I had standard Lasek on 22nd December 2006 at the Milton Keynes clinic. I was R -4.25 and L -4.5.

The actual surgery itself was very quick and there was no pain, just a little uncomfortable with lots going on around me. The surgeon was excellent and kept me informed all the way through with what he was doing. Anyone that is worried about the surgery itself - don't be it really is less traumatic than the dentists! I was lucky and didn't have anyone ahead of me so I was in and out of the clinic within 40 minutes which included the final tests, the surgery, and post-op advice.

As soon as I got up from the operating chair, I could see almost perfectly with a little blurring, but most of that felt because my eyes were watering. I felt no pain and only had very little discomfort.

For the rest of the day, and the following day my eyes felt absolutely fine, and vision kept staying stable for longer and longer. By my 24hour post-op check-up I had 20/20 in my left eye and my right eye wasn't far off.

Christmas eve (2 days after op) was the only day that I had a very painful left eye (burning feeling), and it actually hurt more to shut it than to keep it open. Taking plenty of pain killer eye drops and Nurofen helped me get through the day and by Christmas morning the pain had pretty much gone.

Since then my right eye has felt very stable, and my left eye has fluctuated slightly but its vision has always been very good. Over the last few days my left eye has seemed to have settled down and is more often than not as good as my right. At my 2 week post-op check-up I had 6/5 in my left and 6/4 in my right, that's one line better than 20/20 for my left and two lines better (the bottom line!!) for my right. I feel that the left eye will catch up soon.

In summary... I would recommend Lasek to anyone (especially as it has less long term complications than Lasik) and the pain really isn't that bad, and you do still get that WOW factor afterwards it justs takes a few days to settle down. I can't fault Optical Express in any way and the whole experience has been fantastic!