Corrective eye surgery ? Yes or No ?

richardvc

Guinea wrote: »

Do not have it done!

Why not please ?

bettyB_2

Hmm, a lot of opinions here.

I went for a consultation a few months ago at Ultralase in Tottenham Ct road. They were very friendly and helpful. Here are a few facts they gave me that I found very reassuring (not got it done yet, saving up my pennies!):

1. The laser itself cannot and will not blind you. There have been exactly 0 incidences of people going blind because of the surgery itself. However, poor aftercare can lead to infections, which in turn can cause problems. so it is crucial you find a company that offers a good aftercare service, medication, advice, eyemask for nighttime, etc.

2. Wearing contact lenses for 10 years gives you the exact same risk of developing the same blindness-causing infections that poor surgical aftercare can cause. Contact lenses are not as safe as some people think - think about it, poking your eye with potentially dirty hands every day versus one clean, hygenic medical procedure! lol. even if you always wash your hands, you are at risk as water contains bacteria that can cause infection if trapped between the lens and your eye

3. If they dont think you are a good candidate for the surgery, they wont give it to you. The surgeons value their success rates so they wont do the surgery on anyone who is a big risk.

there are forums on a few eye laster surgey websites, discussing pros and cons, that you might find handy (google!)

alleycat`

The best way to look at it would be along the lines of;

If you think the surgery will give you some sort of super vision and it just gives you plain old 20:20 would that be ok?

Would you be happy a tiny bit off?

The surgeon has to make some corrections based on your age, how much your eye will regrow the "lasered" tissue, etc.
A lot of this is "feel" and involves some skill.

The surgery damages the nerves in your eye (with regards to tear production) and that can take months or in some cases years to heal properly.

You also need to be aware of how large your pupil dilates in low light as the surgery only treats a certain amount of your eye.

Large pupils are one of the major causes of people suffering low light / contrast issues as well as things like "starbursts" around light sources as the pupil expands outside the "treated" area.

I've had Lasik with wavefront and am happy with the results but it isn't "super perfect". It does, however, make things like swimming and playing with my little boy much easier.

Even now i still need to occasionally put drops in my eyes when i'm either very tired or dehydrated (pointing the finger at christmas drinks for this one).
If you Set your expectation levels accordingly and make sure you do your homework it is a "fairly" safe procedure.

As with anything "elective" you have to accept you are taking some risks.

Final thoughts i can give you are:

I'd never tell you or anyone else if they should have elective surgery regardless of how it turned out for me. It is your body and your choice.

The chances are that as you age you will need glasses again (probably for reading) as presbyopia doesn't give a damn about what surgery you've had

Do your research on the surgeon and aftercare and not on a price or what other peoples results were.

Your body is not the same as anyone else's and the surgery offered / chosen should be matched to you.

I hope that helps.

Al1x

bettyB wrote: »

1. The laser itself cannot and will not blind you. There have been exactly 0 incidences of people going blind because of the surgery itself. However, poor aftercare can lead to infections, which in turn can cause problems. so it is crucial you find a company that offers a good aftercare service, medication, advice, eyemask for nighttime, etc.

Thats what I was told as well. there are times afterwards where you just want to give your eyes a good rub but knowing the risks you just have to be strong and not do it.

Also you can't get water in your eyes for a few weeks (might be more I can't remember) so showering and washing hair can be difficult but after a week i was told i could wear swimming googles in the shower. (its not the water getting in your eyes that could cause damage them its the grabbing a towel and drying your eyes that would cause problems.

alleycat`

Al1x wrote: »

Thats what I was told as well. there are times afterwards where you just want to give your eyes a good rub but knowing the risks you just have to be strong and not do it.

Also you can't get water in your eyes for a few weeks (might be more I can't remember) so showering and washing hair can be difficult but after a week i was told i could wear swimming googles in the shower. (its not the water getting in your eyes that could cause damage them its the grabbing a towel and drying your eyes that would cause problems.

I bought some Ski goggles on amazon for this purpose as i found the swimming ones put too much pressure on my eyes and made them hurt.

I admit i looked a plank but it worked for me

charlearose

HI
i had wavefront laser eye surgery last monday in bristol ( 20th dec) with optimax
ive worn glasses since i was 6 years old so 30 years and my prescription with glasses was 5.25 and 4.75

i went to 3 places for consultations Optical express Ultralase and Optimax i took plenty of time as i wanted to be sure that it was right for me other half had his eyes lasered 4 years ago with Ultralase so i knew what it involved but just wanted to be sure

They all gave the same results for me that i was suitable for surgery scar on one eye and dry eyes ect so it was just a case of price and appointment time
for lasek surgery with wavefront
ultrlase quoted 3700
opticall express 3600
optimax between 1900 and 2800 this was because untill i saw the surgeon they were not able to gurantee what surgery i would be suitable for as i have dry eyes and a scar on one eye and the surgeon would decide on the day

So i decide to go with optimax as the price was better and the date was more convenient
on the day which was the worse day ever snow, bad weather ect and they rang and asked me to come in earlier if i could so id did there was lot of waiting around before i saw the surgeon and when i did he said that i could have the quicker and cheaper surgery 2400 ( this was the one without the contact lens bandage )it was lasik ( ik not ek that i had )

the operation was over in minutes and my eyes were blury that night and a bit of a headache but omg the next morning it was clear and i mean serioulsy clear maybe i was lucky i dont know but its been worth every penny

I had my appointment that morning with the surgeon and he informed me that myself and another lady had the best results so far this month
other who had it done at the same time still had blury eyes but mine has been perfect from the day after
the surgeon informed that i my eyes dont need a prescription and i have to go back next wednesday

ok i have 2 lots of drops plus lubricants to put in my eyes and i had to wear eye patches each night for bed ( have swopped this now for a le senza eye patch:D) but honestly best thing ever that i have done
i have to go back next week for further check up but im off on holiday on the 9th so lookin forward to being able to see stuff

i really so wish that i had done this before as its so bloody amazing being able to see everything

GlasweJen

The best advice I can give it talk to an optician at a practice nearby the one that you are planning to get your surgery at (preferably a practice that does not do laser eye surgery).

I can assure you that I had a patient go blind as a direct result of botched laser surgery and she is currently suing the optician who performed the procedure and the company who he works for as their literature is, at best, misleading. She has never went back to that practice to get her eyes tested, she did what all the other failed cases do and went to another optician to ask what went wrong (well would you let the guy who messed your vision up touch your eyes again?).

Guinea_2

richardvc wrote: »

Why not please ?

Sorry....I literally did post and run. It always upsets me when people ask about laser treatment. I will try and be concise!

I had my eyes lasered in May 2009 through recommendation. I had always wanted to have it done but never bit the bullet! My friend had it done before me and said how brilliant it was and blah, blah, blah. I decided to act upon this and went for it. Had loads of consultations and actually did quite a bit of research. The day comes and I have the surgery. I did think that the surgeon had no patient love and was very abrupt! I was told that the next day I would be able to see clearly. The next day came and went and I couldn't. Yes, I could see BETTER but they had promised me 20:20 vision and it would be a very slight chance (it's never happened to anyone here before!!) that it wouldn't work properly. I then went through month after month of using drops/not being able to see properly in the dark (which I still can't)/leaking eyes/dry eyes/blurred vision...you name it, I had it!
Anyway...after months and months of people telling me the same thing that my eyes were fine and I DID infact have 20:20 vision, I asked to see a different optician who said that I DID have 20:20 vision, ALTHOUGH the laser treatment had not cleared up my astigmatism in one eye but have also given me astigmatism in the other eye! Because of the nature of my job I needed to either be able to see clearly to read things from a board OR wear glasses. As I was by then heavily pregnant and could not have the top-up laser treatment that had been offered until I had the baby and if I breastfed then couldn't have the top-up until I gave up feeding and for three months after that, I chose glasses! This takes things to January 2011! I am still wearing glasses some times, although am trying not to so that my eyes don't become dependant on them. I also tend not to go out in the evening as the glare from lights; etc. is almost unbearable.
In the new year I will be contacting them again insisting that they now top-up my eyes but with a different surgeon, although I am VERY nervous about doing it again as I remember the first time like it was yesterday. The burning eye smell is just nightmare inducing.
Since having my treatment I have found one other person with the same surgeon as me who is in the process of suing them and my friend's son who insisted on having the treatment done recently, although wouldn't listen to any warnings about the process or the surgeon is having the same problems as me.
THAT (in a nutshell!) is why I would not recomment having laser eye treatment!
P.S. I also haven't mentioned the pig headedness I have been up against with the people I had the treatment with and all the unanswered letters and phone calls.:(

Maz1963

It took me around six years to pluck up the courage to have my eyes lasered. I did loads of research. I went for consultations at two places and it just didn't feel right, so I didn't go ahead. Then I found a site called Lasik Eyes, which led to a whole load more research (!) and eventually to the Centre for Sight at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead. They were not the cheapest, but the fact that it was a hospital and I was to be operated on by an eye surgeon, who performs all manner of eye surgery, clinched the decision. The reviews on this place were all fantastic, as was my experience. I had absolutely no issues, and no pain afterwards. The aftercare was excellent. I had Intralasik Tissue Saving, which in January 2007 was just under £4k. Worth absolutely every penny. They even gave me a DVD of the op! I highly recommend this place, but the most important thing is to wait until you are absolutely sure you want to go ahead, and until you find someone you feel you can trust with your precious eyes.

Also, I was always put off by the 'blade' that cut the flap, but when the new procedure was introduced where a laser cuts the flap and performs the reshaping, that I could deal with. Blades and eyes and being awake just didn't do it for me! I think Intralase is the name for the fully lasered procedure, but I'm not sure, and of course a lot may have changed since Jan 2007. I do need reading specs now, but I was expecting that, and my distance vision has been excellent ever since the op. I think it's also important to be at a stage where your prescription has been stable for a while, I think that generally happens around the 40s. I also think you get what you pay for. Eyes are definitely worth a big investment!

sara1979

I used to be very short sighted (-13.50) in each eye plus astigmatism. I had intra occular lenses inserted a year ago, as my eyes were too bad for laser. They're not 100% perfect, I still need glasses for driving and sometimes reading if my eyes are very tired. However I don't regret having the operation done at all. The worse your eyes initially then the more chance that you will still end up with a very minor prescription, ie -0.25.

I had to have the operation done under general anaesthetic, otherwise there's no chance I'd let anyone near my eye. I had the operation done via a hospital, partly due to the fact it was also reassuring that the guy who did my operation has done lots of different eye operations for the NHS and privately.