Corrective eye surgery ? Yes or No ?

richardvc

My OH is seriously considering corrective eye surgery so I wanted to find out people's opinions.

I have heard some scare stories but also have heard others state how good it is !!

Would like to hear from anyone especially if they have had it done themselves.

Pennylane

Not much help I guess because I know just one person who has had it done. She said it was marvellous.

C_Mababejive

I know one person whos had it done and has had it redone and now a few years downline,has had to start wearing specs again.

Tell your OH to investigate daily disposable contacts.

bunnykins

Hi Richardvc

I had corrective laser surgery in 1998 and i have to say it was worth every penny.:)

I was short sighted (I believe my prescription was -4.5 in each eye and after the surgery I was +0.5 and +1.25 in each eye. Over the years this has improved even more and at my last eye test in October my eyes were almost 0.00 :j.

I had worn contact lenses for about 15 years but had stopped wearing them as they had become uncomfortable to wear and was wearing my specs all the time so after 5 years of specs use I opted for the laser treatment.

When I first had the treatment I wondered what the **** I had done as i had double vision for around 4 weeks, but this improved slowly until one day I realized that I could focus clearly

The only lasting side effect that I have had is that I am light sensitive (not badly) but I keep a pair of sunglasses in my handbag at all times - although to be fair I found I was quite light sensitive when i was wearing glasses too so not sure how much of that is natural and how much is the treatment - IYSWIM??

Hope you find this useful - feel free to PM me if you want more information

I forgot to say that I still dont require specs :D:D

JCS1

I looked into it and went for the tests to find that one eyelid didn't open wide enough so they couldn't complete the tests to determine if I was suitable.

So get the free tests done before you decide!

richardvc

C_Mababejive wrote: »

I know one person whos had it done and has had it redone and now a few years downline,has had to start wearing specs again.

Tell your OH to investigate daily disposable contacts.

Pennylane wrote: »

Not much help I guess because I know just one person who has had it done. She said it was marvellous.

bunnykins wrote: »

Hi Richardvc

I had corrective laser surgery in 1998 and i have to say it was worth every penny.:)

I was short sighted (I believe my prescription was -4.5 in each eye and after the surgery I was +0.5 and +1.25 in each eye. Over the years this has improved even more and at my last eye test in October my eyes were almost 0.00 :j.

I had worn contact lenses for about 15 years but had stopped wearing them as they had become uncomfortable to wear and was wearing my specs all the time so after 5 years of specs use I opted for the laser treatment.

When I first had the treatment I wondered what the **** I had done as i had double vision for around 4 weeks, but this improved slowly until one day I realized that I could focus clearly

The only lasting side effect that I have had is that I am light sensitive (not badly) but I keep a pair of sunglasses in my handbag at all times - although to be fair I found I was quite light sensitive when i was wearing glasses too so not sure how much of that is natural and how much is the treatment - IYSWIM??

Hope you find this useful - feel free to PM me if you want more information

I forgot to say that I still dont require specs :D:D

Thanks for your help.

Three replies with two different opinions - I do know that on the railway they won't accept anyone who has had laser eye surgery because they say it affects their night vision !!

bunnykins

Me again

Funny you should mention night vision - I dont have a problem when it's dark but do struggle at dusk sometimes. I find it worst just before the street lights come on and it's oncoming traffic headlights that can cause me a problem - nothing major but it is something I noticed and will be mentioning to my Optician at my next test.

Hope this is helpful

ali-t

there are loads of threads on this subject if you use the search facility.

I have had it done 3 times and still can't see perfectly and the next step is an intra occular implant which 'may' fix things. My night vision is terrible and I struggle to see in dusk. The surgery itself isn't too bad but the recovery is very painful.

On the plus side I went from having a very strong prescription to a much smaller one but am over £3K poorer and don't have great vision.

If you want to read lots of people's good and bad accounts of their treatment and outcomes I think it is Ultralase who have a forum and people have treatment diaries on there.

the one thing I would say to you is that despite what the adverts say, it is still an operation and you won't skip out of there after 20 minutes and life will be sweet.

Al1x

I had my eyes lasered just over a year ago.. the results are amazing and i just wish i had done it sooner. I couldn't wear contact lenses for more than a few hours as I have dry eyes and they get very uncomfortable.

This was my write up from a few days after surgery

I can't believe it was over so quick.. it was no more than 20 minutes and that included waiting for the anesthetic eye drops to work.

I noticed the difference straight away... walking out of the room after the surgery I could actually see my mum sitting across the room, I could never have done that before! I sat in a dark room for a while then my eyes were looked at again before being told I could go home. I was there a total of 2 hours!

I was very light sensitive on the way home on the train, I couldn't open my eyes even with sun glasses on.. My mum took me to her house so she could look after dd and I layed with my head under a blanket untill about 5pm and after that I felt a lot better. As I wasn't allowed to watch TV, go on the internet or read yesterday I ended up falling asleep after DF brought me home. After waking this morning I can see so much clearer, there is still a but of a haze around lights and things but they say that will get better soon.

I went back up to London today for my 1st check up and to get the bandage lenses taken out and they were happy that everything was as it should be. I was so very happy because i could read the bottom line on the chart!! yay!!

its weird because every now and then i forget that I'm not wearing glasses and try and push them up my nose lol

I've been given these fab eye shields to wear when I'm sleeping so I don't rub my eyes without realising.. they make me look like the fly or something! its only for a week though so i can handle that. I've also been told to wear sunglasses when I'm outside to protect my eyes from wind and rain so I've been looking daft wearing sunglasses on these lovely overcast days lol

I did have bad night vision for a few weeks, the lights looked pretty hazy especially as it was during december and everyone had christmas lights outside! I also suffered from dry eyes and was told to take Flaxseed oil suppliments and that really helped. After 2 months i stopped taking the Flaxseed oil and found that my eyes weren't drying out anymore.

I was given the phone number for the consultant that actually did my surgery and if i had a problem with my eyes i could speak to him directly (luckly i didn't suffer from any bad pain so didn't need to call him)

I had the surgery at Optimax - Finchley Road - London.

I had been for a consultation at a few other places but didn't like the feel of them. One of them was running very late with appointments and left me waiting for 3 hours in a tiny waiting room. Finchley Road made me feel very welcome and comfortable. They answered my questions and explained the surgery thoroughly and went through any risks and the chance of something not going right. (the other place i went to just put a dvd on for me and when i asked what could go wrong they just laughed at me and said nothing could go wrong )

Deffinetly go for the free consultations. Dont be put off if Optimax charges a £30 fee (not sure if they still do) but they do that so you keep the appointment. it will be refunded if you cancel or decide not to go with them but if you do go with them they take it off they surgery payment.

Hope that helps.. any questions just ask

Barneysmom

I had mine done in 2000 and I'm glad I did as going swimming was an ordeal for me, it's hard to swim in glasses
Night driving was hard, the headlights coming toward me were all flared out and it hurt so my optitian siad try just getting some glasses for night driving to cut down the glare and I've been fine ever since.

cabbage

Had mine done in 2003. Wish I had it done sooner. At the time there were two types of lasering available. I don't have problems at night but need glasses for reading now which is due to the (i think) eye muscles getting slack and nothing to do with cornea which is the bit that is lasered. I believe things have moved on now and it may be possible to address the old age reading glasses issue.

My friend has just had it done and has problems with nightime driving and may have to have another treatment.

I have worn glasses from about 3 years old to 8 and then from 13 to 40 years. Even though I need glasses to read, I still think its worth it for exercising, swimming, being able to go in the fish and chip shop or opening the oven or straining veg without steaming up, waking up and being able to see the alarm clock etc.