Laser eye treatment - who's done it?

Orionaut said:
Yes, you are correct. a correctly functioning self correcting lens is the best option.

But we are talking about people who do not have this option.

Multifocal lenses are nowhere near being a perfect alternative. You lose a lot of low light level ability because the lenses absorb a lot of light.

Also, not every-bodies brains can adapt to them. (It is a brain processing issue rather than a simple optics one)

When I was given the option 3/4 years ago the "Failure" rate for multifocals was about 1:20. If it didn't work for you, you would have to have another single focus lens replacement.

But, as I said earlier, apparently the tech has moved on and it is a lot better and a lot more predictive.

I can tell you lens replacement is not a pleasant procedure. I certainly would not want to have to do something like this twice. I am amazed that people have this done as an out-patient thing. For me, Mr Bupa paid for an overnight stay. and I was very grateful for this when about 01:00 my GF saw blood coming from my eye (It wasn't a problem. Amazingly my consultant was still there to come up to my room and reassure me. But then I guess that is what you get with private health care! :D (I also got a damn good full English breakfast the morning after too:D!))

Interestingly. I understand that cataract surgery is the #1 NHS procedure. And there is a bottleneck because there simply are not enough suitably qualified surgeons to meet the demand.

The silly thing is that, in principle, it isn't a particularly expensive procedure. and yet it has an enormous potential to improve the lives of millions of people.

The really sad thing is that the NHS basically waits until people are almost blind before authoring the surgery. and by that time, eyesight is frequently permanently damaged because the internal brain connections have been truncated and they never recover... :(
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I was mostly responding to the assertion it would be better for younger people to get this over LASIK which I find ludicrous.
 
x-st said:
The standard of vision following lens replacement is better than that of laser correction, with less aberration, issues with scatter and chances of regression. It's just a better visual outcome...yes you suddenly become presbyopic and would need readers, but that will have irrespective of procedure around mid 40's anyway. Personally as a glasses wearer (-3 right and left) I wouldn't consider either, but for someone who wanted the best visual outcome and the most stable prescription I'd defiintely suggest an IOL. You also don't need to have multi-focal implants and if you demo monovision contacts and can tolerate them that's a viable alternative.
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Thing is, presbyopia is progressive. With a singlefocal lens for distance vision, you effectively have the eyesight of a 60-year-old - you'll lose not just close vision but also your intermediate (such as computer work). It's a fairly big hassle for someone so young.

Note that I agree that high street surgery is no good - you want wavefront done at the LVC for the best possible outcome in regards to aberrations and the like.
 
Has anyone had the ReLEx SMILE instead of usual LASIK? It seems to be the newer way of doing it. I can see LVC do it and a few other places now. It sounds like the healing time is much less than before which is my main worry.
 
Duke said:
Has anyone had the ReLEx SMILE instead of usual LASIK? It seems to be the newer way of doing it. I can see LVC do it and a few other places now. It sounds like the healing time is much less than before which is my main worry.
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Yes, I had it done (as have many on here). No complaints and fantastic results.
 
pioneer2000 said:
Relex smile cannot do wavefront custom mapping can it, so I imagine it’s not quite as good for vision correction as standard lasik.
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Correct, you also have to meet various other criteria for it to be suitable.

It also means future correction if you have it can only be done with LASEK PRK (or that was the case at the time I had my SMILE done).
 
wozza2k said:
Bit of a necro bump here but has anyone dealt with Advanced Vision Care before?

I was all set to go with Optical Express but they really don't want to budge on their price so considering AVC now.
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What price are you at?

I'm figuring out whether I'm going to spend out on it. I'm a low risk and low prescription patient (-1.25 in both) and want to see how much OE budge on price if at all. Currently hanging around £3000.
 
Burnsy2023 said:
What price are you at?

I'm figuring out whether I'm going to spend out on it. I'm a low risk and low prescription patient (-1.25 in both) and want to see how much OE budge on price if at all. Currently hanging around £3000.
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I paid £2,990 in the end with AVC, I flirted with the person on the phone and they gave me their F&F discount (which you get after you've had surgery with them) but it meant I had to pay upfront as opposed to 12 months @ 0% interest.

Personally I highly recommend them, the girl thought the clinic and the general service seems is better than OE (who she did her surgery with).
 
Well, I did it :cool: Had ReLEx SMILE surgery last weekend at Nuffield Hospital near Eastleigh/Southampton. This was the closest place to me that does it (that I could find). The two consultant/surgeons there are top chaps as indeed are the other staff that were involved.

Like others I had thought about it for years on and off and after chatting about it at work, discovered how many other people have had it done as obviously you wouldn't know otherwise. I had tried contact lenses in the past and just couldn't get myself to touch my eye and I really hate things like this, however I managed it fine. Someone said to me if you can "put up with" the tests they do before deciding the treatment suitable, you can do the full thing. So I went in with that in my mind and coped fine so went ahead four weeks later. I was nervous but to be fair it was no bother at all in the end, even with one eye taking longer as I moved a bit, so he had to manually do some magic but the second eye was done in 5 mins. Not being able to feel or see what was going on meant I just sat there and waited for them to do their stuff. I've never used drops before and didn't like it the first couple of times - I was dreading this more than the surgery - but now its no issue at all doing it (still need to use them for another week but less frequently).

My prescription was pretty strong at -7.5 so its taking a while for it to become clear, so I've been sat at home getting bored listening to things but tonight I went out did some gardening and mowed the lawn fine and should be okay to drive in the next couple of days. I expect those with lesser prescriptions found it settled quicker.

So yes I would add my name to the list of "I should have done this sooner" and "Just do it" people :D Seriously if I can do it, I bet 99% of those on here could. Happy to answer any queries about it all :)
 
This is good to hear i am -5 and -7 and have also thought about it for a few years now. From what i have read they can correct up to -12 now which is great.

How much did it cost Duke?
 
Yeah assuming everything else is within limit then that would be fine. Mine was £3900 inc a years worth of any follow up work. A bit more than high street type places but was keen on SMILE, which is available at fewer places and it was nice to have your own room after to chill out on for a couple of hours before heading home.
 
Something I'm considering, after wearing glasses for quite sometime I thought id try contacts, went last week and couldn't even get them in, sort started to look at eye surgery, im longsighted with astigmatism so thought I couldn't get it but when I enter my prescription +2.25 & +4.25 it seems I can, I did however go back to try contacts again today and have managed to get them in this time so may give them a chance before enquiring about this
 
Duke said:
Yeah assuming everything else is within limit then that would be fine. Mine was £3900 inc a years worth of any follow up work. A bit more than high street type places but was keen on SMILE, which is available at fewer places and it was nice to have your own room after to chill out on for a couple of hours before heading home.
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No astigmatism then? Or very little anyhow?
 
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