Mt treatment was as pain-free and unintimidating as you can imagine. The after effects of the surgery was a feeling not disimilar to having a very long swim in a chlorinated swimming pool. Grittiness sounds a bit severe. I have had a heart attack two years ago that ended up with me having stents implanted under local anasthetic (me wide awake during the whole procedure!!) So the laser treatment did not bother me in the slightest. It's all over in a few minutes anyway so don't bother getting worked up about it! For me personally, the consultation was worse than the surgery, so if you didn't mind that, and don't mind eye-drops, proceed with confidence. Oh yeah, the vision afterwards really does defy belief, its like looking through a clean window in perfect focus. FANTASTIC!!!!