Laser Eye Surgery Discussion Thread

tomstickland

http://www.lasik-eyes.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=866&PN=1

if i make a post on their forum, even just stating facts, it gets removed. Im hoping this one will be left alone so that anyone considering surgery can see that it does go wrong.

tomstickland

Last one for now

had LASIK treatment 18 months ago (Optimax) and shortly afterwarIds noticed onset of many floaters in my left eye. I went to my Doctor who sent me to the Western Eye clinic at Marleybone. As Chris says floaters could be a symptom of PVD (Viterous detachment ) or more serious (Retina detachment). I was diagnosed with former. I have done a lot of research including second opinions from other Surgeons e.g. Dr. O' Brart at St Thomas's Hospital. There is a theory that the suction ring they use for LASIK can induce a PVD (some sites even list PVD as a LASIK complication) but the evidence is inconclusive.

http://www.lasik-eyes.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=856&PN=1

Poppy9

Horace wrote: »

How any one would want to have laser eye surgery is beyond me. They do it at the eye hospital in Birmingham but it is purely for medical reasons not vanity.

Contact lenses can scar the eye too and the eye becomes misshapen - I used to wear contacts but now I have glaucoma and uveitis which means no more contact lens wearing. I wear glasses and because of the glaucoma don't drive at night because the lights really affect my eyes and cause a form of blindness.

Stick to wearing glasses - there are some lovely styles around now and in any case if you need to have thick lenses you can always pay for thinner ones.

My OH finds glasses impractical in his job. If out on patrol and it's raining, which it often is in Wales, hard to see out of. If chasing criminals or trying to apprehend them then they can fall or be knocked off. He usually wears contact lenses when working but they are prone to irritating his eyes.

He has spoken to friends who've had the surgery and they are all so pleased they've gone ahead with it. OH is long-sighted (+4.5 & +3.75) and they will only be able to correct his vision to a certain point. He may still need reading glasses but they will be much weaker and what you would expect for his age.

tomstickland

The literature suggests that around 1-5% of people suffer complications, so that could be a 1:20 probability. Personally I wouldn't risk it.
A few friends isn't a large enough sample.

tomstickland

point3 wrote: »

This is true of any scar. No scar is 100% as strong as virgin tissue.

The corneal flap will "stick down" within 2-3 days, but may take 6 months or more for optimal healing to occur.

General advice is to avoid rubbing the eyes, any swimming or contact sports for 1 week after the surgery. After that, physical activities may be cautiously re-introduced.

Shearing off of the flap can occur after trauma months after the original surgery, but it is true to say that such trauma is likely to produce a significant injury to the eye even if surgery had not been performed.

I think that's a rather optimistic view, compared with some of the reports out there.

. In April, 2007, researchers reported, "The LASIK flap once cut may contribute little to the mechanical stability of the cornea and probably never completely adheres to the underlying stromal bed..."

I'm still trying to find the best resource on the internet. This is a good one though:
http://thelasikflap.com/

And this
http://thelasikreport.com/TheLasikReport_Aug2006.pdf

susi

Thanks for all the info. I have a friend who had this done earlier this year and he thinks it was well worth the money but I can see there are many who arent so lucky (although I must admit I havent read them all) Lots to think about???????????

tomstickland

I spoke to a woman at work who had a long talk with her optician about it. She said that he said that he only uses one surgeon, and the surgeon is very selective about who he'll operate on. It works well on simple cases, but there is a risk of well documented side effects.
So it looks like a case of doing the research properly.

babydaisy

Just wanted to add that I have now had this done - a week ago. Opted for the one where they don't cut your cornea as didn't fancy anything invasive so it was 10 seconds per eye of the lazer and sent home to bed.

I had a bit of discomfort but they give you painkillers and tell you to go to bed for the day and sleep which i did (at my mums in my old bed and had a blissful weekend eating chocs and resting in a warm comfy bed)

Now a week later there is no pain or discomfort or dryness and my vision is improving daily. I can walk about and function without my glasses but can't drive yet - it can take up to 6 weeks for your vision to adjust itself to the stage where you can drive.

I had it done at the Manchester Eyes Hospital and saw my consultant each time, had two hours of photos etc before the surgery to programme the wavefront machine to fit my eye exactly.

I am chuffed to bits with it - they feel like my eyes but they now work! I have two small active boys and glasses were a pain with swimming and bicycling and all the outdoor activities that we do with them. I have (had) astigmatism in both eyes so contact lenses weren't that comfy for me.

BD x

shazrobo

hi babydaisy, good to hear that the lazer treatment went well, i too have astigmatism in both eyes, so dont find contacts comfy and glasses are a real pain when trying to do activities with the kida.
i've been thinking bout having this done for some time, i have worn glasses since the age of three and i am sick off them, still scared to take the final step and have it done tho. i need to do more thinking bout this before i go ahead

atalooseend

A friend at work had laser eye surgery and he is very pleased with the result. I think it was with ultralase. Theres some information about the procedure here

www.yourguideto.org.uk/laser-eye-surgery

It also has a laser eye surgery video!