Laser eye surgery......

[jpow112]

I'd think very hard about it -

 

I know lots of people sing the praises of laser eye surgery for refractive errors, but I don't know of a single opthalmologist who's had it done.

 

Their advice has always been that if you have a very severe refractive error, then the benefit outweighs the risk, because otherwise the "coke bottle" glasses you have to wear can be quite limiting, ie field of view. In these cases it may not remove the need for glasses, but allow much lighter, and more acceptable glasses.

 

but not enough is known of the 20-30yr side effect problems to recommend it as an alternative to the "Inconvenience" of contact lenses or glasses for smaller refractive errors.

 

If it was me, I'd pay for a private consultation with an Opthalmic surgeon first, for a non-biased viewpoint.

 

John

[RichD]

I didn't get a reply to my question on the other thread, so I'll post it here too, and hopefully have better luck.

 

I'm told I have a lazy eye - does this rule out me getting laser surgery? I thought lazy eye and astigmatism were the same thing but i'm told they're not?

[Anj1364]

I asked the question during my consultation at ultralase, why most of the opticians still wear glasses and was told the reason for this is, as your are told in your consultation, you will probably need reading glasses later in life (but many people do anyway) and because this is their livelihood they do a lot of close up work they don't feel it is worth it.

I have noticed that if I try to look at something really close up I can't see as well as I could and have to move my head back but that is when something is held right up to my face but I can see for miles and read and use my computer - no problem.

At my last check up I could read well below the 20/20 vision line and could almost read the letters on the bottom line. Before the whole chart would have been a blurr to me!

Still thinks its worth every penny.

[hullmackem]

Originally posted by D2J

So I've heard me lad

 

awaits abusive email at work in morning...

 

i've had no complaints

[hullmackem]

Originally posted by Anj1364

I had laser surgery at Ultralase in Leeds in April after being told by optical express I was unsuitable due to laser treatement I had received about 5 years ago due to some 'scarring' in my right eye.

As soon as I sat up after having the treatment I knew my sight had improved as through the 'steam room' effect you first experience for a few minutes, I could see the exit sign clearly and it would have been blurred before.

It has been life changing for me as I hated glasses and lenses got on my nerves, forever losing them, drying out etc, and when I used to go swimming I had to take them out then everything was a blurr. and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Your have a very similar prescription to what mine used to be. I went a couple of weeks ago for a check up and both my eyes are now -0.5 and I can see perfectly clear. It is a big decision to make, I know one other person who has had it done (at the same clinic) and she feels the same as me.

It is expensive, but worth every penny.

Ultralase do a 2 yr interest free plan and you dont' pay anything for 6 months.

 

You had Lasik then ?? I'm thinking about that if I can.

[Anj1364]

The treatment I had was Ultra-LASIKplus.

It takes a while for your eyes to settle down. You go back the next day, then after a week, then 1 month, 3 months then discharged at 6 months. After a week my eyes were both -0.5 then after 1 month 1 of them changed slightly and wasn't as good but on my three month check they were both back to -0.5

I have my final appointment in November.

The staff are all very nice and I won't pretend the actual procedure is a pleasant one - it only takes a few minutes, it doesn't hurt and all you see is a bright light and the surgeons hand passing in front of you.

[redruby]

I am -6.75 on one eye and -7 on the other (nearly blind then - before anyone says) and have always been told that it could only improve my eyesight, and not give me good enough sight to get rid of my glasses altogther.

 

I used to -9 and had Lasik done. My vision is now just about perfect and it's definately the best money I've ever spent. I was told that Lasik might not bring my vision up to 20/20 but I decided to go ahead anyway because even if I was still mildly short sighted it would make a massive difference to me.

 

There's about a 90% success rate for Lasik for correcting over -6 (successful being eyesight to driving standard). I think it's about 98-99% successful for correcting less than -6.

[Anj1364]

I had my final check up at Ultralase in Leeds last Saturday. I should have been discharged last October, but they wanted to keep a check on my eyes as I have been taking pain killers over a long period of time. Anyway they were happy that my eyes had settled down and discharged me.

My vision is better than 20/20 and I don't have to mess about with contact lenses or glasses (which I just couldn't wear anyway). I would recommend anyone who is thinking of having it done to go for it. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made and I don't even think about my vision any more.

[RichD]

There's about a 90% success rate for Lasik for correcting over -6 (successful being eyesight to driving standard). I think it's about 98-99% successful for correcting less than -6.

Does that mean if you have successful treatment but were silly enough to tick the "I need corrective lenses to drive" box, you can apply to the DVLA to have said condition removed from your licence?

 

Also, can someone - anyone - please tell me if a "lazy eye" rules you out from laser surgery?

[Twiglet]

Does that mean if you have successful treatment but were silly enough to tick the "I need corrective lenses to drive" box, you can apply to the DVLA to have said condition removed from your licence?

 

Also, can someone - anyone - please tell me if a "lazy eye" rules you out from laser surgery?

You'd need to see an opthamologist to find out. "Lazy eye" can be caused by different things including short sightedness but is a problem within the brain as opposed to the eye itself, so LASIK cannot usually correct it, so you need to find out what is causing it in your specific case. Astigmatism is a totally different condition relating to the shape of the eyeball and can be corrected with laser surgery.