Laser eye surgery

Sussed out

My mum had her eyes layered 8 years ago and got a voucher through the post for £500 off a friends treatment.
Today I went for my consultation and was astounded by how much it's going to cost!

All the websites say treatment is from £395-595 per eye, I got quoted £1895 today, PER EYE!
There isn't anything drastically wrong with my eyes aside from my short sightedness, I agreed to get the treatment done in three weeks when I was in a bit of a daze, they put drops in my eyes to relax my pupils so I was very hazy when they hit me with the price, it didn't really sink in that it was per eye till I was leaving a deposit.

Has anybody else had their eyes done? And was it this expensive?
Apparently I'm going to get wavefront treatment, which is more advanced than standard LASIK treatment, any reviews?

Cheers,
Ben

schweiz

I don't know about laser eye surgery but I know that you can cancel the contract and get your deposit back. Would you really trust anyone who advertises one price but charges 3-4 times as much and gets you to signed whilst feeling a little groggy with your eyesight?

VTech

I have to agree, I would get the money back if I were you.

Make sure you use a reputable surgeon, eyes dont grow back.

jezzpalmer

I had it done at optical express around 4 years ago, and it's been great TBH.

The basic price was something like £295/eye for the weakest correction.
But with the extra procedures and a 0.75 and 1.75 prescription bumped it up to £3200, but think I paid £2600 after some discount.

desweller

I had my eyes adjusted back in 2003 for £2500, including a discount, so when you take inflation into account it's probably in the ballpark. My eyes were shocking though; ~ -8 in the left, ~ -9 in the right and astigmatism in both. After the op I was 20/20.

I had to start wearing specs again back in 2009 after noticing that I was having trouble picking out labels at the supermarket! My eyes seem to have stabilised at around -0.75 in the left and -1.5 in the right. I don't regret having it done though; in fact I'm going to enquire about the possibility of a second op to correct my present myopia.

freddiegrubb

You can eat with false teeth, walk with a wooden leg but you can't see with a glass eye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VTech

freddiegrubb wrote:

You can eat with false teeth, walk with a wooden leg but you can't see with a glass eye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats a great quote for a tattoo

ben@31

My eyesight was -5. Which was so short sighted I could not make out the numbers on an alarm clock in the morning.

The laser surgery I had cost me thousands but now my eyesight is pretty much bob on. When you considering the difference before and after, yes it was expensive but It's the best thing I've done.

I found the operation easier than expected. There was no pain at all from the laser (no cutting or burning sensation) and it lasted a whole 10 seconds per eye, if that.

What is reassuring is the amount of operations they have done now and how the technology has matured to mind boggling tolerances and the speed at which the laser tracks any movement of the eye. If I remember correctly, the Dr who did my eyes had done 15,000+ They reckon nobodies post op eyesight was worse than what it was before, worst case scenario it wont be 20/20, but still some improvement.

CambsNewbie

I had mine done 5 years ago to be able to join the police. Like you I had seen the adverts £395 per eye and was shocked when mine came to £3k after about a 10% discount. However for it it was worth it otherwise I wouldn't be able to do a job I love (generally!).

It's the little things you never think of that I am still impressed by, waking up in the night and being able to see the time on the clock, being able to see when swimming, being able to find the toilet when staying in a hotel room in the night!

After the op, no matter what they say about how painless and easy it is, for 2 days after it felt like someone was using soap to wash sand out of my eyes. It was agony. I had to lay on my hands to stop myself rubbing my eyes and then for the next few weeks there were loads of different eye drops to take, from pain killing ones, moisturising ones and anti-bacterial ones. And don't believe the ads when they say the next day they were down the gym and doing all the things they had dreamt of.. I could barely see anything for 2-3 days and had to take the next week off work.

Still, it was worth the cost and the pain for the long term.

Sussed out

Thanks for the replies, hearing those, aswell as talking to a mate who had it done has put my mind at rest a bit more where cost is concerned. What shocked me was that my mums treatment was £1200 8 years ago but I'm going for a newer 3D wavefront thingy which will give better results.

It is a lot of money but I am so looking forward to being able to live without the faff of glasses and contacts and solution and all that jazz.
Just got to go through the inconvenience of no contacts for a week before then no exercise for a week after, not looking forward to that.

Gotta get working hard to raise some monies now!

ben@31

CambsNewbie wrote:

After the op, no matter what they say about how painless and easy it is, for 2 days after it felt like someone was using soap to wash sand out of my eyes. It was agony. I had to lay on my hands to stop myself rubbing my eyes and then for the next few weeks there were loads of different eye drops to take, from pain killing ones, moisturising ones and anti-bacterial ones. And don't believe the ads when they say the next day they were down the gym and doing all the things they had dreamt of.. I could barely see anything for 2-3 days and had to take the next week off work.

I had a kip after I got back from the op. So I slept through any irritation and didn't feel that bad. Make sure you sleep in some google things for the first few nights so you don't rub your eyes subconsciously as they are healing.
Maybe everyones different, but I didn't feel that bad after the op.

mattwood

I had my eyes done back in September. Believe me when I say you'll never look back after having it done!
Mine cost about £4k all-in and I had the wavefront treatment with the 'intra-lase' procedure (which uses iris mapping to cut the protective flap). I was in and out in an hour. That was Optical Express, for the record.

While its very expensive, its not worth going cheap when its your sight! But I fully recommend having it done! I came home and had a sleep for 4 hours as it was a bit uncomfortable immediately after the op, but after that things were improved and after a week or so my sight was almost perfect! Since going back and living with it for a few months, my sight is slightly improved again (better than 20/20 allegedly!)

All the best for the op. It will change your life!

freddiegrubb

Mr. v tech, it was actually a safety first poster in a factory where I worked, it left an impression with me as it's stayed imprinted in my brain for 30 plus years.

markos1963

I always tend to say the same thing regarding laser surgery, think very carefully before you do it. Certain jobs like mine(train driving) won't allow you to do this. Now you might not be in a job that has this restriction but you might want to take up a profession that does in the future so think very carefully before you do.

markyone

2500 for me best thing i ever done

bill_gates

About £3k'ish for me and also best thing I've ever done. Ultralase was my choice with the Wavefront technology.

tiredofwhiners

ben@31 wrote:

My eyesight was -5. Which was so short sighted I could not make out the numbers on an alarm clock in the morning.

Pretty much the same as me -6 and -5

I had an astigmatism as well so had to wait intil Lasik came available so one eye was done in 1998 and the other in 2001.

Now suffering from longsightedness (caused by muscle weakness) after nearly 15 years of perfect eyesight. The only consequence I have had is that my night vision is marginally worse than before I had surgery but its been a price worth paying.

First eye done somewhere I forget, and the second at BUPA. Neither were more than £600 but that was a long time ago.

JackPozzi

Has anyone considered intraocular lenses rather than laser? My mum had it done a couple of years ago as cataract surgery but the lenses they used also included correction for -10ish short sightedness, she's now got perfect vision so is very happy with them. I looked at laser treatment for myself about 10 years ago, but at the time my eyes weren't suitable so I'm thinking about the intraocular route.

ben@31

tiredofwhiners wrote:

Pretty much the same as me -6 and -5

I had an astigmatism as well so had to wait intil Lasik came available so one eye was done in 1998 and the other in 2001.

Now suffering from longsightedness (caused by muscle weakness) after nearly 15 years of perfect eyesight. The only consequence I have had is that my night vision is marginally worse than before I had surgery but its been a price worth paying.

First eye done somewhere I forget, and the second at BUPA. Neither were more than £600 but that was a long time ago.

Even if you were born with perfect eyesight. Chances are that as you got older you would become long sighted anyway. So laser surgery won't keep on giving 20/20 vision until you're 80 years old, but you should get a few years out of it.

When I looked into laser eye surgery, the night vision thing you mentioned happens because in dark light the pupil expands and probably has expanded to a wider diameter than the cut made by the laser. Often the effect is a slight halo around street lights. My eyesight was bad before so I haven't noticed any degradation in night vision.

ben@31

markos1963 wrote:

I always tend to say the same thing regarding laser surgery, think very carefully before you do it. Certain jobs like mine(train driving) won't allow you to do this. Now you might not be in a job that has this restriction but you might want to take up a profession that does in the future so think very carefully before you do.

I'm quite surprised by this as peoples eyesight is better afterwards and not dependant on glasses or contact lenses.

Are you sure you haven't got mixed up with different types... Lasik, lasek, PRK and some butcher with a blunt knife?

A lot of jobs that were very picky over eyesight such as military aviators, police and fire service now accept Lasik....

http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/ind ... cleid=7405
http://www.notts-fire.gov.uk/Firefighte ... mation.pdf
http://www.academy.org.uk/reference/police.htm
http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcollegecranwel ... n/faqs.cfm
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/ ... l-022811w/

markos1963

ben@31 wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

I always tend to say the same thing regarding laser surgery, think very carefully before you do it. Certain jobs like mine(train driving) won't allow you to do this. Now you might not be in a job that has this restriction but you might want to take up a profession that does in the future so think very carefully before you do.

I'm quite surprised by this as peoples eyesight is better afterwards and not dependant on glasses or contact lenses.

Are you sure you haven't got mixed up with different types... Lasik, lasek, PRK and some butcher with a blunt knife?

A lot of jobs that were very picky over eyesight such as military aviators, police and fire service now accept Lasik....

http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/ind ... cleid=7405
http://www.notts-fire.gov.uk/Firefighte ... mation.pdf
http://www.academy.org.uk/reference/police.htm
http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcollegecranwel ... n/faqs.cfm
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/ ... l-022811w/

Well the railways are always a bit behind but if the railway standard is applied then it doesn't matter what you say, you're off the job. I think it was due to issues regarding tunnel vision after surgery. Best to check first before rushing in

Sussed out

markos1963 wrote:

ben@31 wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

I always tend to say the same thing regarding laser surgery, think very carefully before you do it. Certain jobs like mine(train driving) won't allow you to do this. Now you might not be in a job that has this restriction but you might want to take up a profession that does in the future so think very carefully before you do.

I'm quite surprised by this as peoples eyesight is better afterwards and not dependant on glasses or contact lenses.

Are you sure you haven't got mixed up with different types... Lasik, lasek, PRK and some butcher with a blunt knife?

A lot of jobs that were very picky over eyesight such as military aviators, police and fire service now accept Lasik....

http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/ind ... cleid=7405
http://www.notts-fire.gov.uk/Firefighte ... mation.pdf
http://www.academy.org.uk/reference/police.htm
http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcollegecranwel ... n/faqs.cfm
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/ ... l-022811w/

Well the railways are always a bit behind but if the railway standard is applied then it doesn't matter what you say, you're off the job. I think it was due to issues regarding tunnel vision after surgery. Best to check first before rushing in

I'd have thought tunnel vision would be quite important driving a train! Especially for the underground or eurotunnel.

k-dog

ben@31 wrote:

I'm quite surprised by this as peoples eyesight is better afterwards and not dependant on glasses or contact lenses.

That's a common misconception - your correct acuity (the important thing) isn't necessarily going to be better - and in some cases may be worse.

But, you might not have a refractive error now - or at least a smaller one.

The 2 things aren't necessarily the same thing.

Admittedly in practice I generally only see the bad ones because they come to me because someone ruined their eyes - but it's a common source of complaints.

Worse night vision is common - it depends on the size of area they have to laser and the size of your pupils. Generally as you get older your pupils get smaller so the problem can diminish.

My main piece of advice is don't go anywhere that advertises a good deal on TV - it won't be the same deal and you are being 'sold' the product by sales people on commission.

There are a number of good centres in the UK - run by fantastic surgeons with all the backup you need.

It is useful to be done near home - but I don't mean by a guy who flies in once a month to do some ops - because many NHS eye departments now refuse to see patients with corneal problems after laser procedures - which can be significant. You have to go back to where you had it done or pay privately. That would be a problem if you had to wait even a couple of days.

JackPozzi wrote:

Has anyone considered intraocular lenses rather than laser? My mum had it done a couple of years ago as cataract surgery but the lenses they used also included correction for -10ish short sightedness, she's now got perfect vision so is very happy with them. I looked at laser treatment for myself about 10 years ago, but at the time my eyes weren't suitable so I'm thinking about the intraocular route.

No, clear lens extraction (basically a cataract op when you don't have cataracts) isn't done commonly due to the more invasive nature of the op - and risk of significant problems.

It's a nice side effect of the cataract operation for some people but it's not a good way to correct a refractive error in most people.

Tom Butcher

I had my eyes done about 20 years ago now - at the time the optician was telling me I had to limit contact lens use to sort of 6 hours at a time so that, plus my brother having his eyes done and seemingly having no problems persuaded me. Overall up til now the result is positive - however my night vision is affected somewhat.

Personally I'm glad I had it done but I think if I was advising my kids I say stick with contact lenses which I think have advanced quite a bit since I wore them - but then you are always cautious with your own kids. Then again I dare say the procedure is a fair bit different to back then too.

ben@31

K-dog. Is the degree of short sightedness (myopia) always much better after laser surgery?

When I had my laser surgery the consultant drilled into me that we have to be realistic about our expectations.This is important to remember. You should not get your hopes up on having perfect 20/20 vision. But it wouldn't be any worse.

As someone who went from a prescription of -5 to no longer needing glasses or contact lenses, a slight halo around a street light at night is a small price to pay. To be honest if there is a difference in visual acuity, I don't notice it.

What sealed the deal for me, was when I had hey fever wearing contact lenses was absolute torture. I was also sick of my lenses getting irritant and getting conjunctivitis.

k-dog

ben@31 wrote:

K-dog. Is the degree of short sightedness (myopia) always much better after laser surgery?

When I had my laser surgery the consultant drilled into me that we have to be realistic about our expectations.This is important to remember. You should not get your hopes up on having perfect 20/20 vision. But it wouldn't be any worse.

As someone who went from a prescription of -5 to no longer needing glasses or contact lenses, a slight halo around a street light at night is a small price to pay. To be honest if there is a difference in visual acuity, I don't notice it.

What sealed the deal for me, was when I had hey fever wearing contact lenses was absolute torture. I was also sick of my lenses getting irritant and getting conjunctivitis.

Yes, almost always unless something horrible goes wrong.

To give an example I'll start with some numbers.

20/20 was decent vision 100 years ago when they worked out that standard. We work in metres so that would be 6/6 here.

A young healthy eye should see at least 6/5 - a line better than 6/6.

If you are -5.00 you should still be 6/5 corrected. Your uncorrected vision is hopeless obviously.

After your procedure you should be close to zero - maybe -0.50 which isn't significant.

But, you might only be 6/7.5 now - a line worse than 6/6. So although you don't need glasses you can't see as well as you could before with glasses or contact lenses.

It's sometimes not a problem as you are happy that you don't need specs but if you are an engineer or just fussy then it can be an issue.

I saw someone a few weeks ago who was the opposite. She had fantastic vision with contact lenses but was never happy. She saw me about an eye injurya few months after laser. Out of curiosity I checked her numbers and she was only slightly better than what she was before - and her uncorrected vision (now what we're interested in because she wants to not need specs) is worse than her old corrected vision.

But, she was happy because she could manage what she needed to without specs.

So, the moral of the story is it's about expectations. Some things are unattainable so check you are talking about the same thing (ie refractive error or level of acuity) with someone who knows what they're talking about - not the salesperson.

Rockhopper

I had LASIK wavefront done last year by Optimax, cost me £2300 for both eyes and i drove home afterwards (naughty!!) Absolutely no problems since as well (such as dry eyes etc) and no post op discomfort whatsoever.

Sussed out

Just an update on this, had it done last night, it was very weird when they pulled back the laser created flap and the laser made a smell like burning plastic.
My eyes stung quite a bit once the anaesthetic wore off, but I went to bed at 8, woke up at 12 to go to the bathroom and could see! The pain had gone, there was a bit of haze and a little grittiness but I COULD SEE!
Went for a check up this morning, vision was already better than 20/20. It's been getting clearer and more comfortable throughout the day.

I can't wait till the week off exercise is over and I can get out and about.
This is amazing! I would thoroughly recommend it.

ballysmate

If I have mine done will I be able to do away with my beer goggles?

jrduquemin1

I had my left eye done almost 2 years ago and it was the best £1500 I have ever spent (apart from my Ti roadbike frame). I had perfect vision as soon as the procedure was done. I would also thoroughly recommend it...