Laser eye surgery

Cressers

I'm glad you sufferred no ill effects but is it really worth paying for and going through all that comapared to the minor incovenience of spectacle wearing?

Headhuunter

cee wrote:

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!

That made me cringe.... Using the word "scrape" in the same sentence as "eye" has instantly put me off....

cee

Cressers wrote:

I'm glad you sufferred no ill effects but is it really worth paying for and going through all that comapared to the minor incovenience of spectacle wearing?

Hey Cressers.

I appreciate that your experience of eye surgery might not be as good as mine...

looking at the results of laser eye surgery over the last 10 years, the numbers of any complications have been very small.

Of all complications in the UK for Corrective laser eye surgery....none have been complications of the surgery itself...they have all been related to infection during recovery.

I think the aftercare has gotten a lot better during that time and they make it very clear that any sign of infection should be looked at immediately, and in all cases where this has been done, there have been again no complications...

Now...it does have risk. We would be naive to think otherwise. For instance...who knows what will happen in 30 years time.

However...to answer your question of was it worth it...

A most profound yes.

I have worn glasses since I was 5 years old.
I have worn contact lenses for sport since I was 20.

None of the things which make it worth it for me have anything to do with money. As I say..they are all really small quality of life things which I did not even think about as benefits before the surgery...like reading the clock in the middle of the night...

I got on fine with my glasses...contact lenses were simply a revelation for sports.

Multiply that by any big number you can think of...and that is the benefit I feel for laser sugery.

My experience has been very good.

However, I would urge anyone considering it, to do as you say and do their own research, and make their own minds up...don't take anyones word for it.

It is also worth saying that the operation you received...is not the same as for corrective surgery...and similar though it may be...procedures have advanced a long way since you were an infant.

cee

Headhuunter wrote:

That made me cringe.... Using the word "scrape" in the same sentence as "eye" has instantly put me off....

yeah...its not really scraping..they more push it to one side....it did freak me out at first, but I wanted to keep that top layer intact, rather than cutting a flap in it.

freddiegrubb

:oops: Don't do it , I've worn c/lenses for50 yrs. the last 5 years I've been on soft & they're absolutely fab. the slight downside is you can forget you're wearing them & not take them out. Eye hygiene is improved - no fluids etc. don't do the eye surgery , show me 100 people & I'll show you 100 different healing types & this is the big problem. If it's any consolation if your s/sighted your vision may improve as you grow older, one thing is almost certain, you will need specs. for reading so whilst wearing your lenses you will have to pop on the reading specs. These can be bought for 5-10 quid, as long as your are regularly checked by an optician no probs, the optician if he does lenses will possibly give you some as a trial . So once again don't do it you only get one pair of peepers , you can eat with false teeth- walk with a wooden leg - but you can't see with a glass/ damaged eye .

desweller

I'm a bit younger than the OP. I had LASIK surgery 7 years ago when I was 23, with a prescription of ~-9 (!) in both eyes and a bit of astigmatism in the right just to mix things up.

I had my operation conducted by a Boots clinic in Birmingham. I believe that this side of their business is now owned and run by Ultralase, the firm that you are considering.

It's been great in the 7 years since I had it done, but recently I've had to start wearing specs again as one of my eyes has crept off a bit (-2 in the right eye compared to -0.5 in the left). However I am still glad I did it - wearing specs is certainly not a minor inconvenience in my experience, it is quite restricting in what you can do. I still reap the benefits of the operation as I can still do plenty of things without specs, whereas with my pre-op prescription I was basically blind without glasses.

My mother has also had LASIK surgery, about 9 years ago, shortly after she turned 50. She does have to wear reading spectacles as her close-range eyesight is not so good (old age, see), but anything more than a couple of feet away is perfectly OK.

Overall I'd recommend it if your myopia is sufficiently bad. If I had had relatively good eyesight 7 years ago - say, -2 or better - then I don't think I would have had it done.

Pross

I've thought about laser surgery for years and had an informal chat with my daughter's eye specialist about it. My problem is that my one eye works perfectly whilst the other is very poor (I'm not sure of what prescription I would have but I can read every letter on the chart with my left eye and just about make out 3 or 4 lines with my right) so I was told it was unlikely to help as my left eye will have got used to doing all the work and would be likely to continue doing so even if the right eye was perfect (this is also the reason for no longer being prescribed glasses). I would love to have both eyes working perfectly as I often think of how poor my eyesight would be if I damage my good eye

cee

freddiegrubb wrote:

:oops: Don't do it , I've worn c/lenses for50 yrs. the last 5 years I've been on soft & they're absolutely fab. the slight downside is you can forget you're wearing them & not take them out. Eye hygiene is improved - no fluids etc. don't do the eye surgery , show me 100 people & I'll show you 100 different healing types & this is the big problem. If it's any consolation if your s/sighted your vision may improve as you grow older, one thing is almost certain, you will need specs. for reading so whilst wearing your lenses you will have to pop on the reading specs. These can be bought for 5-10 quid, as long as your are regularly checked by an optician no probs, the optician if he does lenses will possibly give you some as a trial . So once again don't do it you only get one pair of peepers , you can eat with false teeth- walk with a wooden leg - but you can't see with a glass/ damaged eye .

however...if I show you 100 people who have had it done...I suggest that you could not show me one who has had a decrease in sight from the treatment. Not all of them will have 20/20 vision....but none will have gotten worse.

To be fair...if I show you 100 people who have had their tonsils out...I could show you 100 different healing types. Presumably you wouldn't have your tonsils out?

I really tried to find someone who had it done with negative things to say...I honestly couldn't.

the rest is the way you feel about your eyes and your decision.

others may feel (as I did and still do), that my decision was worth it.

Velonutter

I'm long sighted and was told that I cannot have eye surgery, is this true?

I'm also told that if you are diabetic like I am that they don't like to do it!

So am buggered really.

Being long sighted IO can see on my bike without glasses, but ti does make it harder to read the Garmin etc.

cee

Velonutter wrote:

I'm long sighted and was told that I cannot have eye surgery, is this true?

I'm also told that if you are diabetic like I am that they don't like to do it!

So am buggered really.

Being long sighted IO can see on my bike without glasses, but ti does make it harder to read the Garmin etc.

if you were told that by an optician....then i would say its true!



If you were told that by someone who heard it from someone who couldn't get it done....then best to ask an optician if you really want to know your suitability...

As far as i understand it..its a little more complicated than....I have long sight/short sight/astigmatism/my finger in my eye.....

andrewz

Try Bates -> http://eyesvisions.com/

neeb

Regarding possibly needing reading glasses after laser surgery - I could be wrong about this but my understanding is that if you can read OK at the moment while wearing your normal specs / contact lenses for short sight, then you should also be able to after the surgery. The thing is that short sight means that the shape of your eyeball is a little too long, so that parallel rays of light coming from a distance come to a focus slightly in front of the retina rather than on the retina. This blurs things at a distance but actually makes it easier to focus on things close up, because rays from things close by are coming in at a diverging angle and need to be actively focused by the lens, otherwise they would come to a focus behind the retina. So someone with short sight, when not wearing glasses, doesn't have to actively focus as much (using the muscles around the lens) to see things close up.

What you would lose is the ability to see better close up by taking your glasses off - it shouldn't make it any more difficult to focus close up than it is at the moment when you are wearing your glasses.

As you get older the lens becomes less flexible, so it is more difficult to actively make it focus at shorter distances. Being short sighted gives you a an advantage in this respect, but only when your sight is not corrected for distance vision.

Daily disposable contacts have been a revelation for me - I really don't notice them at all once they are in, unless occasionally when I'm very tired late at night. As long as they continue to work I wouldn't risk surgery.

Tonymufc

Bill Gates wrote:

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

+1. Best money I've ever spent, although I should add that I'm in my early 30's. Go and get a free consultation then make up your mind.

Cafewanda

EKIMIKE wrote:

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.

Hmm. Interesting.

At my recent sight test, my optician told me I am now a member of the 'varifocals' club (I'm 47) and they would cost more than my current high prescription glasses (very short-sighted). As I wear toric extended wear contacts 99% of the time, my other option is to get reading glasses on top.

Was too scared to get quotes for both options as my current glasses cost £250 three years ago and that was after visiting various shops. Maybe I should bite the bullet and find out.

singlespeedexplosif

however...if I show you 100 people who have had it done...I suggest that you could not show me one who has had a decrease in sight from the treatment. Not all of them will have 20/20 vision....but none will have gotten worse.

utter, utter tosh. I work in eyes and I can find you plenty. Oh and the 'none of the complications are from the surgery' bit? also utter piffle.
If you saw the sort of stuff we see, you'd stay clear. I have plenty of friends who have had it and their vision is great as a result. There's no denying it can be fantastic for people. But if it goes wrong, it can go wrong horribly.
(and let's not forget, 20/20 isn't even great vision. I'd be hoping for far better after surgery)

Face it - you'll be wearing specs or lenses by your mid-40s one way or another - and the vast majority of us will be having intraocular lens implants by the time we croak anyway. Leave 'em alone till then.