Laser eye surgery - advice

wallofbeans

Hi All,

My eye sight is just starting to mean I need to wear glasses regularly, and with my job, this means I'll need several pairs - 'occupational' and just for distance at least. This will be a pain and expensive, so I thought I should look into laser eye surgery as an alternative, or at least as a way of minimising the different glasses to just one pair for reading or something. 

Does anyone have experience of getting this done? Googling just seems to be a minefield of ads for it and I'd love to have first hand experience from people and advice on whether I can even get it done, how much it might cost, where to go etc.

Thanks in advance!

 

elsien

We can’t give medical advice, but I am happy to share my experience.
I had it done a number of years ago now via LASIK surgery. I visited several places before deciding who to go with – one of them it turned out would’ve made a right mess of my eyes out due to their recommendations. Due diligence is required. 

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists used to publish some guidance around the pros and cons, I don’t know if they still do but it’s worth checking. 

I chose to have it done because I wasn’t suitable for varifocals,  and like you didn’t want to mess around with different pairs of glasses.
Laser surgery does not change the impact on your eyes of  getting older So, you are still likely to need age related reading glasses in due course. I mitigated this by leaving one eye slightly short sighted. This works for me because it’s what my eyesight was like anyway, but if both your eyes are similar, it can be very hard to adjust to. It will also mean that when I need reading glasses I will probably have to get a proper pair rather than bog standard off the shelf reading glasses. 

It was quick, easy, and I’ve never regretted having it done. Just wished I’d done it sooner, as I've needed glasses since I was a child. 

I do now still need glasses for computer work, occasional close up work (such as threading needles, which I use cheap reading glasses for ) and sometimes driving at night because the laser surgery can give a bit of glare, on streetlights et cetera. Mostly I don't use the driving ones, it's more when I'm tired.
The important point is to be realistic with your expectations and ask all the questions that you need do. Your vision will carry on changing as you get older and you need to be prepared for that. It's not a magic permanent cure. 
I can’t comment on costs or places because it was too long ago. 

Lorian

I get by just fine with a pair of bifocals I wear daily and switch to Intermediates for computer use. I've not considered laser surgery.

elsien

Here you go.
Refractive Surgery | The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (rcophth.ac.uk)

Laser-Vision-Correction-Patient-Information.pdf (rcophth.ac.uk)

DullGreyGuy

Haven't had it done personally, but have considered it. I know several people who have had it done. Most have had a good outcome and were happy they had it done, some had it a long time ago and since had started to wear glasses again as its not a life long solution. 

One person had it go very wrong, they went to the same place as at least one other that I knew who had a good result. Ultimately dont know what the outcome was for her but when she came back to work having to wear sunglasses at all times, inc indoors, and was really struggling as a the maximum 400% zoom in Excel allows she still couldn't read size 12 font (for context I could read it ok without my contact lenses at 80%). They were saying they needed to see how things settled down over then next month or two but we went our separate ways before then so can't say if it was a big scare and went well in the end or if it did result in long term deterioration of her eyesight.

lisyloo

Maybe I'm risk averse, but not worth the risk IMO even if it's small.

Undervalued

lisyloo said:

Maybe I'm risk averse, but not worth the risk IMO even if it's small.

I would entirely agree. Obviously those that would get a significant benefit, beyond the cosmetic, may be prepared to accept a higher level of risk.

This is also the reason that cataract surgery is not generally done too early. If it is successful (as it generally is) then most patients wish it had been done sooner. However occasionally it can go badly wrong.....

DoboChopSueyBar

I had done Lasik done back in 2000 by Optimax in London. No major issues, other than glare at night but I got used to this very quickly. No pain at all during surgery but felt minor discomfort once the anaesthetic wore off. Took around 4-5 weeks to get completely clear vision.

No regrets at all but If was considering laser eye surgery today, I would probably get it done through Moorfields Private in London given that Moorfields has a very good reputation (they certainly won't be the cheapest)

https://www.moorfields.nhs.uk/private/our-services/vision-correction-and-laser-eye-surgery