Laser Eye Surgery
Discussion
Hi all
Don't know if anyone has much knowledge on this area but thought I would give it a try. Have been to two consultations, Ultralase and Optical Express, about getting laser eye surgery. Both had definite pros and cons.
Both offered two treatments, a standard and advanced treatment. Both claimed that there advanced treatment was the best on the market. My question is, are they just the same? Ultralase are offering LASIK Ultra Elite, their top treatment, and said that it so much better than their standard which is equal to everyone else's best. Optical Express are offering Wavefront with Intralase and also claim its better than everyone elses. Does anyone know which one is better, or if there is much of a diffrence at all? Is there even much of a diffrence between the advanced and standard treatments? I asked these questions at my consultation but I got the usual sales pitch that you get from all companys that they are superior to competitors.
Any help greatly appreciated
Paul
Don't know if anyone has much knowledge on this area but thought I would give it a try. Have been to two consultations, Ultralase and Optical Express, about getting laser eye surgery. Both had definite pros and cons.
Both offered two treatments, a standard and advanced treatment. Both claimed that there advanced treatment was the best on the market. My question is, are they just the same? Ultralase are offering LASIK Ultra Elite, their top treatment, and said that it so much better than their standard which is equal to everyone else's best. Optical Express are offering Wavefront with Intralase and also claim its better than everyone elses. Does anyone know which one is better, or if there is much of a diffrence at all? Is there even much of a diffrence between the advanced and standard treatments? I asked these questions at my consultation but I got the usual sales pitch that you get from all companys that they are superior to competitors.
Any help greatly appreciated
Paul
davepoth said:
Get a consultation at a private hospital with a proper eye doctor IMO. If they agree with what the high street people say then fair enough, but I'd want to make sure before I let someone loose with a laser near my eyes.
This, following some guidance from the thread above mrs 645 had her eyes done privately with a ophthalmic surgeon, fantastic outcome and treatment and was cheaper than the high st chains. I have my own views on this, which I will get to in a minute. But I know somebody who had it done and he said it was just about the most painful thing you could imagine, and what made it wrose was knowing what was coming for the second one. Also, it doesn't last forever, so you will need it redone and some point in the future or glasses again. So IMO:
Pros:
Pros:
- You don't need glasses
- Hurts like hell
- Needs to be redone
- Costs the same as ~5 pairs glasses
- And the real killer for me, You only get one set of eyes vs infinate sets of glasses...
Megaflow said:
I have my own views on this, which I will get to in a minute. But I know somebody who had it done and he said it was just about the most painful thing you could imagine, and what made it wrose was knowing what was coming for the second one. Also, it doesn't last forever, so you will need it redone and some point in the future or glasses again. So IMO:
Pros:
What a load of misinformed nonsense. I never felt a thing when I had mine done. Pros:
- You don't need glasses
- Hurts like hell
- Needs to be redone
- Costs the same as ~5 pairs glasses
- And the real killer for me, You only get one set of eyes vs infinate sets of glasses...
Megaflow said:
I have my own views on this, which I will get to in a minute. But I know somebody who had it done and he said it was just about the most painful thing you could imagine, and what made it wrose was knowing what was coming for the second one. Also, it doesn't last forever, so you will need it redone and some point in the future or glasses again. So IMO:
Pros:
When did he have it done and using what technique? Mrs 645 had some mild discomfort after (gritty feeling in eyes) but apart from that no pain. Pros:
- You don't need glasses
- Hurts like hell
- Needs to be redone
- Costs the same as ~5 pairs glasses
- And the real killer for me, You only get one set of eyes vs infinate sets of glasses...
Thanks for the input guys. I'm aware of how the procedure is done and potential risks I'm set on getting it done but was just wondering if the treatments produced better results than each other, the companys just claiming there's is the best available. Only this way would be possible was if they where using the same technology which they both say they do not.
markcoznottz said:
Megaflow said:
I have my own views on this, which I will get to in a minute. But I know somebody who had it done and he said it was just about the most painful thing you could imagine, and what made it wrose was knowing what was coming for the second one. Also, it doesn't last forever, so you will need it redone and some point in the future or glasses again. So IMO:
Pros:
What a load of misinformed nonsense. I never felt a thing when I had mine done. Pros:
- You don't need glasses
- Hurts like hell
- Needs to be redone
- Costs the same as ~5 pairs glasses
- And the real killer for me, You only get one set of eyes vs infinate sets of glasses...
I did say it was based on my experience of one sample, but that's enough form me thanks.
PaulCFC said:
Thanks for the input guys. I'm aware of how the procedure is done and potential risks I'm set on getting it done but was just wondering if the treatments produced better results than each other, the companys just claiming there's is the best available. Only this way would be possible was if they where using the same technology which they both say they do not.
The mainstream companies seem to play off against each other using the technology story, but the skill of results tends to be more the surgeon using the kit according to the people who know their stuff. If you are London based then I would happily recommend the guy who did my wife's eyes. she was a -8 with astigmatism and her sight is now perfect.Megaflow said:
I have my own views on this, which I will get to in a minute. But I know somebody who had it done and he said it was just about the most painful thing you could imagine, and what made it wrose was knowing what was coming for the second one. Also, it doesn't last forever, so you will need it redone and some point in the future or glasses again. So IMO:
Pros:
None of this is true, apart from the bit about not needing glasses (until presbyopia anyway). It doesn't hurt at all, if it did hurt your friend had it done extremely badly and by someone incompetent. It is expensive, that is true, but the quality of vision achieved is far greater than glasses can offer, due to no aberrations of the optical image in the glass. It's also safer than wearing contact lenses.Pros:
- You don't need glasses
- Hurts like hell
- Needs to be redone
- Costs the same as ~5 pairs glasses
- And the real killer for me, You only get one set of eyes vs infinate sets of glasses...
The consultants have said that a touch up may be possible a few after the initial surgery and because I'm so young another one in 15-20 years time with about 10% chance. For this reason I have decided to go for the ultralase option as no additional costs are needed and I have managed to get the cost down by about £900
W124Bob said:
It's banned for train drivers so I won't be having it.Like someone has already said one pair of eyes v infinite glasses/contacts.
Is it? Very surprising if it is as civil pilots can carry on flying (after a period of stability has been established) with no problems. As said before contacts have a higher rate of causing permanent vision loss due to infections, than laser surgery.
majordad said:
968, could you elaborate on the bit , much better than glasses please. How so ?
Sorry I missed this post.Glasses and other optical systems introduce aberrations to the light that is focussed on the back of the eye, by many routes, but principally (as I understand it) by the curvature of the lens in front of your eye, which causes spherical aberration. Glasses correct some aspects of refraction ie astigmatism and long/short sightedness but they don't address a variety of aberrations within the cornea. Refractive surgery (in theory) can address nearly all of these aberrations, which are extremely complex to explain, hence there was a thought that one could have eagle like vision, but in reality there is a limit to how much the retina can resolve and also the process of surgery also introduces some aberrations in the optical system.
Glasses also have the effect of magnifying or minifying images depending on whether myopic/hypermetropic, which is why contact lenses give a better quality of vision, with a wider field of corrected view from the lens and also images appear the correct size. The same situation exists with refractive surgery.
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