Optical Express

Absolutely amazing, very professional, friendly and very reassuring. Credit to the team spot on xx

Very good customer service Staff very friendly Joanne Magraw is also very friendly and puts you at ease the surgery was just a little uncomfortable when they make the flap and then no pain at all afterwards my eyes were a hazy and a bit uncomfortable but if you take pain killers this eases my vision is very good in both eyes 19.25 pm I had the op at 12.15 today Highly recommend Southampton and Joanne Magraw

Very good customer service Staff very friendly Joanne Magraw is also very friendly and puts you at ease the surgery was just a little uncomfortable when they make the flap and then no pain at all afterwards my eyes were a hazy and a bit uncomfortable but if you take pain killers this eases my vision is very good in both eyes 19.25 pm I had the op at 12.15 today Highly recommend Southampton and Joanne Magraw

I have now been discharged as a patient just 4.5 months after having surgery. My consultant does not want to see me again unless there are any problems which he does not envisage. This has been such a life changing experience for me as I have had to wear glasses for the last 25 years every day. Now that is a thing of the past even though I still get 'ghost glasses syndrome' now and again!! The staff in the Inverness branch were superb I could not fault their dedication to the job.From my initial consolation to see if I was suitable for the procedure, to last check up, they were so welcoming and friendly.Prior to making inquiries I was not aware that you could have lazer eye surgery done in Inverness, let alone at Optical Express.I thought that I would have to go to either, Edinburgh or Aberdeen for the treatment.This made things a lot easier for me as I stay in Invergordon, half and hours drive away. The procedure was so fast I had to ask the surgeon who was so nice to me if that was it!! There was a little discomfort but nothing worse than getting dust in your eye. On the way home my eyes were sore though, like I had been peeling and chopping very strong onions. Unfortunately we were delayed due to an accident on the A9 and had to make a long detour home. On arriving home I was able to put the eye drops in and go and lie down as instructed in a darkened room for an hour or so and that helped.Over a few days my eyes were almost back to normal. I really recommend that you use the eye drops as instructed and as often as needed as this helps with the healing. I still use the eye gel on a morning and the drops at night. Initially being in a air conditioned car dried my eyes out and I had to use the drops but now it does not affect me.If my eyes get a bit dry I just put a drop in each and everything is crystal clear again. Lazer eye surgery changed my life, make it change yours. You will never regret it. You may think that it is a lot of money to pay out in the beginning but we went for the pay over 10 months option, so it didn't seem so bad. All I can say is, thank you to all the staff at Optical Express, Inverness you are doing a great job. See you in a years time for a normal eye check up.

Very through and professional. From the first day of consutation in High Wycombe till the treatment in Harley Street everything was througly explained and the staff was very friendly and professional.

Ok... well first a little background on me. I'm 21 years old and have had poor eyesight (short-sighted)since I was about 10, aged 16 I first started attempting to wear contact lenses, I am the most squemish person in the world and I couldn't do it 5 years of appointments with all the major opticians and I couldn't get the hang of it - there were so many tears and frustrations. I was nervous about my laser eye consultation as I don't like people/things near my eyes and if something touched my eyes I would go mental but the consultation was great- no one touching your eyes or anything invasive (in fact i found my consultation easier than a normal eye exam!!) I think it was good that I only had a short window of availability for the surgery so instead of having too long to think about it I had booked the surgery within the next 48 hours. The day before the surgery I was really nervous and a little bit stroppy (altho i'm putting that down to nerves) but on the day of the surgery I was a bit apprehensive but not even as nervous as my boyfriend who was looking after me that day! Dr. Manek Patel was my surgeon and he was wonderful as was the whole team at Shaftesbury Avenue London clinic. The clinic looked lovely very professional with the laser eye work all on a separate floor and (very importantly) extremely clean. I still wasn't sure if I could go through with it but before I knew it I was in the operating room with a nurse distracting me by talking about 'Glee'. You do feel pressure with the eye-holders in place but nothing uncomfortable ( a weird feeling to describe but not horrible/scary at all) he tells you to look at the flashing orange light which is like looking at a hazard light through severe fog and your so focused on that that you don't notice anything else! Something I was really scared about was the 'lifting of the flap'- remember how I said i was squemish - but the surgeon delicately nudges it to one side and then you can't see anything (apart from the orange light) so its no prob at all! The surgery is so quick and so easy - i never thought i would ever have something like this done or be able to see without glasses i 100% recommend the surgery, optical express, the o. e. team and dr. manek patel (he really is lovely!) My top tips though: - Take someone organised with you to be responsible for you after surgery. ( They explain all the drops and any other info really thoroughly so it's good to have someone there with you and for moral support and to put in the eyedrops in the first 24 hours). - Make sure this person has parked there car close (remember you can't drive yet) or organised a taxi to pick you up from outside the clinic. - Take sunglasses - the larger the darker the better and it'll help you feel like a celeb for the day! -Take paracetomol/ ibruprofen in a bag with you and take it as soon as you come out of the surgery and sit in the dark room - i didn't and i wish i had it's not painful afterwards but when i took paracetomol it eased the discomfort and made it easier for me to sleep. - Sleep - i couldn't i was too excited but the great thing about sleeping over the next week means every time you open your eyes after a sleep they feel better and you can see more! You start to see after you come out of surgery but best to keep your eyes closed if possible (even tho its exciting) Anyway if you want to earm £150 off your surgery contact me at scamp_simmz@hotmail.com . I can't recommend it highly enough i've been swimming a couple of days ago (its amazing seeing under water!) and its improved my quality of life (no more steaming up from opening the oven door) and has increased my confidence. My eyesight is better than 20 20 and i only had it done just over 1 month ago Best of luck if your considering it Chloe x x

In April of this year I went up to Bristol from Torquay for my treatment. I had Tom Matterman as my surgeon and I can't praise him enough. I did a lot of research before and after deciding to go ahead. I even watched youtube videos - I wouldn't recommend that, lol. Anyhow, it took just over 10 mins to do both eyes and was a breeze, I was slightly nervous, but having broken down on the way up , got rid of the majority of nerves while waiting for the AA. You are explained everything and the drops are so good you don't feel anything. When you have had the treatment, your eyes feel sensitive to light, so you will need sunglasses. But there is no pain, just a bit of discomfort for a couple of hours. If you do the drops and as you are told - you will be fine. 6 months on and my eyes are perfect. I couldn't be any happier.

Excellent service and a perfect result. No pain although i was very nervous beforehand.The staff made me feel at ease. Cannot rate highly enough. I even got a discount which helped no end as the treatment is quite expensive! I did alot of research before deciding on optical express and feel sure i made the right decision. All the best Nigel

Prescription: -4.75 and -5 with -0.25 astygmatism both eyes. I paid £2961 after my 10% NHS discount (total price was £3290). I had always fancied doing it, but was too scared, and wanted them to practice on other people and develop new technologies. So I waited and then more and more people did it and I thought, why not. Didn't find Optical Express a hard sell at all, but perhaps that was cos I was clearly up for it at my consultation. I read up loads about everything (just my way) and most people say it's the best thing they've done and wish it had been sooner. I very nearly cancelled it, well I would have done if the laser counsellor and optom hadn't talked me out of it. I was annoyed at the time but now very grateful to them for stopping me from cancelling it. On treatment day I wasn't waiting around at all which was fab as I was feeling sick with nerves. Surgeon Joanna McGraw was brilliant, confident, cool, calm and collected. Perfect. The whole process was surreal and I still can't believe I did it. The actual op was painless. Vision immediately afterwards was noticeably better than without specs but still blurred. I was incredibly shaky and white after but the nurses sorted me out. When the anaesthetic drops wore off I would say it was more than mild discomfort. It felt like I'd chopped millions of onions and had eyelashes in my eyes. I had to have a second lot of anaesthetic drops put in which meant I could race to the car. Every time I opened my eyes (kept them closed to prevent the searing pain) my vision was better, I could read shop signs just about. A couple of hours after surgery I could read the clock on my mum's car dashboard from the back seat. Impressive. Tried to sleep but couldn't, goggles not comfy and was still light, but i rested and maybe got half an hour to an hour. By the evening my vision was near perfect. Today, the day after, I have just about 20/20 vision in my right and 20/10 in my left I think! Amazing, together, both eyes read bottom line like a dream. I can't believe how amazing it is. My eyes feel a bit scratchy and are a little swollen, but my vision is superb. Less so in the right, but together it's perfect. I can't wait til I stop thinking about it though. Definitely glad I went for it!

I had laser surgery 2 weeks ago in London and everything went very well. I had been wearing contact lenses for 10 years and fed up of them! The vision is good but it gets at least a month to become perfect. I would recommend them, they've been fast as well in terms of waiting times. SM