Lazer Surgery

Originally Posted by hovis

im tempted............ but scared somthing may go wrong.

few more comments here
http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.p...hlight=surgery

Originally Posted by graemepaterson

I tried contact purely for the purpose of being on the bike, the problem is your eyes dry out because of the constant flow of air, they often cant get you exact prescription like they can with glasses so vision isnt perfect, you move you eye to look somewhere and often the lense does not follow on the retina until a second or two later.

Hard or soft lenses? Mine work well for me on a Bike - the only problem I get can be the Airconditioning at work drying them out a bit.

Surgery? I've thought about it but the thought of something going wrong (however remote) puts me off

Had both eyes done 5 years ago at Optimax. Best grand I ever spent - vision is still better than 20/20. No faffing around with specs / contact lenses.

No need to be nervous - it's not painful and the techniques they have these days are even better than they used on mine - safe and extremely accurate.

Cheers Keith

[G]

Can you explain the procedure, what you had to go through, the sensation you felt whilst having it done etc, immediate impact, impact a week later etc.

cheers

Had mine done at optical express, cost £2800 all in and both eyes were about -3.5 at the time. Very quick improvement and I could drive the next day without glasses. I had glasses and contacts since about 8 (now 31). I had the surgery almost a year ago and it's taken a few months to settle down but I reckon it was well worth the money; I would have spent that much cash on glasses and contact lenses over the next 10-15 years so it's not like I'm saving money, just no more hassle of glasses steaming up / contacts making my eyes tired. My night vision is better as well.

Mate of mine went to Thailand to get his done, he'd heard of a reputable place over there and spent £600 (with flights) and got both his eye's done. He says it was well worth it as his eyesight has improved dramatically.

Originally Posted by graemepaterson

Can you explain the procedure, what you had to go through, the sensation you felt whilst having it done etc, immediate impact, impact a week later etc.

cheers

Yep - first thing is a consulatation where they generally check your eyes and see if you're suited. If so they measure your eyes with a laser topography machine and show you a plot (bit like an OS map with contour lines) of your eyes. Mine were oval as I had some astigmatism (ie my eyes were a bit like a rugby ball instead of a football).

Then they make an appointment for treatment. When you get there you lie on a an operating type table (but it's not a full blown theatre) and they put some aneasthetic drops in. then they put this clamp thing on to hold your eyelids open while they irrigate your eye with some fluid or other.

Next (this sounds really gory but there's nowt to it) they put this thing on the eye that slices a thin flap open to expose the layer inderneath (which is what they laser) and tell you to stare at this red dot,The laser fires up and you can hear loads of pulses as it reprofiles the shape of the cornea. The worst part of this is the smell of burning - you can't actually feel anything. It's done in about 30 seconds flat.

They put the flap back in place, put a patch over you eye and you're done. You need to keep the eye spotlessly clean for a couple of days at least and then you're done.

The other technique is where they put some fluid in there to kind of etch away a top layer to reprofile. This gives some irritation when healing (with the Lasik method the flap of skin, once back in place, gives no discomfort as the eyelid passes over it). I actually had one eye done each way for some reason. I had them done one at a time but if you're in a rush you can have them both done at once.

Hope that helps

Cheers Keith

Hopefully this will help everyone, I think I'm the most recent case.

I had this done a little over 6 months ago at Ultralase in Guildford, Surrey.

I've worn glasses since I was about 3, and when I reached 16 or so moved to soft contact lenses for social events (like, 12 hours a week or so) , wearing glasses all the time when I was at university, and on the computer (wearing lenses makes your eyes dry up quickly if you don't blink, and using CRT/TFTs did just that). Since then I've had various jobs in IT, so lenses have always been a no-no as a permanent solution.

I promised myself I wasn't getting a bike until I'd got the eyes sorted, it was part of the whole gameplan (the thought of removing my specs before putting the helmet on really put me off, convenience-wise (I know, shallow), that and:

1) not being able to see a thing at the swimming pool
2) Having to demist after coming in from outside 8 months of the year
3) regretting not being able to see much when I jumped out of a plane at 13000 feet (wore lenses, eyes watered, lenses jumped out)
4) working upside down on anything, and having to push them back up my nose
5) having to visit the opticians regularly to get them straightened, fixed
6) theme parks. Wheres the fun when its all a blur anyway?
7) I've always fancied doing a bungee jump, but I wanted to actually see the bottom first

...the list goes on.

(I'd like to point out that none of the reasoning behind the decision was because "I don't like the way I look in glasses" - there were many more practical reasons, which in my opinion gave me a better quality of life and I still maintain that)

The procedure was not pleasant I'll be honest of that: but the result is fantastic. I'd say the discomfort (that might be a little mild, maybe thats just my opinion) lasted about 6 hours after the 10 minute surgery. I'd say my sight recovered fully (both eyes treated same day) about 36-48 hours afterwards. It was done on a Saturday, and I was back at work on Tuesday PM.

I had very poor eyesight (-6.5, -6.00....also known as 'I wouldn't want me on the road, never mind you') which meant I could see the big "A" at the top of the chart without my specs, the rest was a black triangle.

Now I can read the bottom line unaided, which "technically speaking" is better than what is called 20/20 vision (i.e human standard)

Yes, eyes are only muscle and tissue, and they'll get worse as I get older (I'm in the 26-30 bracket ) , but:

a) they'd have done that anyway, like yours will
b) it couldn't have been much worse than it was unaided

Yes, there is a risk and yes the form you sign on the day disclaims all liability from the surgeon/company if it all goes wrong and you lose all sight in any eye (they do say they'll stop if that happens with the first one...I kid you not) , but thats a risk with all 'cosmetic' surgery. The bold text says "I understand this procedure is not necessary but elect to have it performed at my own risk".

You are the only one that can make that choice, and its something that took me the best part of 24 months to decide. Do think about the risks, but also do think about the benefits too. The "success" rate is massive, I'll not quote numbers. Bear in mind "success" is something all clinics define differently.

I'd recommend Ultralase as a company, their surgeons and consultants and after-care are fantastic. Their marketing department are a little on the back foot though, they still keep sending me incentives to get it done.....

If you want any more info about anything specific, let me know and I'll be more than pleased to tell you if I can.

Thankfully as its all under local anaesthetic I can recount it all, in as much or as little gory detail as you want.

Originally Posted by Well Oiled

...they put this thing on the eye that slices a thin flap open to expose the layer inderneath (which is what they laser) and tell you to stare at this red dot,

Keith, this sounds like you had the mechanical device (microkeratome) to cut the flap?

Generally this isn't so common now, and (although the rest is 100% spot on) I had the flap cut with a different laser, the procedure is called Intra-Lasik

The marketed advantage is that the risk of contamination/infection is less as there is no physical contact with anything metal on the eye.

(it also makes me want to hurl less, which is a bonus)

[G]

Thanks Guys, both of those first hand experiences are very informing.

I have been considering it for a while, I have been wearing glasses for less than a year, and I do enjoy wearing them, they help me look a little older and brainier.

Ooger that list you have described is exactly how i feel, I hate that i have to do all those, I will add that i also hate not being able to oogle lovely women when on holiday and in the pool at the gym.

My problem is my eye sight went from good to very bad very quickly and its still getting worse at an strange rate, my optician has advised me not to go to any consultants yet as they push me to get it done, when its probably not the right thing to do right now when they are getting worse so quick.