Laser Eye Surgery

NathP said:
I've been considering laser eye surgery for a few years now, I think I'm like -2.25 but I finally managed to go to a consultation 2 weeks ago and the tests went fine!

Having my laser eye surgery done at 2pm today in Optical Express, getting the Intralase Wavefront Lasik :)

Has anyone had it done using the Intralase method? Did it hurt at all?
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You'll know yourself now whether it hurt or not! Mine was entirely painless, not even anything I could describe as uncomfortable. How did it go?
 
funny that this thread has been brought back up - I went for my consult on the 12th feb and booked in for surgery last week (17th).

My eyes were -7.25 and 7.50 but the surgeon said it was more like -9 / -10 because of astigmatism.

The procedure was absolutely painless (thanks to anesthetic drops), not sure about everyone else but the only discomforting thing about it was the seat and the smell of burning. The worst part was when the anesthetic wore off, I spent about a hour in pain but once I was in bed, a few hours later when i woke up, the pain had gone and my sight was damned near perfect.

My optician says I have 20/20 in my left eye and better than 20/20 in my right.

My whole treatment cost about £3.5K but in my mind, it was damn well worth it.

My vision is still a little "blurry" - it comes and goes but the optician warned me my eyes would some days be better than other days and eventually it'll all balance out.

at the moment - i'm loving it. very pleased! (except one of my eyes looks like the terminator from blood bruising)
 
Had mine done 6 months ago (got the 6 month post op checkup tomorrow).

Fantastic results! Was -3.5 ish, now 6/6 (3 months ago) and don't think they've change too much.

Still sting a little bit in swimming pools if splashed directly/open under water but far easier and better than with lenses.

Still reach for my glasses first thing in the morning on occasions and 'push them up my nose' too. I guess old habits die hard.

Best 3k I ever spent!

edit: It was done at optical express in Reading, and I'm the most squeamish person there is. They offered Valium but even with my weak stomach didn't need it.
 
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Got a check up the week after next for mine. Sight has degraded a little unfortunately, after a year and a half so I'm getting it looked at.
 
I'm still undecided if I want this free of the company or not. On one hand, I can get the treatment free. On the other, if I do have the treatment, I'm locked into the company for two years. And I don't know if I'll stay with OE for two years.
Also, new treatment is being introduced in a few months so I want to see how that goes.
 
What do they actually do?

i mean i am VERY squeamish when it comes to my eyes, i cant even put a finger near them, but i dont want to always need glasses either :(
 
Robbie G said:
You'll know yourself now whether it hurt or not! Mine was entirely painless, not even anything I could describe as uncomfortable. How did it go?
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Blue Cypher said:
What do they actually do?

i mean i am VERY squeamish when it comes to my eyes, i cant even put a finger near them, but i dont want to always need glasses either :(
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There are videos on youtube - but basically they cut a flap of eyeball, peel it back, laser the underneath and then roll the flap back.

Have you though about contact lenses?

I can understand people not wanting to wear glasses but all the expense, pain and risk do not seem worth it compared to 'night and day' contact lenses.
 
if you watch the videos on youtube (which i have not) you're bound to be a bit squeamish going in, but watching and being treated are two different experiences. The whole procedure took like five minutes.

I enjoyed wearing glasses but it was becoming a pain, my eyes were beginning to dry up from lenses.

my brother was so impressed by my appraisal of the whole service that he's definitely going to get his done.

Cannot STRESS how painless the operation was. Recovery is very quick too, I had it done on wednesday and was out clubbing on saturday (i asked my optician, he said it was fine).
 
I had LASIK + Wavefront + Intralase at Optical Express in Birmingham a couple of days ago.

The worst part is creating the flap, it felt like they were pushing quite hard down on my face. A little discomfort and they had a bit of trouble making the flap for the left eye, and mentioned something about they will cancell if they can't do it on this attempt. They managed to do it and after that there was no more discomfort.

I've noticed halos and starburst on lights, but it's still the first few days and I'm hoping will clear up when the eyes heal properly.

Vision is currently great and I'm happy with how sharp everything is.

The whole procedure only took ~10mins although I was waiting for an hour or so.
 
Robbie G said:
You'll know yourself now whether it hurt or not! Mine was entirely painless, not even anything I could describe as uncomfortable. How did it go?
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Yeah it went fine! The worst bit is the Intralase part where they put a suction ring on and the laser puts pressure on your eye, I also lost sight during this part. The Intalase laser has loads of white lights around it and it kinda looks like a spaceship when laying under it!

They then moved me to the other laser and put eye lids clamps on. They were uncomfortable especially when I couldn't help but try and blink. I then had to watch a orange light while they pulled back the flap, I could see them doing this. They then turn off the lights and I had to watch the orange light while the laser is ticking away, I could smell burning. Afterwards they just put back the flap and put a few drops on my eye and then did the same to my left eye.

After both eyes were done I got up and everything was cloudy but I could read notices around the waiting area that I couldn't do before without my glasses, I then went home.

For the first 4 hours it was so hard to open my eyes as they were very watery and sore, my eye lids felt really heavy. After 4 hours I could open my eyes no problem but was very light sensitive up to about 8 hours, even the LED lights on my PC were too bright! After 8 hours I could start to look at lights without having to close my eyes. I do have red marks around my eyes, especially my left eye where the eye lid clamp and the suction ring has been, this is slowly healing and I heard it takes around 2 weeks to go.

Went for my 1 day post op checkup and I could read the 20/20 line no problems and I can just about make out the 20/15 line which was even smaller!

I did see halo effects at night especially for the first 1-2 days but this is slowly wearing off, its been a week now and I hardly notice the halo effects :)

I have my 1 week post op checkup today so hopefully I can come off the eye drops :p
 
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To be honest, the procedure for laser surgery just sounds awful. I practically pass out at the dentists if she ever has to clean my teeth up. Gonna have to stick to my dailies.
 
Well 4 months on my vision is still better than 6/6 (20/20), it's 6/4.8 (which is close to 20/15 IIRC). I can make out a couple of letters on the 20/10 line but not easily. I didn't suffer halos or starburst, and no side effects either. My eyes have healed perfectly and it's all good. Didn't need to conitune with the saline eye drops as my eyes weren't dry.

I can't even remember much of the op it was so quick. The "burning" smell is not the eye burning, it's the gas they use for the laser. The "flap" wasn't even much of an issue, and it was all done so quick that you don't really have time to think or appreciate what's going on. I kept my eyes closed all day (I was driven home) and basically had them closed for almost 20hrs, woke up the next day and I could see! After a week of using several eye drops I didn't need to use them anymore which was great. Then a month on everything was fine. 3 months on, my astigmatism has completely gone! That was the clincher for me - that made me really happy. My night vision is good. I'm a happy chappy!

It is the best thing I've ever spent money on. Really so very happy.
 
Haven't got the numbers to hand, but just basic prescription off the top of my head was -2.25 and -2.00. The figurs of 0.75 and 1.25 rings a bell, and as for axis 45 rings a bell but I can't guess what the other one is. The astigmatism was mild but enough to require it to be corrected with glasses if that helps.
 
-Ad- said:
That's what I didn't want to hear FF, I'm now tempted :p
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heh. :D

Well I must say that having done it, and I've been on a couple of skiing holidays, and driving a lot (day and night) it's made it so much easier and more relaxing. There are so many little things that have made my life better.

Glasses not steaming up when goin ginto a hot room on a cold day. Knocking my glasses off my face, having to remove glasses when they get in the way, going to the gym or doing sports without feeling them slide down my face. Able to watch tv without them. Walking around the house and not having to squint if I don't wear my glasses. Being able to appreciate landscapes and views better than before, seeing everything sharper and more accurately. Not having to strain or have to pick things up to bring them closer to view. Not having to carry sunglasses and regular glasses on sunny days. Not having to faff about with contact lenses. Riding my motorbike without faffing with glasses on in my helmet. The list goes on....
 
I am doing a lot of reading into this right now, this thread has been really helpful. My friend just paid £3000 to have both his eyes corrected in Oxford, he was really short sighted and now can't boast about it enough. He said the procedure was pretty painless and didn't take more than 30 seconds in each eye. He spent a week in hibernation with many types of eye drops and could see fine by the weekend. He now has 20/20 vision in both eyes and has convinced me that it's the way forward.

I find my contacts to be disruptive, but much better than glasses for many reasons. Due to the fact that I enjoy skiing, driving, swimming, go karting and using anything with a screen, I think that laser surgery might be the way forward as my contacts dry up in all of these activities and I hate waking up blind.

Is there a good link or quick definition for Lasek and Lasik? What procedure did you go for Freefaller?

Cheers :)
 
I went for the top one. Intralase with wavefront, this is a Lasik based operation.

Main different between Lasik and Lasek is how they create the flap.
 
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