Optical Express

I had my consultation, treatment and aftercare with the Inverness branch. For me was a great advantage as I was very local for me and with in traveling distance. Staff were very helpful, friendly and professional throughout course of treatment. The only thing that I regret is not getting it done sooner as it has given me a new lease of life at the age of 58! I would deffinatly recommend this to all age groups, it well worth all the unecessary fears I had.

Best money i`ve spent in a long time. Wish i`d have done it years ago. If you`re thinking about laser treatment just do it, you`ll have no regrets.
CONSULTATION Manchester EC
SURGERY– MAXI

What’s the point in living if you don’t feel alive? Being only 18 many people (including my mum, dad and previous opticians) thought that I shouldn’t get the surgery done at such a young age. To be honest, I was in two minds about the surgery, what if the whole thing goes wrong?! But I couldn’t do many of the things I wanted to: go swimming, dance all night or stay up all night in London without worrying about vision! Going to university next year however, was one of the things that led me to go for it. Having quite sensitive eyes meant I could only wear my contacts for nine hours maximum and at university I’m going to be up all night partying and I didnt want to worry about my eyes especially after a few drinks!

So I booked the consultation secretly and went without my parents knowing because they would not have been best pleased! Whenever I said about laser surgery they always replied ‘Your eyes are still changing, you won’t be suitable!’

I went to the consultation at Watford and oh my goodness, the clinic was so much more modern than I ever expected! Because of my fairly poor prescription (left eye -4.50 and right eye -4.25 which means that my focal range is about 25cm) the cost was obviously much higher. I brought a previous optician prescription from two years ago with me which showed my eyes were indeed still stable which made my heart leap! It is indeed possible! However, due to my large pupils I would have to have wavefront surgery and in addition, I didn’t like the thought of having a knife type instrument cut my eye so I decided to go for the Intralase. But, this was all talk.

After getting home from the consultation, I somehow had to approach my parents. When I told them I had been for the consultation they did go mad but I stood my ground and booked my laser surgery for a fortnight. I played a very risky game. My surgery was right during exams at school and if anything went wrong… well I didnt want to think about it! I couldn’t have it done after because I was going on holiday to Menorca and if I booked my surgery after my exams I wouldn’t be able to swim underwater! Some people may say I had my priorities wrong… but wait until you are told you are suitable for laser surgery. You are in euphoria.

On the day of the surgery I was obviously scared and thought today is make or break. At Uxbridge surgery I had a couple more tests and watched in the waiting room how people went into the operation room and came out about ten minutes later. I didn’t ask anyone how they were and probably should have done!

The wait was torture but about 20 minutes later I was called into the surgery room. I had to wait about five minutes lieing on the table/ bed because my surgeon came in a bit late. And when he finally came in, it all began. It was a well rehearsed procedure and the people there were clearly professionals. A patch was put over my left eye first before the right eye was done. True I did feel a fair aount of pressure on my eye as the procedure was being done and I really was unsure whether I was meant to be feeling this but I let them continue with their work. Although it is only a 10 minute procedure I lost track of time, and I also lost track of what they were doing to my eyes! In the end I completely spaced out and kept thinking ‘It’s nearly over, it’s nearly there!’

When they told me I was done I got up. I know it sounds truly crazy, and true, the vision’s hazy but I could see better already! I had to relax a bit for 5 mintes, had my drops explained to me and then check the corneal flap was securely on but i left the surgery in under two hours.

My mum had driven me there and it was during the ride home that the anaesthetic started to wear off. Slowly my eyes started to get more painful and half an hour into the journey my eyes just wanted to close. And they did. But the light from outside stil tortured me. So I decided to put my hoody on back to front to block out more light so for half a hour I must have looked like a right fool!

I got home and managed to get to the door and ring it. I still couldn’t open my eyes and my hoody made me look like a fool! My dad answered and nearly fainted, ‘Oh my God, what has happened?!’ I left my mum to explain as I went upstairs and lay down. I couldn’t sleep The pain on a scale from 1 to 10 was about 8.5. Over the next 5 hours the pain gradually decreased to a 1 and by 6 o’ clock I opened my eyes for the first time since the car journey. There was haze still; it was expected. But I could see down the garden and even see some individual leaves, I was so happy. I could see past the fact that I had to use drops 14 times a day and goggles during bed for a week in case I knocked my corneal flap, for the first time in 18 years I felt totaly independent.

2 months on and many post ops later – all is perfect. I can read the bottom line of the chart at Optical Express and the haze has practically disappeared. True it was an expensive operation but I spent £500 a year on contact lenses and optician appointments and I see it as an investment! Furthermore, there were a couple of instances where they forgot to phone me back but overall it was an extremely professional service. I got my appointment for my biannual contact lense appointment yesterday and I couldn’t stop laughing. It just reminded me of my new freedom. Moreover, I’m going to Menorca tomorrow for a week; no lenses or glasses! Expect sunglasses of course! I can see underwater, I can party all night with no worries, I can get back to the hotel after a late night and not care about having to take my contacts out!

The one thing though that an unbelieveable amount of people say is that ‘I wish I had done it sooner.’ The overwhelming joy of this for me is that at the tender age of 18, I don’t have this regret. I have my whole life ahead of me and infact I have not regrets at all. What’s the point in living if you don’t feel alive? Well I do now.

Having a prescription of -2.75 and -2.25 I’ve been considering laser eye surgery for many years as I love my sports but have never really got on with contact lenses, so decided to make a consultation appointment at Bluewater, Dartford. The consultation lasted approx 90 mins but that was first thing on a Saturday morning and was told that it can get very busy. Consultation consisted of questions from an advisor(salesperson), followed by a few tests, a bit of waiting around then back to the advisor to talk cost of surgery.
I had read a few reviews regarding cost so the figure I had in my head was around £2000 to £2500 for both eyes. The advisor said that the cost was dependant on the level of prescription, so because of my mild prescription I was expecting something reasonable. Only to be shell-shocked when quoted £3495 for iDesign Lasik or £2995 for Standard Lasik. With little effort and within minutes the price had come down to £2995 for iDesign Lasik (apparently the best they can do) and £2500 for Standard Lasik (after the advisor had asked the manager if they can give it for that price). I opted for the Standard Lasik for £2500, I probably could have negotiated further (by walking away and waiting for them to call me later in the day as I had read others had done) but I am not one for playing games so decided to bite the bullet and booked surgery for 6 days later.
The surgery was relatively straightforward and painless, and although it said to allow for up to 3 hours I was done within an hour. Literally within minutes of getting off the surgery table I was checked over and told I could leave. The post-surgery recovery is the only negative once the anaesthetic has worn off it was like chopping the strongest onions for about 3 hours and my eyes were streaming. I put myself to bed with a few paracetamols and tried to sleep it off. The rest of the day I just stayed in a dark room and kept my eye closed to assist recovery.
The next day I woke up and had better vision but still some haze around bright lights. I went for my next day visit back to the clinic where they said they were happy with my recovery and my vision was tested and was now better than 20/20.
Now 3 days on I’m back to work and feeling fine. I’m definitely glad that I have done it and very impressed with Optical Express and their handling of me as a patient and customer. My only negative was the whole cloak and dagger approach to costing and the lack of transparency. I would love to know how much I could have got it for.

Follow up from previous post:
In the end I changed my flight to 2 days earlier (I live in Spain), to allow time to be examined by surgeon and any treatment done before the Christmas break. I was getting really worried about leaving the straie as I knew they needed treating as early as possible and I could tell they weren’t clearing.

This time I saw Mr Pillai who agreed that ideally they should have been treated at the 7 day check up. However, to cut a long story short, the flap was re- lifted, the folds smoothed out then and contact lens bandage put on. The clinic was closing for Christmas the next day but some of the staff very kindly opened it up on Christmas Eve and came in just for me, to remove my lens.

It wasn’t painful whilst the lens was in but was pretty sore when it was removed, but settled down after about 24 hours. It’s now 18 days since the re-lift. To be honest, I don’t think the vision in the eye has improved – the prescription in it is still –1.50 but I don’t have the sensation that there s something at the bottom of my eye. Nothing to do now but wait and see what happens over the next couple of months and then, if necessary consider an enhancement.

As a journalist for an English language newspaper in Spain, my LASIK treatment has been written up as an article, due for publication shortly. I’ve put it on the web at http://www.geocities.com/LASIKarticle

Just had enhancement (MR PILLAI) - still too soon to judge result - will post in a few days.Can people add the name of their surgeon please? Surgeons move from clinic to clinic and it would be nice to know the ones with good reputations - and vice versa!!!

I had my consultation at 20/20 vision in southamton and was told i'd be fine to go ahead. i'm short sighted. the optician said my pupils were large so i might experience some night vision problems and they are also dry so i had to take eye drops a week before surgery. i wasn't too impressed with the sales consultent though but decided to go ahead.
had the surgery on (11/03/02)in london. mr pillai was the surgeon. everyone was nice and chatty. nerves were quite bad so i decided to take the valium they offer (didn't make a blind bit of differnce to me!). the worst bit i think was when they cut the flap and then actually holding my eye open to look at the red light. didn't feel any kind of laser in my eyes at all. the treatment was quick and i spent more time waiting to go in. when i came out my vision was very blurred and no pain at all. half an hour later my eyes did hurt quite a bit and i had trouble even opening them for 5 seconds. that's when your freind that goes with you helps out the most because i could not see a thing. a bit like going without sleep for a week and being in a very smoky room. it lasted about four hours when i could gradualy open them for longer periods. by the end of the day i felt ok. a bit hazy but ok.
first day after surgery (12/03/02) and so far the results are good. it feels as though there is something in my eye, a bit like a contact lens but otherwise every thing is ok. flap is in good position. vision is great for long distance. if anyone wants to ask me anything then feel free to e-mail me.

I have just had LASIK within the last month and only found out about this site through friends. I have now achieved vision at a level just higher than 20/20 and am amazed at the results . I did suffer slight haze but it only lasted about 2-3 days before clearing. I was initially extremely nervous and even on the day still not really sure that this was the right thing to be doing.. but now I can't believe the difference it has made to me , I feel like a new person..I attended an Optimax seminar in Leeds and was almost put off for life following the aggressive nature and tone used by the female presenter (apparemtly the Birmingham Centre Manager)at least 12 people walked out half way through..and one poor woman in the audience was nothing short of verbally abused.. I was left feeling that I still did'nt get enough information, or that I had enough assurance on the company's running and success rates to go ahead and book. As a result I booked to attend a maxivision Seminar also in Leeds. The presentation was about 45 mins long and included lots of information on why short sightedness occurs etc , they tested my prescription and also spoke to me individually for some time all with a view to providing me with as much information as I required to make a decision. This is what clinched it for me, they were extremely honest and advised at least 3 people ahead of me in the room that it was'nt worthwhile for them. The staff at the clinic were fantastic and the clinic itself was fantastic. I dont know what I was expecting but my experience has by far surpassed all expectations.

I am now over 3 months post op and doing great. My vision is now -0.25 in both eyes. I am so pleased I had this done. My eyes are still dry sometimes but this is no problem. I would recommend The Eye Clinic as even the post op care is good.

My Details:
I received my treatment on the 18.2.2002, it is now 20.2.2002. This was to correct shortsight in both eyes; -5.5 (left) -5.75 (right).

My Surgeon:
My surgeon, Mr CT Pillal was very professional and reasuring during the whole procedure. I was very pleased with the way in which the operation was performed.

The Procedure:
Initially you have second thoughts - it's like bungy jumping.
If you have sensitive eyes, like myself, the procedure is uncomfortable. Thankfully, you are supported throughout and it is very short.

The Results:
The day following the procedure, 19.2.2002, the consultant reported 20/20 in the left eye. My right eye is around 95-98%. It is now two days after the procedure and my eyes are still hazy and show np further improvement in sight strenght.
My seven day checkup is on the 25th, I am hoping that the eyesight in my right eye will improve further and that the haze will clear further.

Overall a good result so far, but I still have to make sure I don't touch my eyes and apply my antibiotics regularly to avoid infection.