October 2000, cost £1700 in total. I had -3 in both eyes and after 15 mins of treatment and a few hours rest, my eyesight was loads better. Ended up being -0.25 in one eye!
Brilliant, best money i ever spent. Back then the success rate was around 95%. Seven years on, it will surely be better.
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The reason why im never going to go for it. A 5% chance I'll have severe sight problems for life, not worth the risk imo.

Also remember someone saying, "Why is it that all the consultants wear glasses"?

Ah just seen its not 5% for severe problems but I still dont like the sound of lol
 
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penski said:
Stefan travels a lot these days. The 'resident' surgeon at Newcastle is Lorimer Esselaar. He's great and the team work very well together.

If you come up this way, let me know and I'll buy you a pint :)

*n
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Wow, he's done 26,000 procedures!! Guess he knows what he's doing then!

Ideally I would prefer to get it done in Bristol but not by somebody with a few hundred procedures under their belt, I'd prefer somebody with a bit more experience (and there can't be many with more experience than 26,000 procedures!!)
 
Has there actually been any documented cases of blindness? And is there any real statistics for eyesight getting worse after surgery?
 
Damn, this laser is expensive here :s
I paid around 440 pounds, for both eyes ^_^ Course mine was done in India, which is a hell of a lot cheaper ^_^ hehe
(and no, not in the back of some van :p same guy who did it for a no. of ex-presidents and the type (and no, they are not "ex" presidents because of the surgery :p hehe)

Actually, even if you factor in the 400 quid return ticket, it's still cheaper.

Oh and the stats I was told at least were that 99% surgery is perfect and vision is perfect. (mine went from -6.75 in both eyes to perfect 20/20)
1% risk of something going wrong, and much much less risk of something going seriosuly wrong, within that 1%. But it is a 1% chance you need to be willing to take. My doc. said taht if you're doing this only for cosmetic purposes, don't. If you have some other reasons, then it is a different matter.
 
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Energize said:
Has there actually been any documented cases of blindness? And is there any real statistics for eyesight getting worse after surgery?
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My gf does over 20 procedures a day, 15-20 days a month and has done so for over 2 1/2 years. She's only seen a couple of cases when things have 'gone wrong' and they have all been due to the patients not following aftercare advice correctly (thinking that 'don't rub your eyes' means 'rub sand and poo in your eyes'... :/)

*n
 
Edinho said:
Also remember someone saying, "Why is it that all the consultants wear glasses"?
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I've covered that one in the past...

Most consultants/surgeons are over 40 and as such, experience the same degeneration as anyone else so they may need reading glasses.

I know a few surgeons who have had the procedure done on them.

*n
 
Interesting reading this, just bumped my thread I started last year because I've just had a consultation about getting mine done at Optical Express, Harley Street. The pricing structure was interesting. He said that -2.75 and above pushes it into a higher price bracket so mine is a bit pricey. I am getting LASEK with wavefront but I think because of the added cost I might not get Intralase done which is where they use a laser to create the flap on your eye rather than a blade. For an extra £600 I don't think the added cost outweighs the benefits which seem to only be a faster recovery time.
 
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