Laser eye surgery: worth the cost?

[0a]

What's a reasonable cost to budget for?

[lemmingjames]

0a said:

What's a reasonable cost to budget for?

What do you consider reasonable?

Mine cost around 5.5k but is 160 pcm on 0% finance. A decent place seems to be a min of 4k from the research i did.

Some say i paid too much but i was happy to pay that based on the chat i had with them and other stuff

[Sticks.]

A friend of mine in his 50s recently had the lens replacement surgery, so he can see perfectly both for distance and close up. It was c £4k each, finance available.

A couple of months in he's delighted, the only side effect being a slight halo effect from lightz at might, which is diminshing.

Given how much varifocals cost (and varifocal sunglasses) and how much of a compromise they are, and the feedback from him, both on the op and results, I'd consider it.

[SkinnyPete]

Are these eye surgery's all the same (like dentists), where the only difference is the after-care you receive?

I'd be quite happy to travel a far if it meant the surgery would use a better laser/technique or whatever.

[barker22]

I went with optical express and had their top lasek idesign surgery.
That was just under 3k. I still keep receiving promo material from optimax etc quoting 2k for the best surgery so it really is down to how you want to haggle.

I can now read the bottom line on the chart that comes AFTER the 20/20 chart. Incredible considering I couldn't read what channel number was on the skybox fom 6ft away.

My experience was it was worth every penny, it hurt like hell for 2-3 hours after surgery but it was like a switch, the pain went after 2/3 hours and I could drive and see perfectly.
I think it depends what surgery you qualify for but the girl that went in before me was at the check up the day after and she still had her dark shades on and red patches around her eyes.

[barker22]

SkinnyPete said:

Are these eye surgery's all the same (like dentists), where the only difference is the after-care you receive?

I'd be quite happy to travel a far if it meant the surgery would use a better laser/technique or whatever.

There are different surgeries depending on the condition of your eyes. If you have astigmatism for example as I did, it doesn't matter how severe it is you will only be suitable for lasek I think I'm right in saying. Other conditions require different techniques.

I believe the aftercare for life is a bit of a gimmick as essentially if it all goes as it should, you only have like 4 15minute appointments over the next 12 months and then you don't really require any aftercare. Just book in whenever you fancy an eye test to see if 'you've still got it' do to speak

[bloomen]

I don't get these folks who seem to be spending thousands on glasses and contacts. I spent about £100 ten years ago and they're still going strong.

I wouldn't do it myself. A friend had it done (a long time ago so maybe it's improved) and he gets star bursts at night and very dry eyes still.

The main reason I wouldn't is that glasses have saved an eye or two from serious impacts a couple of times. But for wearing them at the vital moment I'm not so sure I'd be able to see anything at all.

[soad]

bloomen said:

I don't get these folks who seem to be spending thousands on glasses and contacts. I spent about £100 ten years ago and they're still going strong.

Your sight must be fairly stable - no longer deteriorating. Hence no need for a new prescription...

It's quite easy to damage (or break) glasses too.

[RobM77]

- How much did it cost? £2500 all in for me.
- How would you rate the improvement in life quality? Words can't describe it, really they can't. It's immeasurably improved countless aspects of my life - it's enabled me to do sports I couldn't do before, it's made most sports much easier, it's easier to wake up in the morning, far easier to shower when I can see what bottle's what, easier and safer to drive the car, more comfortable all the time than with glasses and contacts, it's made my hand-eye coordination better, I could go on!
- What is the cheapest but also completely safe company to go with? (have read about Optimax offering a reduced cost if you're referred by someone??)I went for the best I could afford, with a private surgeon in London. I value my eyes

[Eleven]

RobM77 said:

- What is the cheapest but also completely safe company to go with? (have read about Optimax offering a reduced cost if you're referred by someone??)I went for the best I could afford, with a private surgeon in London. I value my eyes

I had eye surgery a while back and used Optical Express. It took place above their shop in Nottingham.

As you might expect I did quite a bit of research, including speaking to my GP. He said I should only consider Moorfields. So I called Moorfields. I couldn't get through the first few times because their phone system was down. Then when I managed to speak to the consultant's PA I explained what I needed and she said, "can you spell that please?". Having spelled it for her I asked her what options the surgeon could offer. "well what option would you like?" came the response.

I didn't use Moorfields. I am sure they're great, but I'd have felt like I'd mugged myself if I had paid twice as much and received treatment of the same quality as the front end customer experience.

So I spoke to another surgeon in Bristol who came highly recommended. His PA didn't know what he did either. So he called me himself from his car phone and we had a chat as he travelled along the motorway. Helpful, but again it all felt quite makeshift.

So I enquired of my friends who'd had surgery where they'd been. All had been to Optical Express. All were happy. Furthermore OE was planning to do the op about 7 miles from my home, so I knew follow-up would be easy and they were close by in case of problems. There were no real issues, but when I did have some dry eye problems they saw me immediately and sorted out some different eye drops.

OE has had some bad press due to their sales techniques and recently a problem with some lenses supplied by Oculentis (a reputable supplier) but then I suspect they are the biggest private provider of eye surgery, so I would expect them to get the highest number of complaints. Moorfields also had the same problem with the Oculentis lens but, I believe, fitted fewer.

So, in summary, I would never assume that a well-regarded private hospital or consultant is better or safer than a high street provider. You'll get better coffee and probably some biscuits with the former, but the choice needs to consider all factors - whether that be for laser or IOL replacement suregery.

[RobM77]

Eleven said:

RobM77 said:

- What is the cheapest but also completely safe company to go with? (have read about Optimax offering a reduced cost if you're referred by someone??)I went for the best I could afford, with a private surgeon in London. I value my eyes

I had eye surgery a while back and used Optical Express. It took place above their shop in Nottingham.

As you might expect I did quite a bit of research, including speaking to my GP. He said I should only consider Moorfields. So I called Moorfields. I couldn't get through the first few times because their phone system was down. Then when I managed to speak to the consultant's PA I explained what I needed and she said, "can you spell that please?". Having spelled it for her I asked her what options the surgeon could offer. "well what option would you like?" came the response.

I didn't use Moorfields. I am sure they're great, but I'd have felt like I'd mugged myself if I had paid twice as much and received treatment of the same quality as the front end customer experience.

So I spoke to another surgeon in Bristol who came highly recommended. His PA didn't know what he did either. So he called me himself from his car phone and we had a chat as he travelled along the motorway. Helpful, but again it all felt quite makeshift.

So I enquired of my friends who'd had surgery where they'd been. All had been to Optical Express. All were happy. Furthermore OE was planning to do the op about 7 miles from my home, so I knew follow-up would be easy and they were close by in case of problems. There were no real issues, but when I did have some dry eye problems they saw me immediately and sorted out some different eye drops.

OE has had some bad press due to their sales techniques and recently a problem with some lenses supplied by Oculentis (a reputable supplier) but then I suspect they are the biggest private provider of eye surgery, so I would expect them to get the highest number of complaints. Moorfields also had the same problem with the Oculentis lens but, I believe, fitted fewer.

So, in summary, I would never assume that a well-regarded private hospital or consultant is better or safer than a high street provider. You'll get better coffee and probably some biscuits with the former, but the choice needs to consider all factors - whether that be for laser or IOL replacement suregery.

Sorry, I didn't intend to infer that at all. With all of healthcare you'll find a big overlap between the various types of consultant. Now that I re-read my words I can see how it came across that way, so sorry about that, I certainly didn't intend to infer that all private surgeons in London are better than the 'high street' operators. Nevertheless, I did have a choice of paying less and going somewhere else, but I did a lot of research and was very pleased with the results from the chap who did my eyes - he was worth every penny.

One of the main things to consider is aftercare; if I had a problem in the recovery then I could phone the surgeon or his secretary (who was extremely knowledgeable, being his wife and having had laser eye surgery herself), and he was never more than a few hours from phoning me back if I needed to speak to him. He also saw me for extremely frequent follow ups as standard, which were fantastic. If you read into laser eye surgery, most complications are with after-care, rather than operative skill during the surgery itself.

[Dr Jekyll]

Sticks. said:

A friend of mine in his 50s recently had the lens replacement surgery, so he can see perfectly both for distance and close up. It was c £4k each, finance available.

How does that work? One eye with a lens for distance and the other for close up?

[Eleven]

RobM77 said:

Sorry, I didn't intend to infer that at all. With all of healthcare you'll find a big overlap between the various types of consultant. Now that I re-read my words I can see how it came across that way, so sorry about that, I certainly didn't intend to infer that all private surgeons in London are better than the 'high street' operators. Nevertheless, I did have a choice of paying less and going somewhere else, but I did a lot of research and was very pleased with the results from the chap who did my eyes - he was worth every penny.

One of the main things to consider is aftercare; if I had a problem in the recovery then I could phone the surgeon or his secretary (who was extremely knowledgeable, being his wife and having had laser eye surgery herself), and he was never more than a few hours from phoning me back if I needed to speak to him. He also saw me for extremely frequent follow ups as standard, which were fantastic. If you read into laser eye surgery, most complications are with after-care, rather than operative skill during the surgery itself.

To put things into context regarding follow up with regard to follow up. Optical Express saw me again after 24 hours, 72 hours, 7 days, 8 days, 14 days, 28 days, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months. There is also an open invitation to make an appointment whenever required.

I had no particularly special issues, the follow up just seems to be quite intensive.

[Fastchas]

Had mine done in 1996 at Optimax on the Bristo Rd in Birmingham. It was on offer at the time so cost £760 all in for both eyes. I was spending £30 pm on contact lens solutions so the op paid for itself in two years.
I would wholeheartedly recommend the procedure. I had the PRK(?) and although the first week was hell the liberation from lenses/glasses and worrying about sleeping in lenses etc. was worth it. I was 26 at the time, now just turned 45 and bought my first reading glasses recently. The eye changes shape in your 40's, that why you need readers. You can't stop the ageing process.

Edited by Fastchas on Thursday 29th January 16:04

[RobM77]

Eleven said:

RobM77 said:

Sorry, I didn't intend to infer that at all. With all of healthcare you'll find a big overlap between the various types of consultant. Now that I re-read my words I can see how it came across that way, so sorry about that, I certainly didn't intend to infer that all private surgeons in London are better than the 'high street' operators. Nevertheless, I did have a choice of paying less and going somewhere else, but I did a lot of research and was very pleased with the results from the chap who did my eyes - he was worth every penny.

One of the main things to consider is aftercare; if I had a problem in the recovery then I could phone the surgeon or his secretary (who was extremely knowledgeable, being his wife and having had laser eye surgery herself), and he was never more than a few hours from phoning me back if I needed to speak to him. He also saw me for extremely frequent follow ups as standard, which were fantastic. If you read into laser eye surgery, most complications are with after-care, rather than operative skill during the surgery itself.

To put things into context regarding follow up with regard to follow up. Optical Express saw me again after 24 hours, 72 hours, 7 days, 8 days, 14 days, 28 days, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months. There is also an open invitation to make an appointment whenever required.

I had no particularly special issues, the follow up just seems to be quite intensive.

As I say, it's the aftercare that can make the biggest diference to the risks of complications. That's a good frequency of follow ups that you had and if I remember rightly very similar to what I had. I should add that I was a little concerned due to the size of my eyes and how short sighted and astigmatic I was, plus after seeing a few different opticians with glasses and contact lenses I didn't trust them at all; for example this surgeon was the first person who'd ever examined my eyes without causing me pain! (I think I'd been unlucky with opticians), but needless to say when it came to surgery I wanted 100% peace of mind. I'm very chuffed with the results though, I'm 6/4 in both eyes now, whereas before I couldn't even see the biggest letter on the Snellen chart! Laser surgery exceeded my expectations.

[seadragon]

Cost me about £3500 with Ultralase about 5 years ago. Wore glasses since I was about 7, am 43 now. Best money I ever spent.

My vision, which was really poor, went to 20/10 and my astigmatism totally disappeared. No halo effect.

[Missingbadly]

Took my 21yo son to David Gartry last week . Utterly fantastic and extremely professional.
Unfortunately he said the corneas were too thin to operate safely. He'll have to wait a good few years for them to harden and do it then.
I regard this as the ultimate in professionalism - telling someone you cant operate rather than chancing it. This was after OE said they could do it (presumably taking a risk without advising us)! We went to DG because we decided to go to the best rather than a high street place. DG explained that with OE we wouldn't have seen the surgeon until 1 minute before surgery and if he decided to cancel we would have wasted our time, if he had operated and there was a problem then we (my son) would be in the sh*t. OE use surgeons on a rate per op so a surgeon needing the money is less likely to cancel in these circumstances. Surgeons also disappear in the ether making complaints difficult.
Anyway - bad news about the corneas but at least it was a definitive no at an early stage.
I wouldn't touch OE or any high street lazer outfit with a bargepole when its my turn.