Laser Eye Surgery Cost Cutting Tips

Katykat

Does anybody know if Optical Express offer the 30% discount for NHS employees as Optimax do?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

panther_31 wrote: »

I am 51 years old and have trouble reading only, is laser treatment no good for me.

You can have treatment if you only require reading glasses

waz101

I had Laser eye surgery back in 1992 (15 years ago) when Optimax had just started and only had the clinic on Finchley Road in London (a bit awkward as I live in Manchester), and i have to say that it is the best thing i have ever had done.
The treatment at the time was PRK (Photorefractive keratotomy) which was horribly painful for about seven days afterwards, and your eyes were treated separately at six month intervals.
But if i had three eyes i would have had that one done as well. It really did change my life.



Waz

Mum_of_5_2

My husband had this done in Cambridge at the Cambridge Eye Laser Clinic, formerly known as the Allclear clinic by Doctor Chris Stephenson. We went on the recommendation of a friend who had had it done a year previously.

We paid £3000 which was partly due to my husband having an astigmatism as well, otherwise it would have been £2500. Yes we knew that we could have bought it on ebay - but who would! I'm sad to see so many people think that they want to get it cheap, please remember this is your eyes!

the surgeon who owns the surgery in Cambridge, saw my husband for every consultation, from the initial consultation right through all the treatment and checkups. He had the operation on a Friday, was seen on the saturday morning, he was seen a week later and three weeks later, he will also see him for any further treatments. We were also given his mobile phone number so that we could contact him in an emergency - which we did over christmas as my husband got dirt in his eye.

My husband is really scared of any operations, and was terrified of seeing knives etc or being in pain and he came out grinning saying it was painless. There is slight pressure when they cut the flap to do the procedure but it's for 2 minutes - literally. HOnestly my husband is a really chicken and he was fine!

He had very bad sight a -5.25 and -3.50 and couldn't see a thing without his glasses, immediately after the operation he was blurred but still amazed with what he can see.

We checked the doctor's record and he was one of the pioneering doctors into laser eye surgery and is a consultant at Hinchingbrooke hospital and honourary consultant at Addenbrookes. He fully explained all the procedure, recover and associated risks. He has been performing this surgery for 12 years and has had no one have any problems, he said the worst was that someone came back to have a little more done, but all under the same cost.

He was very clear with my husband about the possible side effects, the halo and starburst on lights at night etc. It is unusual for them to remain, but yes some do. He also told my husband that as his eyes were quite badly short sighted that he had only an 80% chance of never using glasses, so we went into the procedure with all the information clearly laid out.

I know these cheaper clinics have different surgeons each time you go, i'm sure they aren't as experienced, you pay for what you get. We were happy to pay and we're aren't well off, we put it on our mortgage.

I really couldn't recommed this clinic more, my husband is 4 weeks out of surgery now and thrilled with his sight, he has almost 20/20 vision. The procedure was professional, painless and we were very confident, it's really altered his way of life. we have two small children who grabbed his glasses and now he'll be able to swim and do sport without worrying about it all.

If you are thinking about doing it then yes there are complications and I feel sorry that the person who has left such a negative note has had such problems. But, as he said it was 10 years ago, medical surgery comes on in leaps and bounds in a decade and also he hasn't said where he went or how much he paid. Remember that every operation you undergo, dental, appendix, anything, carries a risk of death or injury or things going wrong, but we all happily trust anaesththists don't we. there will always be error in every operation and what you have to weigh up is the risk, versus your need. It's also a good point to ask the individual clinic what their personal statistics are as bad ones have a much higher risk of problems and therefore choosing where you go becomes much more important.

Anyway I hope this helps, your eyes are so fragile, be careful where you go and really research into the procedure, if you can't afford to pay a decent amount I personally wouldn't have it done.

It's not a quick 5 minutes and it's done, you will have side effects for up to a few months afterwards, you have to use 3 different drops 4 times a day, but this should all be explained to you anyway before the surgery, but long term it could change your life.

hope this helps and if you want to mail me personally please do.

Mari

Mum_of_5_2

The clinic in Cambridge I mentioned also offers NHS discount.

Magenta

I had Lasik surgery done at Boots Opticians about 5 years ago. I was short sighted but could read fine without specs. The operation was fine but I needed reading glasses after. After about 2 months my sight began to "deteriorate" and within 5 months I was back wearing glasses for short sightedness AND reading glasses. It wasn't cheap either, I paid £2000 for each eye.I was told this very rarely happens. I now have SO many problems with my eyes it is unbelievable. The clinic at Boots closed about a year after.

W@LT

Checkout this the latest news item on http://www.lasik-eyes.co.uk

FOCUS Laser Vision have announced what they believe to be the cheapest price ever for advanced Wavefront LASIK Laser Eye treatment, saving patients approximately £1,000 to £2,000 compared to most other clinics for an average prescription.

Worth a look !!!

http://www.lasik-eyes.co.uk/News/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=82

Cheers

W@LT

andothfc

I have terrible eyesight. I'm 25 years old and around a -12! I guess I'm a hopeless case for laser surgery?

labhras

I have an appointment with Optimax that I organised through e bay' is it possible to use Tesco club card deals with the ebay price as suggested in Martins e-mail? I have £200 in vouchers and was hoping to make a part payment of the total cost

zeefunster

Well I had the £395 surgery per eye done with Optical Express in October 07 and it's great, there was a bit of waiting around for the actual procedure but it was worth it. I'm so happy with the results...the after care is great too
If you mention my name, not only do you get £50 off the surgery I get £50 too, so it's really only £370 an eye! bargain

Zack King
Stockport
There can't be too many people with my name!