Laser Eye Surgery

I just wondered whether anyone on here has had laser eye surgery to correct their vision? A friend and fellow motorcyclist, Hamish, is a retired 75 year old, and he's never needed to wear glasses up until a couple of years ago when his vision started to deteriorate. He ended up having replacement lens surgery at Optical Express on both eyes (a few months apart). He's delighted with the results and now has 20/20 vision again. He did have a scare when he had the second eye done. When he woke up the next day and removed the dressings, he found that he was blind in that eye. Rather a shock, and the consultant at Optical Express was also concerned, but after 48 hours of rest, his vision came back, and within a week was perfect.

I'm in a similar position. I've never worn glasses (apart from office work on a computer) and up until about 5 years ago, I had 20/20 vision. But over the last couple of years, one of my eyes has deteriorated after a bout of viral conjunctivitis. My other eye is still perfect. So I've been thinking about the option of surgery at Optical Express. Apart from the risk involved, there's also the cost, which is considerable. Hamish paid £3500 for each eye, making a total of £7000, which is rather a lot.

I've had a look at the online feedback and reviews for Optical Express, and it appears to be split between 5 stars with delighted customers, but also many entries for only 1 star where people have been very dissatisfied, with the odd one saying that it has made their vision much worse.

So I would be interested in anyone else's experience. I'm not considering it too seriously at the moment, as much for the cost than anything. Even for one eye, it would be hard to justify that kind of expenditure.

Any thoughts?

 

I had it done by Optical Express, both eyes. I had up until then been wearing two pairs of specs, one for reading and the others for driving, tv, etc After the procedures, no glasses and 20:20 vision.

I was very happy with the results, but don't believe the 'hook' price advertised. That's the very basic job and by the time you go for the top spec [excuse the pun ] it costs a lot more. Iirc, mine cost c. £1800 for both. I suppose it depends on prescription etc.

Sadly, other health issues came along which affected one eye, and ageing eventually caused other problems in both. Would I do it again if I was transported back to then? Yes.

But, it's ultimately your eyes and a decision you alone can make, of course.

 

An old work colleague of mine had it done and has never looked back , (pardon the pun ) 20-20 vision again and no more glasses . After years of seeing him wearing glasses it s quite a transformation , and he does nt like it when I tell him he looks like an Albino now he s had it done . Seriously though , get it done , if my eyes go, I certainly would .

 

@slim_boy_fat Just out of interest, what treatment did you have? Was it lens replacement surgery, or just laser treatment?

My friend Hamish, had lens replacement on both his eyes. They gave him the option of fixed focal length lenses, one eye for near vision and the other for distance, but he opted for vari-focal lenses in each eye which gives him perfect vision near and far. He says it works very well.

I'll do a bit more research and go for a full eye test with a local optician before I make a decision. The laser treatment sounds like a good option. I've never worn glasses and would like to avoid them, especially when riding a motorcycle.

 

Laser back then. Although I've had lens replacement in both eyes in the last 7 months because of cataracts [age cometh not alone ]

 

@Singvogel that detailed and in depth account is food for thought. I shall give it careful consideration.

As I mentioned previously, I've never worn glasses except in a office environment, working on computers under artificial light. I did use minimum strength reading glasses at nighttime when reading with a table lamp in recent years. Strangely though, I rarely need to use glasses for reading now and can manage well, even with the smallest print. I think that this is due to change in my left eye that has deteriorated for distance vision.

No doubt the optician will give the diagnosis once I arrange an eye test.

 

Hats off to you guys who have had this done, my opticians keeps on about me having contact lenses rather than glasses, i keep tell him no, the chances of me putting a contact lenses in my eyes is zero.... the sheer thought of it puts me off completely, i'd much rather have glasses.

Kev

 

An acquaintance of mine has had varifocal lens replacement surgery because he had cataracts in both eyes. He finds them very good, he doesn't need glasses now for either distance or reading, although I guess this could change over time. He's in his 70's now, so would expect to need glasses for close work if he still had his natural lenses (or the fixed focal length ones available on the NHS to treat cataracts). I guess he could need glasses in the future if his eyes change. I don't know how the varifocal lenses work, he says that he does not consciously have to look down to read, as you do with normal varifocal spectacles.

I was interested to hear about the Hoya Enroute lenses. I have Zeiss lenses in both my 'standard' varifocals and my driving varifocals. The standard ones are +2.5 in the close-up zone and my driving ones are +1.5 in the close-up zone (to suit dashboard viewing distance). I don't know whether they are the 'Drive Safe' version though. My optician didn't mention this. I think they are the 'Progressive Individual 2' lenses. I had Kodak lenses in my first pair of varifocals, but I didn't get on with these very well, I found the viewing zones to be too small.

 

Some years ago I was interested but they said that for Astigmatism you could have laser treatment. When I went last year I asked again and apparently you can now. I am still thinking about it.

Last year I went down contact lenses route, but really only for football. I have given up on them as I just cant get them in easily - which is me rather than the lenses, but prob once a week isn't enough to get skilled at it.

My eyes are also getting worse, noticeably when i take my glasses off things seem even more blurred and hard to read.

Since the MR2 I have found glasses to be really frustrating, laid underneath with inches to spare having to position my head at right angle to get positioned for closest vision.

I have had varifocal lenses for a long time, and I find them really good, its only rare when i notice I am tilting my head, such as under the MR2. Reading i don't notice.
But varifocal lenses replacement sounds interesting, Maybe its what the optician was on about for astigmatism

 

I have an astigmatism and wear lenses everyday. I went for a lasereye surgery consultation but I'm still not decided. Friends whi have had it say it's the best money they ever spent.

Not cheap though, I was quoted over 4k

Sent from my Note8 using Tapatalk

 

My wife had laser eye surgery about 10 years ago at Vision Express on both eyes at the age of 40. Back then it was about £4.5K. The operation was a success but after about 4 years she had to start wearing glasses again for reading and now has to wear them again pretty much full time. Several of her friends have also had it done and had similar experiences..

 

One of the reasons I'm considering the laser surgery option, is that I ride a motorcycle quite a lot in summer. I know from just using sun glasses that it can be a nuisance every time you need to remove a full face helmet. Plus the fact that I've never been used to wearing glasses anyway.

I'm going to leave it a while before I make any decision, just to make sure that my eye test prescription remains stable. No point in spending a lot of money if the solution only lasts a short time. I think that I would be happy with 10 years though.

 

My distance vision is still quite good but find it difficult to read the instruments and i-drive, so I wear spectacles. With some varifocals peripheral vision is out of focus; this may apply to most or all, I've no idea. It certainly applies to the two pair that I own, and I find it a nuisance (and maybe a danger) that I need to turn my head to make full use of either wing-mirror.

So I opted for bi-focals. I've two pair: one with clear glass, and the other pair polarised. The polarised make a big difference whenever there is reflected sunlight, such as on wet roads; obviously they are not suitable for use in poor light.

 

Honestly, I really don't notice it with varifocals. Seems to be the other way with me.
Maybe I am just used to it now.
I do notice a difference with my single lenses sunglasses, it feels uncomfortable for a minute or so.

 

Make sure you get the full surgery records if you do have Laser surgery (approx 26 pages if Optical express) as you will need them if you ever need cataract surgery....

Both I and my wife had laser surgery via Optical Express in 2008/2010 and it was successful, but obviously does not avoid age related reading glasses.
Last year my wife had trouble with her glasses and the Optician confirmed she had cataracts in both eyes that we could get resolved via work health insurance (or wait approx a year and they would be bad enough to meet the NHS criteria). The reason for this post though is that if you have had wavefront laser (which most opt for as it helps avoid night glare) then the algorithm used by the ophthalmic consultant to calculate the replacement lens is different. I don't understand why, but the data/prescription from Specsavers gives one lens calculation and if the full clinical data from the laser surgery is factored in it gives a different value.....in the case of my wife this was a 1 dioptre difference. A 'good' cateract surgery is one where the resultant prescription is +/- 2 dioptres.....the surgeon opted for a lens half way between the two calculations and my wife's post op distance prescription is -0.5 (i.e. good enough not to need glasses other than for reading)

We did not have the required Optical express clinical data, but phoned them up and they said we needed to do a Subject Access request (SAR) to get this (they were used to this and had a very efficient process). Timeline.....initial call with Optical Express 0930 in the morning, received email with template a few hours later, filled it in, scanned and emailed back after work (17:45). Got a call from their compliance team about 30mins later (the consultant appt was the next day!) and they agreed to password protect a PDF document and get it to my wife by 10am the next day, which they did. Their normal process is to send the info signed for next day delivery (which they also did).
Given that I was told I had the first signs of cataract at my last eye check, I then did my SARs request for my data so that I have the info for a future day.

Key point, if you have laser surgery make sure you get the full records (we were never given them at the time). If you have had it done previously, contact your provider and invoke the SARs process. they should hold the records for at least 15 years.

Dave

 

Just an update. I have been for an eye test to a local optician. I found them to be very thorough and professional, and they even carried out an OCT scan on each eye. From @Singvogel recommendation of the Hoya Enroute lenses, I decided to go for a pair of varifocals for use in the car. Unfortunately, they aren't Hoya stockists but recommended a comparable product - Essilor Road Pilot varifocals with photochromatic transition lenses for the different light conditions. I have to say - they are brilliant. Driving is now more relaxed and they react well to all conditions. They even eliminate most of the glare from cars headlights at night. So I'm well pleased. The optician agreed that my eyesight isn't bad enough to require glasses for driving, but I shall be using them from now on.

So thanks to @Singvogel and everyone else for pointing me in the right direction.

As far as laser eye surgery is concerned, I will still consider it, once that I know my eyesight is relatively stable over the next couple of years, or so.