I had my treatment at Optical Express in Southampton.

I have worn glasses / contacts for 17 years, for the last 2 years I have suffered from a series of eye problems caused by contact lense wear & so have been wearing my glasses 80% of the time. I was -3.5 in each eye with -1 astigmatism.

I have always thought about laser eye surgery but I am really squeamish & because of the problems I have had with contacts, & being allergic to just about anything that goes near my eye I felt nervous about playing around with my sight. However a girl at work had Laser Eye surgery & after seeing her go through the procedure I decided to go for a consultation.

I was delighted when they told me I could have the procedure done, but also left with a big decision to make! After talking to people, I found lots of people who knew people that had had it done, & every review I read was really positive & so I made the decision to go for it!!

I was really anxious the few days before surgery and nearly backed out!!!

However I had absolutely nothing to worry about, although a little uncomfortable & scary the surgery was painless and over in max 15 mins. As soon as I opened my eyes I could see the difference, I couldn't stop staring at all the posters I could now read!!! My eyes streamed all the way home, but when I got in I slept for an hour & when I woke my vision was even clearer. I slept again later on in the day but by the evening I was watching TV and texting everyone & anyone to tell them about my new eyes!!! I took painkillers throughout the day but by the evening these were no longer required, I had absolutely no pain at any time.

The next day I went for my post op and already had better than 20/20 vision!!! Amazing!! I have been for my weekly check up and still better than 20/20 vision and all healing nicely.

I have some night glare but I believe this is normal to experience for sometime until my eyes have settled. Also I bruise quite easily & have a big red patch on each eye but this is fading everyday and does not hurt, I have been told this is just burst blood vessels from the suction ring, again perfectly normal, everyone has differing degrees of bruising.

Other than that there is no sign that anything has been done, & I am still absolutely amazed at how quick the recovery time is. I am over the moon with my news eyes & cannot stop staring at everything & everyone!!!

I would add that the branch in Southampton is very busy and I was kept waiting for a long time for a couple of my appointments, the later in the day the appointment, the longer they seem to be behind! I would suggest morning appointments as my surgery was booked in for 9.30 & I was out by 11.15 so no hanging around that day, thank goodness!!

Thank you to all the staff at Optical Express in Southampton, despite the waiting times they were all so friendly & were very apologetic if they were running behind. Big thanks to Alison my counsellor and Dr Joanne McGrath my surgeon & all the nurses that reassured me during surgery!!

If your thinking about having laser eye surgery I would highly recommend Optical Express, go for it's, it's changed my life!!!