Why cant you get specs on the NHS?

melancholly

geri1965 wrote: »

I am -10 in both eyes (slightly more in fact) and have an astigmatism, so I get free sight tests - however, I only found this out a few years ago! I also get £16 towards the cost of my glasses - which are normally between £300-£400.

is it the -10 that triggers it being free? i realise it's a drop in the ocean compared to glasses, but it all helps - plus i still get annual eye tests done because my eyes are bad, which costs every single time, even if i only need to change glasses every 2 years or so these days. (i'm not -10 but very close!)

geri1965_2

melancholly wrote: »

is it the -10 that triggers it being free? i realise it's a drop in the ocean compared to glasses, but it all helps - plus i still get annual eye tests done because my eyes are bad, which costs every single time, even if i only need to change glasses every 2 years or so these days. (i'm not -10 but very close!)

I'm not sure if it's just that or the astigmatism as well that makes it "complex". The optician will be able to tell you.

londonsurrey

I've worn glasses since I was 10. When I was 38, I got my eyes lasered by a top Moorfields Eye Hospital surgeon. Cost over £3k.

But if you think of all those years of eye tests, glasses, not walking in the rain, etc, it's the best money I've ever spent. 25 years of spending £20-£200 a year.

AND my night vision is so much better. I can't believe how easy it is to see at night now.

jenniewb

I am in the same boat, even had the optition side with me and say they could see the problem. I have an astigmatism and I'm short sighted, both differently in both eyes (apparently I am told this is abnormal though I have family members with the same issue...thanks mum, thanks dad!)

I am apparently only a fraction not short sighted enough and my astigmatism doesn't count either because its another fraction (as in 0.2) not bad enough. One or the other would be fine but as with both together, I can't see buses, read and miss things like cyclists without glasses. Add to that my face being quite small and I have to pay extra for the lenses to be thinned down (we tried it without and the glasses would either just side down my nose or leave dents and headaches, thats before you consider my running or cycling).

My lenses start at £275 last time I checked (2 years ago) this is the thickest lenses, thinned down they started at £320 and went up as far as £400 for really thin ones and thats without considering the cost of frames or a second pair (I wish I had a second pair....) With my astigmatism off the shelf types are not an option. I can only afford lenses on my credit card and am still paying off the pair I went halves with as a Christmas present from a parent in 2010.

Lazer seems scary- the idea of a lazer and having to see the lazer ...it would give me nightmares and thats before you have to spend the following day blind! I think you lazer people are amazing, I'm in total awe, I couldn't do it!

Does make sense financially though with prices likely to escalate as the years go by.

clive12

jenniewb wrote: »

Lazer seems scary- the idea of a lazer and having to see the lazer ...it would give me nightmares and thats before you have to spend the following day blind! I think you lazer people are amazing, I'm in total awe, I couldn't do it!

Does make sense financially though with prices likely to escalate as the years go by.

Its more the fact that you can apparently smell the flesh of your eye burning which scares me plus i am worried about it going wrong and blinding me.

it also doesnt allegedly last for ever and from what i have read it can need doing again once you get older.

i will stick with contacts as i pay about £10 a month.

anguk

The thing that would put me off having laser treatment is the amount of Ophthalmic surgeons who wear glasses, if laser treatment was so good why don't they get it done?

My OH has had laser treatment on his eyes, not for his sight but because he's diabetic and has bleeds in his eyes, this needs to have laser treatment to stop the bleeding. he asked the surgeon about laser treatment for sight and he said he personally would never recommend it because of the risks. As he says you've only got one set of eyes, don't do anything that may damage them.

Hermia

anguk wrote: »

The thing that would put me off having laser treatment is the amount of Ophthalmic surgeons who wear glasses, if laser treatment was so good why don't they get it done?

An optician at my local hospital said he went to a conference about laser surgery and most of the surgeons were wearing glasses! He said he would only really recommend the surgery to people whose eyes are not too bad. He said the people with stronger prescriptions tend to have more problems. He told me I was an unsuitable candidate, but that may change in the future. I have to say the people I know who have had it done have either had to go back for more surgery or still wear glasses, but ones that are not as strong. Whilst I hate wearing heavy, expensive glasses I am not going through surgery just to change to lighter glasses. I'd want to be confident that it would successful enough for me not to need glasses.

londonsurrey - what was your prescription before the surgery? I found your comment about your night vision being great interesting because I was told one of the side effects of the surgery can be problems with night vision, especially halos. A couple of my friends who've had surgery are having big problems with halos and one has been told she really should not be driving at night.

nedmundo

mr_rush wrote: »

Because a line has to be drawn somewhere.

An interesting question, but I think this comment hit's the nail on the head. It would be lovely if everything was 'free' on the state, but in reality, it all has to paid for somehow. In prioritising where the NHS spends it's limited resources for maximum public benefit, I guess ocular correction comes quite low down the pecking order compared to surgery and medicine.

Playing devils advocate, one could argue that not being able to keep warm without clothing and survive without eating etc are disabilities.

londonsurrey

Hermia wrote: »

An optician at my local hospital said he went to a conference about laser surgery and most of the surgeons were wearing glasses! He said he would only really recommend the surgery to people whose eyes are not too bad. He said the people with stronger prescriptions tend to have more problems. He told me I was an unsuitable candidate, but that may change in the future. I have to say the people I know who have had it done have either had to go back for more surgery or still wear glasses, but ones that are not as strong. Whilst I hate wearing heavy, expensive glasses I am not going through surgery just to change to lighter glasses. I'd want to be confident that it would successful enough for me not to need glasses.

londonsurrey - what was your prescription before the surgery? I found your comment about your night vision being great interesting because I was told one of the side effects of the surgery can be problems with night vision, especially halos. A couple of my friends who've had surgery are having big problems with halos and one has been told she really should not be driving at night.

My prescription was around -2.75, -2.50
I totally agree about the eyes being very precious. This is why, although I'm a total scrooge about a lot of things, I went for the top of the line for eye surgery. And funnily enough, it cost only about £500 more for me than a with high street franchise. There are things I don't think are worth going for Tesco's Basics for, IYSWIM

Julian Stevens, the surgeon who did my eyes, is also an corneal transplant surgeon. He's the chap who fixes eye surgery that goes wrong. Quite frankly, I think that rather than save a few hundred, it's better to just go straight to someone like him!

He also does the armed forces, to give them better night vision, which as you can imagine, is invaluable. He's also done top athletes, for whom having a non-vulnerable/compromised eye is essential in their careers.

The girl next to me was very nervous, and asked for a sedative. I was fine, and there was absolutely no burning smell. I have Asperger's Syndrome, which means that my sense of smell and touch are very heightened, and there was no problem for me.

I can walk in the rain, swim without being blind, and I frown less, as I'm not squinting as much.

londonsurrey

Hermia wrote: »

An optician at my local hospital said he went to a conference about laser surgery and most of the surgeons were wearing glasses! He said he would only really recommend the surgery to people whose eyes are not too bad. He said the people with stronger prescriptions tend to have more problems. He told me I was an unsuitable candidate, but that may change in the future. I have to say the people I know who have had it done have either had to go back for more surgery or still wear glasses, but ones that are not as strong. Whilst I hate wearing heavy, expensive glasses I am not going through surgery just to change to lighter glasses. I'd want to be confident that it would successful enough for me not to need glasses.

londonsurrey - what was your prescription before the surgery? I found your comment about your night vision being great interesting because I was told one of the side effects of the surgery can be problems with night vision, especially halos. A couple of my friends who've had surgery are having big problems with halos and one has been told she really should not be driving at night.

My prescription was around -2.75, -2.50
I totally agree about the eyes being very precious. This is why, although I'm a total scrooge about a lot of things, I went for the top of the line for eye surgery. And funnily enough, it cost only about £500 more for me than a with high street franchise. There are things I don't think are worth going for Tesco's Basics for, IYSWIM

Julian Stevens, the surgeon who did my eyes, is also an corneal transplant surgeon. He's the chap who fixes eye surgery that goes wrong. Quite frankly, I think that rather than save a few hundred, it's better to just go straight to someone like him!

He also does the armed forces, to give them better night vision, which as you can imagine, is invaluable. He's also done top athletes, for whom having a non-vulnerable/compromised eye is essential in their careers.

The girl next to me was very nervous, and asked for a sedative. I was fine, and there was absolutely no burning smell. I have Asperger's Syndrome, which means that my sense of smell and touch are very heightened, and there was no problem for me. BTW you can get one eye done at a time, which obviously costs a bit more, but a few people opt for that.

I can walk in the rain, swim without being blind, and I frown less, as I'm not squinting as much.



The main problem was that in the year after surgery, I jabbed myself in the eye a few times, trying to push up my non-existent glasses! :rotfl: