Laser eye treatment - who's done it?

What is the pre-op and post-op stuff you have to do? I heard years ago you had to stop wearing contacts a week before the op. And afterwards you have to wear sunglasses all the time for a while. Do you have to wear an eye patch while it heals? :D
 
Booner! said:
Darkman - sounds promising. Were you short sighted? Also, do you find it as sharp (if not sharper) than contacts/glasses? Also, any problems with halo's at night?
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I was short-sighted. From memory prescription was 1.75 I believe. The difference is night and day. I woke up about midnight after going to bed with my eyes still streaming, looked out the window and was blown away by the clarity, depth perception and detail I could make out. Wierdly I could also distinguish colours better (I'm partially colour blind) which isn't uncommon I found out later. Much better than glasses; contacts I only tried once so can't compare. No issues with night vision but more recent improvements to the surgery (LASIK had only just come in when I had mine done 10 years ago) give even better results as I understand it.

drunkenmaster said:
If you're really anywhere near london its worth going to one of the main London eye hospitals, at least for a quote/checkup even if you do the surgery somewhere cheaper/easier.
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This is the reason I settled on Laservision in Harley St. The surgeon was one of the top guys in the world at that point, had done the procedure on a number of top golfers, celebs (and Branson) and was also a Consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital. As someone pointed out you only get one crack at this (hopefully).
 
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Moza said:
Like ~£3k total, can't remember exactly. There were a lot cheaper options which all had longer recovery times or more risks etc. I wasn't up for the old 'pencil sharpener' to make the incision though which is what the advertised £300 an eye thing is! My eyes weren't something I was willing to scrimp on :P
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Ditto with me, I'm probably going to go for the same procedure as you. There's no way I'm letting a razor anywhere near my eye. *cringe* :(
 
Had mines done on the day of the royal wedding of all days! Got it done at Optical Express and went for Intralase with Wavefront LASIK treatment (as said you dont want to skimp on your peepers!)

From walking on the door on the day of the procedure to waiting to be picked up was only 30mins. The op was completely painless for me only slight discomfort as they cut the flap with the laser. Went home and slept as advised woke up being able to see and was quite astounded. Followed the course of eye drops and still had slight inflammation after a week so still on anti-inflammatory drops.

As for sight in natural light everything is great though bring bright lights into the mix i.e. car lights or lamp posts i get a really bad starburst thing going on but have been told that would die down over the next few weeks.

As for Optical Express i would recommend them to anyone, very friendly and full of support if you need/want it. Granted it cost me a fair amount at £3,500 i think its been money well spent so far.
 
I had my eyes PEWPEW'd last June at Optimax. I had Intralase with Wavefront.

The original quoted price was around £3,000 but after some haggling it came in around £900 per eye.

The procedure took about 45mins from getting in the door to leaving.

There was no pain for the procedure, but after the drops they give you wear off you'll want to be in a dark room (probably in bed) trying to sleep. I found my eyes ached quite a lot that evening, but I didn't use the painkiller drops they give you.

My prescription was -1.75 in both eyes, and I strongly recommend getting it done!
 
The entire process was "too" easy..

I walked into the shop, made an appointment, had a consultation, choose a date, paid for it, and next thing you know someone is burning your eyes with lasers :)
 
I'm only up to about a year but mine has not deteriorated yet.

For the first few months driving at night was a bit strange, as bright lights in the dark were very very bright. It went back to normal after a while though. It wasn't bad enough to stop driving though - it wasn't dangerous.
 
I've had mine done ~ 15 months ago, Lasik with wavefront and intralase.

Left eye was -3.25 and -0.75 astigmatism and right eye was -3.00 and -0.75 astigmatism.

Things do certainly get better with time. I had dry eye for ~6 months after and even eye drops didn't really help with it but that's all gone now.

Starbursts on lights has got better, it wasn't too bad to start with as I could still drive at night without it being dangerous. I also don't think about them as much so don't notice it much at all anymore unless I purposfully think about them. It took ~9-12 to see any improvement with this.

When tired aswel, I used to get eye strain or something where things would go blurry at a distance and double vision on leds and things on monitors. This took ~9 months to stop.

Everytime I went for checkups, I could see the 20/20 line and some below, so that's quite good. It's probably not as sharp as when I had glasses but it's still very good.

If you do have any problems after the surgery such as dry eye/starburst, then it will probably get better over time.
 
My eyes aren't really bad, but I notice it and wear glasses all the time, just got into the habit.

I'd love to get them fixed, I do hate wearing glasses.. However the thought of it is terrifying, I know you all say you don't feel it.. But i'm such a wuss, i've goto have a blood test this week and that gives me the fear.

You obviously see while its happening? Did anyone find it a bit scary or was it fine once you were getting it done?

David
 
Phate said:
Hur Hur :p




Wow nice! Your vision hasn't deteriorated at all? Is this the case for everyone?
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Nope not at all - can still read the 20/20 line, and most of the line below :)

Astigmatism has completely been fixed too.

Not everyone has a perfect experience, one of my colleagues at work has to have one of her eyes re-done - but it'll be done for free as part of the service :)

Some people suffer from dry eyes and have mild pain. Some have issues with night vision and "halos" or "starbursts". However, I used to have that when wearing glasses anyway, and it's definitely reduced. My eyes are a little more sensitive in the sunlight, but nothing that's unbearable - and a pair of sunnys sorts it out! :)
 
Phate - read up on Focus too... doesn't hurt to have a comparison, I really can't rate them high enough after 3 years of shopping around and researching.

http://www.focusclinics.com/

Very honest, thorough and all of them have a good knowledge/understanding of the treatment...which fills you with confidence.
 
David_VI said:
I'd love to get them fixed, I do hate wearing glasses.. However the thought of it is terrifying, I know you all say you don't feel it.. But i'm such a wuss, i've goto have a blood test this week and that gives me the fear.

You obviously see while its happening? Did anyone find it a bit scary or was it fine once you were getting it done?
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As posted earlier by several people who have had it done it's really quick and painless. It sounds far more gory than it actually is. It's one of those things that you get yourself psyched up for and find out you didn't really need to.
 
For people saying "dont want to skimp on my eyes", you have been taken in by sales patter, its not like you get varying quality of service.

The bottom line is the same, your eye gets sliced open and you get your sight fixed, dont be taken in by sales patter, pay more than two grand and you are being ripped off.
 
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