Laser eye surgery

innocenti

I am 43 now and am fed up of wearing gas permeable contact lenses for short sight. Cycling can be a nightmare and on at least one club run everyone has had to stop while I removed a lens at the side of the road, swilled it round my mouth and tried to replace it in a car wing mirror. I am considering lasek surgery with ultralase but my optician was warning me that at my age it could cause problems and I would probably end up wearing reading glasses. Has anyone else in there 40's had surgery? Is it worth shelling out a large sum of cash?

father_jack

I wear glasses too high prescription. Even I wouldn't risk it, I'd only do it if I had near blindness. Night vision suffers. For me, they'd have to take off quite a lot of cornea to the point nothing left.

Not squimish but that doesn't make me want to do it.

EKIMIKE

My mother had laser eye surgery this year and she's in her 40's.

It's true that you will end up needing reading glasses, but you will need them even if you don't have the laser surgery. My mum bit the bullet after her optician quoted 500 odd quid for a pair of glasses (varifocal i think) because she inveitably needed glasses for reading.

Laser surgery will probably work out cheaper in the long run than £500 glasses every few years and to be honest, alot of people really don't get on with these 'combination' glasses like varifocals. My mum tried them but she said they'd annoy her.

Anyway, she had the surgery, she's got an astigmatism so it cost her fair whack and she went for the high grade procedure for added peace of mind. She used a 'highstreet' one, i can't think which one it was though. Her vision has turned out perfect. The only negative was that she did indeed need reading glasses, of a higher strength than before too. But she definitely welcomes the better 'general' sight as outweighing the need for reading glasses. She gets the cheap £5 ones anyway and they do fine.

bill_gates

I had my peepers lasered approx 2 years past now, one of the best things I've ever had done. 8)

Stewie Griffin

Bill Gates wrote:

I had my peepers lasered approx 2 years past now, one of the best things I've ever had done. 8)

A friend of mine had it done and he says the same thing.

magoo289

I asked my opticians the same thing last year and was told the same as you. I could get my short-sight sorted, but would need glasses by the time I reach my mid-40s for reading.

Everyone I talk to who has had laser treatment raves about and says its the best thing they ever done!

markos1963

I don't know what job you do but check first. I work in a safety critical role(train driver) and I am banned from having the operation. I think pilots are too but stand corrected if anyone knows.

bill_gates

I do get 'dry' eyes towards the end of the day but I had symptoms of this before I had the procedure anyway. Not many problems with night-time vision either.

Not sure on whether pilots, etc are no permitted to do this but I actually have better than 20.20 vision which is an American term, my vision is 6/5 in both eyes.

squired

Be careful with laser surgery. Mine was considered a success by the company that did it, despite the fact my left eye wouldn't focus properly for over a month after the procedure. I was getting pain in my left eyeball for the first year as well and dreadful headaches that were continuous for 3-4 days at a time. After 2 years I needed to wear glasses occasionally. After 4 years (i.e now) I pretty much have to wear glasses all the time. I had it done when I was 32.

Bunneh

My Great Aunt has eye surgery for a cataract, her vision was amazing and she actually did away completely with glasses. However, a few months part of the eye detached at the back, due to said surgery, and she could only see 'floaters' until she passed away. I think doing anything to your eyes is a risk; sure it's pretty slim but I'll stick to glasses/lenses for now.

nwallace

Bill Gates wrote:

I actually have better than 20.20 vision which is an American term, my vision is 6/5 in both eyes.

20/20 and 6/6 are the same thing on the Snellen chart.
20 feet or 6 meters

Meant to use the LogMAR scale now anyway...


I need glasses for VDU work but fine when reading a book, don't liek the idea of laser surgery though realise it's needed if you get cataracts or retinopathy.

stucolnago

I am 44, and had laser surgery in May 2010.
I wish I had done it years ago.
I had the wavefront surgery which is quite pricey, but it is your eyes after all.
I was in and out of surgery in just over an hour.
Difference was immediate and I now have better than 20/20 vision.
Go for it is my advice! :

Wappygixer

I enquired about it a year or so ago.My problem is that my prescription is only 1.25 and most laser surgery can only guarantee to + or - 1.In effect I could shell out a wad and still end up needing glasses or contacts.
I decided to stick with contacts until better results can be guaranteed.

Flasheart

My GF had her gorgeous eyes lasered a couple of years ago & she is approaching 50 (though she doesn't look anywhere near that)
The lady can see far better than I can.

I'd look into it if you pardon my pun

Teach

My cousin is an eye specialist in a hospital. I asked her about getting it done. She basically said if you see what is on my ward you wouldn't. Do you know the eye never fully heals. She had a man in who got a steel sliver in his eye, it got rubbed and rubbed under the cornea. Nightmare. I'd love to have it done, but as I can see with glasses or contact lenses, whilst it's a pain and a cost, I don't want to take the risk of an operation, which in the worse case scenario could leave me worse than I already am or even blind.

Tom Butcher

In terms of eye health I'm sure glasses are the way to go - contact lenses or surgery have risks attached to them. Then again being able to do without glasses or contact lenses is a pretty big thing and there are huge numbers of people who have had these procedures now and so far serious complications are relatively rare.

wiffachip

i wore spec's for over 20 years but in me mid 40's i had cataract replacement surgery on the nhs. what a result, bit like laser surgery, but better and free

need readers though, but that's a minor inconvenience

father_jack

pew pew lasers

Chip \'oyler

Teach wrote:

My cousin is an eye specialist in a hospital. I asked her about getting it done. She basically said if you see what is on my ward you wouldn't. Do you know the eye never fully heals. She had a man in who got a steel sliver in his eye, it got rubbed and rubbed under the cornea. Nightmare. I'd love to have it done, but as I can see with glasses or contact lenses, whilst it's a pain and a cost, I don't want to take the risk of an operation, which in the worse case scenario could leave me worse than I already am or even blind.

How would you get a steel sliver in your eye from laser surgery?

tri-sexual

been thinking of having laser eye surgery for a number of years now.
everyone who i have spoken to have only good things to say about their procedure, some of them have had the procedure for over 20 years.
i play alot of contact sports and martial arts and i also swim so laser eye surgery would be of great benefit to me but despite all the pros i still have some doubts.
my prescription is -3.0 (approx) for both eyes and have astigmatism.
bill gates, stucolnago (or anyone else who have personally had the procedure done) - you both seem to have positive results and would recommend to others, please give us more detail please, your prescription before op, age, type of procedure you had, where you had it done, surgeon's name, after care service etc etc, as much detail as possible. feel free to PM me if you do not want to discuss this on a public forum but may be of interest to others on here who are considering the procedure.
squired and any one who have personally had a bad experience can you also please enclose the same information.
a friend who had his op approx 8 years ago had his op in a bristol surgery, he booked to have the cheapest procedure but on the day of the op, his surgeon upgraded him to a more expensive procedure for free, is this common? anyone else had this offered to them?
i enquired about having surgery at optical express in cheltenham, anyone had dealings with them. i enquired about deals etc and then they told me of the ambassador referral programme where if someone i know who had the procedure recommended them then £300 would be refunded after op. do anyone know of any good deals available?
there are alot of deals out there but they dont advertise it and will only offer them if asked directly.
welcome all replies and thanks

Cressers

Please, before you commit to having laser surgery, do as much research as possible. I am visually-impaired, my sight is slowly getting worse due to age related and time-after-surgery complications caused by a series of catarct operations in infancy. My specialists tell me that at some point they may need to remove the scarring of my optical membrane by laser, but they, and I, don't want to do so until it becomes absolutly necessary because any eye surgery carries post-operative risks. Avoid it if you possibly can.

father_jack

do anyone know of any good deals available?

Are you talking about your eyes, which cannot be replaced or repair themselves, or a MOT on a old banger? lol. You don't look for "deals" You look for correct type of laser surgery, at the best practice with qualified people. Not back street "Del Boy I'll do it for a tenner in my garage" with a laser bought from ebay

Cressers

+!.

This is not a discount carpet that you are buying, it is your very sight at stake.

father_jack

father_jack

Cressers wrote:

+!.

This is not a discount carpet that you are buying, it is your very sight at stake.

And your life too...what if they bodge up both eyes? Lose your job probably...

JamesB

stay away from it.....you`ll need reading glasses after a few years = you`ll need them cycling ie to read maps / route guides. I`ve just invested in a new pair of varifocals , high prescription, very expensive too; BUT it gets me away from issues I`d been having of either squinting at a map or taking glasses off to read map or swopping to reading glasses; NONE of above being practical when cycling / driving really; varifocals have sorted above issues , BUT if you opt for eye surgery you`ll end up back at squre one regarding reading sight.

the_hundredth_idiot

I had laser eye surgery about 2 years ago (I'm just about to turn 40). Fantastic - and I'm fighting the urge to become hyperbolic about it and say it is the best thing ever.
No faffing with contact lenses.
No splashing £300 every other year on new specs (or even sooner when eldest son manages to lose them - too long a story with which to bore you).
No scrabbling around for the sunglasses/clear glasses when you're driving (the classic going into a tunnel on a sunny day and back out again scenario).
If your specs steam up when cycling, just take them off and you can still see.
Able to tell the time at night without reaching for your specs
No having small children (of which I have two) forever trying to grab your specs and putting sticky little finger prints all over them.
Instantly look younger.

Not heard the argument about being too old for it - that you will become long-sighted when you get older is a red herring - as others have pointed out, that will happen regardless of whether or not you have laser surgery. (Doubtless some optom will be soon here to correct me but isn't long-sightedness when you get older (presbyopia?) due to weakening of the muscles in your eyes which do the focussing?) Having laser surgery now should mean that you won't need bifocals/varifocals. but can just have simple reading glasses.

Cost me about £3k for the super-dooper spec service from Optical Express. No pain, little discomfort, minimal risk* - in on a Friday morning, home for a lunchtime snooze, good to go by 3pm (subject to using antiseptic eye drops for the next couple of weeks). I was very pleased with the service I got from them (and I have "loyalty" vouchers if you're interested which give both me and the person having the surgery £150 each when you have it done).

Go for it. You won't regret it.

* The old days of having one eye done at a time in case something goes wrong are long gone. My surgeon was very clear that he had done 15,000 or so of these treatments of which virtually all had gone perfectly well with only three resulting in complications (basically infections which needed a couple of days stay in Moorfields eye hospital to clear up after which the individuals' eyesight was fine).

Pretre

It's my understanding that short-sight gets better over time as it's caused by the eye muscles being too tight & as you get older the muscles naturally weaken so your sight improves - for example, I used to be about -2 or -3 when I was im my twenty's but I'm now early 40's & it's improved to about -0.5. I should be 20/20 in the next 5-10 years, according to my optician.
If you have surgery to correct short-sight to 20/20 then as the muscles weaken you will get long sight, hence the need for reading glasses. Not sure what would happen to long-sight TBH - presumably it would come back again?

If I had worse sight than I do I would have laser surgery tomorrow - glasses/contacts are a serious PITA & I know several people who've had it done (some for seriously bad short-sight) & none of them have had any issues whatsoever.

andrewz

Here what i found -> laser eye surgery

Headhuunter

I've thought about laser eye but what puts me off is the thought that my eyesight may change in years to come anyway. Generally as we get older we become increasingly long sighted as the muscles that stretch the lens into shape to focus light, weaken, meaning you're less able to see objects close up.

If I have laser eye surgery now, I'm short sighted at the moment, would I still start to need glasses again in my 50s and 60s when my eyes start to change again? If so I may as well save myself a few grand and not bother... No one has been able to answer that question for me, so until I find out I'll just stick to my specs...

cee

I had laser eye surgery in april last year.

nothing but good things to say about it....the best bits are the small things that non-glasses wearers take for granted, and honestly, that probably most glassesses wearers don't even think about......

like waking up in the middle of the night...looking across the room and being able to read the clock!

There are various types...

I Chose the one that pilots (civil and military) are allowed to have...they don't cut through the top layer..instead, they soften it with an alcohol solution and scrape it aside...do the lasering....then scrape it back..

It is allowed for them due to the stability retained when the top layer is not cut...

So not many people get that option...it has a little more discomfort after surgery (had to go to bed for the rest of the day...couldn't really open my eyes the next day...after that it was the gritty feeling for a couple more days. then into the more average healing cycle), but it is worth remembering that they cannot say specifically for any individual what their experience will be.

The reading glasses thing seems to have different information...my research showed that if you would have needed reading glasses anyway, you will still need them...but if you wouldn't have needed them anyway, then you still won't....

Like others here...I didn't look for the cheapest price....this was not an area where I wanted to scrimp!