I'm almost certainly going to have laser eye surgery. I initially booked a consultation at Moorfields private eye hospital, but have subsequently booked an appointment at my local optical express clinic (I'm in Leeds) after reading excellent reviews. I'd be really interested in hearing the experience of others and particularly recommendations local to Leeds. While it is not the main driver, it would be helpful to know about costs and the extent there is negotiation / discount opportunity.
I’m sure the science has progressed since I had lasik for distance vision in 2001, but for what it’s worth I’ve never regretted it and believe the savings I subsequently made in contacts and specs more than outweighed the cost.
15-20 years later my prescription regressed and I’m back to -1.0 but at this age I’m not considering having surgery again.
Only downside for me is a mild increase in photo sensitivity - especially with oncoming headlights.
Hope it goes well for you.
I got PRK in 2001. PRK was the original surgery. At the time LASIK was far more expensive and I couldn't afford it.
It lasted till 2015 when I had to to get a mild prescription for distance. Never regretted it. Like the previous poster, I now feel it's pointless to get it again, as I'd then need glasses for reading, anyway.
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I had mine done at Moorfields by Dr David Gartry (look him up)....I couldn't have been happier. I have recommended him to many friends so who followed the recommendation and other who chose a budget route (with mixed results). My only advice would be to be very sure about your choice, it's your eyes after all don't make choices based upon cost only. That being said go for it....it's brilliant, only wished I done it sooner.Originally Posted by jwillans
I had mine done last year in May at Optimax in Maidstone. Lots of tests to see if it was a viable option for me. In short, totally totally worth it. The hardest part was the healing process, so the initial 10-12 weeks or so. Different eye drops for a while, it does hurt for a few days, feels like grit in your eyes.
I had a sensitivity to bright light, but they advise you to wear sunglasses a lot when out for some time and that is totally normal and apparently worse if you have blue eyes. This has now gone, now have the vision that I haven't had since I was around 16 (now 41)
There is an excellent long thread on Pistonheads on this subject. There is an eye specialist who makes a compelling argument for having the procedure done by an eye surgeon .
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Having had a botched intraocular op myself ( I am now ok ) I am inclined to agree .
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You only have one pair of eyes & you want to haggle over the cost of someone operating on you so they focus even harder on minimising their costs? Here are few links you might want to look at:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...0&f=&t=1520460
https://www.facebook.com/OERML
https://opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk/index.php
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nal-hears.html
Trustpilot reviews & ratings are easily manipulated. The whole area of elective eye surgery is verging on unregulated - don't skimp but go to someone like Prof Gartree not a pile 'em high & sell 'em cheap high street establishment. Even Moorfields is not immune & it's not that long a go that a Moorfields consultant was quietly removed from their website. There's an even worse case that the GMC ruled on recently but there might have been a lot of Google take-downs issued as I can't find links to him now.
Useful links - thank you.
I'm not wanting to haggle, I want to make sure the procedure is a success. If I could pay extra to guarantee that outcome, I would gladly do do. Mainstream chains like Optimal and Vision express do have excellent reviews for this procedure. I will identify who is being proposed to do the procedure and research the individual.
I had surgery about 20 or so years ago, when I was about 50. I went to the only place I could find that would contemplate surgey on the prescription I had, which was about +6 in both eyes with a significant astigmatism. Up until I had it done I had worn 'coke bottle' specs since about the age of 2.
The initial operation gave me better than 6/6 vision in my right eye, but a reading prescription in my left (non master) eye, the idea being that I wouldn't need reading glasses. I had a reading glasses addition to my distance prescription at that time. Post op I couldn't get away with not being able to clearly focus with both eyes though (apparently many people can, but I wasn't one of them). I had another round of surgery to give me 6/6 vision in my left eye too.
20 years later, I need glasses again for driving, (and for reading obviously - I've never not needed those since the surgery) but my distance prescription is +1 and a bit in both eyes, so compared with the specs I used to wear, the lenses are feather light. And cheap. And for the most part I can still function without glasses.
I haven't had any real side effects apart from a bit of dry eye, but that wasn't and isn't serious. Would I do it all over again? Without a doubt. I still do some odd things though. Like reaching for my glasses when I wake up, even though I don't need to. Old habits die hard.
I had it done at a clinic in Harley Street.
Moorfields is one of the best places globally you could go. Optical express, is not.
Clinics like optical express used to offer ££ for us to refer patients to them, places like moorfields don’t offer anything in that regard. I regularly recommend moorfields to my patients, I’ve never sent anyone to optical express.
Out of interest, how old are you? That influences which surgery I’d consider.
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I did some training with David, he’s the only consultant I’ve met who’s had refractive surgery! Top chap!
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Did mine last year. It's genuinely one of the best things I've ever done. Went from -5.5 to 20/20 vision. Think it cost around £4k, and worth every penny
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I'm 45 with a stable prescription - although just beginning to need reading glasses. I anticipate still having to wear reading glasses for work etc, but would welcome not having to wear glasses for sailing, holidays etc.
My sister literally couldn’t see her hand at arms length. She was way beyond just the laser surgery.
So Moorfields fitted new lenses in her eyes, which will last her lifetime.
Bingo. 20/20 vision. Absolutely incredible.
Cost her about 12k, but worth every single penny.
Thanks. Where did you have this done?
There was a long discussion here about it a while back.
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...hlight=surgery
Cheers,
Gary
Who did his? 🤓
Indeed. Most of the eye-related consultants I've met wear glasses, which isn't very reassuring.
I had it done by James Ball at Custom Vision Clinic where he does all consultation and tests, but the surgery itself was done at St. James in Leeds. He was recommended to me by my various people who knew him professionally, and I have been very happy with the whole experience. Did it in 2019 and if I recall it was about 5k. I was told about what to expect due to my quite complicated prescription with severe astigmatism, and it has all happened exactly as predicted, including starting to need reading glasses for anything closer than a foot (I often work at very short distance, or when changing straps on a watch), but reading distance, including typing this on the computer (at about 2ft distance) is still perfect. This will get worse with age as the ability to focus close in weakens, but needing reading glasses has been nothing compared to the complexity of what I had before.
24 hours after the surgery wasn't pleasant, as if sand was poured into my eyes. After that I had some light sensitivity and haloing for a few weeks, and was quite sensitive to dry air. I think after two months I stopped using drops and noticing anything different. Initially I had to use prednisolone drops, which gave me terrible insomnia, and was told that can be one of the side effects, but not everyone experiences it.
To bring this thread to a close from my perspective. I attended an appointment at St James private clinic in Leeds having researched surgeons. From a cost perspective the surgery would have been around £1500 more expensive than high street alternatives. The assessment was excellent but I was told very quickly that I was unsuitable for surgery because of the thinness off my cornea. While disappointing, I am relieved that I chose this clinic because I'm less convinced that high street opticians would have been similarly unequivocal in their view I have just ordered a new pair of glasses!
Did they not suggest lens implants as an alternative? That's what I had due to thinness of corneas and also how bad my short sightedness was. It's more expensive but has the advantage of being able to swap out lenses in the future, E.g. For vari vocals.
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Corneal thinness is the main reason I didn’t pursue it back in the day. Optician was very clear that procedures that took material away weren’t really an option.
Have thought about recently with maybe the replacement lens approach. Will need to investigate further.
If anyone has useful links to read up on it that would be useful.
I had a meeting with a colleague in the US last night, he was wearing sunglasses because he’s just had an operation I’ve never heard of. Apparently he had his cataracts removed and lenses of some sort inserted. The lenses can be adjusted by UV light to his prescription.
He wears the sunglasses for a week to avoid UV and then has an appointment where UV will be used to adjust his vision. If I’m the future he needs adjustment they simply adjust via UV.
Sounds very Star Trek.
Replacement Lens Exchange (RLE) is just a cataract operation without the cataracts so anything you read about benefits & risks of a cataract operation applies equally to an RLE operation. As such it is most definately not without risk, both from the operation & permanently afterwards. As an elective procedure I'd think very carefully about whether or not it is worth the risks & costs & only you can decide whether it is.
There are two posters on here who have ended up having emergency surgery following a cataract operation, not through any negligence by the original surgeon but simply due to the increased risk of issues after having the original (non-elective) operation. I'm not saying don't do it, but be aware it's not risk free.
I did mine in Ireland (Mater Hospital), so can't comment on any near Leeds unfortunately. However, a friend of mine got his done in Focus Clinics in London (22 Wimpole St) and highly recommends it.
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Once the lens has been adjusted, believe that’s it.
https://www.clevelandeyeclinic.com/c...able-lens-lal/
Yep, that looks like what he described. Seems like an amazing technology.
Still debating this and was looking up prices again last night
This popped up on my news feed today
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...er-eye-surgery
I'm guessing those odds are entirely dependant on where you get it done. Hopefully David Gartry has a better batting avg.
I had lens replacement rather than laser. Laser cleans up a messy lens and lens replacement is what it says.
Eye cut, lens broken up and hoovered out and new lens in.
Was fine immediately afterwards. You do get halos and glare but this disappears after a while as the brain corrects it, a bit like it cancels out seeing your nose all day.
All in all one of the best things I have ever done for my health. No more glasses (a godsend on the bike) and everything is sharper and clearer including colours.
RIAC
This is quite telling I think ...
I considered it about 25 years ago, and at the time I was dating a girl who had an eye surgeon who was a friend of the family. His very strong advice : "if you can get good vision via glasses or contact lenses then surgery should be avoided at all costs ... there are ALWAYS risks with surgery, and you only have one pair of eyes ..."
My prescription was around minus 5.5 with astigmatism, so on the extreme end of the "normal" short sight range. I wore daily disposable contacts for about 20 years, but now I am older, and less concerned with physical appearances, I just wear normal glasses (with actual glass lenses rather than the crap plastic ones that are the default prescription these days). I do pay extra for the high index glass option, and I choose smaller round frames to minimise the milk bottle side profile of the lenses. Glasses are a PITA (I'm a golfer, and nothing is worse than playing golf in the rain wearing glasses LOL) but it's mere inconvenience rather than the actual physical pain associated with the horror stories one reads about the laser surgery options. I don't regret my choice.
It is on my list of things to get done having worn glasses for 40yrs I am now getting fed up with progression to varifocal which aren’t as good for driving in, so need a single vision pair etc.
Good to hear, thanks for the feedback.
You read horror stories but you never actually speak to anyone who personally had a horror story.
Inevitable just a question of timing. Probably one of those things where the only regret is not getting it done sooner.
Had lasek done nearly 20 years ago now, I only had a mild prescription but I couldn't get on with lenses at all and didn't like glasses, best money I ever spent and would do it again tmrw
Hi Kerry. Interesting. Hope you’re keeping well.
I’ve had laser (and an adjustment under year later), but after maybe 15 years of nearly perfect vision a neurological episode affected my sight resulting in a worsened prescription- seems very stable now though. So I e been considering lens replacement.
Did you go for straightforward lens replacement, or different prescriptions for each eye?
Cheers
It's just a matter of time...
Same lens both eyes. Perfect vision
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RIAC
👍
Cheers
Sounds good. Any recommendation of surgeon etc.?
It's just a matter of time...
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