This is an update of a comment I wrote 6.8.04 after having found I couldn't have laser surgery since my left cornea showed a slight weak point. This was most likely due to overuse of lenses and I was told to go without them for a few more weeks and then try again. As I live abroad, a few weeks ended up being a few months and I decided to fly over for a long weekend and have enough time for lasik and a check-up the day after before returning to Norway. This was on the 13th Dec. the last day the Manchester clinic had planned to have operations before Christmas (and I would then have a check-up during the Christmas holidays). I was greeted like a long-lost friend which was very positive - there must be hundreds of patients through the door but they had remembered me. This time the orb-scan of my eye could be performed in Manchester rathen than having to be sent down to London for it (they now have a scanner of their own). The results were better but Mr Aziz was still a bit sceptical to performing Lasik (which I had planned) as this would weaken the cornea more than Lasek. After a rather uncertain half an hour with a repeat of the scan and a lot of discussion back and forth, he concluded that he would perform the surgery but only with Lasek. Since I hadn't planned to be in the UK more than a couple of days I wouldn't be able to have my bandage lenses removed(which you have with Lasek) on the requisite 4-day check-up. However, Mr. Aziz was very matter of fact about the whole thing and, quite rightly, felt that it was wrong to choose which method to go for simply due to the fact that I wouldn't be able to come to a 4-day check-up. "After all", he said, "you have been wearing contact lenses for nearly 20 years - you know how to take a lens out and bandage lenses are simply lenses without a prescription". So that is what we did, and half an hour later I was lying on the operating table ready to have my first eye corrected. What an easy experience - they tell you all the way exactly what they are doing and how long it will take. I felt absolutely nothing until my eye was washed after the procedure (and felt water run down my cheek), and immediately the first eye was finished (41 seconds of laser) I became aware of a clock on the wall and it showed 12:08. After the next eye was finished (45 seconds of laser) Mr. Aziz asked me what time it was (12:17). That is how quick the whole thing is. Afterwards I was light sensitive and also sensitive to the cold air outside so it was good to get quickly into a taxi and home. The rest of the day was fine (lay down for a couple of hours in the dark) and the following day was surprisingly good too, including flying bakc to Norway - I was just very good about using all the eye drops they had given me though I didn't need the painkilling ones. Not until the third day mind you when I woke up and it felt like someone had poured washing-up liquid into my eyes. I had a hard time keeping them open and just wanted to sleep (had really expected to feel like this on the day of the surgery so it was a bit of a surprise). After that it got a lot better though my eyes felt more and more gritty. I took the bandage lenses out myself on the 4th day and was a bit disappointed that the grittiness (which I had presumed was due to them) got a bit worse immediately afterwards. Next day was a lot better and it has been uphill ever since. Now, 2 months on, my sight is excellent. I haven't had my month's check-up but after 2 weeks I had 20/20 in one eye and a bit worse in the other (from being -5.25 in both). The only negative points I have experienced is that lights "halo" a lot (particularly car rear lights!) but I have been told that this gets better with time, and that my sight is a bit "cloudy" the first half an hour when I come inside after having been out in the cold. The very positive effect (other than no specs!!!) is that my eyes are far less dry and uncomfortable after a day in front of the PC in an air-conditioned office than they were with either lenses or specs. I hardly need to use eye drops any more which is the opposite of what I had expected (a possible side-effect of Lasik is dry-eys whereas Lasek is better which I can definitely corroborate). So to summarise - Optical Express have been fantastic, the experience was fine and the result is marvellous.