Optical Express

I had my surgery yesterday and I must admit I was so nervous. The staff at the Bluewater centre were great and told me exactly what to expect. I had lasik wavefront and at my aftercare appointment today, I have better than 20/20 vision and it is still to settle!! The actual surgery part is not painful at all, however, it is quite uncomfortable when they apply the eye clip and the creation of the flap. I think this was the worst part (I would have liked to opt for intralase, but didn't due to extra cost, the actual laser part was fine, there was just a ticking sound and it did smell of burning hair but the surgeon assured me this was fine. My surgeon (Rodney Plumfeld) was marvellous throughout. He talked me through the whole process and during surgery he was very supportive. The whole surgery day took just under 2 hours. If you are thinking of having laser, my advice is to do your research and go for it! I'm a complete wimp and while I was laying there waiting for them to start the laser I almost got up to leave, however I didn't and I'm so glad as it's amazing what has been achieved!!!

Had surgery on 1st February 2007. Over all I have been very pleased with the results. I didn’t have a very strong prescription for short sightedness but I had had enough of the hassle of glasses. I have one question for everyone. I may need an enhancement in my left eye to cure a slight ghosting problem. Could anyone who has had an enhancement done,good or bad please email me. Thanks in advance.

In reply to the person who was considering having a retreatment, I have done this and it went very well. I initially had lasik wavefront to treat a -4 and -4.5 prescription. Surgeon Wayne Crewe-Brown. Unfortunately I had to have both eyes relifted (the flaps) and smoothed out after a week because they had wrinkles in - it does happen and is just bad luck. This had occurred after my 24 hour check up! It did freak me out completely but actually was not half as bad as the original surgery because they didn't have to clamp my eyes open quite as far, and because they didn't have to use any suction as they weren't making a new cut. (For anybody thinking about saving a bit of money, I would definitely have had the intralase and hang the expense if it had been on offer when I had the op last summer). Anyway, at my three month check I was finding vision had deteriorated, and they said I had got some astigmatism due to irregular healing (one eye worse than the other). Six months post surgery I had a retreatment booked in, but the acceptance form is horrendous as the risks are higher, so beware of the awful things you will have to read. However, the surgeon said only one of my eyes was worth treating, and showed my by covering up that the other was pretty good really. This made me a lot happier as I would only be taking the risk on one eye. He said we could always look at the other one later. What was really reassuring was he didn't seem to be considering any sales pitch or financial interest, but was purely interested in my welfare and my final vision. He has been doing the thing for fifteen years. Anyway the retreatment was really easy and much less frightening than before. It went really well and no problems lifting the flap. He talked my through it. Interestingly even though i had only one eye treated, both eyes were dry and needed wetting drops for the next three months - I asked and apparently you can't have only one dry eye - the other will always come out in sympathy.... ANyway, final result is that one year post my first surgery I have 20 20 vision, can read all but the very tiny line at the bottom that hardly anyone can read, and am very very happy. It is still healing and getting better (still a bit of dry eye) but I would never never go back in spite of having had a few hiccups. Just a couple of bits of advice: In view of my retreatment and re-visits, don't have it done abroad! Also, don't book any essential stuff in the first couple of weeks after (you might have a complication like i did) and do spend the money on the intralase. Good luck.

I had Lasek Wavefront Surgery at Birmingham on 18th April 2007. The Cost of my surgery was the advertised minimum price of £795 per eye as i had a prescription of -1.5 in each eye. The initial consultation was good, the guy was very friendly and answered all my questions. I had done a lot of research so had already decided that if the price was within my limits i would sign up on the day. They do make you sign the forms when you cant see clearly from the pupil drops which i think is a little unethical! I was clear in my own mind as to what was going to happen and the surgery was totally painless and took less than one minute per eye. Although the surgeon Alex George was not very nice and kept barking at me to stop squirming (easier said than done when you can see a scalpel coming for your eye - which is clamped open!) after surgery and the installation of the bandage lens i was off home. The next five days were very uncomfortable and often painful. i had so much sensitivity to light, i didnt leave the bedroom for the first four days. On day five (the day before my lens came out) things started to settle down. After the lens were removed my sight was very blurry and i had double vision for at least two weeks (which i wasnt told would happen) this made life a bit difficult at work as i couldnt focus for long. After two months everything had settled down and apart from dry eyes (which i have two sets of drops for) everything is perfect, two lines above 20/20. The customer service at Optical Express is not the best, they take a long time to answer queries / telephone calls and sometimes dont bother at all but despite the a bit of lax customer service and a very grumpy surgeon i would recommend this to anyone. I can see properly now and in all the things that really matter optical express did a good job.

Amazing!! 24 hours later did'nt even feel like i had my eyes lasered - had lasik treatment, a bit uncomfortable during surgery but not painful - very odd having your eyes lasered whilst you can see & be aware of what's going in, watering & very sensitive to sunlight after, felt more comfortable with my eyes shut.went home slept for a few hours,woke up eyes felt fine,no soreness or watery eyes,perfect vision,just like i had my glasses on but of course i did'nt have them on.staff are brilliant at shaftesbury avenue - worth every penny!! having my new eyes!!

Before I got my surgery done I was nervous but the staff at Bluewater made me feel confident in getting it done, I got the Wavefront in both eyes and the surgery was 15 mins and with eye drops in didn't have any pain, because I was so short sighted -6.50 in right eye and -5.50 in the left I found it hard to look straight ahead once they lifted the flap of my eye up to laser it, once it was done it was a wee bit sore once the drops wore off but I was in a dark queit room and then someone came and gave me some more drops, that was lush as they started to get a bit sore, I could see straight away but after I left the clinic I wanted to just keep my eyes shut, I got home and my friend had to put y drops in as I couldn't bear to have my eyes open as my lids felt really heavy, I had a sleep for a couple of hours and felt much better and kept taking my drops for the two weeks and went back to work after a couple of days. All I have to say about getting the surgery done is how surreal it is to be able to see without glasses, first thing I would have to do when I woke up was put on my glasses, I wore glasses & contact lenses from my early teens and I cannot tell you have fantastic it was getting my eyes done, I love it! Three months down the line and it's like I've never wore glasses, I wish I had it done years ago, my quality of life is just so much better, when I stayed with friends and going on a night out I would have to remember to bring my contact lenses stuff, no worries now, I had to know the lay out of the swimming pool before I went in as I was seriously blind as a bat, I'm going on holiday soon and can't wait to go swimming in the sea even lie on the beach and fall asleep and not worry about glasses or contacts. If you are thinking about getting it done, what are you waiting for? It is seriously the best money I have spent in my life, so thank you very much to my surgeon Wayne-Crew-Brown at Optical express in Bluewater.

Information given in "non pushy" way by Richard Taylor at Harrogate.Big reason for choosing them was having consultation and follow-up checks in Harrogate,only traveling to Leeds for surgery.Only had 1 eye done, ended up with lasek as unable to get "thing"in eye!Was about 90 mins of re-checks and waiting before surgery,a bit nervous by end of wait.Surgeon & staff brilliant.Only painful when lens taken out after 4 days but that one day of pain was well worth the result.Now have one eye able to read (untreated) and other sees distance.Its just brilliant just getting on with life and not deciding glasses or contacts.

Wavefront IntraLase (Lasik). Had the surgery at Bluewater on Friday July 13 ! Staff at Bluewater very efficient and professional and didn't keep me waiting at all. Surgery was fascinating and all over in 15 mins. I could 'see' that my eyesight was much better straight away although vision was blurry which they said is due to the fluid they used in the procedure left under the flaps, which is normal and eventually goes away. After 20 mins I was told I could go home ! Eyes felt gritty and watery but no pain. Went home and rested for a few hours and 8 hours later, perfect clear vision ! Eyes still felt a little gritty but by Sunday morning this had gone. For those that are worried about the procedure don't be, its a small inconvenience to the vision sensation you will feel soon afterwards. My thanks to all the staff at Bluewater for looking after me.

I am really pleased with the results of my surgery. The treament was fast and the results are fantastic. I am so glad i've had it done and would recommend it. A big thanks to the surgeon and all the staff at optical express.

I had lasik with wavefront and intralase yesterday morning (Friday 27/7) at the clinic in Cambridge with Dr Tom Materman. My prescription was -4.5 and -5, and today is better than 20/20! I can see almost perfectly now 24 hours later although vision is very slightly blurry and have only very mild discomfort in one eye! Very happy with the results. I am also very happy with the clinic - staff were very supportive and friendly. I decided to have wavefront but not intralase after my 1st assessment. Then after talking to the surgeon he said my eyes were quite small so would have difficulty placing the suction cups on my eyes for the microkeratome blade and recommended having the intralase. In fact he seemed quite anti microkeratome, and I wasnt sure he was confident using it on me. Although when I quizzed him further he said he'd only ever had 2 minor problems using the blade in all of his patients. The surgery itself I would not call pain free! I'm quite sensitive and was very nervous so maybe felt it more, but the pressure applied to my eye for the intralase bordered on quite painful. It was only 20secs per eye (the nurse counted down), although now I have large and obvious blood red bruises on the whites of my eyes, which will take 3 weeks to go. The lasik was indeed completely pain free, and just felt like cool air on my eyes, quite nice after the intralse. The eye clips used for this I could barely feel. I did find it quite hard to look at the lights and focus straight ahead as everything was swimming and double! The surgery team I had full confidence in but don't expect a great reassuring bedside manner. Then it was over - all very quick. I could see straight away afterwards, but very blurry and I didnt want to open my eyes at all. For about two hours or so my eyes were really stinging (like when chopping a very stong onion, or like the time I put my contact lenses in after chopping chillies...). By the evening I was watching TV fine, but still quite light sensitive. I would thoroughly recommend it, it was really only half a day of discomfort and I was far more nervous than I needed have been!