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Has anyone had Laser Eye Surgery and if so where di you go and what was the cost.
Had a leaflet from optical express saying it's now from £395 an eye.
I'd love to get it done as my eyesite without glasses is terrible, however i'm still a scaredycat.
Do you ever hear of any complications nowadays?
Advice appreciated..

Paul, M3Boy had it done, im a lost cause though ;)

The missus had hers done (and she's still with me before the inevitable jokes start ;D ), and she said it was the best decision she's ever made.

Think she had hers done at Optimax, and she got a buy one, get one free offer (they even did her eyes whilst she waited).  Cost about £500 in total I think.

She had pretty bad eyesight before then, and usually wore glasses and occasionally contacts (but she wasn't keen on them).  Without glasses, she couldn't read the time on the bedside clock for example.  This was one thing she hated, as well as having to wear glasses or contacts when she did any sport.

Despite the scare stories, I don't think anyone has ever been blinded by laser surgery (not in the UK, and not with the technologies used in the UK).  The worse case is that it doesn't improve your eyes enough for you to be able to go without glasses - so in effect, you waste your money, time and a some pain.

When Michelle asked people about getting hers done, most just said they were fine in a few days, back to driving, etc.  No one mentioned that it hurts.  For a day and bit she was in pain (and they give you pain killers and stuff to help you sleep through it).  After that the pain goes, and it's a bit uncomfortable for a number of weeks (gritty eyes, and they give you drops to use to help keep your eyes moist and comfortable).

However, after all that her eyes were fine.  20-20 vision now, and she has no regrets (other than she can see me properly now).  I'm not sure, but her vision was something like -5 in each eye (or maybe -6, if that makes any sense - I might have it completely wrong).  If you want to speak to her about, send me a PM and you can have a chat with her about it.

had it done by optimax- 795 quid for both- bought the op on ------- dont laugh------ ebay- big discount- they just use it to clear spare op spaces they have- you use the buy now option but then direct dealings with them. they are a large national chain. i can not speak highly enough of them, preop very thourough checking i was suitable candidate. op was excellent, minimal soreness, aftercare was fantastic and free access for another year if needed. had it done 2 yrs ago- stil 2020 vision, paid for it over a year too..

www.optimax.co.uk/


read the faqs- very good

any questions just pm me- happy to ring you if you want

They have a special offer at one of their places til end of the month:

Aberdeen Half Price Treatments
Consultation only £30, Treatment from just £595
 
If you are considering Laser Eye Treatment there has never been a better time to take the first step towards a future free from glasses.  The recent expansion of our Aberdeen clinic has given us the short term opportunity to offer amazing prices.
 
For one month only in our Aberdeen clinic we are offering 1/2 pricedoctors consultations saving you £30 and half priceon all treatments, a possible saving of £1145.
 
Epi-LASEK save £595, treatment to BOTH eyes now £595
Epi-LASEK with Wavefront, save £890, treatment to
BOTH eyes now £890
LASIK, save £850, treatment to BOTH eyes now £850
LASIK with Wavefront save £1145, treatment to BOTH eyes now £1145
 
Your appointment will include comprehensive eye tests to determine suitability and a one to one consultation with a Specialist Ophthalmic Doctor. Should you decide to go ahead, the same Doctor can perform your treatment on the same day or at later date to suit yourself at no extra cost.
 
This offer applies to treatments performed before 1st June 2007.   For further advice please call our Customer Services Team on 0845 688 9262 and quote 'Aberdeen Half Price 03/07' *.
 

If you were considering it, you might like to try Ultralase in Edgbaston, Birmingham.  I had a consultation there including all the testing and at the end of it they said I wasn't suitable as my prescription was just a little to high.  Tends to suggest they're not money grabbing will treat anybody types.

I had Lasik with Wavefront.

Cost around £1000 from memory.

The surgery itself does not hurt, but the clamp they use to hold your eye open hurts like hell when they clamp it to your eye!!!!

My vision was really bad, with real bad astigmatism (sp?) - have 20 20 vision now.

No regrets whatsoever.

Shop around though, and by shop I mean do some research on the different companies.

I went with Acu Vision in the end - they had the strictist safety policy at the time (not sure about now) whereby they would not operate on you if the surface of your eye was below a certain thickness - whereas others would happily operate.

I had mine done at ultralase in bristol just over 3 years ago. It was about £2000 but the best thing i ever bought. I know people who have done the cheaper companies but have had problems. I thought it worth the extra cost for peace of mind as they seem to have been doing it longer than anyone. They were just so professional and filled me with confidence on what is quite a scary op. My opinion is go for it, its wonderful not squinting to see the clock first thing in the morning and then the rest of benefits are awesome. After having glasses or contacts for 30 years it is amazing.
Having just reread some of the other comments i had no trouble with gritty eyes and i was told i would need to use drops for a week or so. After about 4 days they were fine. Peolpe who went to the cheaper ones i know were using drops for weeks on end and really struggled, lets face it the slightest foreign object in your eye irritates like hell.
My recommendation is find a company that fills you with confidence, check some testimonials and dont do it on the cheap it just aint worth it.

It depends on the surgery you have (there are many different versions, and it depends on your eyesight and the exact nature of the problem you have), and also the healing (speed of and any suffering) is often down to the individual - not necessarily down to the company used.

fine, maybe for a change i got lucky- thank goodness, but whatever company you choose, the benefits are wonderful

That's exactly what the missus says.  Other than marry me*, the best thing she's ever done.







(*She never said that, but of course it's true)

My eyes felt "dry" for a day or so, and a little gritty that night - but I was 4 tabling on the laptop!! lol

I will never forget waking up that first morning,, and all that day,, I was reading EVERYTHING I could which was in the distance! Felt so good.

i went to a harley street optic dude for possible kerataconis, he advised me against laser eye surgery, until failure rates came down.
I want it asap though, if only to make out Laxie's pic better.

Do you wear contact lenses?

I work for a company that makes Keratoconic lenses so its an area of interest.

That's good - always a pain when you have to leave them behind and pick them up later :)

I'm having the contacts made just now, Sheriff, mostly to correct the problem if possible, otherwise it's surgery (eek!)
The specialist is always stern with me about the consequences of not getting it fixed, like bad, but uncorrectable vision, apparently :( :(
Early days of contacts were fun, kept falling off my eyes!
Laser vision a no no :(

I've sent you a PM, thanks.

Thanks for the advice, how much was the consultation ?

Thanks to everyone who responded, will definately research it more over the next few weeks, got my old optician to send me my records, also got a bad astigmatism so wasn't sure if laser surgery was possible but will check it out.

About 5 years ago after about 15 years of contact lenses and glasses, I needed new sets of both and decided that as it was gonna cost me best part of £500 for the glasses and lenses I decided to get the laser treatment. it cost me about a grand and was best thing I ever did! little things like being able to go swimming and see what you are doing, get drunk and not worry about trying to take lenses out (or finding them the next morning), play footy and head the ball without worrying the lenses will fall out. Makes all the difference! 

Anyone have experience of Laser aye in Yorkshire/Leeds, wife interesting and prefer to take a recommendation before ringing around.

If I'm getting drunk, having terrible vision the next morning is normally a blessing...

and this is why I won't get it done...I hated my car being clamped..NOONE puts a clamp on my eye though...yuck!

If you do get it done, get some decent wrap around shades to wear afterwards. Why? The morning I got mine done in February was one of those real bright sunny winter days. Being led across the road to a cab by my girlfriend, we walked between some stationery cars at traffic lights when one of them squirted its windscreen wash right over its roof and straight into my face, splashing my sun glasses  ;grr;  I dread to think what would have happened had I got it in my eyes and I'd rubbed them or needed to wash the stuff out  :(

My astigmatism was REAL bad, so you should be ok ;)

I also remember the night times, the sky was orange to me from the street lights - the halo's were HUGE! lol Thankfully it subsides rather quickly

As always these things come with a minor word of caution. My job is related to medicine and I know a surgeon who does these ops all the time and wears glasses himself. He would not have the op himself because the long term effects are not yet known ie If there are any side effects that may emerge say 20+ years after having the op.

Bump.  Kicking this around atm and figure things may have changed a bit in the 5 years since this thread started.  Anyone have anything new to add?  Good places to go, best pricing, tips, etc...cheers!

I had it done about 4 years ago.  Definitely don't do the discount "rusty scalpel+YTS trainee" option.  Laser mapping + thinnest possible laser option available.  I think they got me for about £3k all told, sure I got upsold a little bit along the way, but you only get one pair of eyes...  They wouldn't discount it a penny but they did offer 0% on it.

The op was pretty much painless and when I sat up, I could see with incredible clarity.  When the eye drops wore off, I wasn't too pleased, but slept off the soreness and was fine thereafter, with somewhere between 1-2 grades better than 20:20

Now for the rub.  In your 20's I'd recommend it (in fact, I even have some vouchers to recommend it with...  ;whistle; )  When you get to your mid 40's (however long that is away) people's eye muscles tend to weaken and reading glasses are required - laser surgery won't prevent that.  So the later you leave it in life, the less amount of time you can expect to be glasses-free.

It's because I'm 41 that I'm kind of against the idea of spending silly full package money on it.  They've the £395 an eye Lasik option and I had kind of decided if they were willing to do that, then I'd go for it. 

I've leather eyes as it is, thanks to a bad habit of wearing my contacts with a week or two at a stretch (sleep with them in).  I hate waking up and not being able to see.  Also have a pretty high threshold for pain, so a bit of discomfort for a week or two won't be an issue as long as I can see after it.  If they want a couple grand for all the new fangled stuff, I figured I'm almost too old to really bother with it at this point.

When I had it done about 6 years ago my mum had it done too, so don't fret about age.
The cost quoted of say £395 however is not usually how much it would cost as it was explained to me that it depends on your eyesight, shape etc. In fact me and mum had different treatments that cost slightly different, mine was more expensive but I recovered quicker.

Best thing to do is go for one of those free consultations so that you know where you stand, I went to Optimax on the headrow in Leeds and I am really glad I had it done as I was as blind as a bat, mum was happy with it too even though she knew she would need reading glasses anyway

iirc the "from £395" = £395 if you want a cataract removing or something!  Then a price hike to an actual treatment that you want/they recommend.

But yes, free consultation, they will tell you what treatments are suitable for you given the condition of your eyes/age etc.

Beware of the 'up-sell', some companies seem to advertise one price and then try a hard sell to get you to part with a lot more.  Probably better to avoid those companies and look at one that's a bit more transparent.

Brummieboy, I'm also interested in Laser eye surgery, let me know what month you are thinking of having it done, if I'm available, I could get it done at the same time and negotiate a joint discount... Jan - March are usually coolish months for me... Let me know...

thread is 5 years old!

Ah.. Cool thanks.. Well if anyone else is considering having it done... Let's go for a joint/group discount...

sounds good... Could you let me know the details... Thanks in advance

Stevensethi@gmail.com

I wouldn't touch optical express with a barge pole.... Went there for new contact lenses/ glasses and eye check up and twice had the wrong prescription made up... literally it wasn't even close to correct! It's just not worth risking your eyes on some bargain package.

I got my eyes lasered at Accuvision in London. Couldn't recommend them highly enough. They don't do different packages - everyone gets laser mapping and scanning etc as standard so it is quite expensive but defo worth it - I think it cost about £3k. The aftercare is amazing too. I had a couple of small problems through sheer bad luck and they sorted it straight away, plus free check ups for 2 years.