Lazer Surgery

I had this done some 10 years ago in the US itcost 5 grand then. That was walking in the door and a life time free checks. Was about -5 both eyes since 14. I spent close to 800 dollors a year on glasses, contacts sunglasses. Now i only spend 300 a year on sunglasses. {they just dont float}
It took 15 mins. Read the clock on the wall please. yea right !! 15 mins later, made in Germany.
They left me about -.3 so as I get older i will grow into normal sight.
Now diving swimming.walking from AC to summer temps no misty glasses.. Long flights no problems. It has given me back a whole lot of life. Yes I could have done it all before but now its not a issue to think about. No extra glasses, contacts, solutions, flying these days ??
My sister has contacts, one night she comes home a little "happy" puts the contacts in a glass beside her. Wakes up in the morning to an empty glass and no contacts. opps must have drunk them.

Everywhere that does eye surgery has "from" prices, which noone ever pays unless the surgery isnt worth doing as the eyesight isnt far off perfect anyway.

Bottom line is that the more complex/bad your vision is, the more it costs, though they'll never tell you this. What they will do is assess your eyes/prescription and give you a base £cost plus some pricing "levels" which add extra niceness/safety reassurances.

This is annoying because if truth be known, its actually a computer/machine doing the work, not the surgeon - he's just making sure its not playing solitaire/otherwise while its on the job. (He also comes in handy for holding your head steady without crushing you with the might of a machine.)

I suppose for them the extra ££'s come in because of the extra time/risk? I dunno.

Costwise, you'll get different prices from different providers based on different lasers, different surgeons, different overheads, different promotions and whether its a sunny day or not.

Best thing to do is just go along to every single one in your area (I did, it was great, lots of free tea and biscuits every Saturday) and get a written personalised quote for your CURRENT prescription. You might need 2 appointments at each one for this.

Once you've done that you'll be marketed to hell and back, and every time, the deal gets better and better......

Problem is, you need a stable prescription to go ahead at any point.

That aside though, you can still make the "consultation" appointment (they're always free) where they check the condition/quality of your eye to make sure surgery is feasible. You can tell each of them the same story though, that you want a £quote for your current prescription on the understanding it is subject to change, but you want to budget for it (feel free to make up another reason)

That's what I'd do, if I were to go again.

A word of warning if you do get it done one day though:
Allow plenty of time to use the toilet through the night ......you'll spend an age looking for your glasses.

Originally Posted by bluethunder

Hey guys just wondered if anyone here has it done, how cost and the best place to go too!

The only thing that concers me about it, if what if it goes wrong and the long term effects of it. Will my eye sight become worse in the long run, is there anything else to know about?

It would be great to have done, for work and on the bike! I about -2.5 and -2.75 I think. Or would I just be better of glasses? I can see 20/20 with my glasses on.

I'm a consultant ophthalmologist and I've had laser refractive surgery done myself so I might be able to add a bit here.
All of this type of refractive surgery is done with an eximer laser but there are three different ways of getting down to the stroma (mid-layer) of the cornea.
The most common is LASIK which involves cutting a flap, folding the surface layer out of the way, then lasering. This is ideal for people with over -4.0 of myopia as the healing causes less scarring so less haze. The down side is that the flap never really heals so trauma to the eye can cause the flap to be moved or even lost.
If you have the prescription bluethunder has a better technique is LASEK which uses alcohol to denature the surface layer which is then rolled back and the laser applied. The advantage is there is no flap so there are no long term risks. It might be more painful in the early post op period if some of the epithelial cells have been lost but so what? Another advantage of this method is that it shows that your surgeon is not just the pile them high sell them cheap type of operator who has not learned different techniques.
The third technique is PRK where the surface cells are just scraped away. It's sore afterwards and there is more risk of scarring/haze. Not generally done now.
I'd make sure your surgeon is a fellow of the royal college of ophthalmologists and I'd read the info on their website.
http://www.rcophth.ac.uk/about/public/laser-refractive-surgery
There is about an 85% of getting the prescription you want if you're a low to moderate myope and less than 1% chance of serious complication. Less than 1% is still not 0% though so I would always recommend getting one eye done at a time. Then if you're very unlucky you don't go ahead with the second eye.
As said if your prescription is changing or your problem is only with near vision (presbyopia) this isn't for you.
I work NHS only and don't do refractive surgery so this certainly isn't advertising by as I said I have had my eyes treated (six weeks apart) and I'm very happy with the results.
Cheers,
Ewan

Originally Posted by graemepaterson

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.

Your eyes will continue to change whether you have laser or not so if you're getting more short sighted that will continue. You'd only get rid of your glasses briefly I'm afraid.

Originally Posted by graemepaterson

My uncle had it done in cyprus for not alot and they did both eyes at the same time, swears by it and he now has perfect eyes sight, he was nearly blind due to diabetes.

I'm afraid that can't be quite right. Diabetes can blind you and it is treatable with laser but it's a thermal laser (usually an argon) applied to the retina which would make no difference to someones glasses prescription. If on the other hand your uncle had refractive laser then it wasn't diabetes that had caused his trouble but simply myopia unrelated to his diabetes.

Originally Posted by Well Oiled

If that's the case forget it - no point in laser surgery if your eyesight is not stable - you can buy new glasses / contacts every year, but you can't be repeatedly treated by laser (they can do it more than once, but there is a limit).

Yup.

Originally Posted by ooger

This is annoying because if truth be known, its actually a computer/machine doing the work, not the surgeon - he's just making sure its not playing solitaire/otherwise while its on the job. (He also comes in handy for holding your head steady without crushing you with the might of a machine.)

It's true that it's not the hardest type of surgery but it is harder than you describe and someone inexperienced or incompetent can **** it up. From starting medical school to qualifying as a consultant eye surgeon took me 15 years; it's like a letter from a lawyer costing £40 - you're paying a bit for the work it took them to get there.
If you go directly to a named consultant most of the money goes to them and you'll pay more. If you go to Optimax, Ultralase, etc. you'll pay less and the ophthalmologist will get a fraction of the fee you pay.
Cheers,
Ewan

Originally Posted by Biker Biker

Stick with glasses... well sexy

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Thanks very much.