Impartial Advice on Laser Eye Surgery

[mph]

I'm thinking of going for laser eye surgery and I recall there was a very informative thread on this on PH.

I've searched but it seems to have been deleted.

Can someone suggest where else I can look for impartial advice ?

[lemmingjames]

Will you get impartial advice though?

As youll get people who have had it done (i have) saying its great and glad they did it, some who have had bad experiences after having it done and those that will say never, their opticians wont have it done and whys that brigade.

Just research into the pros/cons and speak to the best you can afford. From what i can gather, there are some decent surgeons at the chain branches but equally there'll be some st ones.

Id suggest looking into the aftercare packages you get (i went to one where i got regular free check-ups/eye drops whereas my boss went to a chain and didnt get anything) as well

[tank slapper]

There are lots of reviews on this site: http://www.lasik-eyes.co.uk

I wonder why the other thread got deleted.

[Grandad7184]

if you can afford I would highly recommend moorfields Eye hospital and Prof David Gartry

http://www.davidgartry.co.uk/about-us/what-our-pat...

my OH had it done by him and so did most of her family cost about 4.5K but your getting the very best

[Blue Cat]

Well I had my eyes done 21 years old and have never regretted it although my sight is beginning to go now and I am getting long-sighted which is strange as I was really really short sighted before operation. But that is down to age and I have had 21 years of perfect sight which was well worth the cost of £1,500 per eye.

My advice, don't go cheap and check references. I went up to Royal Liverpool Hospital to have mine done but there was very limited choice in those days.

Also, something which they don't do these days, I had each eye done six months apart so they could see how the first eye healed before doing the second, the result being that my second eye even an optician can tell I have had anything done.

[mph]

tank slapper said:

I wonder why the other thread got deleted.

I was wondering the same.

It was a huge thread and very informative. If I recall correctly an eye surgeon used to contribute some very useful info. too.

[Roger645]

mph said:

tank slapper said:

I wonder why the other thread got deleted.

I was wondering the same.

It was a huge thread and very informative. If I recall correctly an eye surgeon used to contribute some very useful info. too.

Yes, he did and gave a recommendation for a eye surgeon for my wife who had laser correction done and it has been fantastic given her prescription was -8 with astigmatism.

[lamboman100]

I know a couple of GPs, and they are *not* seeing floods of people coming in to their surgeries with laser-eye problems. Seems fairly safe (do your own research, of course). Only minor problem seems to be old people over 40 correcting their short-sight -- the procedure can subsequently accelerate long-sight. Swapping one set of blurry eyes for another.

[Roger645]

lamboman100 said:

I know a couple of GPs, and they are *not* seeing floods of people coming in to their surgeries with laser-eye problems. Seems fairly safe (do your own research, of course). Only minor problem seems to be old people over 40 correcting their short-sight -- the procedure can subsequently accelerate long-sight. Swapping one set of blurry eyes for another.

my wife was positively ancient at 42 when she had hers done and the surgeon did a differential correction to allow for age related long sightedness

[lemmingjames]

968 was the eye surgeon

[968]

tank slapper said:

There are lots of reviews on this site: http://www.lasik-eyes.co.uk

I wonder why the other thread got deleted.

My request for very good reason. I will pm anyone that wants advice.

[bhippy]

Had mine done in March of this year.... I now have dry eyes, so take drops regularly and there is a lot of glare at night - especially when driving, and my left eye seems to have a "scratch" in it causing some double vision...

Apart from that, all's well. I am still going regularly for aftercare and am told they can fix all the issues I have. My daughter had hers dome just before mine and hers is perfect... guess the 26 year age gap makes a difference to the healing!

[nyt]

A friend insisted that the only place he'd consider having laser surgery was Moorfields eye hospital in London.

His reasoning was that they know more about eyes than anywhere else in the country so if anything went wrong ...

Op was successful, no ned for any follow up.

[Patch1875]

Had mines done by optical express over 5 years ago around -5 in both eyes with astigmatism very straight forward op with no issues since.

[Supernova190188]

bhippy said:

Had mine done in March of this year.... I now have dry eyes, so take drops regularly and there is a lot of glare at night - especially when driving, and my left eye seems to have a "scratch" in it causing some double vision...

Apart from that, all's well. I am still going regularly for aftercare and am told they can fix all the issues I have. My daughter had hers dome just before mine and hers is perfect... guess the 26 year age gap makes a difference to the healing!

Where did you get yours done ?

[bhippy]

Mine was done at Optimax in Reading.

Apparently, I have now got 20/20 vision BUT the dryness makes things a bit blurred (especially bright lights) and the "scratch" on my left cornea is causing the double vision. I'm told they will both fix themselves, but it can take six months or more and I have to be patient....

So, I'm being patient, using the drops and attending the follow-up appointments. Next one is in 2 weeks....

[968]

bhippy said:

Had mine done in March of this year.... I now have dry eyes, so take drops regularly and there is a lot of glare at night - especially when driving, and my left eye seems to have a "scratch" in it causing some double vision...

Apart from that, all's well. I am still going regularly for aftercare and am told they can fix all the issues I have. My daughter had hers dome just before mine and hers is perfect... guess the 26 year age gap makes a difference to the healing!

How old are you?

[bhippy]

a mere 52 years young.... is that an issue with eye surgery?

[968]

bhippy said:

a mere 52 years young.... is that an issue with eye surgery?

Not exactly. I wouldn't recommend LASIK/lasek in your age group. It's really better for between ages 21-40 before presbyopia (needing reading glasses) as it doesn't really address that. Also in about 10+ years you'll need cataract surgery, which is more unpredictable after LASIK or lasek. Far better would've been to have a clear lens extraction with a multi focal lens inserted into your eye which would be a permanent fix for your sight problems. I wonder if that was discussed with you?

[bhippy]

no, it wasn't - in fact, that's the first I've heard of that procedure... maybe the place I went to doesn't do that procedure, hence never mentioned it...

presumably its a case of we are where we are now and I have to wait until the dryness and double vision heal over time....

thanks for the info....